Bodies clad in black wandered through the night, hidden by its darkness, waiting and watching like hunters watch their prey.
 
    “Bunny-bunny is in with Pocahontas. Over.”

     “Copy. I’ve got the camera on. This bunny is going down, baby.” The redhead spoke from inside the van parked on the other side of the street. “I’ve got them in the living room. What’s the view from there? Over.”

     “Clear view for shooting and a hell of a porn movie in action. You getting this, Thumper? Over.” The brunette in the shadows asked amused by the scene unfolding before her eyes.

     “Oh yeah, Bambi. And I’m not letting go of it any time soon either.” The redhead mused, watching as the man groped at the pretty blonde inside the house. Turning the sound up, she chuckled at the conversation.
 
    “Who’s your big tiger, babe? Huh?” The man mumbled while trying to undo the buttons of the blonde’s blouse.

     “You are... tiger.” The woman uttered, running her hands down his shirtless chest, letting him finish taking her blouse off. Taking him by the belt, she guided him up the stairs to the bedroom.
 
    “Bunny-bunny is getting lucky tonight. She’s taking too long. Is he in for the fall yet? Over.” The brunette murmured as she moved along with the couple inside the house, climbing up the wall to the balcony, where she met another woman dressed much like herself. They nodded at each other and went back to watching the people in the mansion.

     “Not yet, will be soon enough though. What’s your position, B1? Over.” The redhead inquired, typing a message in the computer, while watching the couple walk in the bedroom.

     “Balcony. I’ve got Goofy here. In position and waiting for orders. Over.”

     “Copy. Instructions to be given soon. Over.” The woman in the van finished with a smile as she watched the blonde jump slightly, then frown quickly as she read a message on her beeper, and plaster a fake smile on her face as she started talking

     “So, baby, I hear you’re very rich” The blond woman purred sexily.

     “Oh, yes. I’ve got enough money to last me ten lifetimes. Does that turn you on, baby?

     “Oh, you have no idea. You must be very a talented man.”

     “Smart would be the word.” He gushed

     “What do you mean?” The blonde feigned confusion

     “Oh, most of my money I got from bending the rules a little. Got some cents here and there from my old company. In a year, I was rich. Fools didn’t even notice a thing. I left at the beginning of this year. But enough about that. Give your big daddy a kiss!”  He confessed, trying to pull the woman into his arms. She pulled away, smiling wickedly.

     “Okay. He’s fish, you can go in. Over.” The redhead ordered over the headset

     “Got it. Over.” The brunette nodded at the other woman, motioning for them to move.

     Sliding through the doors, they quickly approached their target, guns pointed.

     “Freeze!” Tracey, the brunette, yelled and pointed her gun at the man. “You are under arrest for suspicion of fraud, embezzlement; soliciting; and being a bad, bad boy.” she smirked at the couple by the bed

     “What! Wait, I... I... I can explain! This is my niece! Please! Oh God, how did you... when...” The man sputtered, completely shocked by the situation.

    The woman standing next to Tracey took the chance to approach him, as the other brunette kept her defense position. Tania twisted the man’s arm and handcuffed him. The man grimly nodded, too shocked to do anything else. As he was being taken out of the room, he turned his head to look at the blonde who had been with him hug and smile at the brunette with the gun. Frowning in confusion and anger, he allowed Tania to escort him out of the room.

-----In an office in N.Y. City----

     “Good job, girls!” Thompson called out as the four women walked past him on their way to their boss’ office. They grinned at him and came to a halt in front of the heavy oak doors.

     “You can go in now. He’s waiting for you.” The secretary smiled before returning to her phone conversation as the girls walked in the office.

    He turned around and smiled brightly at his employees. The Armani suit fit his broad shoulders, emphasizing the aura of power that surrounded him. Perfect white teeth enhanced his smile as he finally addressed them. The hand combing through his stylish gray hair did nothing to detract from his authority.

    “Ladies! Come on in.” He invited them further into the office. They nodded in acceptance and surveyed the couple sitting in front of his desk.
 
    The man wore a fine black suit with an expensive silk tie. Prada shoes adorned his feet, and a leather briefcase sat beside him. The brunette woman perched elegantly in a gray business suit, a briefcase sitting next to her. She held a couple of manila folders in her hands.

