Characters:
Narrator
Tommy Potsdam
Macy Hayes
Stella Decker
Tasha
Julian McGuinness
Lexi

Narr: In a time of disgraceful revelry and rising crime, the Decker and Hayes Detective Agency had been Parlortown’s one saving grace. Stella Decker and Macy Hayes were the epitome of a loving relationship and a dynamic crime-busting duo. Now, Macy had been put in jail for killing her former boss, and Stella was hard at work on a case with a former CIA agent, or so he said. This was not purely coincidence, since Macy had just been released from prison on the condition that she help wrap up a case that she had botched in Russia during her days with the Agency. Of course, appearances can be deceiving, and the so-called CIA operatives who had taken her into custody had spent some quality time with Macy, torturing her for information. Tommy Potsdam, the girls’ secretary, was more than surprised to see Macy in the office this evening, as both he and Stella still thought that Macy was in jail. Now she stood before him in a black cat suit, her hair slicked back into a pony tail and her eyes wild, with a gun trained on him.

Tommy: Miss Hayes?! What…what’s going on?

Macy: I know what’s going on between you and Stella.

Tommy: Oh, gross! I mean, nothing against Miss Decker, it’s just that, well, she’s my employer, and that would hardly be appropriate-

Macy: Enough, you sniveling, whiny pervert. I mean, I know Stella has been hiding files in your desk, the one that you keep locked so tightly. I know that you’ve been somehow keeping tabs on me since I started dating Stella. You sneaky little bastard, you had me fooled with your innocent smile and your pansy accent, but I know what a well trained operative you are, and I am, frankly, sick and tired of being taken advantage of around here! Open your desk, Tommy, I want to see what kinds of things you and Stella have in there.

Tommy: Macy…Miss Hayes…you’re not making any sense! I haven’t even known you since you and Stella started…dating…and the only one spying around here is Paige!

Macy: Paige? Who’s Paige? Stop stalling, boy.

Tommy: Paige is the woman who’s been bugging this office!

Macy: (laughs a little hysterically) Sure, boy. Whatever you say. (takes a breath and regains her composure) Look, I don’t have time for games. Open. Your. Desk.

Narr: Tommy hurried over behind the desk and opened all of its drawers, none of which, by the way, had locks on them. Macy followed behind, her gun still aimed directly at Tommy’s head, and rustled through the papers in his desk with one hand. She stopped, clasped her gun with both hands, and closed one eye behind her gun.

Macy: Where’s the rest of it? I don’t have all day, Tommy, and you only have until the count of three. Where are your secret files?

Narr: She advanced toward Tommy, who stumbled backward and found himself hitting the door frame of the lobby bathroom. He nearly fell backwards into it, slammed the door shut, clicked the knob locked, and backed up to the toilet. He sat on the floor of the bathroom sobbing and begging Macy to calm down.

Macy: One. Two. Three.

Narr: No one heard the shots from Macy’s silenced gun, and no one saw her slip out of her office. Meanwhile, at the hospital, Stella had left Agent Jason Drake, alias Derrick Washburn, in the ER waiting room while her friend Lucky White was being admitted. She was told that she had an hour left to visit hospital patients, and was directed to Tasha’s room. Tasha was a blade, and Stella’s ex-girlfriend, who had shown up at the office of Decker and Hayes, bleeding from a shot wound to the gut. Before she went to Tasha’s room she stopped at a payphone. She dialed a number, and got an answering machine.

Stella: (somewhat hushed) Julie, it’s Stella. Listen, I didn’t want to bring you into this, but I really need your help. Again. This new case I took is taking a turn for the bizarre, and I need you to keep an eye on someone for me. His name is Jason Drake, and he’s apparently a CIA agent, or some nonsense. We’re at Our Lady of Mercy, and I have some business to attend to. I left him alone in the waiting room at ER, and I don’t think he can be trusted. If you get this in time, can you drop by and keep an eye on him? Don’t let on you’re there, just…check him out. He’s the blonde in the shiny suit. I might need you to hold on to him for a bit, so if I don’t see you tonight I’ll call you later. Thanks, Jules.

