During the next week, Dawn discovered what it meant to be a member of Them. Her basic duty was to accompany Sandy to the Post Office every afternoon and carry back the mail. The sheer bulk of it had to be boxed by the Postal employees in order for Sandy and Dawn to carry it.
Once the mail was brought back to the house, it was divided up into piles by two other members- Rio and Michelle. The mail I was mostly monetary contributors from across the country, used by Them to further their cause. The rest of the mail consisted of inquiries from potential members, former members keeping in touch, and updates from splinter groups.
Dawn was amazed at the multitude of causes that Them was involved in. They were indirectly responsible for the candidacy of two potential U.S. Senators, funded protest marches and rallies, contributed heavily to keep female-owned businesses solvent, and owned through dummy corporations, two feminist newspapers and one mainstream slick magazine. And no one suspected!
Dawn had not been out of another Them member's sight since she was initiated. She was told to forget about her former life and belongings -- they no longer mattered. She was given money to purchase clothes as she needed them, always accompanied by Sandy or another woman.
She was encouraged to dress femininely. She had observed that not all of the women in the group dressed in the stereotypical lesbian garb. Very few in fact. Most of the women who came and went from the townhouse were dressed fashionably - in skirt-suits and heels typical business woman attire.
Dawn acquired dresses, skirts, blouses, shoes, make-up, jewelry -- all expensive items. Her room was a small one on the third floor and it contained only a bed and a dresser. All of her new clothes hung on an aluminum rack against the wall. The window was painted over from the outside, the inside completely covered with expensive drapes. The overhead Iight was covered by a crystal-cut glass dish.
After talking with the other women that lived there, Dawn had built up quite an admiration for the group and their objectives. And she couldn't deny she was having the time of her life being Dawn all of the time.
But she was beginning to miss Jonelle, she wanted to tell her everything she had learned! And, she had to keep reminding herself, she was hired to do a job.
She went with Sandy to the Post Office as usual the next morning, but for some reason, it was unbelievably crowded. Sandy got in line while Dawn went to retrieve the mail from the P.O. boxes. She put the bundles into her satchel and saw Sandy still in line, behind close to twenty people.
At that moment she decided to make a break for it. She hurried out the front door and was down the street in a flash. She hailed a cab and gave the driver directions to her apartment and office. She had no money on her but knew she could give the driver a check once they reached her place.
She explained her position to the driver and asked him to wait while she ran upstairs to get him some money. She still had her keys, but when she inserted it into the lock on her apartment door, she found it wouldn't work. She hurried downstairs to her office and tried her key there. Nothing. The locks had been changed! David Cole, Private Investigations had been taped over. She went to the end of the halIway and looked out the window down into the street and saw the cabbie now out of his cab looking at his watch.
What had happened? She wasn't alone long enough without word that the landlord would have evicted her. And her rent was paid up through the month. She would have to ditch the cabbie. She had no way to pay him.
Very quietly, Dawn Cole made her way down the rickety fire escape attached to the back of the building. The short alley led out onto a big busy street where she soon was lost among the crowd. t a nearby restaurant where David was seen quite frequently, 03wn went into the ladies room and sat in a stall to think.
She hod no money, no credit cards, not even any identification. She hod left it all in the apartment when she had left the last time. She didn't want anything found on her to give away her real identity. So she didn't have her ATM card to withdraw cash, from an all night teller machine. She had to call Jonelle. David had had a telephone calling card, she thought hard to remember all of the numbers she would need to make a call.
Before leaving the powder room, she freshened up her make-up and realized by her reflection, that little trace remained of the man she had once been. Her hair had been cut and styled by a Them member who worked as a hairdresser. Her brows were thinned and arched. Her make-up done perfectly, after weeks of every day practice. Her clothes were well-tailored and stylish, her jewelry expensive but rot flashy. She moved with grace and confidence,no longer worried about "passing." She would have a harder time passing os a man right now if she were to remove the clothes and make-up. Another woman had entered the room and had been watching Dawn stare at her own reflection. Dawn finally noticed her, smiled sweetly and left.
There was a pay phone outside of the restroom and Dawn hit the buttons of her calling card number. It was now difficult with the length of her nails, but she managed and the number was correct. Eventually she got Jonelle on the phone.
"Jo? Thank God - listen, I need help..."
There was silence on the other end. "Who is this?" said Jonelle.
"It's me, Dawn! Jonelle, what's the matter - "
"This isn't funny. Who are you really?" There was a tremor in her voice. She was really upset.
"Jo, it's me, David," she had lowered her voice so nobody nearby would hear her. "I've been with Them, they had me as a kind of house prisoner, I couldn't call you, I couldn't leave - Jo, I have to see you - now!'
"It is you," Jonelle said softly. "Oh, my God."