     “I was glad to hear about the success of the last case. The company was happy to get its money back.” Their boss’ words brought them out of their contemplation, and they smiled their thanks at his compliment.

    “We were glad, too, John.” Anna, the redhead, smiled softly. “And we’re completely thrilled to have blackmail material on Col here.” She grinned, throwing an arm over the blonde’s shoulder, who groaned in return and pushed Anna away.

    “Right. Next time, you play the slut.” Colette pouted, making everyone laugh.

    “Ahem.” Tania looked pointedly at the couple. John nodded before introducing them.

    “This is Mr. Marrow and Agent Simpson.” He pointed at each person as he introduced them. Then he waved a hand at the four women. “And these are the best private investigators in the city.”

    “Nice to meet you.” The agent smiled at the young women. A chorus of hellos echoed back, and John started talking business.

    “Mr. Marrow is a manager for The Firm. He represents the musical group, Backstreet Boys. I’ll let him explain why they are here.” John sat back on his chair.

    The man nodded and stood up

    “Well, as John said, I’m a manager for the Backstreet Boys. I don’t know if you are aware of the death attempts that have been made towards the group.” Marrow received blank looks and figure they didn’t know.

    “I’m sorry, we’ve been really busy with this last case.” Anna apologized for their lack of information.

    The businessman shook his head. “Don’t be. Well, they have been victims of, up until now, three death attempts, but both the police and the FBI have been having problems catching the person or persons responsible. Fortunately, the Boys physical integrity has been maintained, but they are incredibly disturbed by the situation. Even though the FBI has been doing a fine job, The Firm, Jive, and the ‘Boys have decided it would be better to reinforce security until this is over. That’s where you come in.” He explained, turning to face the women who had been paying close attention to his speech.

    “What do you have in mind?” Tracey asked from her place on the couch

    “Well, if you choose to accept the case, you’d be part of an investigation team, together with Agent Simpson. She’s with the FBI.” He explained. “ You’d also, temporarily, replace their bodyguard team, as advised by the FBI, until we find out who’s trustworthy and who’s not.”

    “What would it involve?” Colette looked at Mr. Marrow.

    Agent Simpson stood up and passed a file folder to each private investigator as she started explaining the case.

    “The group is on tour and will remain for another two months. You accepting the case would involve traveling with the tour, on each of your individual charge’s bus, then, after they are assigned new bodyguards, in a bus of your own.” The FBI agent explained.
 
    “You are holding the files that explain what we have so far. I’d suggest you study it before making a decision on whether or not to take the case.” The woman spoke succinctly, getting nods as answers.

    “Well, having that said, we’ll let you decide. We’ll be waiting for a call. Thank you very much.” Marrow shook hands with John and nodded at the women. They left saying quick good-byes.

    “That’s it. Take tonight off, relax, have fun. We’ll get together tomorrow to discuss the case.” John waved them out of his office.

------

    “Woohoo! Let’s party, baby!” Colette squealed, showing off a bottle of wine and two boxes of pizzas, while walking into Anna’s apartment. The redhead rolled her eyes.

    “Good to see you think of studying files as a party. Maybe if we had a few murderers over we could have an orgy.” She commented sarcastically

    “Are the others here yet?” The blonde asked, ignoring Anna’s grumbling

    “Tracey’s here. T must be on her way. She had to stop by her mom’s before coming.” Anna answered, while helping Colette set the pizza and wine down on the kitchen table.

    “Cool, when she gets here we’ll start.” The other woman walked into a room that served as a home office.

    “Hey, Tray!” She exclaimed jumping on the couch next to the brunette, who groaned as she sat up.

    “Hey, Col. God, did you get laid or something?” Tracey asked commenting on the blonde’s hyperness. Colette giggled

    “Not yet. Had some chocolate with rum filling though. As good as sex, baby!”

    “What kind of sex have you been having?” Anna asked nonchalantly, sitting in front of the couch. The other two women looked at each other and laughed.  Anna shook her head, getting up to answer the door.

    “That must be T. You two behave while I’m gone.” She pointed at them with a maternal glare. The two just smiled innocently. The redhead rolled her eyes as she walked out of the room.

    Five minutes later, she came back with Tania. The two stopped dead in their tracks as they walked in the room only to be met by a scene of complete devastation. The office had goose feathers all over the place, and Colette and Tracey looked up innocently from their improvised pillow fight.

