Jaci Stone - Act 02

Okay, so it's been a long time since I've added to my story list.

Call it the stress of my bitch-wife throwing me out of my house because she wants a divorce. Oh, well. That shit happens.

This story is long. If you have read my other stuff, that's a given. No, I'm not going to split my shit into sixty-nine parts to keep your hands and socks busy. There's not even that much sex in this particular yarn. Sue me.

I've put this story into the TG&CD section because the protagonist is transgender. *Shrug*

Again, long.

If you've read any of my stuff before, you know there's magic. The characters are at or above the age of responsibility. I like that term, but I mean over eighteen.

Oh, this story is a direct follow-up to 'Jaci Stone.' That story is long as well.

Read well and prosper.

Act Two.

"Ugh!" I shot out of the bed like I had been hit with a stun gun.

What the fucking hell? Was I dead?

I looked at the unconscious figure beside me, a head of curls too tight to be natural. Marcie?

The urge to piss took lead in my thoughts. I went to the bathroom and drained my bladder, trying to figure out what the hell was going on.

I was dead. I had to be. Pete and I had left the curve at almost a hundred twenty kilometers per hour. The truck was almost on its side heading toward the bottom of a tall-ass overpass...No way that was just a dream!

Did I just dream four whole months? What had my vision with Leigh been? Was this a second chance? I quickly dressed, noting with amusement that there were three sets of clothing in the drawers and three sets of shoes in the closet. I grabbed a jacket on the way out of the bedroom, saying a silent apology to Marcie for sneaking out.

My purse and heels were sitting just inside the front doorway. I went into the kitchen and grabbed the yogurt snack. Just like in the dream, Francine was sitting at the counter when I returned from the balcony. We had the same conversation, and Bea took her swing. And missed.

"Damn, Frannie. I've heard of showing someone the door, but don't they have to be awake to see it?"

"You're very funny."

"I'm very going now," I said.

"Just like that?" Francine asked.

"Just like that," I confirmed

"Bea, give her your passbook."

"Why?" I asked. Bea had reached into her pocket and pulled out her passbook. She unlocked it and held it out.

"Well, I don't have five hundred thousand dollars laying around here," Francine answered.

"I don't want your money," I said. "Money comes with strings. I'll find my own way home."

Not giving a chance for retort, I went for the front door. I went outside and was fumbling for my cell when Bea appeared in front of me. She extended her hand, showing me the passbook. "No strings."

I took the passbook. "Fine."

"Would you like a ride? It's quite a walk to North Angeles."

Yeah, I was in Newport Beach. "I'll get a cab."

"What's on that passbook should cover it."

"My card will cover it. The passbook...can fly there." I wizzed the passbook into the nearby brush. "I can't be bought off."

Bea snickered. "That device cost sixty-five thousand dollars."

"Bill me." I gave her a shrug and walked away

I called up the application on my phone that would bring a cab to me. I input my destination and of course I had to put in a card number for prepayment because it was so far. Gabrielle's card was declined. I tried a closer destination, and it was still declined. I put my debit card number into the app to see how much distance I could get out of it. Once the dispatch fee came out, it would get me...eight miles. And stupid-ass me could have gotten home in style if I wouldn't have thrown that passbook into the brush. I debated on whether or not to call Starr and Pete, and would have if my phone hadn't lost all wireless connections. There wasn't any tower connection at all. I had been cut off.

Shit.

My newfound ideals were still going through my head after ten miles. I felt good, just a little thirsty. The shoes I had swiped from Marcie's closet fit like a glove and I really couldn't tell they were there.

I found a diner and went inside to pee and get some water. When I exited the bathroom, Bea was sitting at the table the waitress had assigned to me. "Why are you hassling me?"

"You are getting ready to go through South LA, don't you know how dangerous that area is?"

If you only knew. "It isn't any more dangerous than East LA and I have to go through there as well. If I would have let you whack me on the head, I'd be home now."

"You're right," Bea nodded. "I'm glad I didn't, gives us a chance to chat."

"What is it that you do for Frannie?" I asked.

"I make sure that people don't call her 'Frannie' twice," Bea replied. "Why did you call her 'Madame Talbot' back at the house?"

