Act II

 She didn’t kill her.

 Cindy closed the door to her apartment and leaned against it.  She’d just put her article about the arrest of Jason Abbott to bed a little over an hour ago.  They were still no closer to catching the Hallelujah Man and were even more perplexed than before about his ties to the Honeycutt murder, but right now all that mattered to Cindy was that her words had not ended the attorney’s life.

 She took a deep breath and pushed off the door, heading for her bedroom with a lighter step than she’d possessed that morning.  Her space felt weird and unfamiliar as she moved through it.  Most of her time seemed to be spent at Lindsay’s lately and that was a good thing.  Maybe Lindsay would even ask her to move in.

 Cindy almost laughed at the thought then wondered why she should think that was funny.  She entered the bedroom and headed for the shower, peeling off her sweater followed by her shirt.  She left a trail of clothes, kicking off her shoes and jeans before turning on the spray.  She removed her watch as the water heated before stepping inside the warm stream of water and sighed.

 It felt like heaven.

 She grabbed her soap and began to scrub the last few days worth of grime off her skin.  The club had been going full throttle since Jill had found Honeycutt’s body, and she’d not bothered to bathe since yesterday morning.  It felt good to get clean, and Cindy took a minute to just stand in the warm water and let it beat down on her tense shoulders.

 Something alerted her, perhaps the tiny draft of cold air that hit the backs of her thighs.  She turned her head and found Lindsay Boxer peering around the shower curtain with a smirk the size of Texas.  “What are you doing?” Cindy asked as she felt a faint blush rise to her skin at Lindsay’s frank appreciation.  “You could have scared the hell out of…”  Cindy trailed off as her ability to form a coherent sentence went right down the drain.

 Lindsay pulled back the curtain before slipping inside.  She sauntered up to Cindy, easing her arms around her lover’s waist before bringing their bodies together in a warm, wet, and soapy slide.  “Hi,” she purred in a deep, husky voice.

 Cindy was embarrassed when all she could manage was a tiny squeak in response.  She got over it quickly, however, when Lindsay dipped her head and kissed her, the warm water spilling over their joined bodies.

 The reporter took a shaky breath when they parted.  “Hi,” she finally managed in a near whisper.  Her hands were wandering, the soap easing her touch across Lindsay’s skin.  Her lover made a soft sound of approval so Cindy curled one hand behind Lindsay’s neck and brought their lips together again for another long, leisurely kiss.

 The shower ended with Lindsay on her knees, and Cindy hoping that her bathroom walls were soundproof.  She heard the water shut off, and a second later the reporter was wrapped in a towel as Lindsay’s smirk made a return appearance.

 “You seem very satisfied with yourself, Inspector,” Cindy said into the curve of Lindsay’s neck before nibbling the skin.  She heard Lindsay’s breath catch.

 “I am,” Lindsay confessed with a lazy smile as she grabbed another towel and stepped away from Cindy to dry herself off.

 The reporter frowned at the loss of contact.  She followed Lindsay as her lover moved into the bedroom.  Cindy took a quick glance at the clock and determined she had about a half hour window.  Taking a little running jump, she tackled a startled Lindsay onto the bed before kissing her breathless.  “My turn,” Cindy told her before descending on warm, damp flesh, determined to make the most of every minute.

 ****   

 Lindsay was almost pouting.  Cindy would have thought it was adorable if she wasn’t in such a hurry.  Her lover was propped up in her bed, the sheet pulled up indignantly to her chin.  Lindsay was watching her with pursed lips as Cindy slipped on a pair of figure-hugging jeans followed by a tight, light blue sweater. 

 “You’re being a big baby.”

 Lindsay didn’t deny it.  “I just thought we could spend the whole evening together.  Abbott’s in custody.  There isn’t much else we can do about HM tonight… and do you have to dress like that to go out with Jill?”

 Cindy looked down at herself.  “Why?  Do I look bad?”