     “Tracey...” Anna started as she looked at the woman holding an empty cushion “Run. Now.” She said as she started moving towards her.
 
    Tracey quickly came back to her senses and started running out of the office into the kitchen and living room, Anna hot on her heels. The redhead finally caught up with her friend and put her in a hold that prevented her from moving. Sitting on Tracey’s legs, she held the brunette's arms above her head.

    “What part of behave didn’t you get?” Anna barked in Tracey’s face. The brunette growled and moved her hips, causing Anna to lose her grip on her legs. Quickly using that to her advantage, she thrusted her hips up, forcing her arms free, throwing the redhead over her head onto her back, quickly straddling her waist, this time holding Anna’s arms together.

    “Oh, I got it. I just didn’t feel like doing it.” She grinned evilly as the redhead tried to free herself from the grip on her arms. Sighing as if giving up, Anna quickly brought her free leg, around and in front of Tracey, pushing her backwards so she was lying on her legs. Taking advantage of Tracey’s shock, Anna turned the brunette on her stomach, twisting her arms and holding them on her back.
 
    "Well, next time, do it! That was my favorite cushion, damn you deer!” she said releasing her friend and standing up, cracking her neck muscles.
 
    Tracey was panting lightly and turned onto her back, looking up at Anna.
 
    “Fine. But next time, ask who started the mess.” She finished, moving her leg quickly, hitting Anna’s ankle, causing her to lose her balance and fall. Anna took a minute to gain her breath back, then looked at Tracey who was still on the floor beside her. They glared at each other then laughed, helping each other up.
 
    “So, who DID start the mess?” Tania queried as she watched her friends dust off.

     Colette quickly diverted her gaze and changed the subject.

     “Uh.. who wants some pizza?”

     Tania looked laughingly at her “You did, huh?”

     “What?! I have no idea what you’re talking about. Now let’s eat some pizza.” She put an end to the subject by leaving the room.
 The others followed her snickering.
 
    “By the way. You own me a cushion.” Anna told Colette as she put a piece of pizza on her plate.

     “Fine. That way I get to buy you a pretty one.” The blonde rolled her eyes, taking a seat at the table, across from Tracey and Tania.

     “Hey! I resent that! I made that cushion!” Anna fought back, also taking a seat.

     “I have nothing against your sewing abilities. It’s your color combination that doesn’t go well with my stomach.” Colette told them seriously

     “Whatever. Are we even discussing the case tonight?” The redhead pouted. The others snickered.

     “Yeah, of course we are, honey. Right after we finish this pizza.” Tania answered, petting Anna’s head. Anna mumbled something under her breath and went back to eating.

     After twenty minutes of chewing and sipping wine while talking quietly, the girls finished dinner and got up to discuss the files that had been given to them.

     Going into the office, Anna just shook her head as she swept some feathers away with her hands and sat on the couch, opening a file. The others took seats and opened their files as well.
 
    “Well, what do we have here?” Tania scanned the file.
 
    “Target: The Backstreet Boys, composed of Alexander James McLean, Brian Thomas Littrell, Howard Dwaine Dorough, Kevin Scott Richardson, and Nickolas Gene Carter.” Colette read out loud, analyzing each of their pictures as she read the names. “The blond is a hottie.” She commented with a devilish smile.

     “Famous pop band, set some pretty high record sales worldwide. Precursors of the new boyband hysteria. Their last record sales didn’t do too well, though they did sell over a million records. Gosh, a million records and they didn’t do too well? What do they expect from these guys?” Anna relayed the information in the file, putting in her two cents

     “They play pretty high numbers nowadays, Ann. Says they’ve been victims of three attempts in the last month. First one happened a month ago, the first Friday of the month, on June 3rd. It consisted of a stuffed bear received at a concert, and inside there was a homemade bomb. The bomb exploded inside a van injuring the driver and two other passengers. Either the person didn’t know the group’s schedule or the intention wasn’t to get them personally. Seems they don’t travel with the gifts. Well, the bomb recipe is on the Internet, so our list of suspects go from a mad teenybopper to a professional killer.” Tracey analyzed the material.

