Jody hung up the phone, rubbing at her reddened ear impatiently. "Many more cases like this and I'll need a headset." she groused to herself, and looked over to where TJ sat, still on the phone. Her half of the list was done, every doctor, hospital and clinic in Sloanville. So far, nothing.
TJ clicked off and she walked over, perching on the edge of his unnaturally neat desk. "Anything?"
"Not one gunshot victim that matches our guy presented for treatment yesterday."
"He had to go somewhere. It doesn't sound as if she shot him fatally, unless he crawled off to bleed to death in an alley." Jody mused aloud, "So, who is he? Who could have wanted to kill a rather inoffensive private detective?"
"By definition, private eyes are actually pretty annoying," TJ offered, "And we don't know that he went over there to kill her. After all, he used Jewel's gun, after she shot him. He only tried to strangle her when she wouldn't give him the information for which he was looking."
"Couldn't give him, she didn't recognize him. I wonder though, the way she says he was yelling about his wife, if he isn't a part of some case she was working on recently. A contested divorce, or maybe spousal abuse."
"Jewel helps the woman get away from him, and he comes and beats on her, looking for his wife." TJ jumped in. "So, we need her files."
"So we need her permission."
"So we need to get back to the hospital."
Overcoat over his arm, Thomas Jefferson helped his partner shrug into hers, earning a puzzled "Thanks" as they headed out the door. He just smiled.
*****
It was almost noon before Chris came in. Kermit had left shortly before, "to run some errands". Jewel didn't question it, habitually offering him the same privacy she demanded for herself. She was reading an old book, David having packed several of her Cherry Ames collection to amuse her in her hospital setting, when her oldest brother poked his head in.
"Is it safe? You aren't going to start spinning your head around or anything, are you?" he asked and she stuck her tongue out at him.
"Get in here or I'll send for some pea soup." she answered and he walked in, leaning down to kiss her and indulge in an extra hard hug before sitting in the visitors chair.
"Things okay with Kermit, kiddo? He really did think that we knew.."
"Yeah, we're ok." and she couldn't help the little smile that played over her lips.
"Good. I'm starting to like the guy, he's demonstrated a willingness to beat up your enemies that I really admire."
"And here I was afraid that you'd be jealous at not being chief brute anymore."
"Hey, I'm still the chief brute, baby girl. I know a lot more people that don't like you than Kermit does and I will cheerfully keep punching them out when needed. But," shaking his head thoughtfully, "that guy is FAST."
Thanks...I think. So, are you pissed at me or what?" Jewel tried to sound nonchalant, playing with the scrunchie at the end of her braid as she asked.
"At you? Am I yelling?"
"No."
He shrugged. "So I'm not mad at you. Hell, honey, we've got a good working system, you and I. We fuss and yell, get loud and insulting, and then kiss and make up. Clears the air like a good thunderstorm." His pale blue eyes held a soft light as he spoke." The way your pal put it, this happened, you got rid of the jerk, and then you went on with your life." Chris held her hand, and his smile was affectionate as he continued. "Now, I would have preferred that you had told me and let Big Brother show him the world from a wheelchair. Or a stretcher. You didn't. It was your choice to do it alone, and it took guts to do it that way. Always said you were a tough kid."
"How can you SAY that, Chris? After I let him.."
"Did you know different? You knew enough to know when he went too far, and you knew how to dump him, permanently. Monkey face, I love you and Dave loves you, and that is never going to change. I think that you're the scrappiest chick I know, tough in a fight and smart when the chips are down. This isn't going to change either, capisce?"
She grinned, eyes bright and lashes sparkling with their unshed burden. "Yeah, I do."
"Good, because Daverino is waiting outside and between us two, he's not doing so good. You guys have a more complicated relationship, Julie, and this thing is eating him up."
"Is HE mad?"
"It's hard to tell. David doesn't yell enough, and he never yells at you. How do the two of you manage to fight?"
She thought a moment. "We don't, really. We never see each other, except when I visit the city, or we all miraculously end up at the beach house for a weekend. What would we fight about? When we do see each other, we're too happy to do it."
