Ryan stared at Sean.
“Nadia was a man?” he asked, his voice displaying his surprise. “Then no wonder she never showed on any of our checks, we just asked Interpol to check female databases.”
“Man? No, I suppose she wasn’t really a man, but she sure as hell wasn’t quite a girl,” Sean said.
“So, Michelle, or whatever your name is, just get the fuck outa here, go do your act, keep under the radar and have a nice fucking life,” Sean said, walking over to the door and opening it.
To both men’s surprise, she just sat there looking less distressed but not a little angry.
“Where do I go? Thanks to you, I have no job and have no identity here. So now you have lost me my job, how the hell do I earn enough money to get things fixed?”
“Fixed?” asked Sean.
She stood up, and Ryan realised that she was tall, as with her high heels she was around six foot. She was far more angry than distressed now, and her eyes flashed.
“Yes, Mr DEA agent, fixed! I am another goddamn she-male, as you so eloquently put it. I am saving money for surgery and that is why I have no green card,” she said.
You could have knocked both men over with a feather. For neither of them ever dreamed that this girl was anything other than what she appeared to be. Now they knew about Nadia, they could see it, but Michelle, no way!
Nadia had a hard look about her and both men could see now that it was the masculinity creeping through, but Michelle was totally feminine. There was absolutely no hint of what she had been originally.
With the exception of her above average height, she was the epitome of feminine beauty and Ryan was having real problems dealing with this.
They stared at her for a few moments.
“You, you mean you aren’t a real girl?” Ryan asked, his voice reflecting his surprise and utter disbelief.
Michelle looked at him, with anguish in her eyes. She sighed; a deep and soulful sigh.
“I am a girl and always have been, but my body needs some work to bring it in line with the rest of me,” she said, looking down, feeling that she was exposed and even more vulnerable. Her anger had dissipated and she was now more depressed than ever, a single tear rolling down her cheek.
Ryan watched as she wiped it away with her slender hand, with the nails beautifully shaped and varnished. It was a girl’s hand.
Sean was looking, but still couldn’t see any hint of masculinity in the girl.
“Sit down, Michelle. Please,” he said, and for the first time he sounded almost as if he cared.
She looked at him sharply and then sat, but she was still struggling not to cry.
Sean turned and looked out of the window at the darkening city. He was so tired. This operation was draining him and everyone else he came into contact with seemed to get hurt or killed.
He sighed.
Without turning round, he started to question the girl. His voice was not angry or even threatening, so even Ryan was surprised at the empathy he displayed.
“What’s your real name; your original name?”
“Michel van Hooyt.”
He nodded, looking at the small document in his hand. He placed it on the desk.
“Your drivers licence, did you alter it to read Michelle?”
“Yes.”
“Where’s your passport?”
“Down a toilet in New York.”
Sean smiled.
“Where are you from?”
“The Netherlands. I came here three years ago. My family disowned me when I told them I was a transsexual and wanted a sex change.”
“I thought the Dutch were the sexual liberals of the world?”
“That may be true, but no one told my father.”
“Why America?”
“I met an American in Amsterdam and thought I fell in love. He told me he would help support me and even pay for the operation. I flew to New York and moved in with him. He got me onto the hormones and even the breast implants. But then I discovered he was nothing better than a pimp and I was to be an expensive pre-op call girl.”
“So, what happened?”
“He beat me when I refused, so I pretended to give in. Then after a month, I simply called the police anonymously, told them what was happening and left. I went from town to town, working in bars and doing anything I could to get some money together.
“When I arrived in Atlanta, I had a routine worked out and started as Ma’mselle Michelle. I even found a doctor who supplied me with hormones. It’s amazing what you can get off the Internet! Things didn’t work out as I had no green card, and so I moved on, eventually ending up here. I have a small apartment and a good doctor, so I only needed another $30,000 and I would have been able to become who I want to be.”
Sean’s mind was working overtime. If Luis was as close to Nadia as everyone said, then he would want to take her remains away. If, somehow, Michelle could be introduced to him…..
He looked at the girl.
“Michelle, how would you like an opportunity to clear the slate, get your green card and have the full cost of whatever medical treatment met by the United States government?” he asked, and Ryan gasped with surprise.
She stared at him in disbelief.
“Look, I’m about to ask you to do something that is highly unethical and potentially dangerous. In fact, I could be sacked and slung in jail for just thinking about it. But you’re about the only chance I think we’ve got.
“Our target is a man with a liking for boys, um, girls like you. Now, his current, ah, girlfriend has just killed herself and this means he is without a partner. Taking into account his grief, there is a slim chance that we could arrange for you two to meet, and if you could get into his intimate circle, then we have an opportunity to fulfil our operational ambition.
“But I stress, you do not have to do this, and I certainly won’t force you to, as it will possibly involve some sexual contact with a very dangerous man.”
“Sexual contact?” she asked with a small smile.
Sean was embarrassed now.
“”You mean you want me to go to bed with this man and allow him to fuck me?”
Sean nodded.
“It is possible.”
“Possible? Mr Agent, have you any idea how many sexual partners I have had since coming to America?”
Sean shook his head.
“Four. The man in New York and three ‘clients’. I am not a gay man; I am a girl with an anatomical problem. Just because I started off a boy doesn’t mean I am desperate to leap into bed with every male I meet.”
“I’m sorry. It was thoughtless of me,” Sean said.
She smiled.
“Everyone assumes that because we want to be women, we all want men to stick their dicks up our asses. Well, I’ve news for you, I don’t! At least not like that. I’ll be honest, I'm not into girls, but I don’t want to be seen as a drag queen to attract gay men. I want to be a straight girl and to attract a straight guy who loves me for who I am, not what I was.”
Sean smiled and shook his head.
“I’m sorry. I was guilty of all kinds of wrong assumptions. Go on, take off, but please, don’t mention this conversation to anyone.”
She stayed sitting and Ryan could see she was weighing up all the angles.
“Mr Agent, if I work for you, I want US Citizenship and a legal contract with your organisation. I need all the support I can get.”
Sean stared at her.
“You want to give it a try?” he asked, incredulity in his voice.
She shrugged. “What have I got to lose? If successful, then I get what I want, and if it fails, then maybe I can persuade the bad guy to part with sufficient funds to make my dream a reality. Otherwise, I’m just dead and to be honest, it saves me killing myself. You must understand that people like me face a life that can often be improved by death, so I’m not afraid of it. It’s just that, so far, I haven’t had the balls to kill myself.” She even smiled at her own little joke.