 “I’m afraid Jill might try to jump you,” Lindsay harrumphed. 

 Cindy grinned as she slipped her feet into some black, knee-high boots.  “I won’t be out too late.”

 Lindsay actually did pout this time as she leaned over, grasping one of Cindy’s belt loops and tugging her lover onto the bed.  “Come on,” she pleaded.  “Call her and reschedule.”

 Cindy kissed her delicately before pulling away.  “No.”  She bounded back to her feet as Lindsay sighed and flopped against the pillows.  “Besides,” she announced.  “You’re one of the main topics of conversation,” she told Lindsay as she picked up her purse and keys.

 Lindsay’s head lifted.  “I’m what?”

 “Not every day you get all the juicy dirt on your lover from her ex-girlfriend,” Cindy teased with a quick wink.

 “Wait… what?”  Lindsay tried to scramble out of the bed only to get her feet tangled in the sheets.  By the time she freed herself, she could hear Cindy’s light laughter as the reporter shut and locked the front door.

 “So not cool,” Lindsay muttered as she sank onto the mattress.  She reached over and snatched her jacket off a nearby chair in order to retrieve her cell phone.  She flipped it open and hit speed dial on Jill’s number.

 “Hey, sexy,” Jill greeted.  “Where is that cute little…”

 “Be very careful what stories you share tonight, Bernhardt,” Lindsay warned her in a no nonsense voice.  “I will hurt you if you talk about the incident in the park.”

 There was a moment of stunned silence on the other end of the phone followed by a slow, seductive chuckle.  “Forgot about the park,” Jill said.  “Thanks for reminding me.”

 “Jill…” Lindsay swore and collapsed back on the bed when Jill cheekily disconnected. 

 “I am so screwed,” the inspector told the ceiling.

 ****

 “Hey there!”

 Cindy jumped a little at the voice that was suddenly next to her ear and the warm breath that blew across the side of her throat.  She turned her head and met Jill’s dancing blue eyes up close.  “Hi!”  She yelled back over the steady thump of music.

 They were in one of the trendier downtown nightclubs.  Cindy had been frankly shocked that she’d been waved inside, but she wasn’t going to think too hard about it.  Not that Jill was going to give her a chance.  Her friend grabbed her hand and led her to the center of the dance floor, putting them square in the middle of a mass of moving bodies.

 Jill danced close so she could be heard over the music.  “This is just what I needed after this day!”

 Cindy smiled.  “I left Lindsay in a panic!”

 Jill’s smile got huge and Cindy laughed.  “She called me!” Jill informed her.  “Reminded me of this great story I have to tell you!”

 Feeling cheeky, Cindy threw her arms around Jill’s neck, and the two moved in time to the music.  Cindy had to admit when Jill turned those warm blue eyes on her that she found the attorney attractive.  Maybe if she hadn’t met Lindsay first… She chuckled a little to herself at the thought.

 Jill was pleasantly surprised at Cindy’s behavior.  She knew they were attracting a lot of attention as they moved together so comfortably.  She had no doubt that she would have more than one offer of a threesome before the night was over.  The thought made her eyes sparkle as she playfully pulled Cindy closer, the redhead laughing at her actions.

 How long had it been since she’d had a friend like Cindy?  Jill tried to remember.  Perhaps she never really had.  Cindy never judged her.  She was just there, steadfast and unyielding.  She accepted Jill for the whole of who she was, and Jill was grateful for that.  “Glad you’re here, Lois Lane!” Jill shouted.

 Cindy’s eyes betrayed her amusement.  “Glad to be here, Counselor!”  She shouted back.

 Three hours later they were in a booth as far as they could get from the dance floor.  A mostly empty pitcher of beer sat on the table between them, their third of the night.  Jill felt pleasantly buzzed, both from the alcohol and Cindy’s welcome company.  They’d spent the last hour talking about Lindsay, with Jill sharing stories she had never told a soul, not even Claire.

