Ceremony In Death

Relief flooded through him at the slight curve of her lips. "You're going soft. Living the high life with that rich Irish son of a bitch."

"I beat hell out of a sparring droid last night. One of Roarke's finest."

"Yeah?" Pride swelled in him, ridiculously.

She tucked her tongue in her cheek. "I pretended it was you."

He gri

"You taught me to use both."

"And to follow orders," he added, his eyes resting on hers again. "I'd have been ashamed of you if you'd forgotten that. You did right, Dallas, for Frank, for the department. For me," he said and watched her eyes swim again. "Don't do that." His voice shook with the plea. "Don't start that shit. That's an order."

She swiped the back of her hand under her nose. "I'm not doing anything."

He waited a moment, just to be sure she wasn't going to lose it and embarrass them both. When her eyes cleared, he nodded in both relief and approval. "Good." He jiggled the bag in his hand. "Now, are you going to let me in?"

She opened her mouth, shut it.

"I've seen Whitney," he told her. Feeney found he wanted to smile. This was the cop he'd trained. Solid, sturdy, and straight. "Chewed him out in his own kitchen."

"Did you?" She lifted her brows. "I'd like to have seen it."

"Trouble was, once it was over, I had to agree with him. He'd picked the best cop for the job. I know you've been busting ass to push IAD out of the picture, clear Frank. Me," he added. "And I know you've been working on finding out who did him and Alice." He had to take a breath because it hurt, still hurt. "I want in, Dallas. I'm going to tell you straight, I need in to clear this out of my gut. Whitney said it was up to you."

The tension seeped out of her. She could give him this, give both of them this. "Let's get to work."

– =O=-***-=O=-

Eve was so pleased to have Selina Cross in Interview, she'd missed anticipating the obvious bonus of having her represented by Louis Trivane. She flashed grins at both of them as she secured the door to Interview Room A.

"Ms. Cross, I appreciate your cooperation. Mr. Trivane."

"Eve – "

"Lieutenant Dallas," she corrected, snapping off the grin. "We're not socializing here."

"You know each other." Selina's eyes went icy, pi

"Your representative knows my husband on a social level. I'm acquainted with a number of attorneys in the city, Ms. Cross. This doesn't affect my or their job performance. We'll go on record."

Eve engaged the recorder, recited the pertinent data. After reading the revised Miranda, she sat. "You've exercised your right to an attorney, Ms. Cross."

"I certainly have. I've already been harassed by you twice, Lieutenant Dallas. I prefer that this continued harassment go on record."

"Me, too." Eve smiled. "You were acquainted with Robert Mathias, also known as Lobar."

"He was Lobar," Selina corrected. "It was his chosen name."

"Was is the operative word, seeing as he's in a refrigerated unit at the morgue. And so is Thomas Wineburg. Are you acquainted with him?"

"I don't believe I've had the pleasure."

"Well, that's interesting. He was a member of your cult."

Selina set her chin, waved away Trivane as he leaned forward to speak to her. "I can't be expected to recognize the name of every member of my church, Dallas. We are…" She spread her hands on the small table. "Legion."

"Maybe this will refresh your memory." Eve opened a file, took a still out, and slid it across the table. Death shots were always ugly.

Selina studied it with a small smile tugging at her mouth. A finger of the hand she wore webbed again today traced the spread of harsh red blood. "I can't say for certain. We meet in the dark." Her gaze lifted to Eve. "It's our way."

"I can say for certain. Both he and Lobar were yours, and both were murdered with a style of knife used in your rituals."

"An athame, yes. We are not the only religion who uses such an instrument in ceremony. I feel, after this violence, this persecution of members of my church, the police should be concerned with protecting us rather than pointing fingers. Obviously, there is a person or persons determined to eliminate us."

"I figured you had your own protection. Doesn't your master look out for his own?''

"Your mockery only shows your ignorance."

"Having sex with an eighteen-year-old delinquent shows yours. Did you have sex with Wineburg, too?"

"I said I can't be sure I knew him. But if I did, I very likely had sex with him."

"Selina." Trivane cut her off, his voice firm. "You're goading my client, Lieutenant. She's stated she can't positively identify this victim."

"She knew him. Both of you did. He was a weasel. Do you know what a weasel is in cop-speak, Ms. Cross? An informant." Eve rose, leaned over, bending her body close to Selina's. "Were you worried about how much he'd told me? Is that why you arranged for him to die? Were you having him followed?" She slanted her gaze toward Trivane briefly. "Maybe you have all your… faithful followed."

"I see whatever I need to see in the smoke."

"Yeah, in the smoke. The psychic's version of the Peeping Tom. It was risky for Wineburg to come by the viewing room. Why do you suppose he wanted a look at Alice? Had he been there the night she was drugged, raped? Did you let him have her?"

"Alice was an initiate. A willing one."

"She was a child, a confused one. You like luring the young, don't you? They're so much more interesting than stubby fools like Wineburg. With their firm bodies, their malleable minds. People like Wineburg and the distinguished counsel here, they're just for the money, and the cachet. But those like Alice, they're so tender. So tasty."

Selina looked up smugly through her thick, dark lashes. "She was. She enjoyed and was enjoyed. She didn't have to be lured, Dallas. She came to me."

"Now she's dead. Three deaths. Your members must be getting nervous." Eve smiled thinly at Trivane. "I would be."

"Martyrdom isn't new, Dallas. People have been killed because of their faith for centuries. And still, the faith survives. We'll survive. We'll triumph."

Eve took out another still, slapped it on the table. "He didn't."

It was Lobar, his mutilated body caught it the garish lights of the crime scene. The wound on his throat gaped open like a scream.

It was Trivane who Eve watched. His eyes blinked rapidly, horror flickering through. His skin went pasty, and his chest rose and fell in jerks.

"He didn't survive," Eve said softly, "did he, Selina?"

"His death is a symbol. He will not be forgotten."

"Do you own an athame?"

"I own several, naturally."

"Like this?" She took out another photo, this one a close-up of the weapon left pi

"I have several," Selina repeated. "Some similar to this, as one might expect. But I don't recognize this particular one."

"Hallucinogens were found in Lobar's system. You use drugs during rituals."

"Herbals, and some chemicals. All legal."

"Not everything found in Lobar's system was on the legal list."

"I can't be responsible for the choices other people make."

"He was with you the night he died. Was he using?"

"He had taken the ritual wine. If he took something otherwise, it was without my knowledge."

"You have priors as a chemi-dealer."

"And paid my debt to so-called society. You have nothing on me, Lieutenant."

"I have three bodies. And they're yours. I've got a dead cop, and he's on you, too. I'm closing in on you, Selina. Step by step."

"Keep out of my face."

"Or?"

"Do you know pain, Dallas?" Selina's voice went low and thick. "Do you know the pain that eats at the stomach like drops of acid spreading? You beg for relief, but none comes. The pain becomes agony, and agony almost pleasure. The pain becomes so intense, so unspeakable that if a knife came to your hand, you would gladly slice through your own guts to cut out the source of it."