Chapter XXVIII

“Why are we stopping here, Teresa?  Surely we need to get back to the convention center,“ Shana commented as Bornlan stopped in the lobby of the Grand Floridian.  Teresa walked to the atrium area and took a seat, then motioned for Kennian to do the same.  Shana frowned but did as she was asked, perching stiffly on the edge of the chair until Bornlan’s glare caused her to sigh deeply and slide back.

“Thank you,” Teresa said, leaning forward until her elbows rested on her knees.

“Will you answer my question now?  Why did we stop here?  Would it not be to our advantage to return to speak to Gabrielle before she and the rest have an opportunity to correlate their stories?”

“Shana, you’re assuming guilt.”  Bornlan held up her hand before Kennian could retort.  “Gabrielle is our best and only real lead at the moment; however, I think there is more to this than that.  Otherwise why was this DIVA woman looking for dirt on Gabrielle... dirt she obviously hadn’t found yet judging by what we saw?  Why did she have encrypted files on her computer... files Jackie hasn’t already hacked?  Jackie’s the best at what she does so why did this woman have things locked up tighter than Fort Knox?  Also, she’s a publisher, right?”  Shana nodded.  “So why wasn’t she at the conference?  From what we’ve seen so far it’s a pretty massive convention; so why was she left out?”

“So we have more questions than answers,” Shana stated briefly.  “That is normal at the beginning of a criminal investigation.”

“Yes, it is.  I just want to take a few minutes to get down the facts as we know them, then write down all the questions we have as well.  I would prefer to go in with all our ducks in a row, ready to ask our questions and get the answers we need.  Remember that Gabrielle told us that most of the people in that room this morning were law enforcement officers of one kind or the other which means they know how the game is played.”

Her phone rang.  “Bornlan,” she answered without any further greeting.

“Hey, boss.  It’s Jackie.”

“You broke the code?”

“Not exactly.  We’ve got a woman up here... says she’s the dead woman’s assistant.  Whatcha want us to do with her?”

Teresa tapped her fingers on the chair for a moment.  “How does she seem to you, Jackie?”

The tech sighed.  “C’mon, boss – you know that’s not my gig.  But if I was to hazard a guess,” she continued, hearing Bornlan’s impatient intake of breath, “I’d say she was upset but not unduly so.  Apparently she came over at the behest of the rest of her fellow employees when none of them could reach their boss lady this morning.”

Bornlan pinched the bridge of her nose, then brushed the dark hair away from her face.  “Kennian and I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

“Thanks, Boss,” Jackie replied.  Bornlan clicked off her phone and stood.  Kennian followed her example, arching an eyebrow in silent question.

“Another piece of the puzzle just walked in upstairs.”

“Lead the way.”

************

They stepped from the elevator a second time and walked the length of the hall until they reached the crime scene again.  Jackie was standing just outside the door with another woman and Bornlan gravitated towards them.  Kennian nodded her intention to Bornlan, then entered the room when Teresa stopped in front of the small blonde woman who seemed a little shell-shocked.

“Thanks, Jackie. I’ll take it from here,” freeing the other woman to return to her work.  The blonde turned to her and held out her hand, which Jackie accepted perfunctorily.

“Thank you, Jackie.” 

Jackie squeezed her hand briefly and nodded, then without a word released her and headed back into the room to finish collecting evidence to take back to the lab.  Teresa lightly touched the blonde’s arm and waited until their eyes met.  “I’m Detective Sergeant Teresa Bornlan, Miss...?”

“Bonner... Bailey Bonner.”

Bornlan nodded and gestured down the hall, knowing full well it wouldn’t be long before the ME and tech team was ready to leave.  Bailey took her cue and moved down the hallway with Bornlan walking beside her.

“Ms Bonner, you seem a little surprised by this but not unduly upset.  Can I ask why?  I mean, she was your boss after all... correct?”

“I don’t think anyone expects to find someone dead when they go to their hotel room, Detective,” Bailey replied a little drolly.  “The fact that it is being treated as a crime scene just makes it that much more bizarre for me.  I mean... no one liked Desi, but I can’t imagine anyone killing her either.  It’s not worth the bad karma.”