 “Oh my God,” Cindy said as she wiped her eyes and hiccupped from laughing so hard.  “Lindsay has an indecent exposure arrest on her record?”

 Jill swallowed the remaining mouthful of beer in her glass.  “Nah.  It got thrown out.  But that uniformed officer sure got a nice view of her ass through the window of the car, though.”

 They looked at each other before bursting into another fit of giggles.

 Jill blew out a breath and tried to sober up a little.  “Okay.  Let’s talk about muffin man.”

 Cindy groaned.  “Let’s not.  Don’t ruin a good night by talking about him.”

 “Cindy,” Jill started more seriously.  “He’s being… weird.”

 “You don’t have to tell me that.”  The reporter sighed as she watched the throng of dancers.  Her throat hurt from yelling over the music.  “Let’s go get a cup of coffee somewhere quieter and we’ll talk about it.  Okay?”

 Jill tossed some bills on the table and they got up.  “Let’s go out the back.  We can cut across the alley.  Papa Joe’s is only four blocks from here.”

 Cindy nodded.

 “I’ll meet you out back.  Ladies room,” Jill explained. 

 Cindy nodded again then headed for the back door of the club.  The cool night air felt wonderful as she stepped outside, and she took a deep lungful of it.  She instantly regretted it when all she smelled was trash from a nearby dumpster.  She slipped her phone out of her pocket and looked down at the screen.  She’d missed five calls from Lindsay.

 “Paranoid, much?” She asked her absent lover with a grin.

 A scuffling sound made the reporter turn. 

 Pain exploded on the side of Cindy’s head.  She dropped to her knees, seeing streaks of brilliant white flashing across the inside of her eyelids.  Some part of her brain was screaming warnings, ordering her to get her hands up, to defend herself.  She felt another blow, this one connecting hard against her jaw.  The streaks in her vision went nova then blackness descended, sucking her down into oblivion.  She didn’t even feel it when her body struck the pavement.

 She didn’t hear Jill scream, either.

 ****

 “Would you sit down, sweetheart?  You’re making me nervous.”

 Lindsay flapped her hands before slumping into one of Claire’s chairs.  The medical examiner was working late, catching up on some reports that had fallen by the wayside in their pursuit of the Hallelujah Man.

 “They’re alone together, Claire,” Lindsay whined.

 “I’m aware.  It’s hardly the first time, Linz,” Claire commented as she continued to type. 

 “But they’re alone and talking about me!”

 Claire chuckled.

 “It isn’t funny.”

 Claire pursed her lips and tried not to laugh.

 “Okay, it’s a little funny,” Lindsay admitted.  She banged her head on the back of the chair.  “Cindy is going to have so much ammunition on me…”

 “You know,” Claire pointed out.  “You are a detective.  I’m sure if you dug into Cindy’s past a little…”

 Lindsay hesitated at the suggestion, feeling the allure of having her curiosity satisfied.  “I couldn’t do that,” she confessed reluctantly.

 “Good to hear,” Claire replied with a quick glance at her fidgety friend.  “So you think you have Abbott lock, stock and barrel?” she asked as a way to distract Lindsay from her nerves.

 “Yeah,” Lindsay sighed.  “Still gets us no closer to nabbing the Hallelujah Man, though.”

 “So you’re convinced Abbott didn’t write the scripture?”

 Lindsay nodded.  “That kid is as dumb as a box of rocks.”

 “That kid is as old as Cindy,” Claire pointed out with humor.

 Lindsay stuck her tongue out at the medical examiner and Claire chuckled.

 “I just don’t get it.  It feels like him, Claire,” Lindsay said as she returned to the subject. 

 Claire stopped typing and swiveled in her chair to face the detective.  “Okay.  So Abbott isn’t working with HM.”

 “I don’t think so,” Lindsay said slowly.

 “So if we’re to assume that HM wrote the scripture on the wall…”

 “Then Cindy was right, and two people had designs on murdering Nicole Honeycutt on the same night.”

