FIRE ON HIGH
“Fire On High” is a work of fiction, and any resemblance to any person living or dead is purely coincidental. All characters and settings © Tigermark 2003-2010 unless otherwise noted. Request permission before using them, please.
The characters of Anatol Altaisokova and Melinda Altaisokova are my names for characters © Max Blackrabbit. They appear in this story with his permission. The characters of Brandy, Maxwell, Tonya and Zig Zag are also © Max Blackrabbit and appear here with his permission. Events and information relating to Tonya, Anatol, and their family are presented here, but are not to be considered canon to those characters or any other story but this one. ZZ Studios, and all characters associated with ZZ Studios, James Sheppard, and Marvin Badger © James Bruner and appear here with his permission. Although characters from and events referring to Zig Zag the Story appear here, this story is not canon to that one, and the author will disavow any knowledge of this story. Wanda Vixen © Chris Yost and appears here with his permission. Sabrina Mustidalae © Eric W. Schwartz and appears here with his permission. This story is not canon to Sabrina Online the comic, or Sabrina Online the Story, either. Matt Barstock, Angie Rockwell, Intermountain Charter, The Bitch, and her crew, and Jerry Kitt © Silver Coyote. See their story HERE. Gail Rutherford © me and is not canon to any other story involving ZZ Studios. Gabrielle Ryder and Jean LeBrun © Aslaug, from her Transitions stories. See them at her site, The Axe Shed, available from the links page.
Author’s Note: Lewiston, Maine’s airport, identifier KLEW, is actually uncontrolled. That is, it has no control tower. Poetic license was used for this story, so Alex and company talk with a control tower whilst aviating there.
Chapter 59
Loose Ends
Almost an hour had gone by when Detective Pardue came back in. Without preamble he stated his business.
“Kelli, Ms. Marten, let’s go. The judge is waiting to do a bail hearing. It’ll be done by video. Mrs. O’Whitt, Tia, you’ll hafta wait down in the lobby.”
Jenna and Tia nodded and left the room, heading back downstairs. They sat in the lobby for another hour before Mikhela met back up with them. The marten femme didn’t look too happy.
“I had the judge convinced to set a low bail, but we got some bad news. Randy Biggs died about thirty minutes ago without regaining consciousness. The charge was upped to Murder One, and bail was denied. Kelli has been returned to a cell. If she did do this, she’s the best actress I’ve ever seen. She actually broke down crying when we were told about Biggs. It’ll be tomorrow before we can see her again.”
Jenna and Tia sat quietly for a moment with their heads bowed. Then they both stood up and Jenna gave a sigh.
“Did he have any family?”
Mikhela was taken aback. “Er, I don’t know, why?”
Jenna smiled rather sadly. “Randy Biggs was what he was, but he was still a fur. Somebody is probably mourning him. We’ll keep whoever that might be in our prayers.”
Mikhela looked surprised, but quickly settled back to business. “I did find out that there are security tapes from Bigg’s office building, but I have no idea what’s on them yet.”
Tia’s eyes squinted in curiosity. “How many tapes, and from where?”
“I’m not sure,” Mikhela answered. “Detective Pardue only said that they’d recovered some. Out of my curiosity, what are you thinking?”
Tia tilted her head to the side. “Well, when the tapes I mentioned earlier helped me, there were two. Each one was from a different perspective. What you see in one doesn’t always show conclusively what happened. Also, I learned in class that tapes can be tampered with. When there’s more than one, they can corroborate each other.”
“I see. Jenna, do you need help finding a hotel or anything?”
Jenna shook her head. “No, I called for reservations before we left home. Is there anything we can do right now?”
Mikhela started to answer, but a uniformed officer stepped up, interrupting her.
“Ms. Marten?”
She turned to the policefur. “Yes, what can I do for you?”
The officer gave her a large manila packet. “Detective Pardue said to give you this.”
Mikhela took the parcel and thanked the fur. Jenna and Tia looked on curiously as she opened it and then smiled.
“Copies of the security tapes. The detective certainly is efficient. I’ll have to thank him later, but now we have something to do. Come with me, we need to look at these tapes, and I have a video playback and analysis system at my office.”