Teresa tilted her head.  “What do you mean?”

Bailey blinked at her.  “What part needs explaining?”

“You said no one liked her.  How do you know that?”

“I was her assistant, Detective.  I just knew.  Not to speak ill of the dead, but Desi was a mean, manipulative bitch.  You’ll find a lot of people are glad that she’s gone no matter how it was accomplished.”

“You realize you’re putting yourself at the top of my suspect list?”

“Detective, I have nothing to hide.  I didn’t kill her.  But I’m not going to pretend I care or mourn her either.  All that will do is make you look at me even closer... especially when you find out I’m telling you the truth about how most people will react to the news of her demise.”

Teresa blinked.  “That seems harsh.”

Bailey shrugged.  “Maybe.  But it’s also true.”

“All right, Ms Bonner.  I want you to remain available for further questioning.  Where are you staying?”

“All of us except Desi are at the Coronado Springs.  She wanted us nearby for the convention.”

“A convention you weren’t even attending, correct?”

“Yeah.  Desi was sure she could convince Gabrielle to include her and AVID Publishing.  It must have been quite a blow to find someone in the world she couldn’t bend.”

“What do you mean?” turning Bailey to face her as she noted the techs emerging from Desdemona’s room.

“Gabrielle,” Bailey replied.  “Gabrielle told her no and didn’t back down when Desi threatened her.”

“And that was unusual?”

“I think your investigation will show you that not very many people told Desi no.  And the few who did generally found their lives became a living hell.”

“Would you care to elaborate, Ms Bonner?”

“Not really, Detective.  I’m already at the top of your suspect list.”

“And you don’t think helping my investigation would change that?”

“That all depends on what you found now, wouldn’t it?”  Before Bornlan could formulate her next question, Bailey plowed ahead.  “Are we done for now, Detective?  I really need to let my friends know what is going on.”

“I can’t let you do that, Ms Bonner.”

“Excuse me?”

“Ms Bonner, until the Medical Examiner tells me otherwise, we are treating this as a homicide investigation.”

“All right.  I understand that, but what does that have to do with me talking to the people I work with.  They have the right to know.”

“And we’ll tell them.  But for the moment, they would be considered persons of interest.”

Bailey sighed.  “All right,” but before she could continue, Teresa’s phone rang again and she held up a hand and opened it.

“Bornlan.”

“Boss, it’s me again.”

“Yeah, Jackie,” she replied, turning her back to Bailey and walking a few steps away from her before stopping.  “What’s up?”

“Couple things, actually.  We’re about ready to leave so if you don’t want the cute blonde to see anything, you’re gonna want to make sure she’s out of the hallway.”  Bornlan smirked at the tech’s description of Bailey Bonner.  Not that Jackie was wrong, but she was usually a little more detached when it came to first impressions of possible suspects.

“And the second?” Bornlan prompted when Jackie hesitated too long.

“I got through some of the encryption.”

“And?”

“You’re gonna wanna see this for yourself.”

Bornlan absorbed this knowledge – hearing as much what Jackie wasn’t saying as well as what she was.  “All right – send Shana out here.  I need her to go back to the Coronado with Ms Bonner.  Then I’ll be in to see what you’ve got.”

“You got it, Boss.  You’re gonna love this.”

************

“You’re sure about this, Diana?”

Diana nodded.  “It’s a done deal.  I contacted Paula as soon as you told us about Desdemona.  Even if they manage to get through her encryption codes and firewalls, there’s not going to be anything for them to find.”

“And they won’t be able to trace her tampering?”

Diana just gave Xena a look.  “Consort, we’ve been doing this for a long, LONG time and no one is even aware that we exist.”

“Do I even want to know?”

“Probably not,” Diana answered honestly and Xena nodded her acceptance.

“All right.  We’ll talk about this later?”  Diana bowed slightly and walked away just as Gabrielle approached them.

“Was it something I said?” Gabrielle asked.  Xena just shook her head and took Gabrielle’s hand.

“What’s up?”