 Claire leaned back in her chair.  “Obviously Abbott got there first.”

 “Obviously.”  Lindsay frowned.  “So HM gets there during, maybe after the murder…”

 “Finds the body and then…” Claire continued.

 Tendrils of ice snaked through Lindsay’s veins as she slowly sat up.  She swallowed hard against the nausea that clutched her stomach in a sudden vice-like grip.  “Then he heard the elevator.”

 “He hid when Jill arrived,” Claire said.  “That is not a thought I like.”

 Lindsay was slowly shaking her head as she eased up out of Claire’s chair.  Her whole body was shaking.  “HM hid, Claire.  He hid and watched.”

 “Watched….?”  Claire’s features cleared and she sucked down a cold breath.  “Oh my god, Linz.”

 “He wrote the scripture on the board to throw us off.  But the words weren’t about Honeycutt…” Lindsay could hear the tears that threatened in her voice. 

 “Jill must have seemed like a sign from God after finding Honeycutt.  Oh my God,” Claire said again.  “He wrote the scripture for Jill.”

 ****    

 At first she didn’t know what she was seeing.  Jill’s brain was too addled with alcohol to truly process the sight of Cindy on the ground, a man looming over her with a rock in his hands.  A man she recognized.

 David Arnold.

 His name came to her in a flash.  The bailiff from the Hall.  The man she’d flirted with the day before.

 He had the makeshift weapon poised, ready to bash the back of her friend’s head in.

 Jill screamed as his intent finally sunk in.  He pivoted, throwing the rock away as he came at her.  His hand went to his pocket, and Jill didn’t hesitate, running at him head first.  She slammed into him, taking them both off their feet.  She had her keys in her hand, and she tried to gouge at his eyes, but he was too strong.  She succeeded in slashing his cheek, but there was no time for grim satisfaction as his blood was spilled.  She kneed him hard once, twice.  Arnold groaned then renewed his efforts, finally tossing her off.

 His scarf went with her as Jill grabbed at something to hold onto.  She glanced down at it in shock, knowing the material, recognizing the color instantly even through the haze of alcohol.

 It was a fucking stole.

 Then electricity arced through her body as the probes from the Taser struck her chest. There was a moment of pain, more than she had ever known, and then mercifully nothing at all.

 ****

 When Tom entered the bullpen it was hopping for ten o’clock at night.  His eyes instantly took in Lindsay in the center of the chaos, her cell phone pressed to one ear, her work phone to the other.  She flipped the cell phone closed, and he watched as she stared at it for a long, worried moment.  He had no doubts about whom she was trying to reach.  Jacobi had informed him an hour ago about the development with the Hallelujah Man.  Cops were swarming the bars and clubs trying to find Jill Bernhardt before a killer got to her first.

 Tom’s intention had been to come in right away, but a call from a beat cop had forced him to take a detour.  He swallowed hard at the heavy news he was about to deliver and slowly made his way toward Lindsay.

 His ex-wife made eye contact, but she said nothing to him as she continued to listen to the voice on the other end of the phone.

 “Linz,” he said gently.

 His tone caught her attention, and she shifted her gaze back to him instantly.  He saw the fear enter her eyes and wished there was something he could say that would make it go away.  Instead he knew he was about to make what she was feeling so much worse.

 Lindsay hung up and looked at him.  “Tell me.”

 “A uni…” Tom swallowed again.  “A uni found Cindy about half an hour ago.”

 The room seemed to still as all eyes turned on them.

 Tom watched Lindsay try to hold it together.  The emotion that stormed in her eyes made him ache for her.  “She’d been attacked.  She was in an alley,” Tom continued as Lindsay swayed in place.  “She’d been beaten.”

 Jacobi grabbed his partner’s arm to steady her.  “Where is she?” Jacobi demanded when Lindsay seemed incapable of speaking.

 Tom sighed.  “Interview one.  She wouldn’t let them transport her to the damn hospital…” He didn’t get to finish as Lindsay shoved past him and ran for the interview rooms.