"Too happy, or too rushed for time? Well, anyway, you two are going to have to settle it alone, because this boy is outta here. Dad taught me that two is a fight, three is a family fued. You kids play nice now."
"We always play nice, big brother. Maybe what we need is a little more yelling."
"Couldn't hurt." Chris commented. He pushed the bangs back from her forehead, kissed her goodbye, and walked over to the door, opening it. "Yo, Dave! Your turn, bud!" He winked back at his sister and left.
*****
Kermit's "errand" brought him straight to the precinct. He went to his office without pausing for coffee or sympathy, locking the door behind him and booting up his computer. He checked his watch and fired off an urgent two word E-mail to Seeker@DC.FBI.com. The answer came quickly and he punched a few buttons, hearing first the scrambler, then the re-routers kick in, then dialed a infrequently used number. The detective jerked up the handset only after he heard the call patch in. A pleasant man's voice answered and he replied, "It's me."
"I figured. What's going on?"
"I need info about one of your colleagues. You still investigating those unsolved 'spooky' cases?"
His contact winced. "Yeah."
"You ever work with a consultant by the name of Julia Adams?"
"Jewel? Several times, she gave me a solid grounding in Wiccan philosophy and practice. Is she working with you now? Pay attention to her, Kermit, she's a good one."
"She was working with us, a while back. We got to be.. friends. I need to check on a bozo she was dating from your agency."
"Why?"
Kermit gritted his teeth. "Because someone tried to kill her yesterday, and this guy keeps coming to mind. It's a hunch, but I've got to play it. She let him down hard."
"And you figure he may have come back for a little revenge." his contact's voice had hardened, without a trace of question in it. "Give me his name." then, after Kermit provided it, "I'll have a guy I know get on it. I'll call you back in about an hour."
"Thanks."
"I liked her too. You guys need a hand? I'm sure my partner and I could get a few days, and she wouldn't object.."
"Just the info, thanks. Officially, I'm not on this case."
The FBI's most unwanted nodded in his basement office, forgetting that Kermit couldn't see him, and flicked a stray seed at the poster on his peeling wall. "Understood. Talk to you soon."
And they hung up.
Kermit leaned his head in his hands for an moment, then got up and stretched out on the cramped couch he'd "appropriated" from storage for his office. If he didn't supplement the four hours of sleep he had managed to get the night before, he'd get sloppy. And sloppy might lose him the chance of dealing with Jewel's attacker in a close, personal manner. Deliberately using habits learned a lifetime ago, when sleep was precious and grabbed whenever possible, he began a pattern of long, measured breaths. Before he was halfway through the first set, the ex-mercenary was asleep.
*****
Jewel had remembered several cases that involved a break up but nothing specific to this case had come to her. So she had given Jody and TJ the keys to her storefront office and had written out instructions to get them past the security system Kermit had set up on her office computer. They got there by late afternoon and went straight to the glass brick partition that separated Jewel's desk area from the rest of the place. The smallest key on her cow shaped "eat more chicken" key chain fit the two drawer filing cabinet next to the desk, Jody pulled out the top drawer, labeled "active", and got to work.
TJ pulled the swivel chair over in front of the desk and sat, opening his page of warning and passwords as he reached around to turn on the terminal. A plush little black cat with sleek fake fur and glass green eyes lay draped over the monitor, watching with a permanent sleepy wink. He began the arduous process of gaining entry to the database while Jody skimmed the active files, pulling any that mentioned a relationship split, then took her cache to the comfortable couch in the waiting area for careful reading. The notes Jewel had given TJ steered him to the information he sought and for a while the small light room was silent but for the companionable hush of pages turning and keys clicking. Jody scribbled notes on a legal pad as she read, questions to herself and some pertinent points about the men discussed in the manila folders. A few involving domestic violence caught her eye. In each case, the single notation on the departing woman's whereabouts was "-Pep". Pep? What did it stand for? Irritated, she dug through the remainder of the cases, then attacked the lower drawer of "solved cases". Again, the Pep notation on many of the cases involving abuse. "Some kind of shelter, or refuge" Jody thought aloud, knowing that her partner was obliviously wrapped up in his own research., "But is Pep a where or a who?"