Jenna nodded her assent, while Tia was already in motion with a “what’s-slowing-you-down?” look over her shoulder. With Mikhela in her sedan and Jenna and Tia in their minivan, they left police headquarters. Tia looked out the window as her mother drove. She gave a sigh and rolled her eyes at the too-corny phrase that kept running through her mind.
The game’s afoot.
# # #
Corrie walked up the stairs and opened the door to her apartment. On the way back, she’d decided she needed more time to think her feelings through. She just hoped Alex would understand what she was going to ask of him.
As she walked into the room, she froze for a moment. Alex was on her weight bench, pressing what looked to be at least two hundred pounds in a rapid series of lifts. Corrie was impressed, and a little intimidated. She could press two hundred, but he’d already put in ten reps in rapid succession and wasn’t even breathing hard. As he put the bar up on the stand, he noticed the lioness standing by the sofa.
“Oh, hi Love. I hope you don’t mind, I was just passing the time until you came back.”
Corrie was still motionless, her mouth slightly open as Alex stood up. He’d taken his shirt off so he wouldn’t sweat in it, and this was the first time Corrie could recall seeing him without one. She very much liked what she saw, but that voice in the back of her head reminded her that things were still a little tense between them at the moment. She swallowed hard and found her voice.
“Ah, no, I don’t mind at all. Do you want a shower before we head into town?”
Alex wrinkled his nose. “Hmm, yes, I think I’d better. Didn’t realize I’d sweated that much. Good thing I took my shirt off.”
Corrie smiled a bit shyly. “You’re welcome to any of the toiletries. I think I have some stuff that’s not too femmy.”
Alex laughed. “I’m sure I can find something. How about towels?”
“Ah, towels, uh, in the cabinet in the corner of the bathroom.”
Corrie was having a hard time concentrating on what Alex was saying. The white fur of his chest, and the dazzle of stripes on his arms, sides and back had her mesmerized as he moved toward the bathroom.
“Thanks, be out in a few,” he tossed over his shoulder as he went into the bathroom and shut the door. Corrie sat down feeling a bit dazed. Her anger at Aunt Talia’s comment and Alex’s reaction now completely gone, she was left with the guilt she felt. She felt pretty sure she wasn’t a lesbian because, several years back, she’d tried having sex with another femme. She’d had a relationship implode on her and the thought had struck her that perhaps she wasn’t meant to be with a male. She’d sought out a femme she knew went that way, and who she trusted, and they tried going on a couple of dates. It had been fun, and Corrie had convinced herself to take the next step. The sensations had been pleasant, but in the end both of them agreed that the lioness just wasn’t into femmes.
Corrie chuckled to herself. Her reaction to seeing Alex without his shirt pretty well confirmed for her that she was into this particular male, at least. Still, now that her head was clearing a bit, she wanted to take some time and think things through before sharing any of that with him. Alex was a Christian, and she’d heard that Christians hated homosexuals. Would he still feel the same about her once he knew she’d experimented with that?
Presently, Alex opened the bathroom door and emerged, now fully clothed and smelling much better. Corrie had been so lost in thought she hadn’t even noticed the sound of the shower starting or stopping. The tiger grinned at her.
“Thanks for the use of the shower. How are you doing?”
Corrie managed to smile back, still feeling uncertain about things. “Well, I’m ovah me snit, anyway. Let’s go eat and I’ll drop you at your hotel.”
“Lead on, Love.”
Corrie turned and picked up her purse, the smile still on her muzzle. Things were still unsettled, and she really needed to think. She knew that now her own doubts and fears would cause her no end of bother, and until she was prepared, she couldn’t talk to Alex about them. For now, she was content to let things be and enjoy dinner with the tiger.
# # #
“Oh, that’s not good!” Jenna exclaimed. She, Tia, and Mikhela had been reviewing the security tapes that Detective Pardue had provided. There were three in total. One from in front of the building, one from the lobby, and one from the hallway outside Bigg’s office. The tape from the front of the building had just shown a femme with pink fur in a poodle cut wearing a hat and dark sunglasses entering the building. The time stamp showed it to be ten minutes before the appointment book said Kelli had arrived at Bigg’s office. The tape rolled on, and Randy Bigg’s secretary, Beverly Sutton, could be seen leaving. She had a bundle of some kind under her arm as she walked away down the street. About fifteen minutes later the femme with the hat and sunglasses walked out and quickly away down the street. It was over thirty minutes on the tape until the secretary returned. The other two tapes only added confirmation that Kelli had been there. The tape from the hallway showed the clearest picture. It certainly looked like Kelli under the hat and glasses. The three looked at the tapes several times before Mikhela called a halt.