Narr: Stella hung up and went down to Tasha’s room. She stopped in the doorway for a minute and watched her ex-love nervously biting her nails. She was very pale and looked fatigued, but for a gunshot victim she looked pretty…well, sexy. Tasha suddenly felt Stella’s eyes on her and looked up suddenly. She let out a weak chuckle.

Tasha: You were always obsessed with my nail biting.

Stella: (a little bitter) It’s a nasty habit. How are you, dollface?

Tasha: Oh, I’ve been hurt worse.

Stella: Have you?

Tasha: Sure, remember that time in ’88…

Stella: No, actually, I don’t, Tasha. Where’ve you been, kid? We’d practically given up on you.

Tasha: I’m so sorry, Stel.

Stella: (pretty annoyed) Well what was it? Did you finally just get fed up with me and decide to leave? Go out on your own? I know we fought a lot, Tasha, but hell, you could have talked to me if you were upset about the way things were going. I know that last fight was a bad one, but…I don’t even remember what we fought about. We were a good team, you know?

Tasha: (choking back sobs) I didn’t mean to hurt you, Stella. That was the furthest thing from my mind.

Stella: Well what, then? What could I have possibly done that was so terrible it drove you away?

Tasha: It wasn’t you, it was-

Stella: Not to mention that I’ve finally gotten over that pain and moved on with my life, and now I’m happy, and you show up all shot up…

Tasha: (whispers) Los Arañas

Stella: (taken aback) The Spiders? You…you fought them?

Tasha: I didn’t get the chance. They ambushed me.

Stella: Jesus, Tash. You’ve…you’ve been with them this whole time?

Tasha: In the beginning they were going to somehow tell the rest of you, and use me as leverage. Finally get that showdown they wanted, on their terms. They wanted you. They wanted Lucky. Man, how they wanted to take down Lucky. But then… (starts sobbing now) they decided they were enjoying themselves too much. Oh Stella it was so awful.

Stella: Enjoying themselves? Tasha…Tasha, Jesus. What did they do to you?

Tasha: Everything. Anything. I don’t know, it all blurred together. I got so used to it. I’m so ashamed.

Stella: Are they the ones that shot you?

Tasha: I started stealing from them. A little at a time. They’d leave me in a room after they were done…with me…and I eventually started going through their drawers, taking a few dollars here and there. I think I was foolish enough to think I could run away, catch a bus somewhere, and just disappear. Again. Anyway, I’d hoarded money away under the mattress in the room they kept me in, and in my pockets. They never let me wear…my clothes…they never even looked at them. It seemed safe. I just couldn’t get up the courage to actually leave.

Stella: Oh god, they found you out.

Tasha: Johnny Vasquez did. He barely said a word to me. They had their last hurrah and put me in their car. They drove me somewhere in the middle of town, some ally, and shot me. Just left me for dead. I dragged myself into the building I was leaning against, and fell into your boy’s arms.

Stella: (kind of disappointed) You weren’t looking for me?

Tasha: Sorry, Stell. (trying to cheer up a little) I guess I’m just lucky they decided to kill me next door to you. I didn’t find out till after surgery that it was your boy who called me in. I’m still a little in shock.

Stella: You and me both. Jeez, I’m so sorry, Tash. I should have…I should have done a better job of looking for you. You were always the toughest one…

Tasha: It’s not your fault, Stell.

Stella: Aside from me, of course. I just…we just…we never thought you’d be in that kind of trouble. I just thought you’d left me.

Tasha: Stella. It’s not your fault. It did look like I left you. You didn’t tell them to do this. They just…did.

Stella: Well…I’m sorry I yelled at you.

Tasha: It’s okay. You’re still the jerk you always were.

(beat)

Stella: Listen, now that we’ve gotten all mushy and stuff…I have a question.

Tasha: Yeah, sure.

Stella: Do the names Derrick Washburn or Jason Drake mean anything to you?

Tasha: No. I’ve never heard of them. Why, what’s up?

Stella: That’s a long story. Just curious.

Tasha: You’re just as hot as always, Stella Decker. I guess I can’t keep up a hope that you’re single after all these years, can I?

Stella: (apologetic) I’ve got a great jailbird of a girl.

Tasha: What!?

Stella: But you’ll always be in my heart, Tash. Listen, get some sleep. I’ll come see you tomorrow, okay?

Tasha: You owe me an explanation for that "jailbird" remark.

Stella: It’s a date.

