Disclaimer: All rights go to the respective people.

So there I was, kissing the hottest girl I'd ever met…in the middle of the road. Yeah, not my first choice of venue. However, with her tongue in my mouth and her nipples poking into my chest, I really didn't care at the moment. It was only when an old lady with glasses that looked as if they could pick up cable signals started honking that I finally decided to pull away.

"Okay, that was fun," I said, "Now what?"

"I don't know, what do you think?"

She probably didn't want to know what I thought. What I had in mind included wine, candles, and Marvin Gaye's 'Let's Get it On' playing in the background. And I certainly didn't want to scare away what could be the most successful relationship I've had in almost ten years. But, on second thought, my bitch ex-girlfriend Kikyo didn't really qualify as a relationship. More like me buying her expensive shit while she slept with anything that had a dick. Anything.

We climbed back into Kagome's Charger and pulled into traffic. Insert another awkward silence. I finally decided to break it.

"Let's see what's on the radio." I tuned to a good station.

'You're beside me on the seat, got your hand between my knees and you control how fast we go by just how hard you want to squeeze.'

Okay next station…

'I been really tryin' baby. Tryin' to hold back this feelin' for soo long. And if you feel, like I feel baby, then come on. Ohhh come on. Whoo. Let's get it on.'

Apparently God really hated me. One more time.

'Every time I look in the mirror, all these lines on my face getting clearer The past is gone'

Alright, Aerosmith. This I could live with. We continued down the road and she actually kept it below 100 mph. Whether it was for me or for money, I didn't know. I finally remembered what we were doing in that part of the city.

"So, what next. He seems to no longer have his car, although I wouldn't trust him as far as I could throw him."

"Next we do the standard neighborhood canvas. Talk to friends, family, anybody that would notice a $200,000 car rolling the streets. I doubt he has it stored away somewhere, that baby needs to be driven."

By the time we arrived back at my house, there was a 1957 Cadillac El Dorado in my driveway. Which meant one of two things. Either some gang-banger thought my Camaro was easy pickings, or my parents had come to visit. And judging from the 'Green is for cows' bumper sticker, I was betting on the second one. That and they were both gawking at the sexy red beast on my concrete.

"Now this is a car," my father said, "How'd you afford it?"

Kagome got out of the car, "It's a company car, supplied by Miroku for business purposes."

My mother ogled, my father got the 'that's my boy' smile on his face, and I had to loosen my shirt.

"And who is this?" my mother wanted to know.

"My work partner." I told her firmly. For now. "Come on in, and I'll order a pizza."

"No need," Kagome said, "I saw the ingredients for a good spaghetti dinner in the cupboard. I can make a mean spaghetti dinner in a few minutes."

We walked in the house and my father pulled me aside, "She's nice, pretty, and she can cook. What did you do tell her you were a billionaire?"

"No, we were assigned to a case together. She's just here temporarily. She'll move out when our case is through." Not if I have anything to say about it, I thought.

"She's living with you? Boy you must be some kind of lucky."

I really wanted to bash my head into the wall. When I found my Grandma seated at the table, I redirected myself to the bathroom where I could drown in the sink. But my mother pulled me back, "Introduce your girlfriend to your grandmother."

"This is Kagome," I said, "And she's not my girlfriend." Yet.

"Well isn't that something, after your last girl ended up a whore, I figured you were off women for a good twenty years."

Well that did it. Kagome shot me a questioning look, and in an instant I knew what would be discussed over dinner. My love life. Great.

We were seated at the table and I was counting the seconds until doomsday. My mother brought the first fork of noodles and meat to her mouth and chewed. If it was good, and I was positive it was, I was done for. She would die and go to matchmaker heaven.

Her eyes lit up and she smiled. Here we go.

"This is fantastic. Just the right amount of meat to balance the noodles. Not too much sauce and not too many tomatoes. It's just perfect."

Kagome preened, "Thanks, but it was really quite simple."

"Oh nonsense, I know it took a long time to get the recipe just right."

Kagome blushed redder, my mother smiled larger, and my father started the nine month calendar to grandparenthood. I on the other hand shoveled meat into my mouth like there was no tomorrow to avoid talking.

When we finally saw my parents' taillights disappear around the corner, I shut the door.

"Sorry about that, my parents tend to be a little overzealous when it comes to my personal life."

"I noticed. So who's Kikyo?"

I sighed. Here we go. "She was my girlfriend about ten years ago. We were living together and everything was going great. Then the day I came home with an engagement ring, I found her bare-assed on the kitchen table with the guy who used to be the quarterback in highschool. Needless to say, she didn't want the ring."

"That's awful. I bet you were heartbroken."

"For a while. Then I got Max and the hole slowly filled."

