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  Savannah heard the trio of girls coming before she saw them. Julie’s high-pitched laugh was distinctive and a bit annoying.

  “Hey, girl!” Julie bellowed from halfway down the block.

  “Hey, Jules,” Savannah responded.

  The other two girls, Beth and Cindy, were nearly carrying Julie.

  “You look like you’ve already had a few,” Savannah said.

  “That would be an understatement,” Beth, the smallest of the trio, said. “We tried to talk her into going back to the dorm, but she insisted on coming to the party.”

  “Let’s go inside, bitches!” Julie yelled.

  “You heard the lady,” Savannah said.

  The door was wide open, so the four friends staggered in. A crowd of people was gathered around a makeshift bar set up in the corner. Two men were making colorful drink concoctions for partygoers. There was a keg of beer just inside the door, and a skinny, pale young man handed each of the girls a plastic cup filled to the brim with foamy beer. The deafening noise coming from the adjoining room made talking almost impossible.

  “Let’s check out the band,” Julie yelled.

  With beers in hand, the four pushed their way into the room where angsty music was playing at high decibels. As soon as Savannah set eyes on the lead guitar player, the rest of the world vanished. Sweat dripped from his coal-black hair, and his muscles flexed under the tight, wet, T-shirt. A wave of desire swept over her, and she felt unbelievably alive. Amid the chaos, their eyes locked and they held the gaze for what seemed like forever. Savannah felt her face flush.

  “They’re good,” Cindy yelled, bringing Savannah back to reality.

  Savannah broke eye contact with the handsome guitar player and tried to casually look around the room. Every female in the room was posed in some sort of seductive manner, desperately trying to draw the attention of the guitar god.

  Savannah glanced back at the guitar player, who was still staring at her. She looked around to see if there was another woman near her. When she did this, his face softened into a grin.

  Savannah jumped when Beth screamed in her ear, “Julie isn’t looking so great. Let’s get her home before she blows chunks.”

  Beth grabbed Julie by the arm and tugged her to the other room. Julie stumbled, and Savannah caught her around the waist.

  “Are you kidding me?” Cindy shouted. “We just got here.”

  “I love you girls,” Julie slurred.

  “Can you help us get her back to the dorm?” Beth asked.

  Savannah glanced back at the room with a tinge of regret and sighed. “Of course.”

  CHAPTER THREE

  Alexis

  Lexie unpacked the last of her belongings and settled into her tiny one-bedroom apartment in Venice Beach. Before she plugged in her phone to charge, she deleted her messages from Kate. She had to remember to delete any conversations that she wouldn’t want prying eyes to see.

  The next morning, Kate picked up Lexie in a nondescript Hyundai Elantra. The car would blend in without drawing suspicion. Lexie was relieved to see Kate already had two cups of coffee in the cup holders.

  “I took the liberty of grabbing a cup for you too,” Kate said, motioning toward the coffee.

  “I might actually kiss you,” Lexie said, laughing.

  “Well, let’s not get too carried away; it’s just coffee with a little cream and sugar. I didn’t spring for a latte. You have to earn latte status,” Kate joked.

  Lexie took a sip from the steaming cup. “Thank you. My apartment doesn’t have a coffeemaker, and I’m a coffee addict.”

  “Remind me, and we’ll buy you a coffee maker on the way home from work,” Kate said.

  They drove north on the Pacific Coast Highway.

  “Where are we going?” Lexie asked.

  “We’re meeting Adam near the Malibu pier. He has a surprise for you.”

  “What kind of surprise?”

  “If I tell you, then it wouldn’t be a surprise.”

  Lexie smiled. “This is a beautiful drive.”

  “I enjoy driving the PCH. It relaxes me.”

  “I can see why,” Lexie said. “The seashore is spectacular.”

  Lexie peacefully watched the morning sun glisten off the water.

  “Are you a detective with LAPD?”

  “Yeah. I made detective three years ago. My agency assigned me to the JTTF a year ago.”

