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but he carried his weight well on an absolutely massive frame.  His eyes glittered darkly beneath a heavy brow, and his hands were each the size of dinner hams.  He looked capable of going on a rampage through a city single-handedly, and he looked almost angry enough to do so.
    “She doesn’t look like a whore to me,” the giant growled, glaring down at Kara.  “Cross, you better explain.”
    Cross held his ground, even as the giant stared down at him.  Cross might be tall, but this big man had a full six inches more to look down before his eyes collided with the top of Cross’s head. 
    “She’s here to help us, Bear” Cross said, his voice even.  “She wants to put a stop to the Hellraisers.”
    The Hellraisers - that must be the gang that was involved in the weapons smuggling.  Kara made a note of the name, but she kept her attention focused on the giant, Bear. 
    Bear, for his part, didn’t look impressed.  “Her?  How?” he snorted, his tone contemptuous.
    Cross, in response, glanced at Kara.  This was her moment to step up.  This was her in, her story, and she had to sell it.
    “The leader of them, Savage,” Kara said, injecting a note of venomous anger into her voice.  “I met him two months ago.  He took me out, told me that I was his girl, got me to loan him money.”  She raised her eyes to Bear, tightening the muscles in her face to shoot out beams of heat.  “And then he ripped me off for everything.”
    Keeping the emotion clear on her face, Kara watched to see how well this story went over.  Cross had given her the name earlier, and had told her that this sounded like the kind of activity the man could have committed.  Bear didn’t look especially moved by the story, but the dwarf, standing beside him, was nodding. 
    “Sounds like the asshole,” he commented, and there was a note of commiseration in his voice.  “And just another reason that we ought to put a stop to that gang.  They’re too big for themselves, and this is just another bit of proof.”
    Bear was still glaring down at her, however.  “And what are you gonna do?” he asked, his tone making it clear that he wasn’t expecting much.
    Kara held her ground.  “I used to date a guy with ties to the FBI,” she said.  “If we can find proof of what Savage bragged to me about, I can pass that along, and get the whole group arrested.”
    “It’s legit,” Cross cut in.  “I checked her out before this.  Bear, this is our chance to get the Hellraisers off the street, stop them causing trouble for us - and for everyone!”
    Clearly, Bear held the power of the final decision.  Even with Cross’s endorsement, however, he looked less than pleased.  “I don’t like it,” he growled.
    “Oh, come on!” the dwarf wheedled him.  “We can at least poke around.  Seems like a low risk, high reward to me.”  The dwarf glanced at Kara, waggling his eyebrows.
    “It deserves to go to a vote,” Cross chimed in.
    At this, Bear sighed, looking down.  “Fine,” he finally spat out.  “Tonight, at the club meeting.  We’ll vote.”  He turned his eyes on Kara, and she saw no friendliness reflected there.  “But all the risk is on her.  And Cross, since you brought her to us, if anything fails, you will take the blame as well.”
    And with that, Bear turned and pushed past Kara and Cross, heading out of the house.
    For a moment, after the man had left, there was silence.  It was broken when the dwarf cleared his throat politely.
    “Well, that could have gone a lot worse!” he said brightly, turning to Kara.  “Nice to meet ya!  Name’s Gimli.”  He stuck out a thickly calloused hand.
    “Gimli?” Kara repeated in surprise as she took the hand.  “Isn’t that the name of one of the dwarves from-”
    “-from that fantasy movie trilogy, yeah,” Gimli finished her sentence for her, looking a little embarrassed.  “Figures that you’d recognize that.  But as a short guy, hey, it fits, and