"It's a what." TJ answered her, one arms stretched out along the top of the glass partition. The normal friendly grin was exuberant. "I found the reference too, in the case notes stored in here, so I ran a definition search on the abbreviation PEP. The computer has it listed as classified info, so I went to a few other, less secret areas for clues. Like Jewel's day planner."
"And?"
His eyes were amused at Jody's ill-concealed impatience but his smooth voice showed no sign of it as he continued, "Jewel has two Thursdays a month marked off as "Vol-Our Lady".
"Our Lady?" Jody repeated it to herself, then "Our Lady, as in a church!"
"Or a church shelter. I checked the phone book, there's a Catholic church called Our Lady of Perpetual Help downtown."
"Pep! It's gotta be, but the only shelter downtown is the Bay Street Women and Children's."
"Then I guess we should ask the parish priest at the church. The yellow pages say we should ask for Father Robert Cini."
"Right behind you, partner." and Jody caught up her coat and notes, TJ shut down the chatty computer, and they headed out. locking the door as they went.
*****
The church was a dignified matron in the concrete and glass jungle she inhabited. The bricks of her rectory were ash pink and mellowed with age, the creaminess of her marble facade showed dedication and love on the part of her parishioners. It took a lot of man-hours to keep a building clean in downtown Sloanville. Father Cini met them at the door to the rectory. He had been enjoying a helping of peach cobbler left over from an earlier meeting and invited the two detectives to join him. Neither TJ or Jody remembered agreeing, but soon found themselves in a cheerful kitchen with plates of warm cobbler and tumblers of milk, talking comfortably with their host about the planning stages for the Harvest Fair. The priest was in his mid forties, with thick dark hair gone to gray at the temples. His face was friendly rather than handsome, with a fine Roman nose set squarely in an Irish mug, and seamed with years of problems. But his eyes were filled with a light that suggested that he had spent those years handling and solving each problem with faith and good humor. Until TJ brought up the reason for their call. Then the priest's eyes changed, still friendly, but guarded. "I know Julia, heathen that she is," the smile that shone out at them was affectionate, "but a shelter?" He hesitated. "There is no shelter here, nor on the church grounds." Father Cini answered finally.
"But you do know of one, one associated with you or with your church." It wasn't a question.
The older man shook his head, not in denial but worry, drumming his thick, roughened fingers on the yellow checked cloth. "Detectives, what you're asking....this is a safe place, a secret place. A haven for poor souls too battered by fate to think, let alone survive."
Jody's voice was soft, and she controlled her eager impulse to demand the information she needed. "Father Cini, the man who tried to kill Ms. Adams is still loose. If he found her home address, he could find the shelter. I doubt if the people there are as well armed, or as ready to fight back as she was."
The priest sighed. "You're right to a point, Detective Powell. Many of the women and children who turn to us are at the breaking point. Several were one step away from killing themselves, or their abuser, as their only escape. They'll fight for their freedom, now that they've seen another way to live, but it isn't necessary. Our security people are armed, " and his smile hinted at dangerous consequences for anyone foolish enough to force their way into Sanctuary.
"Doesn't that scare the children even more?" TJ asked, a thoughtful look in his eyes.
"Perhaps a little, at first. We explain, very carefully, that the security staff, all volunteers like the rest of us, is there to protect, and to protect them in particular. It's a powerful message for a child in need of security."
"Some of the women Julia worked for came to you, Father. We think one of their husbands or boyfriends may have attacked her. Please, we need to speak to them."
He looked at them, then up at the plain wooden cross gleaming in the last of the sun's light, and made his decision. "After dark, and y'must promise to protect our secrecy. I cannot take you there otherwise."
"As long as it doesn't interfere with.." TJ was cut off as Jody rose, stomping his toes with her heel and finishing his sentence for him.
"We promise, Father."
"Good, after dark then." He glanced at the clock on the microwave, and rose hastily to his feet. "It's already four thirty and I have a CCD class to teach at five. My library is just down the hall if you would like to wait, we'll go after the class."