  “All that alpha male testosterone. You sick of the swinging dick routine yet?” Lexie asked.

  Kate smirked. “Early in my career it was a little difficult-—the constant dirty jokes, the raunchy bravado, the subtle digs—but it’s not bad now. Or maybe I just got used to it and can tune it out. What about you?”

  “Some of the guys in my office didn’t think I’d survive the undercover school because I’m so small.”

  “Guess you showed them.”

  “Yeah. Seems like I work twice as hard to get half the respect.”

  “Do you think that you put extra pressure on yourself to always be the best?” Kate asked.

  “Maybe, but it’s still a good ol’ boy network.”

  They drove a half hour up the coast. Kate pulled into a large parking lot near the pier. Lexie spotted Adam sitting alone on a bench.

  Adam smiled when Kate and Lexie walked up. “What do you think of your new digs?”

  “Outstanding,” replied Lexie. “Venice Beach rocks.”

  “Yeah, well, you’ll get over that soon enough. The freaks will wear on you after a while.”

  “Lexie, what do you think of your new wheels?” asked a voice from behind her. It was Mike Gregory, the squad supervisor Lexie had only briefly met on her previous familiarization trip.

  “Damn, Mike. You’re like a bull in a china shop. Lexie, do you remember my supervisor Mike?”

  “Of course. Hello, Mike,” Lexie said, shaking Mike’s hand. “What wheels are we talking about?” “Oops, guess I spoke a little too soon.” Mike laughed. “That’s your next big surprise.”

  “Thanks, Mike,” Adam said as he feigned annoyance.

  “Okay, now I have to know,” Lexie chimed in. “Spill it, Adam!”

  “It’s waiting in the parking lot for you. You didn’t think we were going to chauffeur you all over the place, did you?”

  “Okay, guys, I have to see it. Take me to my chariot!”

  Lexie followed Adam to the corner of the parking lot where a slightly beaten-up Volkswagen bug was waiting for her.

  “It’s perfect!” Lexie squealed. “I love it, and it fits in perfectly with the crappy apartment in Venice.”

  “Hey, hey, hey, the apartment is not crappy; it’s vintage,” Adam stated as he pretended to be hurt.

  Lexie laughed. “I wanted a VW bug when I was a teenager, but my parents wouldn’t buy me one.”

  “I just made your dreams come true,” Adam joked.

  Lexie liked the fact that Adam had a sense of humor, which was rare in the bureau. Most agents took the job way too seriously. “I will cherish my bug and my vintage apartment too.”

  During the meeting, Adam showed Lexie photographs of Phillip and Jeannette Jordan. Several targets of the investigation were known to stay at their house from time to time. The fact that Lexie’s apartment was within walking distance of the Jordan home was no accident.

  After the meeting, Adam, who had driven the VW to the parking lot, left with Mike. Lexie opened the door to her car but then paused, turning back to Kate. “I’m a little nervous about attempting a cold bump.”

  “You’ll be fine, Lexie. Look for a friendly face and be natural.”

  “I hope so. I’ve done so much research on the North American Animal Liberation Press Office website, but reading about the movement and infiltrating it are two different things. What if I sound like an idi
ot when I try to talk to people?”

  “You don’t have to be an expert. Let them teach you.”

  “I want to do a good job. My reputation as an undercover agent is riding on this case.”

  “I haven’t known you long, but I have confidence in you, Lexie. Call me if you need anything or if you want to talk,” Kate said.

  “Will do,” Lexie replied, and she was off to Venice.

  After arriving home, Lexie walked over to the Boardwalk and grabbed a soy latte. She was getting used to soy milk, but it didn’t taste as good as dairy. She sat at an outside table at a small organic coffee shop and surfed the Internet while she sipped her latte. Her Apple laptop was registered in her undercover name and was strictly for undercover use. Adam told her their subjects would take any opportunity they got to search through her stuff, including the laptop. Lexie knew, if given the opportunity, they would not only search the laptop, but they would also install spyware to keep track of what she was doing online.

