LITMIR.BIZ

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stool and elbowed my way through the throng of sweaty bodies to find out. Progress was slow, mainly because I'm better off wearing sneakers than stilettos, but also because the dancers were too engrossed to notice me and get out my way. By the time I'd shoved into the middle of the dancers, there was no sign of her.

      I spent the next few minutes circling the floor. My daughter, if indeed it was her, had disappeared; but I wasn't giving up. I'd head for the school, go up to her room and find out if Chastity was there or not. I didn't want my baby hanging out in nightclub dives and I certainly didn't want her at the Paradise where women were being abducted on a regular basis.

      Where was Fox when you needed him? Probably still negotiating his stockings in the ladies. I headed back to my seat at the bar to wait. I was angsty, tapping my fingers impatiently on the counter when someone nudged me in the ribs and began burbling on about somebody's drink. She then slapped her hand over her mouth.

      `Sorry,' she squeaked. `I thought you were a friend of mine. You look similar.'

      `Do I?' I couldn't help but wonder who she'd mistaken me for, what with a Chastity clone pirouetting about on the dance floor. But before I could ask, the girl slipped off the bar stool and merged with the crowd. Fox appeared at my shoulder at last.

      `Sorry, Eve, there was a queue.'

      `Always is, for the ladies,' I said. `Come on, we're leaving.'

      `But why? The night's young.'

      `I have parental responsibilities. But you can stay if you want.'

      `I'm disappointed.' Those blue eyes shimmered. `I thought we could chat some more, then dance.'

      `I presume you meant us, to dance together?'

      Those eyes shimmered some more and that enigmatic Madonna smile played around those kissy, kissy lips.

      `Sorry, Foxy,' I said. `But I'm no dyke, regardless of what Zefferelli insinuated. See ya later.'

      `What?' He frowned, confused.

      `Just look at you, kid!'

      He glanced down at his dress. `Damn,' he said. `I'd forgotten I was wearing this stuff. I'll come with you.'

      `I'm worried about you,' I murmured as we negotiated our way through the crowd to the exit. `If wearing a dress is beginning to feel normal.'

      We briefly called into the surveillance room to let the others know what was happening and for Fox to change. I told him not to bother on my account, but he did anyway.

      `You splitting already?' asked Ely around a mouthful of half-chewed pepperoni pizza.

      `Have to,' I said. `I've got to track down my daughter. I think she was at the nightclub.'

      Burton whistled. `Doesn't she know about the abductions? Doesn't she read the papers?'

      `I don't know what she knows, but I'm going to warn her off. I don't want Chastity becoming a victim.'

      `Chastity. Great name. Will you tell her about the surveillance?' asked Ely.

      `No. I don't believing in sharing my work with her.'

      `We'll take my car if you like,' said Fox once we were back on the street.

      `Twist my arm, why don't you,' I said and made a beeline for the Spitfire. If ever I had spare dosh, I'd be tempted to buy myself a cute little number like that.

      Tucked cosily in the low-slung sports-car, we roared over to Saint Immaculata's along Stirling Highway. We zoomed past endless, soulless showrooms catering to yuppy renovators and acres of forecourts packed with top-of-the-range cars, effortlessly beating red lights all the way - along with half the driving population of Perth.

      `Stay here,' I ordered Fox once we had pulled into the deserted parking lot and he'd killed the engine. `This is personal. I'll deal with it on my own.'

      I let myself in through the kitchen and used the staff stairs at the rear of the school building. Saint Immaculata's was built as a private mansion by one of the Kalgoorlie gold barons back in the 1890s. It had survived the 80s purge on old buildings and was a grandiose white elephant, impractical but stately and perfectly suited as an old fashioned style school.

      It had been the only home I'd known until I'd spread my Dodo wings and hit the ground running to escape the cloistered strictness my mother demanded. I liked the old place, sort of. Few fond memories but it had still been home.

      Once inside, I took off my stilettos. I didn't want to announce my unauthorised entry by staccato-ing over the miles of polished floorboards.

      When I reached Chastity's room, I hesitated. Should I knock? It had gone midnight and I didn't want to wake her if she'd been tucked up in bed all night. But then again, it had looked awfully like Chastity out there on the nightclub dance floor. I decided not to take any chances.

      I stealthily began to turn the doorknob. There was a slight scuffled noise from behind me. I turned to see what it was when something arced down and cracked me on the head.

      There was a violent starburst and everything went black.

      Chapter Three

      Consciousness returned and I realised I was flat on my back on the floor.

      `It's your mum,' said a young girl's voice. It was hushed, with a hard edge of panic, and came from somewhere to the right of my shoulder. As lightning strobes decorated the inside of my eyelids, I reckoned someone had a torch trained on me and was checking me over for vital signs.

      `Have you killed her?' asked another girl, this time to my left.

      `No.' I recognised that voice. Chastity. She sounded confident and assured. `I didn't hit her hard enough to kill.'

      It was her who'd decked me? Where had she learned a self-defence tactic like that? Heavens, I should have paid more attention to her new curriculum. I wasn't ready to confess my conscious state. I stayed still, eyes closed, letting the throb of pain buy me time.

      `Shall we get Sister Immaculata?' asked the first girl. I thought it could have been Angie Dellaporte, Chastity's roommate.

      `Not yet. Let's see if we can bring her round,' Chastity said. `Mum? Mum? Can you hear me?' She shook my shoulder, hard.

      `What's going on here?'

      This new voice was all authoritative - and male. I could feel my insides tingle just at the sound of him. Fox had joined the proceedings. Excellent.

      Someone clicked on the corridor light and Fox must have seen me in all my glory. Legs askew, rucked hem, possibly a pool of blood under my head and dribble of saliva on my chin.

      `DI Rock! Eve! What have you done to her?' His roar of outrage was nice. I can't remember the last time someone on the force actually cared if I got hurt or not. He must have crouched down next to me because I was suddenly breathing in the scent of his apple shampoo. The next moment his hands were on my head, gently searching for wounds.

      `I hit her. I thought she was an intruder,' said my daughter with self-righteousness indignation. I'd swear she could make murder sound justified. It's a skill she's honed over her sixteen short years.

      `Ouch!' I said as Fox found a bump the size of a walnut at the back of my skull.

      `Sorry, Eve.' His hands dropped. One landed on my bare leg where my little black number had ridden up even further with the action. He rhythmically rubbed his palm backwards and forwards.

      Ooh, ooh. Now it wasn't just my insides tingling.

      `You're awake!' said Chastity, cutting through my sudden fog of lust. `Thank goodness.'

      `No thanks to you. What in heavens name did you hit me with?'

      `My hockey stick. Sorry Mum.'

      `Do you hit everyone who happens to pass by?' I was still prone, preferring the steady hardness of the floor to the erratic spinning of my head.

      `Only when I think they're

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