*****
David hadn't come in after Chris left, he wasn't even on the floor. Jody and TJ had arrived shortly after the oldest Adams' brother pealed out of the parking lot, determined to drag David Adams, Attorney at Law, back to the hospital. They'd talked with Jewel, she had given them her keys and instructions, and then gone, leaving her to nap, eat the soft bland lunch the hospital provided, and welcome another pair of visitors. Caine and the Ancient came together this time, and Lo Si did care for the little tree as they talked. The two Shaolin traded sly jokes that had Jewel giggling as she sipped the green tea blend they had brought in a Thermos. "But", the Ancient announced, producing a thin, lovely teacup from somewhere, "No need to DRINK from plastic, yes?"
"You are less resistant than my son when offered medicine." Caine remarked and she shook her finger at him in a mock scold.
"Oh, I know about you. You make Peter's stuff taste bad on purpose, he told me so. It's a conspiracy to make him look bad, and anyway, the way your son is going, he'll be bringing me his own version of this soon."
The Shambala masters exchanged a glance and she laughed again, eyes wide in their bruised settings. "Don't tell me, let me guess, you just got a visual of Peter tending his herbs, didn't you? Carefully, drying and blending.."
A raised brow from Caine and a bow from Lo Si rewarded her efforts. The nap had refreshed her and she picked at the fuzzy trim on the bear Jess had sent, along with a bouquet of gourmet cookies from Regal Inc. He'd gotten the account his tiny ad agency needed so badly. Her doctors had been making steady inroads on the cookies, since she couldn't eat them yet.
A normally healthy woman, the painkillers were telling her she was a lot more recovered that one day could accomplish. Jewel was alternating between exhaustion and restlessness, and it was all she could do to stay in her bed. After the visitors left, she tried to read, but gladly tossed aside her book when the phone rang. "Hey, baby!"
The voice was familiar and she grinned. "Hey, you! No names?"
"Got it in one. I have to head out of town tonight, wont be back until late tomorrow afternoon. You going to be all right?"
Jewel suppressed a sigh. One could hardly say "No, dammit, I'm hurting and in a clingy mood, and I want some attention and some cuddling, so get your ass over here NOW!!" could one? Reluctantly she decided that even if one could, she couldn't. "I'll be fine, you know that."
"Your brothers sticking close by?"
"Oh yeah, sure they are. And Caine was here a little while ago, and the Ancient too."
"You're not alone then, good. I'll see you tomorrow, sweetheart."
"Yeah, I".. but he was already gone. Feeling sorry for herself, Jewel hung up the phone and thumped the bear off her nightstand. "Sure go off on some damn errand when I'm stuck here. Thanks for nothing, Griffin." She knew she was pouting, she knew she was acting like a brat, and that she had just told him it was fine. She also knew that she didn't care, and that a first class pity party was well on its way to starting.
"You dropped your bear." David said, standing in her doorway.
"No I didn't. I hurled it to the floor in a fit of rage." she answered.
"Guess I'm in the right room then. Sorry I cut out earlier, kiddo."
She shrugged, "You had your reasons, I guess."
"They weren't that good."
"They didn't have to be. You do things because you have to do them sometimes."
He turned the straight backed chair around and straddled it. David had changed from his suit into a pair of jeans he usually wore riding and an old Yale sweatshirt, she could see the dark circles under his eyes and he hadn't shaved.
"You look like hell."
He managed a weak grin. "Thanks for sharing. Last night was a disaster, huh?"
"Kinda sorta. It wasn't about you and Chris, you know."
"What wasn't?"
"Me not telling you about Justin. It had nothing to do with the two of you." Jewel looked over at the flowers Kermit had brought, softly glowing coral and cream against the plain walls. "I didn't want you to know what had happened."
"Why? That's what I don't understand, you and I always talked about the guys you dated, your relationships. I thought we shared everything." David was hurt, she could hear it, and she sighed, holding one big hand in her small one.
"Not everything. Did you tell me every time Mr. Right turned out to be Mr. Right Now? A pal, a bed buddy, but nothing serious. I know you dated a lot before you met Jesse."