"It's a quirk. Depending on my mood, I'll modify a person's name to suit my taste. Whether or not they want to keep on talking to me, that's their choice."

"Do you want anything to eat?"

"I'm good." I picked up my purse and rifled through the change pocket, setting two bucks in change on the table.

"You won't need that," Bea gave a chuckle as she stood. I'veI already ordered your food and paid your bill. Good day, Madam Stone."

Breakfast consisted of yogurt and fruit. Both were extremely fresh and the yogurt had to have been made locally. I don't know how Bea knew my favorite coffee was a doubleshot flat white latte, but I didn't mind either. The waitress brought back change for a hundred. I tried to figure out how much I would need for a cab and that cash would cover both fare and tip. I left the money on the table.

Harriet was right, I could be hard-headed.

But all of the fussing of the dream had started with meeting Francine Talbot. Should I have left Marcie alone? Probably. Maybe I had just wanted to feel her again. Would I have regretted giving up the chance to fuck her again in reality? Yup.

I had told Marcie about my truck, and figured they might try and pay it off for me like they did in the dream. It was Saturday, and Francine might not find the repair shop which had fixed my truck in time. When I got home, I would have to call and make sure that Jimmy disavowed knowledge of me.

The gold mine under my garage was also a sticking point. If I had just dream-dreamed of a huge ball of gold under my house, I was screwed money-wise. Sure, Starr and Pete would try and help out once they found out Gabrielle was going to drop the big 'D' on me, and that would hold me for a while. There was always the chance that they would dismember Gabrielle, and I really didn't want that.

The cars shadowing me changed out every ten blocks or so. It was hard to shadow a person on foot from an automobile, and they evidently didn't want to put anybody on the ground just yet.

North Angeles was my final destination and they knew that. Any dodging would have to come in the hundred-plus blocks that made up that area. I would start dodging three miles out and hopefully they would lose me. I did a practice run on their next car switch, running three blocks west and cutting back. My followers only lost me for about five minutes and only reacquired me when I returned to the main boulevard. The real move would be easier once the traffic picked up and the amount of lanes doubled. I could lose them around the Expo on the west and loop around the public library to check my six.

Then I remembered The Magic Library.

I could save Samantha from Peter attacking her! But Peter wouldn't attack her if Samantha had never met me, and she wouldn't get pregnant and the Revenger wouldn't have to dismember Peter in front of her.

Was that even real? If The Magic Library really existed, I needed the knowledge within. Apparently there were other libraries, but they were supposedly on the other side of the country. If I wanted to learn, I'd have to go to the local library. A cloaking spell to hide myself from Francine's people would be nice right now. I had never read about cloaking, not in the recent dream nor the past, and I still couldn't do the spell without gold. I performed my planned countersurveillance maneuver, and slipped through the phase shift into The Library proper.

The Librarian only challenged me at the door, Samantha Birch showing up mere minutes later. I asked her for a private room so I could tell her what was happening with me. "She's already filed, Jaci," Samantha said.

"Yeah, she took a month to deliver the papers, forged my name on the receipt."

"No, I see it in your aura. I wouldn't be surprised if this deputy you mention is already at your home."

"That's probably right," I admitted. She was pulling me to her, with those wise eyes and her beauty. I needed to escape. Just for now. "Well, I've got to get home. Thank you for your counsel, Madam Birch."

"You can call me 'Sam.' Since I can make certain events from your dream happen in reality, I will. That platinum card at the 'Arthur' firm? All you will have to do is ask for it at the desk. I will also arrange for the deed to that dazzle and the included building to be transferred to you so that you can park your vehicles there."

"Why would you do that for me?" I asked.

"Because you're a good soul, Jaci. I see in you now what your dream-me saw, and I would be honored to share your bed, soon."

"Sam, I'd really like that," I nodded.

"Just so you know, it will be a one-day here one-day there stand. My family will still have a problem with me having a long-term relationship with a youngster. Best to keep your bed open for those models you were talking about."

"My intention is to avoid them as much as possible."

"Then you better move to an uninhabited island, 'cause you will draw women to you like a magnet. Just fair warning."

Uninhabited islands. How much did those cost? "Gee, thanks," I panned. "Again, I appreciate your counsel."