 Jacobi closed his eyes and took a deep breath.  “I thought you were gonna say she was…” He licked his lips.  “Jill?”

 Tom shook his head.  “We found her purse.”

 “Jesus.”  Jacobi slumped onto the desk.

 ****

 Lindsay burst into room, startling a groggy Cindy who jerked where she sat at the table.  There was a nasty bruise on her lover’s jaw.  Blood had oozed down from a gash at Cindy’s hairline, leaving garish streaks down the side of her face and ending in a rust-colored blotch on the reporter’s blue sweater.

 The inspector sunk to her knees.  They were too shaky to hold her anyway as she threw her arms around her lover and pulled her in close.  “Oh God,” she whispered into Cindy’s hair.

 Cindy weakly clung to her.  Her head felt like someone had clubbed her with a brick, which probably wasn’t far off from the truth.  “Ouch,” she managed in a somewhat light voice for Lindsay’s sake.

 Lindsay eased back and looked at her, wishing for Claire who suddenly seemed to materialize on command.  The medical examiner set a bag on the table then forced Lindsay to move out of the way.

 “Hey, skipper,” Claire said soothingly.  “Let me look at you.”

 “He has her,” Cindy said quietly as Claire dabbed at the wound.

 “He does,” Claire told them both.  “They found her purse where they found you.”

 Cindy closed her eyes as tears streamed down her face.

 “Tell me what happened,” Lindsay pleaded.

 So Cindy did, relating the important details of the night.

 “Did you see him?” Lindsay asked.

 The tears came harder now as Cindy slowly shook her head.  “Just a flash of his face.  Nothing that would help.  He blindsided me.  Oh God, Linz.  He has her.”

 Lindsay swallowed hard.  Fear made her feel like she was about to come out of her skin.  “We’ll get her back.”

 “What if he’s hurting her?”  Cindy asked.

 Claire hushed them both, but the fact that her hands were shaking wasn’t lost on any of them.  “Honey, you need to be at the hospital.”

 “No.”

 “Cindy,” Lindsay started. 

 “No,” the reporter’s voice was firmer this time.  “Not until we have her back.”  She looked at Claire.  “Drive me to my office?”

 “Why?” Claire asked.  “Sweetheart…”

 “I can do the most good from there.”

 Lindsay sank back to her knees at Cindy’s side.  “I need to know you’re okay.  You want to do the most good?  Go with Claire to the hospital.”

 Cindy’s gaze met Lindsay’s and held.

 “I’ll stay here then.  Give me a phone and a desk.  I need to do something, Linz.  Please,” Cindy practically begged.

 Lindsay looked up into Claire’s features.

 “I’ll stay with her,” Claire announced.

 Lindsay reluctantly nodded.  “You stay in here.  I’ll get you a phone.”

 ****

 Everything hurt.

 Jill’s eyes slowly blinked open.  Her mouth was painfully dry, and as she tried to lick her lips she realized she must have bitten her tongue at some point.  She tried to move and realized she was on a hard, worn carpeted floor, but her hands were tied behind her head.  She craned her neck around and saw what was binding her wrists.

 The stole.

 A shudder wracked her body when the full magnitude of her situation came ramming home with the sight.  The stole was wrapped around a heavy, wooden table leg.  She jerked hard but the table didn’t even budge.

 Her blue eyes took in her surroundings as she frantically searched from something, anything to get her out of this mess.  It was then she realized that she was alone.

 “Cindy?” she whispered into the darkness.  There was no answer, and Jill felt grief well up inside her when she remembered her friend lying motionless on the ground of an alley.  “No,” she moaned.

 She could hear faint sounds as the structure she was in settled around her.  It was so dark she could barely see, only moonlight from a nearby window offering any illumination.  She tipped her head back and almost screamed when she saw a figure looking down at her.