  While online, Lexie found websites for numerous animal activist groups in the area. Her strategy was to volunteer with the aboveground activities and eventually find out who had knowledge of the underground activities. The ultimate goal was to get recruited to participate in underground, illegal direct action with members of a domestic terrorist cell. The FBI had no interest in the people just trying to save feral cats. The underground cells were the ones committing the felonies that Lexie and her team were targeting. This task wasn’t going to be as easy as she originally thought.

  Lexie walked past Phillip and Jeannette’s house on her way home. She figured if she made a habit of walking past the house on her way to and from the Boardwalk, she might see people coming and going from the house. Several old junk cars were parked out front that probably belonged to people crashing at the house. Lexie chuckled. There have to be more old VW buses in Venice than the rest of the United States combined, she thought. It seemed like every hippie in Venice drove a VW bus. She casually strolled by the house and returned home.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Savannah

  A month into the school term, Haley came back to the dorm to find Savannah crying. “What happened, Savannah? Did somebody die?”

  Savannah’s eyes were swollen. Wet discarded tissues were crumpled up beside her.

  Haley sat down next to Savannah and put her arm around her. “Tell me what’s wrong.”

  Savannah wiped the tears from her face and blew her nose. “I watched the Earthlings DVD you gave me.”

  Haley hugged Savannah. “That’s a tough one to watch.”

  “It was horrible! So much torture and murder. I’m sick to my stomach.”

  “You’re a good person, Savannah. That’s why the movie bothered you so much.”

  Savannah shrugged off Haley’s arm from around her shoulder. “I’m not a good person. You’ve taught me so much about veganism, and I still want to eat things that I shouldn’t. I’m a horrible person.”

  “Savannah, becoming a vegan is not an easy thing. It takes commitment. Most people become vegetarians first and then take the next step to living a vegan lifestyle. You jumped right into veganism, so you can’t expect to be perfect. Don’t be so hard on yourself.”

  “I’ve slipped twice in one week. I needed a snack between classes yesterday, so I grabbed a Snickers bar. The day before that, I put honey in my tea without even thinking.”

  “You put bee puke in your tea?” Haley laughed.

  “It’s not funny. I forget that bees have faces too.”

  “I’m sorry I laughed. Everyone slips in the beginning. I’m proud of how far you’ve come in only a month.”

  “I’ve lived such a sheltered life. I never thought about all the animal cruelty in the world. The hidden camera footage in the DVD was utterly sickening. Haley, I promise I will never eat meat, drink milk, or wear leather again. I’m serious. Nothing with a face, ever again.”

  “That’s my girl,” Haley said. “Hey, I bet I can cheer you up.”

  “How?”

  “Want to go to a demonstration?”

  “Sure! I’ve never been to a demonstration. Where?”

  “Dr. Albert Middleton’s home. He’s a vivisectionist at UCLA. He’s a fucking barbarian, and tonight we’re going to let his neighbors know they live next to an animal torturer.”

  “I’m in,” Savannah responded.

  “Are you sure?”

  “I’ve never been so sure of anything in my life. I don’t want to just be a vegan. I want to be an activist like you.”

  Haley smiled a small smile at first, but as it grew her eyes sparkled. She threw her arm back around Savannah’s shoulder. “Let’s go change the world.”

  * * * * *

  The group of demonstrators at Dr. Middleton’s house carried huge signs depicting chimpanzees being tortured in laboratory experiments. Savannah wore one of Haley’s antivivisection T-shirts. One of the demonstrators, a guy dressed in black, his nose and mouth covered with a bandana, handed Haley a bullhorn.

  “You ready for this, Savannah?” Haley asked.

  “I am!”

  “Carlos, take half the group to the other side of the street,” Haley ordered. “I want demonstrators on both sides of the street so they can’t avoid seeing our signs. Let’s put the loudest of the group in this asshole’s driveway.”

  “Will do.”

  “If anyone comes walking by, remember to hand them a leaflet.”