"You're very welcome. I'll have a car retrieve you out front. No need to finish walking home; immortal or not, it's fucking hot out there."

"Thank you, again."

***

Just like in the dream, the 'Dear Jane' letter from Gabrielle was on the kitchen table. But it was early, because I hadn't been here. In the dream Bea had knocked me on the head and brought me home. That had changed all the following events regarding Gabrielle because she couldn't make a clean escape.

I wasn't surprised that Stephen was at my door right after I got out of the shower. This time I did sign for the papers. He gave me a twisted little smirk before he walked off, like he knew something I didn't. If the reality stayed true to the dream, I would be seeing him again, soon.

I found the gold, right where it had been in the dream. I put a can into a backpack and took the long bus to Long Beach. Michaela was nice enough to front me five thousand in cash since I didn't have a passbook with which to receive the other two hundred thousand dollars.

Mechanic Jimmy was at his shop, so I paid him the cash to get my truck out of hock with new tires, plus another hundred to not know me if anyone came calling.

I couldn't get a passbook on a Saturday, and Michaela's wire transfer wouldn't post for that very reason. I would have to wait until Tuesday at the earliest before I could do some real shopping. That's what passbooks were good for; they were trusted, fully encrypted with a really long whatever it was they used for the transfers.

Finally, I decided to go back home. After another shower, I debated on whether or not to go to Califf to try meeting Leigh. That would, might, set off a whole set of events linked to Morena Wasikowski, someone I wanted to avoid. But I wanted to see if I could get boobs for real, via Chastity. While I was out for a drive, I stopped at a kiosk for my carrier and it turned out that my phone was merely reported stolen. I had the company reactivate it and put it under a new account, one I didn't share with Gabrielle.

How had Stephen known I was home? It wouldn't be like a Deputy Sheriff to be hanging out in North Los Angeles County for a long period of time, especially one tied to the gang unit. I went into my phone and looked through the apps. Gabrielle had once put an app on my phone called 'Find My Family.' She had done this under the pretense that she would come and surprise me every once in a while. She must have lost my signal when she cut off my phone, but knew I was far away and probably on foot because she had turned off the card she had given me. When I got home, my phone had signed in to the house WiFi and reported my location, that's how Stephen knew I would be home and to come serve me the papers.

It was a good thing I had left my phone at home when I went to Long Beach to cash in my gold. Gabrielle may have found out about my trip if the phone hit a public wi-fi and tattled on me. Had Gabrielle known about Long Beach in my vision dream? I wasn't sure.

I went to my family's plot on Sunday, half-hoping that Leigh wouldn't be there visiting her family. She was there. What was Leigh doing in a cemetery anyway? Her being a natural immortal and all, I had never asked her. Was it fate that we would meet anyway, all dreams aside?

"Hi," Leigh waved.

"Hello."

"Are you going to get to the twelve hundred area today?"

"Ma'am, I am merely tending my family plot, I have no clue as to what cemetery landscaping is planning."

"Oh! I'm sorry about that."

"The landscaping crew barely works nine to five on the weekdays," I offered. "You might catch them tomorrow."

"Of course." She wandered off, and I felt a little bad for my tone. Even though meeting her in reality might still lead to me getting my tits, I suddenly didn't feel like getting involved with her. I did love the car and the view from her condo, which she would probably gift me as she had in the dream.

The clipping and trimming was done within the hour, so I fired up my nitrogenator and went to get a snack from my cooler. When I turned back around, Leigh was there studying my tank. "Can I help you?"

"Yes, you can take me home and fuck my brains out," Leigh answered. "We've made love before, in another life. You loved me in another life. I was catching flashes of it before, but this device is amplifying your thoughts."

"Then you know you left me in another life. That's what I want to avoid."

"Why did I leave you?" Leigh asked.

"You went to New Zealand with your...lover Chastity, to go shoot a sequel movie or film. I didn't want to leave my life here to go with you, so you went without me," I replied.

"Hmm. I've heard some rumblings about a sequel to one of my movies, but nothing more."

"You probably will."

"So will you?" Leigh asked. "Take me home and fuck my brains out?"