She leaned up and gave me a peck on the lips. I smiled and kissed her right back. She wrapped her arms around my neck and tangled her fingers in my hair, massaging my ears. I felt a purr rise in my throat, and I grabbed her hips and crushed her to me. We stayed like that for a good ten minutes before the need for air got too great. I was grinning and she had a twinkle in her eye I'd only seen in Max's eye when confronted with a jelly donut.

I slowly released her, but kept my clawed hands on her waist. "I suppose this means that I'm not just a partner anymore." I said.

"I don't think so," she told me, "But you still have to look tough when the people point guns at you."

"I think I can manage that now." The Cheshire cat had nothing on me at the moment. I could practically feel my mouth meeting at the back of my head. I thought about suggesting a shower and then bed, but I felt that was taking it too far too soon. If I lost this one, I'd shoot myself.

We climbed into bed and I felt her arms snake around me. "There's nothing that says partners can't see each other outside of work right?" I asked.

"Not that I remember."

I held her close as I drifted off.

The next morning, I awoke to the smell of French toast frying. I let my nose lead me to the kitchen where the smell of syrup, brown sugar, and egg brought me to a state of euphoria. And there she was, in a fluffy pink bath robe, flipping bread like an old pro. I could get used to this, I thought.

She turned around and smiled at me. "A full breakfast before the chase continues."

"Fucking A." I said.

We ate in silence, me waiting to wake up from the dream I was sure I was having. We finally finished and got ready to chase bad people. She was dressed in black from head to toe. The perfect choice for badass recovery agent. I on the other hand dressed more casual, opting for jeans and a faded Led Zeppelin T-shirt. It was like the Avengers meet Red Skelton.

She gave me an appraising look, "This weekend, we get you new clothes."

"Yeah, the only black I own is on my tux. And that won't convince many criminals to cooperate."

We headed into the office where Miroku was standing looking over files Yura had organized. Yura was filing her nails and looked up when we walked in.

Miroku smiled, "Do I get my money yet?"

I looked apologetic, "Sorry, but he claims to no longer have the car or the keys."

"Bullshit."

"My sentiments exactly."

"So the question is, where did he stash it?"

Kagome spoke up, "I also think that he has to be driving it sometime. You don't just buy something that pretty and flashy to just lock it up."

Miroku looked thoughtful, "You're right. So where does he take it and when? It would be obvious to assume that unless we find the car, we won't find the keys."

I gave light to the conversation, "So we just start looking for racetracks that are open to private use and ask if they've seen a creepy guy in an expensive car?"

"That's where I would start." Miroku told us.

Yura grabbed a file, "In the meantime, why don't you take a crack at this one. An '05 Mustang. Worth about $6000."

Good. An actual substantial cash influx. I grabbed the file, promised a safe return and left with Kagome in tow.

She peeked at the file, "Jimmy Longfetter. This looks like his first offence. It shouldn't be too hard. Fifty-fifty split?"

"Deal."

We took Third to Main, and cruised to twenty-sixth. After about ten minutes of looking, we finally spotted the blue pony parked diagonal at an apartment walkup. I once again tried the door. Locked. Damn. I really hope this guy doesn't have a gun.

We walked up to the door and I knocked. A minute later a voluptuous blonde answered the door wearing really short jean shorts, and a bikini top. Normally I would have given the customary appraising look, but with something ten times better standing next to me, I only offered my hand.

"Hello. We represent Houshi Loan Offices, and we need to speak to Mr. Longfetter."

She screamed into the house with the voice of a two-pack-a-day smoker, "Jimmy! There's people here to talk to you."

Like nails on a chalkboard. Remember, don't judge a book by its cover. A man of about twenty-three came to the door. He also had blonde hair, was about five foot ten, and was also dressed only in underwear. I was starting to think we'd interrupted something.

He scowled at us, "What?"

Kagome gave him the whole repo speech.

"I don't think I want to give you my keys. I need that car for backseat purposes."

Great, a pervert with a business itinerary. I was going to have to bleach my hands after I took his car. I looked at Kagome, silently giving her the go-ahead-and-break-his-arm look. She nodded and offered her hand to Jimmy.

"It's nice to meet you Jimmy, but I'm afraid we do need to talk." She batted her eyelashes and spoke like silk. The wolf stalking its prey.

Jimmy dumbly took her hand and she turned him inside out backwards.

"Holy shit! Holy sweet Jesus that hurts bitch, let go!"

"Keys bitch."

The woman finally got smart and reached into the cookie jar, "Here, just don't hurt him." She handed me the keys.

"Thank you for your cooperation. We'll be leaving now."

While Jimmy gave me the evil look, I did a finger salute to Kagome, turned over Jimmy's car, made a mental note not to touch anything, and drove off.

Please R&R. During the week upload time may slow down, but in the weekends, it will speed back up. You know. School. Yuck.