Lettie let out a startled gasp as Rico quickly pulled her panties aside and his thickness was suddenly inside her. What had happened, she thought in a bewildered whirl. She thought she'd refused him but perhaps he'd misread her when she'd shook her head. Or perhaps he'd been busy looking for other signals, like he could read her mind on her hesitations. But what did it matter, he was inside her now and it felt amazing.

And then, just as suddenly, he was gone. Not just his cock from inside her but his warmth from behind her. Without his body there to support her she collapsed to her knees in a cascade of red silk. "Thank you, until next time," he spoke from somewhere behind her. Further away than she liked. Then she heard, rather than saw, him adjusting his clothes and turning to leave. He actually intended to just stop there. She gasped and tried to stand but her knees were liquid and there was a painful stabbing in her side from lack of breath. "Rico wait..." she hiccuped. "You can't just... leave me like this..."

"Senioretta, it will be longer and far more satisfying next time," he returned though a moment ago she was resting him and now, now she wanted more. He did not call her on this though he did grin as he looked towards her on the floor, evidentally he meant what he said. Until next time, it seemed as if he meant what he said about the one trust though he knew that unsatisfaction would both leaving them yearning for more.


"Next time Lettie, next time I promise." And with that he turned leaving her in the bathroom by herself.

Lettie did not argue this time as the man, whoever he really was, bid her farewell a second time. As soon as she heard the door close behind him she let herself fall backwards to lie on the floor and undid her first few corset strings to help her catch her breath. For now she did not care if it was undignified, she had just had the most breathtaking experience of her life. She was amazed she was still conscious. She'd never thought herself the swooning type but after the episode she'd just had...

She sighed heavily as good sense began to return to her. She'd have to move soon. She could stay lying foolishly on the floor in a public bathroom for long. Someone was bound to come in soon and she hadn't even been paying attention to which bathroom Rico had ushered her into. She didn't see any urinals which was always a good sign. Still, she didn't what to alarm any other women by being found lying this way. It would give rise to questions that would be uncomfortable to answer.

She forced herself to her feet after another moment and went to the mirror to assess the damage. It wasn't too bad really, aside from being partly unlaced and her skirt being slightly askew her costume didn't give any hint as to what she had just let the Spaniard do to her. She straightened her skirt and retied her laces then went to the sink to wash herself off a little. It didn't take long. Once she was done she stepped back out into the party and looked around for her other guards. She needed to give one of them the message about Miss Stephanie Harper as she was no longer certain Rico had been a reliable person but... "Oh Blast!" She muttered. Rico still had the note she'd been given tucked in his boot. She had too get it back, a woman's life might be endanger.

She looked around the room, trying to find the man in question but it was too crowded. She asked a couple of servers if they'd seen a man dressed as the Jack of Hearts but to no avail. Where the devil had that man gone. She saw a flight of stairs the led to a balcony overlooking the ballroom. Perhaps if she got to a higher level she could locate him. She started making her way towards the stairs, no longer concerned about where her other guards were or who was watching her as she made her way across the room.

Realization was slow to dawn on her but then she recounted that Rico still had the message! What was the address scrawled on the paper? Rico had said the earlist victim to die was around 11, he said that a 7 so there was still time if she hurried.

As if expecting it she did not see Rico anywhere in the ballroom though she did not look for the guards either, she was vaguely aware of seeing two at least, Diamonds and Clubs she assumed since Spade had been yet to arrive and Hearts, Hearts had been Rico whoever he really was.

She scaled the stairs looking frantically amongst the crowd, looking, looking. She wondered if the address was a personal address or a place Stepjanie was going to be at. Baker's Street ... why was that so familar? How had she remembered? She heard that somewhere before and it was in her subconscious.

But as she glanced over the crowd she heard someone on the steps ascending them. Looking she saw the Jack of Spades approaching her, gazing at her flushed paniced features he drew closer, raising an eye brow (which was hidden by his mask) he canted his head to the side and regarded her for a moment.

"What's wrong, you seem flustered." The voice sounded familiar too, it obviously wasn't Rico or the man in that skull mask but someone else she had been acquainted with.

Lettie drew away as the man approached, no longer trusting familiar voices behind masked faces. "Show me your face before you come any closer." She said bluntly. She'd had a long night and was not up to playing guessing games. She wanted to be sure Spades was who she thought he was before she trusted him with her current dilemma. The mystery of Stephanie Harper and the half remember Baker's Street address... What the devil had it been. She knew something was on Baker's Street. The number 221 was coming to mind for some reason but she knew there was more to it...

