"A support group?" Cat prayed her disbelief didn't show in her voice. She'd been to a few of those over the years. Groups of sad people telling sad stories. The success rate was miniscule – but the after-group hookup rate was through the roof.
Mrs. Little gave her a cold glare, and Cat tried not to duck her head. Damned Dominants were always pulling that trick. "Didn't I just say that?"
"Yes, you did." Cat choked back the polite honorific. This woman didn't deserve it. "I just need to know which group Avery attended. Do you know where it met? Or when?"
Her questions drew no response, and Cat sighed. "Mrs. Little, I know this is difficult." It would be for most people. Cat had her doubts about Mrs. Little. "Detective Rizzoli and I want to bring some closure, find the person responsible for Avery's death. And we need your help to do that. Is there anything else you can tell us?" Or stay quiet and maybe Jane would let Cat beat it out of the old biddy.
Cat's increasingly violent thoughts derailed when Mrs. Little stood up and gestured to her kneeling sub. "Please show the detectives out, pet."
Just like that, the interview was over. The tall older man, wearing a thick leather collar and an expensive silk suit, escorted Jane and Cat to the front door. "Please have a nice day, detectives," he intoned loudly.
As Jane started to leave, he caught her arm and said in an intense whisper. "My daughter was a wonderful, warm woman. She deserved happiness. Janelle is coping in her own way. I'm sorry."
"It happens," Jane assured him. "Do you happen to know where Avery found her support group? Or who gave her that pin?"
"I wish I did. Avery didn't come here often. Not after…" He glanced at Cat's wrist cuff, the implication clear. "Janelle wasn't very supportive, and Avery sought her own path. She saw several well-known therapists, but I'm only familiar with the first. Doctor Margaret Tinsale."
Jane touched his hand. "Thank you. Please let us know if you remember anything else."
With a nod, he backed away and closed the door.
"Lovely family." Jane examined the house one last time before walking to the car. "No way would me and Frankie have done that to Ma when Pop died. Tell her, 'No big deal, Ma. Get out there and find a new sub.'"
"Better than my parents," Cat murmured bitterly. Getting in the car, she slammed the door with more force than necessary.
Jane joined her inside, started the car, and sat there. The purr of the engine filled the interior of the vehicle. "Me and Frankie were there for her, you know? Made sure she stayed busy. It was hard. Not smothering her. Every time she went out, even to the store, we wondered."
Wondered if she'd come back. If she'd find a way to end the pain. Cat had heard it all. Over and over. Every time she'd talked about leaving the mental hospital where her parents had committed her. She'd watched their fear and distrust later when she was back in Dallas and exploring colleges.
"How did your parents deal with it?" Jane asked softly. She turned and looked at Cat. "How do you deal? It's every bondmate's worst fear. The nightmare used to keep kids in line. 'Behave or your bondmate won't want you.'"
There was no way Cat was talking about this. She wouldn't have done it before. She sure as Hell wasn't doing it with Faith suddenly back in her life.
Except Jane appeared exhausted and confused. And she and Maura, especially Maura, had treated her as one of the family since her assignment to the taskforce. As Jane pulled away from the curb, Cat broke. "My parents didn't want me to go out of the house. They hired private tutors until I graduated high school, and they would have gone right on paying through college, too." Day after day locked in the house with servants and her own thoughts.
"Guess you got out." Jane commented quietly. "Did they see the light or did you have to bust out?"
"I ripped their hearts out." Cat rubbed absently at her wrist cuff. "They cried. I'd never seen my father cry." And she probably wouldn't get the chance again. "They haven't contacted me since I left nine years ago." No birthday cards or Christmas gifts. No weekly, monthly, even yearly calls to say hello or ask how she was doing. "Your mother's lucky," Cat said earnestly. "You didn't put your own needs or fears in front of hers. You let her grieve and make her own decisions on how or if to move on."
She fell silent, lost in memories.
"How can you leave, Catherine? You have no Dominant to care for you. The doctors only agreed to release you because your father and I swore we would be here for you." Cat's mother, dressed in the loose, flowing robes Cat's father favored, gripped Cat's hand tightly. "You need us."
Cat wrenched away. "I need to get out of here. You're smothering me. I don't have a life! You've turned me into some kind of prisoner."