David did her the courtesy of not hiding, or lying to her. "I didn't tell you about every casual date, no. I didn't sleep around and I think you know that."
"I didn't either, and maybe I should have. Justin used the fact that he was the first against me, I didn't know what to expect." she dropped her eyes. "I let him hurt me, Dave. I didn't stop him, until that last time, when he was out of control. I let him use me, and I didn't tell you because you'd think less of me."
"I would never think less of you, Julie."
"Bullshit. Right now you're itching to ask me why I let it build to a breaking point, aren't you?" Her straight on gaze demanded the truth, and he gave it without flinching.
"Yes. I am. I wanted to believe that Dad and Liz, and then Chris and I had given you so much self confidence that no one could ever hurt you like that." There WAS shame in his voice, but it was directed at himself.
"It had nothing to do with self confidence. I didn't know about sex, or love, and that's not something you can teach. I know the difference now, for what it's worth. It's why Kermit knew about Justin, David. I had to tell him, because for the longest time...he hasn't stayed over at the loft very often, and I don't spend a lot of time at his place. The weekend we were at the beach house.. he was in the guest room to start with, and we still didn't ..he's a great guy. I love him a lot, and I've learned a lot from him." she laughed a little, her eyes turning toward the roses again, "It's funny. Kermit is so convinced that he has nothing to give, that he's hard, and flinty and set in his ways. He gives me all this credit for loving him, when he's the one who makes it happen. You see, David, after what happened, I didn't feel safe anymore. I didn't trust my instincts about people. But Kermit, I'm totally safe with him. My heart, my dreams, everything. You should know him, he really would do anything to protect the people he loves."
"Your brother and I would do anything to protect you, Jewel." He said it quietly.
"I know, and I feel the same way about you guys, but you know that it's different, you have Jess."
"Yeah, I guess so. It's weird to think of you having someone like Jess though."
She laughed, and squeezed his hand. "If I had someone like Jess, I would still need someone like Kermit, David!" He laughed too, and hugged her.
"You had to go and grow up on me, honey, didn't you? Just to make me crazy."
"Yes, I grew up specifically to drive you nuts. It's my purpose in life, and I am dedicated."
*****
Kermit was dedicated too, and a bit surprised at how willing his contact at the FBI was to give him the other agent's address. Apparently Jewel had made a strong impression on the maverick agent.
He pointed the Corvair south and piled on the speed, eager to do some "investigating". There were sure to be some marks on the man if he had attacked Jewel, but even if there weren't, Kermit was certain that he would get the truth out of him. There was something satisfying in finally getting a chance to go after this guy. "So are you looking for information, or avenging your girlfriend's past?" the shut away voice of his mercenary past whispered with glee, "Gonna give him a chance to talk before you pound his head into the carpet?" He wasn't going to admit any misgivings about this trip, even to himself.
Justin McRae unlocked the door to his apt and stepped inside, cursing absently as he hit the light switch and nothing happened. Then he felt cold metal press against his jaw. "Don't even think about going for your gun, tough guy." a deep voice advised, and he felt a searching hand pull the revolver from the holster at the small of his back.
"This is not one of your funnier pranks, Mitchell." Justin barked, no trace of fear in his voice.
"That must be why no one's laughing. Now I'm sure an experienced FBI agent like yourself knows the position?" A hand shoved him face first into a wall, roughly running over his spread eagle body, removing the small gun he wore in an ankle holster.
"Getting a thrill?" Justin drawled over his shoulder, and his assailant laughed, a short, harsh sound.
"NO, but I'm not you, and you aren't some frightened girl. Take a seat." The FBI man landed in a kitchen chair, and the dark shadow figure handcuffed his hands behind him. A thin beam of light hit the wall, then disappeared as Kermit checked out his prisoner's hands. "Where'd you pick up these bruises, McRae?" he asked, in a friendly, conversational tone, snapping off the light.
"I'm an FBI agent, genius. We took down a perp the other night and there was a scuffle. Got a problem with that?"