"What are you talking about? Of course it's me! Who else knows about Dawn and Them?"
"David, they said you were dead!"
Dawn almost dropped the receiver. "What?! Who?"
"Where are you? I'll come and get you."
Dawn told her and hung up. Oead? She took a seat in a booth and ordered a coffee. Dead? The waitress brought the coffee and stared at Dawn strangely. "Do I know you?" she said. "Have you come in here before?"
Dawn shook her head lightly. She knew the waitress knew her as David but she didn't care.
Dead?
Still deeply in thought, Dawn sipped at the hot black coffee. She didn't notice the three women enter the restaurant and look around at the patrons. They noticed her, however, and headed over to her booth.
"Hi, Dawn," a familiar voice said. Dawn looked up, startled. It was Bertie. Accompanied by two other Them members. "We have coffee at the house, you didn't have to come all the way out here." Bertie held out a hand and Dawn reluctantly gave her her own. The woman took it in a strong grip and helped her out of the booth. "Time to go back, now."
Dawn was pushed forward and started to leave, Bertie right behind her. One of the other women left a five dollar bill on the table. Dawn saw the waitress as she walked past her and winked at her. The waitress recoiled in shock.
There was nothing Dawn could do. The three had surprised her, and she couldn't make a scene in the restaurant. Maybe outside she could make a break...
The car was waiting at the curb. There was Sandy behind the wheel. The women Dawn didn't recognize forced her into the back seat. One sat on either side of her. Bertie climbed into the passenger seat beside Sandy
The driver turned around and Dawn saw she sported a black eye. "I'm very disappointed in you, sister," she said, and Dawn noticed a tooth had been chipped.
"Drive." Bertie said sternly. And they pulled out into heavy mid-afternoon traffic.
"We paid your cabfare," Bertie said without turning around.- "He waited a long time for you to come out. Typical male. Anyway, I'm sure you noticed your apartment's locks have been changed."
"You know who I am." Dawn said, defeat in her voice.
"It took some digging, but we found out who you were. Another private eye. Who are you working for?"
"I can't tell you that."
"You might as well, you'll never be able to go back to your client again, anyway." Bertie now turned around and looked at Dawn.
" - Or hadn't you heard? David Cole is dead."
"How do you figure that?"
"Car crash. There were two bodies, both burned beyond recognition. It was a rental car, rented to one David Cole. There was a wallet on one of the bodies, there was enough left after the fire to make out a driver's license number - David Cole's. The other body has never been identified. We closed down your apartment and office, paying off your landlord. We informed your relatives of your 'accident' and invited them to the funeral. Closed-casket, of course." Bertie was grinning.
"Nobody came to your funeral. It was so sad. You must have had very few friends. Your accident was front page news, by the way. The Post ran a picture of your body hanging out of the car, it was ghastly."
Dawn's face was white as a ghost's. Senator Boyce must have seen the papers, and gotten another P.I. to take over for the late David Cole.
"So you see, Dawn, dear, what difference does it make if you tell us who you were working for? The job has been terminated."
But Dawn didn't hear her anymore. Her head was swimming. She had nothing left in the world - no money, no job, no apartment, no identity! Why didn't Jonelle go to David's funeral/?
She still had some hope. Jonelle had been on her way to meet her at the restaurant. She would ask if someone matching Dawn's description had been there. The waitress was sure to remember her, Dawn had made sure of that. Jonelle would know she didn't leave on her own accord.
Dawn's one ace-in-the-h!ole was the fact that Jonelle knew about Dawn, knew about the case, and knew about Them. The rest of the world would believe David Cole was dead, but Jonelle would know better.
Dawn was totally unaware that the other passengers in the car had been carrying on a conversation - trying to guess who Dawn had been working for.
"Arnsberger? He's been sending infiltrators our way for the past three years," the woman sitting to Dawn's left said.
"The IRS? Are you a fed, Dawn?" Bertie said.
"Boyce, Senator Boyce," Dawn said, her voice a mere whisper. "You stole his child."
"Boyce?! He's still after us! Damn!" This was exclaimed by the woman to Dawn's right, in a husky voice. Dawn made an effort to examine this person more closely. She had rather large hands for a woman...
"Sybil I was also sent by Senator Boyce, some five years ago," Bertie said, indicating that the woman to Dawn's's right was Sybil. "She tried a different tactic a frontal assault! She raided our headquarters, alone! We soon taught her a lesson, didn't we, Sybil?" Sybil laughed. "You sure did, sister. You see, Dawn, dear, I used to be a private investigator also. Unfortunately, I 'died' in my foolish attack of Them's headquarters. I thought I could just rush in, guns blazing and snatch Boyce's kid and run off.
"Instead, I got a sex-change!" All of the women laughed. Dawn's blood ran cold.
To Be Continued!
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