The fall of 1923, when change and prosperity hung in the air more frequently than clouds. When jazz filled the ears and heart and the gears of technology spun faster than ever before. But not only is this world filled with the golden glimmer of progress, the dark side of every town was ever present. Secret wars, backstabbing, lies, illegal deals- to some, it was as commonplace as the bustling streets and the ever-growing buildings lining them. This seedy world dealing around the law, behind closed doors:

This world is where we set our scene.

The trolley bell rang, somehow piercing the bustle of the rest of the street. Amber Liu stepped onto it’s platform just as it rang, breathing a slight sigh of relief she made it. As the cart rattled ahead, she finally had time to take a few lengthy breaths and get her thoughts together, to look at what was around her.
     Standing next to Amber was a gorgeous girl. Her long black hair was in finger waves, the trendiest of styles. Her dress was a normal but still scandalously short length, above her knees. Not only was this girl on the edge of fashion, Amber speculated, she was extremely wealthy; a fur caplet donned her shoulders and fine jewelry hung from every one of her thin limbs. Amber imagined briefly what she was like. Tame, somewhat, on the outside, but coarse and rebellious on the inside. A rebel without a cause. And unfairly beautiful.
Amber had to talk to her.
“Excuse me, miss, but do you happen to have a light?” she said, charming smile ablaze. She held out her cigarette in hopes she would be more clear.
“Oh, I do,” said, not quite looking over at her. She rifled through her purse for a moment and pulled out the lighter, flourishing it towards Amber. Then, she finally looked the other young woman outright. A pleasant sort of smile spread on her face- as if she thought Amber was a handsome young man. “You have an accent,” she noted, “What’s that, Chinese?” she asked as she handed her the lighter.
   ”Yes, I’m Chinese, I just came over- a couple of days ago.” Amber replied, graciously taking it, and setting the end to her cigarette.
   ”Why did you move such a long way?” she asked, trying to make conversation. Amber was successful.
   ”I just needed to get a new start, you know? A fresh new town.” A suggestive quality started creeping into her tone.
   ”Oh of course,” she seemed to be returning the suggestions, looking sly.
    ”I’m Amber, by the way,” she accented this with returning the lighter.
    ”How pretty. I’m Krystal.”
    ”It’s nice to meet you, Miss Krystal,” she nodded, and Krystal took the lighter from her.
    ”Well, I suppose it should be Mrs, nowadays.” she giggled, looking at her fingers. One of the many must be a wedding ring.
      ”Ah. I very lucky gentleman, I suppose.” Amber hoped she wasn’t being too forward, but pressed on.
      ”I suppose.” she looked pensive for a moment. “Do you like burlesque, Amber?”
     ”Certainly! I haven’t really been here enough to spot a great club- but-”
     ”Well, I happen to know a pretty great one myself, I’ve got some connections with the staff. If you’d be interested.”
    ”Oh of course!” Oh geez, Amber told herself, you’re being too eager, tone it down.
    ”Here, I have their card, actually,” she brandished a polished gold card holder. Geez, this woman- or her husband- was just made of money. Why was she riding a trolley?
    ”Why thank you.” she took the card, tucking it into her pocket.
    ”Sure. Just some insider knowledge, they have a great act tonight- a big group of dancers, brand new, they call themselves ‘Girl’s Generation.’” she sounded as if she could wink suggestively after this.
     ”Sounds excellent. Well, where are you heading?” Amber asked, backing down from the topic a bit.
     ”Oh, just to do some shopping. No huge ado.” she said, with a flip of her hair and a shrug of her fur-laden shoulders.
    ”Well, I hope you enjoy yourself.” she on the end of her cigarette, trying to control herself. Others had told her how awkward she gets around beautiful women: painfully, cripplingly inept.
      And she is saved by the halting of the car. This stop isn’t hers, but it’s not a long walk to her apartment from here.
………………………………………………………………………….