Narr: Stella kissed Tasha on the forehead and went down the hall to the elevator. Her head was reeling from what Tasha had just told her, and she needed a cold drink. She stopped on the second floor to get a soda from the vending machine before she went back to the ER. As she came out of the elevator she saw a familiar figure standing down the hall. Julian McGuinness was leaned over the nurse’s desk, chatting in a very friendly manner with a young male nurse. Stella cocked her head and walked over to the desk.

Stella: Julian! You…got my message?

Julian: (really flustered) Um…hi! Oh, what? Your what? No.

Stella: Really? Oh…I mean, I was going to say how fast that was of you. I was kind of surprised that you’d be here, really, it was kind of a long shot. But, uh…what are you doing here?

Julian: I…heard you were here.

Stella: What?

Julian: Cause of that girl that was hurt, right? Or something. I came to check on you.

Stella: How did you…?

Julian: What’s with the third degree, Stell? You know what kind of business I’m in.

Stella: No, I trust you, Jules. I’m just curious as to why you’re looking for me on the maternity ward.

Julian: (chuckles nervously) Oh, I just got lost. This very…helpful…nurse was just going to have you paged for me. But I guess I won’t be needing his services after all. (to nurse) Thanks, kid, but I guess I’m set for the moment.

Stella: Well listen, then, walk with me to ER. We need to talk about a lot of things.

Narr: Across town, Macy’s sleek, vinyl-covered figure slipped through a door into an unlit room in an apartment building. She took the gun with the silencer attachment out of a hidden pocket on her hip and placed it on a table she felt by the door. She peeled black gloves off her hands and put them beside her gun. Using the edge of the table as a guide, she walked around it to a chair that she knew was sitting beside it. She sat quietly down and crossed her legs. From the other side of the room she heard the click of a gun being cocked.

Macy: (hushed, voice lowered) The boy’s hiding something, I could see it written all over his pathetic face. He didn’t have any unusual files on him, but he’s got them. Somewhere. My only regret is that I didn’t get to see his face before he died.

Lexi: Oh no?

Macy: Some people were making noise at the other end of the hall. Couldn’t risk that they were coming to the office. I had to slip out. You can’t be too careful.

Lexi: Paranoia certainly isn’t something you learned from Cross. Let’s hope you didn’t catch his pride, either.

Macy: Jealousy isn’t particularly becoming on you, Alexis.

Narr: Macy heard a soft click, and a dim light came on. It was sitting on a small nightstand beside a bed. On the bed was Lexi, barely dressed in a two-piece lacey negligee. A red choker accentuated her graceful neck and her dark hair tumbled down around her shoulders. She was aiming a gun at Macy.

Macy: Oh Lexi, how romantic. You always know what revs my engine.

Lexi: I’ve always known you better than you know yourself.

Macy: When are we supposed to meet with Lansberg?

Lexi: We have a lunch date with him in about an hour and a half.

Macy: That gives us a little time to play cops and robbers.

Narr: Macy walked over to the bed, climbed over her, and kissed her deeply, passionately, on the lips.

Lexi: The only one who has to be jealous around here is Stella.

Macy: Stella who?

Narr: Back at the office of Decker and Hayes, Tommy Potsdam was pacing in the lobby. Macy’s shots had been too high, as she had been aiming for where his head and chest would be if he’d been standing up. Why she didn’t come into the bathroom to check on him, he didn’t know, but he had heard the door click, and her footsteps retreat away from the office. After waiting a good half hour to see if she’d come back, he’d finally gotten up the courage to come out. He had been dancing nervously around the lobby since then. He had no idea where Stella was or when she’d be back, and Macy was acting like a madwoman. Finally, he made a choice. He picked up the phone, dialed, and listened to an answering machine greeting.

Tommy: Hello? This is Tommy Potsdam, Miss Hayes and Miss Decker’s secretary. I need to speak with you urgently. Please call the office as soon as you get this. I…don’t know who else to call.

Narr: Who is Tommy Calling? Has Macy really been brainwashed? What have Lansberg and Lexi done to her? Is Lansberg really a mafia man? And what was Julian McGuinness doing at the hospital? For answers to these, and probably a lot more questions, tune in to next week’s episode of Decker and Hayes: Put on the Red Light.