"You've been off the last couple of nights though. Anyone who can prove you got those at a bust? Doctor maybe, or an EMT?"
"For a few cuts and bruises? Get real. Look, who are you, anyway?"
"A friend of your former girlfriend's. The name Julia Adams ring a bell?"
McRae laughed. "Dear little Jewel. Nice enough girl, frigid as hell but I supposed you've already found out about that." The insinuating question and the leer in McRae's voice made Kermit's blood boil and he fought the urge to backhand the smug face. Even without light, he knew McRae was smirking.
"So, where were you two nights ago?"
"I don't have to answer to you, whoever you are. When I'm loose.."
"That's 'if you're loose', compadre", and the fistful of black steel Kermit carried snuggled its barrel against Justin's temple. "You see, you hurt someone I happen to care about. That puts you at the top of a very short list. If you wont be reasonable, I might have to indulge in a little gratuitous violence, just to keep myself amused."
"What the hell are you, Mafia?"
"Those posers? I've scraped better than you off my windshield, friend, so start talking, or start screaming. Your choice." He pinched off a nerve in Justin's neck, a painful one, and McRae yelled, breaking out in a sweat.
"All right! Jesus, I was with my girlfriend these last couple of nights."
Kermit slapped his cheek ala Caine, with a bit more force than the Shaolin used to drive in a lesson. "Very good, Justin. Now, her name."
"I'm not giving out her name! What are you, nuts?"
"What I am is running out of patience. In case you genuinely care for her, I'll assure you that I wont hurt her,. I just need to verify your whereabouts. For what it's worth."
"What the hell do you care where I was, anyway? That bitch broke up with me over a year ago, so why is her guardian angel thug showing up now?"
Kermit slapped him across the mouth, a humiliating, open handed slap that nevertheless had a great deal of anger behind it. Justin's head rocked back. "She didn't send me, she doesn't know that I came here, and she's never going to know, understand? Now the young lady's name, and where I can find her. Tonight."
The younger man's mouth was bleeding, but he stubbornly shook his head. The ex mercenary crouched beside his chair, grabbed a fistful of hair to get his subject's attention, and said very quietly, "McRae. You hurt Jewel badly, and when she told me, my first impulse was to find you and beat you to red pulp. Because I love her, and she wanted to move on, I didn't . Now someone has hurt her again, and I am giving you one last chance to prove that it wasn't you. Nothing would give me more pleasure than to extract the information I want piece by piece, through your ear maybe. But I'm in a hurry, so talk or die." and the safety of the big Desert Eagle clicked off in Justin's ear.
There was a liquid sound, the acrid stench of urine filled the air, and Justin gabbled the name and address of his girlfriend as quickly as he could speak. Kermit nodded in the dark, memorizing the address, then stood up. "The handcuff key is here on the table, McRae. Thank for the info." and he was gone. Justin moaned in his chair, and sat still, not daring to move, yet. The thought of warning Cassidy that she was getting company never crossed his mind.
Cassidy Jacobs peeped through the apt door and saw a nicely dressed older man, offering a badge and id card that named him am FBI agent. Smiling, she opened the door and he introduced himself as George Manning. "Miss Jacobs, I just need to verify the whereabouts of an agent with our department these last three days. Have you seen him?"
She thought a moment, then nodded. "Justin was on a stakeout Thursday night, then Friday and Saturday we were together. That's okay, right? He wasn't supposed to be on duty, because he sometimes says he'd rather be with me than work, but…shut up, Cass." her grin was charming, cascade of blonde waves held back in a scrunchie, dark brown eyes smiling at him too." I talk too much sometimes."
"No, nothing's wrong with his schedule. Miss Jacobs, I do have to tell you," and Kermit the mighty liar faltered before innocent, trusting eyes. "Agent McRae doesn't have the best reputation with women, he's been rough with a few past girlfriends. Just, be careful."
Her eyes were thoughtful, not angry as he had expected. "Thank you" was all she said, but he hoped he'd planted food for thought. Now, back to Sloanville, and see what Jody and TJ had learned, because Justin, jerk that he was, hadn't hurt Jewel a second time. Lucky for him.
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