Her father tried to diffuse the situation in the only way he'd ever known – he tried to Dominate Cat. "Sit down, Catherine." His voice was controlled, level, and compelling even as tears streaked his face.
It sent Cat into a panic. She wasn't letting him win. Not like all the other times in the past. "Go to Hell!" Grabbing the suitcase she'd lugged down the stairs, Cat ran for the door.
Cat sucked in a slow breath. God, she'd never forget the look in their eyes. They'd loved her, and they'd only wanted what they thought was best for her. Sometimes love wasn't enough.
Needing to get the conversation back on the case and far, far away from her personal life, Cat reminded Jane, "There was no indication that any of the victims went to a support group. Not even Avery Little."
"We have to look again." Jane slowed to allow a jaywalker to cross the street. "Re-interview co-workers and neighbors. Someone has to know something. The party Paula Benton's sub mentioned. If we can narrow down an approximate date, it will be easier to trace."
"Jane!" Frost called across the room. "I think I've found that receipt you were looking for. Paula Benton made an online purchase from Marie's Luxury Leather on November 15. I called Marie's; one set of nipple tassels and a new kangaroo-hide flogger."
At least something was panning out. Cat tossed her empty coffee cup into a trashcan and marked yet another possible support group off her list.
"Not much happening in November. People don't usually party on Thanksgiving and it was too early for Christmas." Jane stood and stretched. "Anything in her personal life? Birthday? Promotion?"
Cat fielded this question. Snagging Paula Benton's date book from an evidence box, she scanned all the pages from November. "Nothing party-like. There are a couple of entries for dinner dates at some really pricey places. Menton and Radius. It doesn't list who she dined with. We assumed Benton was showing her girl a good time."
"We screwed up. Korsak, turn on your old Dom charm and see if you can get information out of the waitstaff at the restaurants." Jane grinned at Korsak's grumble. "You love it. Don't lie. All those adoring subs swoon when you turn on the charm."
"Alright, fine." He grabbed his coat and pointed a finger at Jane. "But I'm going alone. Frost cramps my style, and you scare everybody with that full-time glower. Didn't Angela ever tell you you'll catch more flies with honey than with vinegar?"
His puckish smile earned him Jane's trademark scowl. "Ma had more important things to worry about."
"There. That look right there. Lighten up, Rizzoli. What would Maura say if your face froze like that?" Korsak winked at Cat and headed for the elevator before Jane could kill him.
"Anybody heard from the Council Wonder Twins?" Jane asked. "They've been gone a long time without checking in. If they've got a lead and didn't loop us in…"
Cat bit back an automatic defense of Faith. She had no clue where Faith was or what she and Tara were doing. It just irked her that Jane thought they'd pull a trick like that. "You could always give them a call." She smiled mockingly when Jane glared at her. "Just sayin'."
"Since you're feeling so chipper, what do you have?" Jane didn't back down.
"I've got a long list of support groups which were not part of our victims' lives." Brandishing the list, Cat said, "I had to threaten search warrants for membership rolls and promise personal visits with my closest squad of brothers in blue to get most of them to answer questions. I even faxed copies of the pin to all of them. Nothing. Not one thing." She yawned. "There are a million and one support groups in Boston. Forsaken help groups, alcohol and drug recovery groups, 'my dog died last week' groups. I even found one that is supposed to help people with bad haircuts."
The air in the room changed suddenly. Cat shivered. Without turning around, she knew Faith was in the room. Sure enough, Faith's husky voice commented, "Hair's important. Somebody hacks it up, you gotta hold somebody's hand and sing Kumbaya."
"Do you have a problem with that particular song, Slayer?" Tara said as they walked into the conference room holding hands.
"Think you answered the question on your own, T. Slayers and all that peace and love crap?" Faith waved her free hand at her body. "Action, T. That's what Slayers are all about."
"You're in the wrong place for action," Cat stated. She felt something twist as she watched Tara stroke Faith's hand with her thumb. "We're in a holding pattern unless you managed to find something?" She waited a beat and begged shamelessly. "Please?"
Tara stiffened slightly and her smile disappeared. "Dear Goddess, put that away. You'll have every Dom or Domme in the building trying to give you what you need."