Gabrielle’s eyes returned to Diana’s retreating form once more before she directed her gaze at Xena.  “Oh, um... I need to run back to our room for a few minutes to snag my laptop.  Detective Bornlan just called and asked for a list of our attendees.  Can you keep an eye on things for me til I get back?  Barbara’s teaching a class at the moment.”

“She did?”  Gabrielle nodded.  “Guess we’ll hear about it eventually.  But yeah, I can.”

Gabrielle smiled.  “I’ll come and find you.  Thanks, Xe.”

Xena leaned forward and kissed her cheek.  “Anything for you, my bard.  Now go get your laptop.  Time’s a-wastin’ and our detective friends will be back soon, probably with your list in hand.”  Gabrielle rolled her eyes and smirked in response, but dutifully turned and headed back to their room.

************

“Ms Bonner?  I’m Detective Shana Kennian.  Sergeant Bornlan has asked that I accompany you back to the Coronado Springs Resort.”

“Am I under arrest, Detective?”

“No, Ms Bonner.  We are just trying to maintain a professional demeanor in this investigation.” 

“I see.  And you returning with me accomplishes that how?”

Instead of answering, ice blue eyes turned cold and Kennian straightened stiffly.  “Would you prefer I arrest you, Ms Bonner?  Would that ensure your compliance in this matter?”

Bailey huffed.  “Fine.  Let’s go.”  Together they entered the elevator.  Bornlan waited until she heard the doors close behind them before she nodded and opened the doors. 

“It’s clear, guys.  Let’s move.”  The ME went first, followed by two techs with the gurney.  Then came another tech – this one pushing a cart with several cases of evidence.  Jackie was the last out, holding onto a laptop.  She stopped and looked around the room before nodding at Bornlan.  Bornlan pulled the crime tape over the doorway, then shut the door carefully.

“Thanks for the list, Jackie.  Keep working – see if you can find out why all these names were in an encrypted file.  I have a feeling it’s important.”

“Will do, Boss.  You going back over to the other resort?”

“Yeah.  My best leads are there at the moment.  You’ll call if you find anything?”

“You know it, Boss.  Good luck.”

Teresa sighed.  “I have a feeling I’m gonna need more than that before this is over with.”  She saluted slightly and headed towards the main elevator while Jackie went to the ‘cast members only’ elevator where the tech with the cart stood waiting for her to join him.  They had a lot of work to do.

Teresa waited until the elevator door closed behind them, then entered her own.  She looked at the papers she held in her hand.  She was missing something important; the question was could she figure it out.  Then she stepped from the elevator back into the lobby, only this time she headed straight out the front doors.  Time to get back to work, and if she timed it right, she would be able to get in a couple good hours work before the conventioneers broke for lunch.  She could only hope.

************

“Hey,” Xena said approaching Gabrielle several hours later.  “Time for lunch?”  Gabrielle had been sitting in the media convention room since she’d returned with her laptop.  She’d immediately sent the lists Bornlan had requested, then spent the better part of the morning writing furiously and Xena couldn’t help but smile at the look of supreme satisfaction on her face.

Gabrielle nodded.  “Yeah, if we can talk Rita into starting a few minutes early.  Despite everything, I think our attendees are starting to figure out something is going on and I expect our detective friends will be returning soon.  Everything just feels... twitchy.  Or maybe it’s just me knowing what I know reading too much into things.  God knows I have the imagination for it.”

“I’ve learned never to discount your feelings, Gabrielle.  If you say everything feels twitchy, it probably does.  I haven’t noticed any odd behavior, but most of my people have been in different seminars all morning.  Did you get a lot done?”

Gabrielle smiled.  “Yes, thank you.”   They crossed to the back room and motioned Rita over.

“Ladies,” she said by way of greeting.

“Hey, Rita.  Are we about ready for lunch service?”

Rita looked at her watch and cocked an eyebrow at them, noting it was a little early, but not significantly so.  She nodded and motioned to the servers who were discretely watching them.  “We can get everything set up and ready to go in fifteen minutes.  Good enough?”

“Perfect, Rita.  Thanks.”

Rita bowed her head slightly.  “I live to serve.”

They headed back into the law enforcement conference room.  “Well, this should get our police friends back here,” Xena commented with a smirk.