  Haley put the bullhorn to her mouth. “One, two, three, four, open up the cage door! Five, six, seven, eight, smash the locks and liberate! Nine, ten, eleven, twelve, vivisectors go to hell!”

  The chanting became deafening when the crowd joined in. Savannah was a little hesitant at first, not knowing what to do. She carried a sign and watched the other protestors. Before long, she joined in and was marching and chanting with the rest of the group.

  A woman wearing designer workout clothes and pushing a baby in a stroller saw the demonstrators and quickly turned the other way. Savannah ran up to her with a leaflet.

  “Hello. Please take one of our leaflets that will show you your neighbor, Albert Middleton, tortures and kills innocent animals.”

  The woman started walking faster. “I don’t want any trouble. Leave me alone.”

  Savannah returned to the group. “She seemed scared of us,” Savannah told one of her fellow demonstrators.

  “They’re either scared of us, or they get confrontational.”

  “She wouldn’t even take the leaflet,” Savannah said.

  “She’s an ignorant, rich bitch. She wants to live in her wealthy neighborhood and ignore what’s happening all around her.”

  “This is my first protest. I thought more people would talk to us.”

  “It depends on the place. People are more engaging on college campuses. In private neighborhoods, they usually ignore us and call the police.”

  A few minutes later, the UCLA police arrived. Two officers, one not much older than Savannah, approached the group.

  The older officer, whose uniform was stretched a little tight across his midsection, addressed the demonstrators. “Ladies and gentlemen, you need to move away from this residence. You’re required to stay at least three hundred feet from the house.”

  The guy with the bandana covering much of his face approached the officers. “We have a right to be here. You can’t make us leave. It’s freedom of speech.”

  The officer took two steps forward, nose to nose with the bandana guy. “If you don’t move farther away from the house, we will arrest you. It’s your choice.”

  Savannah, Haley, and the other demonstrators begrudgingly moved down the street. Bandana guy, who Savannah learned was named Jesse Rudolph, continued to challenge the two officers. Moments later, he was cuffed and thrown into the back of the UCLA police car and carted off to jai
l.

  Adrenaline pumped through Savannah’s body. Her heart raced, and her palms were sweating. The situation was terrifying but exciting and liberating at the same time. Eventually the police made the demonstrators leave the neighborhood, citing violations of noise ordinances.

  As they traveled back to their dorm, Savannah chattered on incessantly. “That was amazing! Half the neighborhood now knows about this douche bag.”

  “Most of them already knew,” Haley said. “This wasn’t the first time we’ve been to his home.”

  “How can he do it? What kind of person can chop up and kill an innocent animal with no remorse?”

  “He’s an evil bastard, Savannah. That’s why we fight. Sometimes we have to pick them off one at a time. If we show up in his neighborhood enough times, then the neighbors will get tired of having him around. Not that they give a shit about our cause, but they don’t want to be inconvenienced. Eventually they’ll pressure him to leave their nice, expensive community.”

  “Then what happens?”

  “We find out where he moves to and do the same thing there. If we keep up the pressure, he or his wife will become weary of the moves and he’ll find another line of work.”

  “Does it always work?”

  “Nope. Sometimes we have to step up our game.”

  “What does that entail?”

  “You’re not ready for that yet.” Haley grinned. “But soon.”

  * * * * *

  Months later, on a beautiful December afternoon, Savannah and Haley, who had become nearly inseparable, chatted effortlessly as they strolled down the Venice Beach Boardwalk.

  “Hey, thanks for inviting me to the New World Militia meeting,” Savannah said.

  Haley glanced over her shoulder. “Just call it NWM. Do you know the difference between an abolitionist group and a welfarist group?”

  “Not really.”

  “Abolitionist groups are involved in more direct action campaigns. The members tend to be more radical and believe that no risk is too great to save an innocent animal. They use tactics such as vandalism, arson, and animal liberations to get the attention of animal abusers. Animal welfarist groups usually don’t believe in committing illegal acts. These groups believe that changes in legislation are the means to abolishing cruelty to animals.”