While getting home to a bare, tiny apartment was not exactly pleasant, seeing Henry there was at least a bit of relief. Henry, Amber’s roommate, was her childhood friend back in China. When Amber got her job in New York, he gladly jumped at the chance at joining her. A woman living alone in the city wasn’t exactly smiled upon, but neither so was their arrangement, considered controversial at best. To avoid such complications, they figured acting as brother and sister would keep scornful eyes away. But in reality, they were more like brother and sister than anything.

   ”Hey, how was finding a job?” Amber asked as she took off her jacket, hanging it on the hook. It was a relief to speak Chinese again, speaking in a foreign language was so taxing on her brain.
    ”Eh, I’ll keep looking.” he shrugged, returning to his newspaper.
     Henry was a man of few words. Most of the time, it was a relief.
    ”How’s about going out to a club tonight?” Amber Had an expression akin to an excited puppy.
   ”On our second night here? Aren’t you tired out?” Henry always had to be the reasonable one.
   ”Exactly! It’s our second night! We need to celebrate! Put on our glad rags and paint the town red!” she added a dramatic flourish of her hand.
    ”I have a concerto to study.” he didn’t look up from the newspaper.
    ”Gosh, stop being such a wet blanket. All we should do is go out, dance like hooligans and get so plastered we-”
    ”I’m sure the police department will be thrilled with that,” he laughed.
   ”Well, whadda they know.” she sat down in one of the cheap wood chairs they had set up.
    ”Maybe that it’s illegal and that you’re a detective?” he set down his paper and continued to look at Amber skeptically.
   ”See, you’re a hell of a wet blanket. Well, that isn’t stopping us. Come on, there’s going to be a great show at this great place someone told me about-” she was practically begging.
    ”This is about some girl you’re stuck on, isn’t  it?” he sighed.
    ”No. Course not.”
    ”Says you.”
    ”Well, we should still go out. Or I’ll go without you.”
    ”Fine by me.” he picked up his newspaper again and ignored her.
    “Well, you know what, I bet I’ll have fun and get some work done,” she taunted him.
    “Oh, I’m sure the first club you ever go to in New York City is sure to be the hub of the same exact crime family you’re after,” he retorted sarcastically, ever to get the last word in.  
…………………………………………….
     The first thing she smells is an potent stench of cigars and cigarettes, and the first thing she hears is a smooth line of jazz over hushed voices. Darkness shadowed over everything like a sort of magic- turning a normal room into a mysterious and exclusive paradise. Of sorts.      
    At the far end of the room was a wide stage, lightly lit on the small piece band providing the music. At the other end was a bar- sparsely populated, the night was still young.
    And she spotted her.
    It was easy, really, she seemed to light up the whole room- her sleek hair highlighted with a gold headband and mirrored in her dress- shimmery gold and revealing her lean shoulders. She felt her stomach lurch excitedly, a nervous feeling that wasn’t unfamiliar but was always overwhelming. But Amber was going to play it cool, hang back- she slid over to the bar instead.
          “Madame, would you like something to drink?” the bartender asked smoothly, pausing wiping down the counter. He was absolutely gorgeous, as well- it seemed everyone in this town was. His face was elegant and pretty, almost like a girl’s, but with a strong angled jawline.
    “Scotch on the rocks, if you please”
    “Absolutely, I’ll get that for you right away.” he walked off, most likely to venture down to the cellar for a bottle of contraband. Ha, she mused, this place is just as seedy as she had hoped.
    Amber nursed her drink for a while, listening to the gentle music, processing everything that was going on. It felt like a million years since she was sitting at her cramped cubicle in China less than a month ago.
    Sure, she was pretty far up in her unit, which was a great place to be- but their offices were miserable- cramped, too in the summer, too cold in the winter, full of mosquitoes. The second she was offered a job elsewhere she jumped at it.

Agents from the US came looking for detectives for a special unit in New York City- a unit of the best female detectives in the world to combat the Prohibition organized crime. The logic behind it wasn’t exactly sound, but she wasn’t going to argue. She was out of there, onto bigger and better things. Their task was set to get more information on the up-and-coming “Shinee” organization- named after their penchant for silver and gold, all of the evidence the police department they’ve found is a trail of silver flags, coins, pins, and ties. Rumors of rum runners and distributors floated in the air- but they had no leads. Not a single solid bottle.