“Ah NUTS! Maybe I can get the prosecutor to offer a plea bargain. Tia, as I said, you’ll either make or break the case. Looks like you broke it for Kelli.”
Tia, and Jenna along with her, looked downcast. Tia took a deep breath and faced her mother.
“Mom, I’m sorry. I was sure the tapes would show the truth, but it looks like the truth isn’t what . . .”
Jenna and Mikhela regarded the young tigress who’d stopped speaking in mid-sentence. She had an uncertain, perplexed look on her face. Jenna finally broke the silence.
“What is it? What has you puzzled?”
“Huh?” Tia replied, her eyes snapping back into focus on her mother. “Oh, I’m . . . not sure. Something isn’t right, but I can’t quite put a claw on what it is.”
“Is it something on the tapes?” Mikhela inquired. Perhaps she’d missed something Tia had seen.
“Yes, I think so, but I don’t know what. Something just isn’t setting right about it, but I don’t know what it is.”
After another moment, Mikhela let out an exasperated snort. “Well, this isn’t getting us anywhere. Let’s call it a night, shall we? In the morning we’ll have a better perspective.”
Jenna nodded. “Sounds good. I hate the thought of Kelli having to spend the night in jail, though.”
Mikhela sighed. This was always a tough spot with a client’s friend or relative. “Jenna, you might have to consider the possibility that Kelli actually did this. Under that femme-next-door fur there could be a calculating killer who cultivated you as an ally even back when she was posing as you. If she’s convicted, she’ll be spending a lot of nights in jail.”
Jenna gave a nod. “I know it looks that way, but I believe in her. She didn’t shoot Randy Biggs, no matter what the tapes show or the secretary says.”
Mikhela shook her head, but managed a smile. “If you say so. I’ll see you both in the morning, 9A.M. sharp.”
Jenna and Tia nodded their goodbyes and left for the hotel. They grabbed a couple of burgers on the way and ate in their room. Jenna was worn out, and Tia was mostly lost in thought, so neither femme said much. They headed for bed early, and soon both were restlessly sleeping, the uncertainty of the next day weighing on them.
# # #
“Uhm, Alex?”
Alex focused on the lovely lioness. Her face showed sudden concern. They’d been eating dinner at a small diner near the hotel Alex was staying at. The conversation had been pleasant, and neither of them had mentioned Talia’s comment or Corrie’s reaction. Now, there had been a short lull, and Corrie’s demeanor had suddenly changed. She obviously had something on her mind, and had decided now was the time to talk to Alex about it. Giving a nod, he encouraged her to continue.
“Yes Love, go on, I’m listening.”
“Well, ah, as you know I went out by meself this afternoon to do some thinking. Thing is, I feel like I need to do a lot more. Do you think, ah, that is, could you give me a bit of space?”
Alex tilted his head a bit, unsure of exactly what she meant. “What do you mean?”
Corrie looked away for a moment, and then turned back toward him with her head down.
“Could you not come up or call for a couple of weeks? Now, before you get the wrong idea, no, I’m not breaking up with you. I just want to take a little breathah to sort some things out. I promise I’ll tell you what it’s all about aftah.”
Alex was taken aback, and sat unmoving for several long moments. Finally he blinked, lowered his gaze and closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his muzzle.
“Corrie, of course. Take all the time you need. How about you give me a call when you’re ready?”
Corrie nodded, and then began to fight back tears. “Oh Luv, you’re too patient. Thank you.”
Alex gave a half-smile and reached out to wipe her cheek. “You’re welcome. I said when we started dating that we’d take it as slow as you wanted.”
Corrie managed to smile in return as she sniffled a bit. “I’ll tell you all about it when I’ve figured it all out meself. I hope you won’t get too bored waiting.”