“As long as we can get this over with.  I have to tell you – I’m a little put out about this.  Do you really think one of us could have done this?”

Xena shrugged.  “Human nature being what it is and knowing what we know about her now?  Yeah, I think it’s entirely possible someone here could have killed her.  I don’t think anyone did, though.”

“Why?”

Xena shrugged again.  “It would make it a crime of opportunity instead of a crime of passion or planning.  No one knew she was going to be here – she wasn’t supposed to be.  And if that was the case, why wait til now?  Surely there have been other opportunities – discrete opportunities.  However, until we have some cold, hard facts, it’s just speculation on my part.”

“Do you think they’ll give us any?  Cold, hard facts, I mean.”

“They’re gonna have to give us something.  The people in this room won’t let them get away with not.”

Gabrielle grinned.  “Neither will the ones in mine.  They are journalists, after all.”

Xena chuckled.  “I’d almost feel sorry for the detectives if this whole thing wasn’t going to make life such a pain in the ass for us.”

Gabrielle rolled her eyes.  “You’d think we’d be used to it by now.”  They watched the servers scurrying around the room a moment longer before Gabrielle put her hand on Xena’s arm.  “I’m gonna go check on my side of the hall.  Meet you back in the monitoring room?”

Xena squeezed her hand.  “See you in a few.”


Chapter XXIX

While Detective Bornlan waited for her car to be brought around, she placed a call to the manager at the Coronado Springs, then a second, brief call to her partner.  So when Detective Kennian and Bailey arrived back at the resort, they were immediately met by a manager who escorted them to a small breakout room not far from the two conventions.  Kennian looked around and gave the manager a small nod of her head.

“This is acceptable.  Thank you.”

“Is there anything else I can do for you, Detective?”  Shana looked around again, noting the carafes of coffee and a covered platter that she assumed was some sort of snack food.

“I believe this will be satisfactory.”

The manager bowed slightly.  “If you need anything else, there is a house phone just outside this room.  You simply need to dial the front desk and ask for me.”

“Thank you, James.  We will.”  Taking the subtle hint, James nodded and exited the room, carefully closing the door behind him.  Bailey looked around, then back at Kennian.

“Now what?”

“Detective Bornlan and I would like to speak to you and your compatriots.  Would you prefer to invite them to join us or would you rather I had a uniformed officer escort them here?”

Bailey blinked.  “You’re serious?”  Shana maintained her rigid stance, merely turning her head to meet Bailey’s green eyes.  “You are unreal.  I’ll call them.”  She pulled her phone from her purse, then paused.  “What do you want me to tell them?”

“Simply notify them that you need to see them and tell them to meet you in this location.”  Kennian hesitated and crossed to the door.  She opened it and stuck her head out for a second, then turned back to Bailey.  “We are in the Cancun room.”

“And if they ask why?”

“Put them off and insist you cannot give them further information over the phone.  If they become insistent, hang up.  They will arrive simply to ensure themselves of your safety.”

Bailey stared at her. “And you know this how?  You’ve never even met these people.”

“I am a police detective and there are certain aspects of human nature that remain fairly consistent.  You have displayed concern and friendship towards these individuals.  It follows that they will do the same to some degree.”  Shana smirked.  “Besides which, human curiosity is not to be underestimated.  Even if these people do not consider you worthy of their concern or friendship, they will want to know what the mystery is.  Therefore, they will come if you call.”

Bailey blinked again – this time to keep the tears from falling at the painful sensation Kennian’s harsh words and cold tone produced in her chest.  Shana caught the aching expression on Bailey’s face and stepped forward hesitantly, placing a surprisingly gentle hand on her shoulder and looking at her with tender understanding.

“I apologize, Ms Bonner.  It was not my intention to upset you.  I am only speaking from my observations as a detective.  My partner blames it on too many episodes of Dragnet on Nick at Nite,” hoping to add a little levity to the conversation. Seeing Bailey smile slightly, she stepped back and removed her hand, resuming the detective’s mask she wore.  “Please make your phone call.”

Bailey nodded, not wanting to embarrass Detective Kennian for her lapse.  “Thank you,” she said quietly even as she lifted the phone to her ear.  Unexpectedly she felt a little better.