    “The second one happened nine days later, June 12th, on a Sunday when the group was performing in NYC. Gunshots were heard in the arena at one of their concerts. The security team was quick in taking the group into a safe place but not quick enough to catch whom did it. No one was injured. No suspects were caught either. A gun was found in a trash can, though no fingerprints were on it.” She read about the next attempt.

    “Whoa, guys. This is a pretty potent weapon. You can’t get this from your store on the corner.” Anna stared at the machine gun.

    “What do you know about this gun, Anna?” Tania looked over at her friend, since Anna had always had an affinity for the subject.

    ““Well, it can reach the target at a 100 yards distance. It is known in the military for its capacity of killing. The bullet goes into the victim destroying the vital intern organs such as heart, lungs, kidneys and so on. It’s generally used in wars, on ground combat.” She explained to them.

    “Big stuff, so where could they have gotten it?”

    “It’s hard to know. It could’ve been in a gun fair, you don’t even need IDs to go in. You get there, buy a gun and get out, without being questioned once. Ticks me off. They could’ve stolen it, have they checked the serial number?”

    “Been scratched off.” Supplied Colette.
 
    “Damn, well, our list of suspects is pretty much as big as the entire world. And I must say I don’t see many connections between the two attempts.” Tania complained

    “True at that. One a homemade bomb, the other a professional gun. No connections up until now.” Tracey agreed.

    “Well, maybe...” Anna started to speak, thinking out loud.

    “Maybe what Ann?” pushed Colette.

    “Well, you see. Here on the file there’s an interesting fact. The ballistics proved that from the size of the hole on the instruments, that’s the only thing the bullets hit, they think the person was at least 90 feet away from the stage. From the position of the drums it hit, the person was at stage left on the balcony The funny thing is, according to them, three members of the group were on the other side of the stage, making it impossible for this person to aim, or even see these boys. The other two were sitting at least 10 feet away from where the bullets hit.” She spoke as if in a trance.

    “So?” urged Tania for her to go on.

    “So this is a high-precision gun.”

    A light bulb seemed to appear over her friend’s head.

    “And the homemade bomb never came close to the group members.” Tania finally caught on to Anna’s train of thought.

    “Uh, would you geniuses care to share your big discovery with the less gifted ones?” Tracey half-joked, wanting in on their thoughts.

    “Follow this, Tracey,” started Tania “The homemade bomb was in a van that never even came near the group, the shots which could have easily hit any of them, didn’t come near to actually getting them, but both gave these guys a lot of media attention.”

    “So... you’re saying they have done this to themselves?”

    “Well, yeah, that’s possible, or these attempts could be just warnings. That’s what we’ll have to find out. Of course, we can’t rule out the possibility of them doing it strictly for media attention. Their sales must’ve hit the ceiling with all this mayhem going on.”

    “True. The money factor can never be left out of our cases, can it?”

    “Life revolves around money, Col.”

    “Whatever, money doesn’t bring happiness.” She said cheekily

    “But it can buy things that do.” Tracey replied with the same cheeky tone.

    “Gosh, you guys are dorks. What else does the file say?” Anna rolled her eyes.

    “Gosh, you’re no fun.” Tracey rolled her own eyes, mocking Anna.

    “Guys.” Tania said in a warning tone “The third attempt happened also nine days after the second one, June 21st. The group was doing a TV appearance here in NYC two days prior. After the concert, the group members went up to their rooms because they had a via phone interview. The crew stayed and had dinner, which consisted of pasta, at the hotel restaurant. After a few minutes they started complaining of pain and were quickly taken to the nearest hospital. The tests proved that they had had food intoxication. The analysis proved it was a kind of poison that hasn’t been used for a long time, but it’s known to be life threatening.” she spoke stopping their bickering.

    “Good deal. You think these guys would poison their own crew just to get media attention?”

    “I don’t know. We’d have to meet them to figure that out.” Anna smiled,

    “Yeah, I guess we will. Say, girls, how would you like a trip around the world?” Colette grinned
 
    “Only if it is to solve a case...” Tania nodded

    “And the five hot guys aren’t bad either.” Tracey agreed, making the others roll their eyes.

    Anna got up and got the phone. Dialing a number by heart she waited as it rang.
 
    “Hello...John, give Mr. Marrow a call. We’re taking the case.” She said smiling at the others.