“No, I doubt it. Jenna’s wedding is coming up, and I have a reserve weekend to get done, and Zig wants to take her crew to
Corrie leaned back and narrowed her eyes, feigning a tragic look. “Oh ho! So that’s it! You just want to be free to cavort with all your cousin’s actresses while you’re down there. I knew it!”
Alex burst out laughing at her overly dramatic play, and after a moment she joined in. She felt better now, but she knew that the uninterrupted time she’d asked for could be a make-or-break point in their relationship. The tiger reached across the table and took her paw in his.
“I might not get bored, but I will miss you a great deal. Don’t wander off down any game trails and forget about me. Same goes for following white rabbits in waistcoats.”
Corrie snickered, giving Alex’s paw a squeeze. “Nah, me name’s not Alice. Are you ready to go?”
Alex nodded and the pair got up and headed for the register to pay their bill. They went from there out into the cool evening air and walked to Corrie’s jeep. She drove Alex to his hotel, and the two shared a long, lingering embrace. After they parted, Alex headed for his room and Corrie drove out of town and back toward home. The voice in the back of her head laughed at her. She chose to ignore it, although she knew the nightmares would probably be bad when she went to sleep. For now she just groused to herself.
“Pipe down so I can drive.”
# # #
The next morning, three rather downcast femmes arrived at Cincinnati Police Headquarters. Mikhela had told them that Kelli was being brought to the Homicide unit for more questions, so they had come there instead of going to the jail.
Tia still felt like something was wrong with the video tapes, but she just couldn’t figure out what. After signing in and being escorted upstairs, they were met at the door by Detective Pardue.
“Morning, ladies. Thanks for bringing them up, Roger.”
The meerkat officer who’d escorted them up smiled and nodded as he turned to go. Detective Pardue had a neutral expression on his face as he continued.
“Don’t all of you look down in the dumps. I take it you didn’t care for what the security tapes showed?”
Mikhela fixed him with a keen stare. “You know very well what the tapes show, so don’t play games with us.”
The bull terrier shrugged. “Hey, it was Nancy Drew’s idea. Well, not really. We recovered the tapes as a usual part of our investigation. I walked out to see what the analysis unit had made of them and to arrange for copies. C’mon, let’s have a chat before you go in with Kelli. Nobody’s questioning her without you here anyway.”
Mikhela gave a nod and Detective Pardue led the way to his desk. He grabbed a couple of spare chairs and had the three femmes sit before seating himself behind the desk. Without preamble, he started the discussion.
“First off, Nancy Drew, we—”
“My name is Tia, thank you.”
Detective Pardue stopped in mid-sentence and stared at the determined young tigress. After a second, he gave a half-smile.
“Alright, Tia. Sorry about the Nancy Drew tag. Using things like that help me keep stuff straight in my head. Anyway, the crime lab finally made sense of the prints on the murder weapon. Yesterday, we had the one set that matched Kelli’s. We also found the prop guy’s, one of the director’s, and another set we can’t identify yet. Sorry Na, ah, Tia. The secretary gave us a print sample, and she didn’t match. However, the lab said there were several smears on the weapon, like someone had been wearing gloves while holding it. Not sure yet if that’s from the CSI furs or what. The analysis unit is checking to see which prints might have been put on first. Also, Kelli checked clear of gunshot residue. If not for the tapes, I’d be having a lot of doubts about your client as our killer.”
Mikhela blew out a breath. “Yeah, the tapes. It comes down to that.”
Detective Pardue looked almost sorry. “Motive and opportunity. Kelli had both. Last word yesterday was she was still denying ever being there. Even with the hat and glasses, the cut and color of her fur are too distinct.”
Mikhela and Jenna nodded glumly. Tia seemed lost in thought, and didn’t act as thought she’d actually heard the detective’s statement. After a second’s silence, she focused in on the bull terrier.
“Detective, I’m sorry. I’ve come in here acting all smart and full of myself, but I’ve realized that while I may have studied and know some things, I have absolutely no real world experience in this.”