 Jill had seen him before, in the pictures from the Watkins’ crime scene.  Jesus on the cross, hanging above the sanctuary in San Vincente’s.  The sight made Jill think of rats and what was done to Watkins’ body.  Suddenly every little sound around her made her tense. 

 Jill closed her eyes and focused.  She had to think about nothing but surviving.

Right now it had to be all that mattered.

****

Denise was waiting for them when they entered the lobby of the Hall the next morning.  Lindsay merely nodded at her, too tired for formalities.

“Counselor,” Jacobi managed as a greeting.  They’d seen Denise last night, of course.  The attorney had stormed the bullpen when she’d been informed of Jill’s abduction.  When she’d learned who likely had her employee, Denise’s knees had nearly buckled.

 But now she was back in cool, iron control.  Denise handed Lindsay a thick, padded envelope.  “Everything is there.  Her calendar, contacts, current cases….  Your people are sweeping her office now.  I assume they’ll take the computer.”

 “They will,” Jacobi said as Lindsay slipped open the envelope and Jill’s calendar came sliding out.  He watched his partner as Lindsay opened it, studied the neat, precise handwriting inside.  He saw her swallow once, twice.  “Linz…”

 The inspector looked up and met Denise’s gaze.  “Thanks for your cooperation.”

“Anything,” Denise said instantly.  “Whatever you need.”

 Lindsay nodded.

 “Lindsay,” Denise said hesitantly as they started to walk away.

 Lindsay was too weary to be surprised at being addressed so informally but some part of her brain was aware of the oddity.

 “You’ll find her,” Denise said with conviction.  “I know it.”

 The surprising faith got through some of the fog that seemed to shroud Lindsay’s thoughts.  She nodded again.  “You’re damn right I will,” she promised.

 Denise dipped her head once then went back the way she came.

 Jacobi frowned.  “Tell you what.  Give me five minutes.  I’m going to check in with the techs and see what ground they’ve covered.”

 Lindsay sighed but nodded.  She wanted a minute or two to go through Jill’s effects, and she needed to check in with Cindy.  She walked outside and stood there on the steps of the Hall, the pleasantly cool February wind whipping her long hair around her drawn features.  She was running on fumes, so tired she wasn’t sure how she was still standing, but she couldn’t rest.  If she slept, Jill died.

 It was as simple as that.

 Even now, as she waited for Jacobi, she could feel time slipping though her fingers.  She thought of Dellan who’d been beaten for three weeks.  Of Martin, crushed beneath the weight of thousands of coins.  Of Watkins, raped, beaten, her eye gouged out, the sound of those terror-and agony-filled screams.

 Was Jill screaming right now?

 Lindsay shut her eyes as she felt the shakes of fear shiver through her body.  She prayed for her friend, prayed for some kind of clue that would lead her to Jill in time.  The irony that Jill was in the hands of a man who fancied himself an instrument of the God she was begging for help was not lost on her.

Jacobi touched her elbow, and her eyes fluttered open as she turned her head to look at him.

 “Linz, you need sleep,” he told her.

 She shook her head.  “When we have her back.”

 He didn’t bother to argue.  He just nodded, his own eyes haunted as they watched the people come and go up the steps of the Hall.  “Look at them all,” he murmured.

 Lindsay did.  There was a lot of activity in court that day.  Jill should have been among those faces, hurrying up the steps in her too-high heels as she headed for court.  The sudden aching to see that sight brought tears to Lindsay’s eyes.

 “All walks of life coming and going today,” Jacobi mused aloud.  He shook his head.  “Hard to tell who is good and evil among all those faces.  One hell of a spot to people watch, though.”

 The wind, the murmur of voices, the traffic from the street, Lindsay felt all the sounds coalesce and slip into the background as her mind zeroed in on the clue she’d been missing.  Maybe God answered prayers after all.

 “Son-of-a-bitch.”

 Jacobi seemed to have had the same realization as she did.  He looked at her.  “The bastard doesn’t work in a church.  He works in the Hall.”

 ****

 

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