************

Detective Bornlan walked into the room with two uniformed officers just as Bailey hung up her phone.  She sent them to stand discretely in the back corners of the room.  “Dot said she would get everyone together and they would be here in a few minutes.”  Both detectives nodded.  “Do you really think one of us killed her?”

“Ms Bonner, until I have evidence to the contrary her death is suspicious and every one who knew her is a suspect.”

Bailey’s brows went into her hairline.  “Detective, do you realize how many people that is?”

Bornlan nodded wearily.  “Probably better than you do.”

At that moment, there was a knock on the door.  “Bailey?”  Kennian crossed the narrow space to admit the AVID people who brushed right by her without seeing her in their anxiousness to reach their friend.  Harmon reached her first.

“Bailey?  Are you all right?”

“Yes,” Franklyn cut in.  “What’s going on?”  Buster leaned against the door and took in the scene around him, noting the two strangers in their midst.  He looked at Detective Kennian who merely arched an eyebrow in his direction.  He understood the subtle hint and moved from the door, crossing to pour himself a cup of coffee.

When the melee died down to a buzz, Buster stepped forward.  “Would you like to introduce us to your friends, Bailey?” causing the rest to notice the two detectives for the first time.  All eyes turned back to Bailey, waiting for her answer. 

Bornlan walked to the front of the room.  “If you’ll all take a seat....”  They looked at her, then at Bailey, finally moving when Bailey nodded her head.  When they were settled, Bornlan cleared her throat, drawing all eyes back to her immediately.  “I am Detective Sergeant Teresa Bornlan and my partner in the back there is Detective Shana Kennian.”  As a group they turned to look at the blonde woman standing by the door, then refocused their attention on Bornlan.

“I am sorry to have to inform you all of this, but your employer, Desdemona Imala Von A’Calandra, was found dead in her hotel room this morning.”  She watched their faces carefully, curious to see if Bailey had been correct in her summation of what reactions would be like.  Most of them didn’t do more than bat an eyelash or two in surprise – just as Bailey had said.  Two of them, however....  Bornlan looked at Kennian who nodded her agreement.  Bornlan cleared her throat again.

“Until we hear differently from our Medical Examiner, we are treating this as a homicide investigation.  As such you are all persons of interest.  I’m going to ask that you separate yourselves from one another and don’t speak until we’ve had an opportunity to speak to each of you?”

“And if we don’t?“ asked a disgruntled male voice.  Bornlan looked into the face of the man who had shown a sense of relief when she’d given the news.

“And you are?”

“Warner Godwin... Desi’s brother.”

Bornlan looked at her notes.  “Ah yes... the disgruntled brother.  The one who felt that Desdemona owed him something when Daddy left him nothing.”  Shock and surprise was clearly evident on every face in the room at her pronouncement.  “Oh yes, ladies and gentlemen – we’re already well aware of a number of things about all of you and your former employer.  And if you feel the need to make things difficult, the nice officers in the back of the room will be happy to handcuff you and give you a ride down to the station.  I promise you the accommodations aren’t nearly as comfortable as these.”

Without a word the small group stood and moved around until there was space between them.  Bornlan jerked her head at Warner.  “You come with me,“ she ordered, motioning him to the front of the room on one side.  “You,” nodding to Franklyn, “go with Detective Kennian.”

Franklyn rose slowly and waited for Shana to reach his side before following her to the opposite side of the room where Warner already sat.  Bornlan looked at the rest who were currently sitting stock-still.  “One more thing,” she commanded.  “No cell phones, no texting and no emailing.  Just sit, all right?”

Everyone nodded their understanding, but before she could move Buster stood up.  Teresa cocked a dark brow at him and waited.

“Detective, what about our right to counsel?”

“Mr.?”

“Goodfellow... Buster Goodfellow.”

“The lawyer... of course,” she muttered before giving him a piranha-like smile.  “Mr. Goodfellow, this isn’t an interrogation and no one here is under arrest.  We’re simply asking a few questions in an informal, comfortable setting in an effort to ascertain where everyone was at the time of death.  However, if you’d like to make this official, we can take it downtown.” 