Detective Pardue tilted his head, nodding. “Tia, you aren’t the first to think they are ahead of the police, but we do this every day. You’re actually right in line with how we investigate. It’s just faster to ask the questions than to get the answers. Now as soon as we get the final reports from the lab and analysis unit, we’ll wrap up the case and give it all to the prosecutor. Counselor, let’s go see your client.”
The three femmes stood as the detective did. As they turned to go to the interrogation rooms, an officer escorting a weasel in a dark suit stepped up to them.
“Detective Pardue, another visitor for ya.”
The bull terrier stopped and looked the weasel over. “Yeah, thanks Bill. What can I do for you?”
The weasel sneered in a rather nasty way. “Sloan Wellington, legal counsel for Furfemme Incorporated. I came in to insure the interest of Mr. Biggs’ estate and the business are seen to. We want to see that justice is done.”
Jenna spoke, and the weasel looked at her as if he had just noticed she was there.
“Mr. Wellington, I rather doubt justice is your main concern. What, signing Kelli back up so you can get her picture in prison garb?”
Wellington tried to look offended, but after several seconds under the tigress’ intense feline stare, he looked down and mumbled something.
“What was that?” Detective Pardue inquired.
Sloan gave a sour look. “I said so what if we do? I have papers for Miss Karn to sign so we can use her old pictures. She could use some dough, and the spread will sell a ton of magazines. Oh, uh, and Beverly wanted me to see to it that you cops don’t screw this up and let Randy’s killer slip through your paws.”
Detective Pardue wasn’t impressed. “Look Wellington, you aren’t directly involved in this investigation, so no, you can’t see Miss Killiarski. Wait for visiting hours at the jail. As far as Biggs’ killer, rest assured we won’t let the case grow cold. There is one thing you can do. If you or the studio have a picture of Miss Killiarski in the pink fur dye and poodle cut, we need it. By the time the trial comes around, she won’t look the same, so we need it for identification. Her mug shots wash out the color too much.”
The lawyer was about to refuse since he wouldn’t be allowed to see the Cairn terrier, but thought the better of it.
“Ah, you’d just subpoena it anyway. Hang on.”
The weasel put his briefcase on the desk and, after opening it, rummaged through it for several moments. He finally produced a picture of a scantily-clad Kelli sporting a vivid pink poodle cut. Detective Pardue took the photo and then waved a paw in Sloan’s direction.
“Thanks. Like I said, you want to see Miss Killiarski, wait for visiting hours at the jail. Now scram!”
The weasel managed a haughty look as he closed his briefcase and left. Detective Pardue watched him go and then made to put Kelli’s picture in a file folder on his desk. Just as he did, Tia’s paw suddenly shot out and stopped him. He gave a startled jerk and dropped the picture and folder. From long training, his other paw grabbed for his pistol. When Tia merely snatched the picture in mid-air, he visibly relaxed.
“Tia, don’t EVER do that again!”
The young tigress was focused on the picture, but at the detective’s sharp tone, she switched her stare onto him. After a second, she blushed and looked away sheepishly.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you. Something has been bothering me about the security tapes. I now think I know what it is.”
The three adults all looked at her, the detective with annoyance, the marten lawyer with trace of hope, and her mother with expectation.
With a long blink, Tia took a deep breath and began to put her thoughts into words.
# # #
Alex was southbound at twenty eight thousand feet over western Pennsylvania. Being above most private aircraft traffic, and below the typical airline route flight levels meant he and Stripes One were sedately alone. His mood was pensive as thoughts about the events of the weekend played in the back of his mind. Everything had been wonderful until he’d told Corrie about his aunt’s comment.
As he scanned the instruments before returning his attention back outside to watch for other traffic, the space in the back of his mind mulled over the possible outcomes. When Corrie had asked for some space and time, Alex’s heart had sunk. He’d been down that route too many times. Now, he’d either get a tearful breakup over the phone, or she’d just not contact him again.
At least, those were the negative outcomes. The positive outcome would be her calling in a week or so to say she was coming down, or that he should come up, she’d sorted out the problem.
The tiger let out a sigh. In between that, he’d have a duty weekend at Langley. With that and preparing for Jenna’s wedding, he should be able to keep busy enough not to dwell on Corrie and what she might be doing.
He should be, but he knew he wouldn’t.
End of Chapter 59