Cat's mouth operated without her brain's input. "It would cut down on my trips to the club." Her eyes widened in horror. "I didn't just say that out loud. And…if I did, can we all forget it happened? I'm willing to pay. Name your price."
"Too late, tiger." Faith smirked at Cat. "Thanks for the wicked blackmail material."
"And it has nothing to do with the case," Jane snapped.
Frost wandered over from his usual position at his laptop. "But it was funny, Jane." He pulled out a chair and held it for Tara. "Cat exaggerated about the lack of action. We have a couple possible leads." He outlined their finds from the afternoon. "Korsak left a few minutes ago."
"Well, we ain't got much," Faith grumbled. She waited until Tara sat down and then took her usual position on the floor at Tara's feet.
"If we aren't storming a vampire nest, Faith thinks the research was pointless." Tara tapped Faith on the top of the head. "However, we do have information on the design on the pin. Barry, can you pull up the photo again?"
Frost responded immediately. "You got it." He returned to his laptop and the wall lit up with the projected photo.
"You're looking at Abigor's Sigil," Tara said. "Abigor is purported to be a high level demon, sometimes referred to as a Grand Duke of Hell."
She had to be kidding. "A demon from Hell is killing random people and draining their blood?" Cat would have laughed if it wasn't so completely outrageous.
"Hell Gods are real," Tara answered soberly. "And they are very powerful. Do we have one running through the streets of Boston? I doubt it. Abigor was a warrior who commanded sixty legions of soldiers from Hell. That would include lower-level demons and the Turok Han, the original vampires. If something that powerful found a portal or climbed through a Hellmouth, the Council would know. That kind of power leaves a signature."
"In case you don't speak Witch, she means there's been no ripple in the Force, boys and girls," Faith translated.
"I don't get what that has to do with our murders." Jane dropped into a chair next to Cat and pillowed her head on her folded arms. "And I think I'm too tired and hungry to figure it out. Can someone order pizza?"
Cat's stomach growled in agreement. "I'm in."
"There was pizza on the table when Faith and I arrived two nights ago." Tara didn't sound impressed by the repetitive food choices. "There are two boxes on the table now. Have you eaten anything except pizza since this case started?" She waited for someone to answer her.
No one did.
"Then I veto pizza. Didn't I see a bar nearby?" she prodded.
"The Dirty Robber," Frost replied helpfully. "They have great burgers." He started clearing up the various binders and file folders.
Jane's expression indicated she wanted to object. She didn't. Instead, she opened her phone. "I'll have Maura meet us there."
Good. Jane was much less crusty when Maura was around. Cat helped Frost, and in minutes they were ready to go.
The bar was packed. Cat recognized several officers and detectives after six weeks on the task force. She waved to those who nodded in greeting. "I hate to admit this, but…I'm glad we're not having pizza."
"Don't say that too loud, tiger. We don't want T to get a big head." Faith slid into the booth across from Cat.
That earned her a raised eyebrow and a "Careful, Slayer," from Tara.
Faith merely grinned unrepentantly.
The booth filled as Frost slid next to Cat, with Jane and Maura taking seats across from each other in the remaining slots. "I don't need a menu," Jane flagged down a waiter and ordered a double cheeseburger and fries.
That opened the floodgates on burger orders. Except for Maura, who managed to talk the waiter into a grilled chicken sandwich with steamed vegetables. Jane shook her head and murmured something about crazy health nut Dominants.
Maura was about to respond when Jane's ringing cell phone saved her from Maura's wrath. "Rizzoli." The table went silent and everyone watched her straighten. "Really? What else did she say?"
The one-sided conversation was torture. Cat wanted to steal Jane's phone and get the full story.
"OK. Yeah. We're at the Robber." Jane paused and listened for a minute. "Cat called all the groups. I'll have her go back over the list to see if we have any links. Thanks, Korsak. Tell Dana we said hello." She closed her phone and reached for her water glass.
"You pick that up without talking, and the task force will be investigating another murder," Cat warned.
Deliberately ignoring the threat, Jane lifted the glass and took a long sip. "That was Korsak," she said (as if they hadn't known). Another drink from the glass. "The night Paula Benton went to Radius, there was a private event. The charge receipt was from a group called The First Legion."