Amber’s position was a tad ironic, she realized.

Her thought tangent was interrupted- quite happily- by a woman sliding into the chair next to her.

    “Well, I’m glad you came,” Krystal said slyly.
    “I’m glad I came. This place is- nice.” She replied, looking around.
    “It’ll get better, too- the show will start soon.”
    “Ah- right. Well, how was shopping?” Amber said, trying to impress her with her memory.
    “Haha, fine, I suppose,” she said- she felt so close to Amber, she could smell her expensive perfume- so close she could- “My husband met me for some furniture shopping…”
    Right, she thought, damnit.
    “Which is tedious, of course, but- whatever.”
    “Haha, right-” Amber needed to keep her mind from running away from her. She refused to let it get too far, for her hormonal brain to start thinking of worse things, things involving plush beds and soft skin and her face while she-
    That is definitely too far.
    “Jaejoong! What the is taking so long! I’m not going to sit here sober all ing evening.” she shouted over to the bartender, who gave her a scornful look as he started to get her a drink.
    “There is no way I’m making it through the entire evening with my husband sober,” she laughed.

“Ah your husband’s here?” Amber asked, suddenly even more aware of how wrong her feelings for the young woman were.

“Mm hmm, he’s over there, with his business partners.” she gestured to a table of three men huddled at a table. They had serious expressions set on their faces- faces—

    “Well, looks like a swell time.” Amber said half-hearted, still trying to remember that face.
    It was so familiar- she was stuck on it. She knew it from somewhere. Not from back home, not from the newspaper-
    From a photograph. It was definitely from a photograph..
    “Yeah, they’re always talking about useless business .” She rolled her eyes and turned back to the bar.

She knew which photograph.

One from the office.

A picture of the suspected boss of the Shinee family.

Henry was going to eat his words, she thought first. Oh came second, Krystal was married to a mobster.

…………………………………………………

“And now, introducing the truly amazing, crazy- truly stunning, Girl’s Generation!”  a booming voice announced as the curtain quickly drew and the band blasted out large notes. There standing was a line of beautiful girls, mile-long legs drawn into elegant poses. They were somewhat modestly clad- for now. A scattering of applause came from the audience as the music started, a line of bright jazz. Every hair and finger was in place onstage, every girl was perfectly in sync. Krystal was right, they were some of the best she’d ever seen. The dance numbers started out tame- featuring a dazzling kick line- but quickly became , and Amber shifted in her seat uncomfortably. She had read about this sort of stuff, of course, heard about it from her friends, but wasn’t prepared for the effect it had on her, needless to say, uncomfortably aroused.  It wasn’t that she wasn’t ual, she’d admit to her friends that her minds was one of the dirtiest- but not in public. With all the other people around and knowing that they’re thinking the same thing it’s so weird. But seeing those nine beautiful girls on the stage with their just-barely covered , swaying their hips in just that way it was just irresistible.

Or perhaps it was just the copious amount of alcochol she’d had so far.

————————————

Finally the band slowed down back to the ambient sound for the dancers to have a break. “Golly, it’s getting kind of late, I should get going!” Amber stretched, standing up from the stool. Krystal’s face still too temptingly close to hers.    

“That’s a shame, she said, smiling, but then went serious, staring intently at the other girl. She found herself drawing close, as if there was a magnetic draw between them. This is not a good idea, Amber, this is bad, she told herself. This thought was thankfully clear enough to stop her.  

“I’m going to lunch on Friday, with some friends. Would you like to tag along?” she asked over a nervous giggle, acknowledging the awkward silence.

“Sure. I could use to meet some new folks around here.”

“Excellent. Eleven, at the lobby of the Evergreen hotel.” she smiled. Oh lord, that smile.

“I’ll see you then,” Amber added, trying to be as charming as possible. Lord knows if she was successful.

    At home, preparing to go to work tomorrow, the realization of who Krystal was involved with stung even more. She was married to one of the mob members. The ones Amber was supposed to be chasing after. There is no way that she should involve herself with them.
    Unless, of course, she could use it to her advantage.