He paused, frowned and seemed puzzled. "Did something happen? Oh gods, Hearts?" His eyes widened. "What happened?" he nearly forgot what she said, remembered after his question then reached up taking off the mask. It was Sean of course though he made no indication earlier that he was coming.

"Lettie, what happened?"

Lettie was relieved to see the detective's face but that relief quickly faded. She frowned at what he had said, "What about Hearts?" Did he know what sort of unscrupulous man he'd sent to guard her tonight or had his fear been about something else. "I was going to tell you that your Spaniard was untrustworthy but maybe that's something you already know. He's stolen our only lead in this case." And a Hell of a lot more but she wasn't about to tell Sullivan about that. "I was given a slip of paper tonight with a woman's name and an address written on it. Sadly, this slip of paper is currently in Rico's boot and now he has conveniently disappeared. I only remember the woman's name, Stephanie Harper, and a part of the address. The address is on Baker's Street. Possible 221 something but I'm not as sure about that part. Does the address mean anything to you?"

"Jay was suppose to come as Spades but he's caught up in something. Apparently he was rendered unconscious and Hearts killed so the man you met tonight wasn't one of my men. They knew we were coming."

Sean listened to her go on his brow creasing in thought. "I've never heard of Stephanie Harper but that address, if it is correct, is Detective Holmes place but he and Dr. Watson are in France, had they been here I would already had asked them their help on the ase.

"Still, all we have is a name and a partial address. I'll check the directory and see if any addresses on Baker Street match up with our would be victim and send someone down to keep an eye on that place just incase."

"I am sorry. I thought you'd be safe tonight and that almost ended in disaster for you. Hearts, the fake Hearts got the clues and we have, I have to figure out how he factors into things and why he's attempting to conceal evidence. Shall I arrange a car for you to return you to your residence?"

So, that man Lettie had met tonight had not been with the police and if he was not a murderer himself then he was involved in one somehow. She suddenly felt ashamed of her behavior in the bathroom tonight. She should have fought him harder. She'd known he'd been a possible criminal and she's let him seduce her anyway.

She shook her head when Sullivan offered her to arrange a car to send her home. "No, I'm going with you." She still wasn't sure where home was for her and given the events of this night and last she wouldn't have felt safe returning there regardless. "I'm involved in all this somehow and from what I've learned tonight its clear that the bad guys seem to know more about me than I do myself at the moment. Besides, I'm still the only person who has seen any of these men. They were all masked but this time I heard their voices as well and got a look at them in better light. I met two men tonight, I'm not sure if either of them are the murderer I saw yesterday but they are definitely connected to the murders somehow. You need me to help you identify them."

He held up his hands before him. He wasn't going to argue with her logic though he preferred not to involve citizens if he could help it. Selecting the lesser of two evils he would go to check out Holmes residence, sure he would find nothing there and let Bill and the others search other residence homes that might contain this Stephanie Harper.

"Alright then, your with me then. Stick close to me ... er after I change, in the meantime stick close to Diamonds and Clubs I doubt that anyone will try more than contact in a public venue but you never know." No, you never know she thought thinking of that single stroke Rico impaled her with, wondering what it would have been like to loose herself with him impaling her. She pressed the thoughts out of her mind though it was a struggle. He could have been the murderer! And the thought of his hands upon her, his lips against her sin, it had been utterly erotic as much as she destained it she actually enjoyed it too.

Sean relaid some orders for the others to carry out, had two of his team watch her as he changed and within 10 minutes they were at 221 Baker Street. As indicated Holmes and Watson had been gone though the pair had been let into the study where they had some routine questions for the housekeeper who had let them in. She was busy retrieving refreshments, Bill was with them and had wanted something though it was an excuse to send her away so they could do a little snooping, not that anyone suspected the detective or his side kick but to see if there had been any indication that Stephanie was ever hear, perhaps she had a case for the famous detective that could point to the reasons why someone might want her dead. All the victims were Harper's from a wealthy background, and that Lettie wasn't related to them despite having the same last name.

Lettie stood up to help the search as well, though she wasn't sure what she should be looking for. Some evidence that Stephanie Harper had been here. "How long has Holmes been out of the country?" She asked nervously checking the clock. It was getting closer to 11 every second. They had lost precious time because of her clandestine little affair with the possible murderer and now she was beginning to fear that they were at the wrong address. "If he took Stephanie on as a client then it seems unlikely he would suddenly leave the country on another case..."