"I'll try to leave your brains in," I smiled. "Let me finish."

***

Three weeks later Leigh and Chastity left like I knew they would. Leigh told me something before she left: The executive producer for the movie she was going to shoot in New Zealand had been on the fence about actually shooting said movie this year. It wasn't until after Leigh and I had been seen on TV planting flowers in Monrovia that he made up his mind. Chastity and I had exchanged our gifts, and despite the heartache I was really glad that I got boobs for real.

I was also glad that Leigh left the furniture with my new wardrobe. I made plans to get flower boxes put in the condo as soon as possible. I needed to move some more of my gold to Aruma's and having a passbook would make that tonnes easier.

Chuck didn't complain when I loaded him up with four hundred kilos of cans. I checked him inside and out for trackers, both physically and magically, then decided to put the cloaking spell on him anyway. It wasn't really a cloak, it just made it impossible for anyone to use any technology to watch or track me. I liked that idea, especially since I didn't have good foreknowledge of 'reality' Gabrielle's moves.

I needed to turn the cloak off once I reached Arumas because some of the security for the docks was based on sensors. The jerks and the cowboy were at the dock, which meant both were regulars because I was weeks early for that encounter. As I unloaded my canisters of gold, the expected incident occurred. The cowboy drove off again, and I wondered if he would have been so polite if he knew I was trans. I probably would never would find out.

While I was in the condo redesigning the flower boxes I had built in the dream, a call from LeAnne Simon brought me back to reality. I went to her building and diagnosed the problem as I had before. I knew that in the future I wouldn't be so lucky to already know what the job would be. The exchange of estimate and payment took place, just as I had dreamt it, except for the snark from Gabrielle. Francine was there in the building, but this time she didn't pay me any mind. Gabrielle did do a double-take when she saw me, not really sure what to think of me in one of the two-thousand dollar suits that Leigh had bought for me.

Francine caught up with me in the elevator, inviting me to The Lilac Lounge for lunch and begging me to have her for the appetizer.

"Such a wonderful scene," Francine sighed as we sipped our wine. "I'm going to feel that ass-fucking all afternoon."

"Sorry if I was a little rough. Anal is a treat, especially if your partner is ready for it like you were," I said.

"I don't ache, I just feel full. Marcie told me you would make me walk funny, she was right."

"She doesn't hold a grudge because I snuck out on her?"

"Marcie feels that a one night stand is just enough," Francine admitted.

"Hmm. I'll miss her, then." I think it was the hair I would miss most.

Francine smiled. "One night here, one night there, don't be so serious."

I would get to see Marcie again. Good. "I'll try not to be," I promised.

***

I had to go visit Jacko in Long Beach, and was glad I had some containers of gold in my truck so I could kill two birds with one stone. I called her up and mentioned that I needed the lights, and she told me about the customer who had flaked out on her. I promised that I would pick them up as soon as I got done with my other errand.

I was pulling through the first security gate at Arumas when I saw a lone figure pulling a luggage cart in behind me. She interacted with the guard and he let her through. "Do you need a ride?" I asked her.

The woman studied me for a moment, eyes darting to her surroundings, then back to me. "Please?" I got out of my truck and dropped the tailgate so we could load her box. The box itself was heavy, probably twenty kilos. "Yeah, I know it's heavy."

"Mine are too," I indicated the plastic containers in the back. "I'm Jaci."

"Nikki," she replied. "I'm kind of glad you're here. It's Panner's Day."

'Panner's Day' looked like a bunch of amateur gold hunters that ran creek water through screens in search of gold dust. They were in the lobby, being loud, three guards in evidence to keep them in check.

They started jeering when me and Nikki came in, calling her 'Nicholas' and asked if she was wearing her 'panning panties.' One of the guards, the one that Travis had rebuked for leaving his post without waiting for his relief, opened the door to the assay area for us. I heard a collective wail of complaints from the lobby as the door closed.

"Thank you," Nikki said. "You're kind of a big shot around here?"

"A little."

There wasn't a queue for the processing, Nikki and I had jumped the proverbial line. Michaela came around a corner and gave us a big smile. "How are you two today?"

"I'm doing better, ma'am," Nikki nodded. "Jaci helped me past the goofs."