"Unless he was doing something related ... bingo." Bill said as he opened up a shoe box and took out a few news paper clippings.

"Isn't that?"

Bill nodded, Sean shook his heard, found that one of the desk draws had been locked and moved on to the next where he found some opium and passed it up. One, most people knew of Holmes habit and it was no secret, two he wasn't looking to pry overly much and was looking for something loose.

He paused, gazed at Lettie and thought. "A week maybe. He was working on that when Scotland Yard drew some blanks," he indicated the box. "The 'Two Hell' letters and all the info from thoses unsolved cases I presume. He was working an angel on Spring Heel Jack ... Jack the Ripper and his investigations lead him and the doctor to France a week or so after the ghastly murders just stopped though the ones started. People profess there is a vbampire in White Chapel, killing these women and the only connection is that they are all harp -"

He paused in mid sentence as he found something in one of the draws, a bulky envelop marked 'Stepj; on it.

"Bill, keep a what for the house keeper."

Bill nodded as he moved towards the door of the study.

Lettie wasn't sure she was following all this Spring-Heeled Jack and Jack the Ripper stuff. She'd, of course, heard of the Ripper murders. They'd been all over the papers a few months back but she didn't see how they were connected to Spring-Heeled Jack or this rumored vampire in White Chapel. She thought back to the woman lying in the street with two puncture wounds in her neck and a man crouching over her. Could he have actually been a vampire? She shivered and tried to think of something else. "I thought Spring-Heeled Jack was just a prankster. I've he likes to dress quite fearsomely and frighten people walking alone at night but I haven't heard anything about him actually hurting anyone..."

Sullivan found something just then and told the officer to keep watch for the housekeeper. She hurried to Sean's side to see what he had discovered. "What is it? What did you find?" She saw the envelope in his hands and whispered, as though she had suddenly afraid they'd be over heard. "So, she was a client then?" The envelope only said "Steph" so it could have been someone else entirely but she doubted it. There had been too many coincidences tonight. It had to be their girl. "What's inside it?"

"Yes, you are correct in that assessment. Spring Heeled Jack is a mere boogie man but the prostitues in White Chapel associated him with Jack the Ripper, a real life Spring Heel that wasn't into just scaring people any more." He shrugged not remembering who started the nickname but that was a separate case altogether. No they were dealing with vampiric murders, or at least the locals believed there was a vampire killing these Harper girls.

"I don't know ... let's see." He took out a thick piece of paper, unfolded it and laid it flat atop the desk as he looked it over carefully. Lettie, now at his side could see that it was a family tree indicating the Harper family. Names had been crossed out until four names remained, Stephanies was amongst them as we as her own attached to the bottom left of the chart though there were notes scrawled next to it fake was the single word written in a slanted style of neat penmanship, possibly even Stephanie's There were numbers by these remaining names though there was none by her own.

4, Stephanie Harper; 5 Jodie Harper, 6 Helena Harper

There were other branches of the family tree that were untouched, just six had numbers by their names, three crossed out and the male descendants weren't touched just these three had been thus far.

Sean gazed at her. "Is there something your not telling me?"

Lettie was at a loss for words. Dear god, these women were related to her! Except the word "Fake" scrolled beside her name bothered her. What did it mean? Did someone think she wasn't a legitimate member of the family line? She thought back to how casually the man in the Skull mask had approached her. Spoke to her as if he knew her. Given her the piece of paper that had sent her to this address. Why would he have done that if she was a target? He'd called it an assignment. Was it her assignment? Was she working for them?!

She retreated a step but her mind was still whirling. The other Harper girl's on the family tree had numbers beside their names but there was no number beside hers. Why? The simplest solution was that the numbers signified an order, perhaps the order they were being murdered in. If there was no number by her number then that could only mean she wasn't the murderer's target. Still, that there could be other explanations, right? And even if that guess was correct that didn't necessarily mean she was the murderer's spy, did it?

The detective turned his speculative gaze upon her and she knew he was wondering the same things. "I don't know... I can't remember..." She plopped down in a nearby chair and dropped her head into her heads. "Dear god, what does all this mean? Who am I?" She was afraid she didn't want to know. Afraid she might discover that she was no better than Rico or Skull man and his mysterious master. "I don't understand any of this, Detective, but I'm afraid I'm being manipulated. I don't know why or to what end but someone sent me here... Maybe they wanted me to see this..."