“Buster, sit down and shut up.  We don’t have anything to hide, and I for one would just like to get this over with,” Bailey said, pushing her hair off of her face.  “I’ve got to work on my resume.  We’re all out of a job now.”

Several pairs of eyes flew to Bailey’s face as her words sunk in and Buster blanched.  However he sat down and remained quiet.  Bornlan watched them for a moment longer before stepping back to where Warner waited with his arms crossed over his chest and a tiny smirk on his face.

“Now, Mr. Godwin... why don’t you start with where you were this morning between the hours of midnight and six?  And tell me who can vouch for your whereabouts while you’re at it.”  She snickered privately as she watched the smirk slide off his face and fear creep into his eyes.

************

Kennian rubbed her eyes briefly before pinching the bridge of her nose between her thumb and forefinger.  Bornlan scrubbed her hands through her hair and sighed loudly.  The uniformed officers had been dismissed and it was just the two of them at the moment.

“You all right, Shana?”

“Yes, Teresa.  That was less than informative.”

“Well, I’ll admit that in a perfect world, we’d already have this wrapped up.  After all, we’ve been on this case for what...?”  Bornlan looked at her watch.  “Close to four hours.  It only takes forty-two minutes on television.”  Kennian smirked and Bornlan echoed her expression.  “However, since this is the real world, it’s gonna take a little longer.  My luck, it will be all day.”  She glanced out the curtained windows.  “After all, it’s a beautiful Saturday.”

“Naturally,” Kennian lamented.

Bornlan blew out a breath.  “So what did you get?”

“Other than the beginnings of a headache?” Kennian asked.  Bornlan stood and went to the snack table, pouring them each a cup of coffee.  She put one in front of Shana and set the other beside it before she went back and snagged the nearly full tray.  Setting it between them, she took a seat across from her partner and waited.

“Let me see,” Shana started, looking briefly at her note and shaking her head.  “It appears Franklyn Mint had some sort of crush on the victim.  He seemed almost genuinely upset about her death.  The rest…?”  She shrugged.  “It is as Ms Bonner said it would be.”

Teresa grunted.  “Same here.  I didn’t get a sense of remorse or regret from anyone.”  She took a sip of coffee and picked up a sandwich from the tray.  She took a bite and chewed slowly. They were a little dry, but they were still better than the stale donuts they usually got in the squad room.  She swallowed again.  “No one appears to have liked this woman, but I have yet to find any evidence of anyone hating her enough to off her.”  Kennian raised her eyebrow and Bornlan smirked.  “Okay,” Bornlan admitted.  “Every one of them had a reason to want this woman dead, but who benefited from it?”

Kennian shook her head.  “I do not know.  Perhaps we should....”  Bornlan’s phone ringing halted her thought and Shana sat back while Teresa answered her phone.

“Bornlan.”

“Boss, it’s Jackie.  You’re not gonna like it,” she said without preamble.  “Whoever wiped it is better than I am.  It’s clean.  No ghosting and no trace.”

“Shit.”

“Yeah, that was about my first thought.  Sorry about that.”

“Thanks, Jackie.  Guess we’ll just have to do this the hard way.”

“Sorry, Boss.  Oh, before I forget, the ME wants a conference ASAP.”

“I’ll call her.  Thanks, Jackie.”

“Later, Boss.”

Kennian looked at Bornlan who just shook her head and put the phone back to her ear as it started ringing.  “Yes?” came a detached voice after one full ring.

“Doc?  It’s Bornlan.  Jackie said you wanted to talk to me?”

“Yeah.  I’ve gotta tell you, Terry - I’m not liking this at all.”

“That bad?”

“I’m going to go ahead and rule it a homicide.”  She paused.

“Why do I hear a ‘but’ in there waiting to come out?”

“Because there is one.  But I’m not ready yet to give you a cause of death.”

“Not even a preliminary one?”  Bornlan heard the aggrieved sigh.  “C’mon, Doc... you’ve got to have some idea of what killed this woman.”

“Detective....”

“Look, Doc – I know you’ve had to rush this case to the top of your load because of the logistics involved and that even rushing the lab work it’s still going to take time to get the results.  On the other hand, I’m willing to bet good money against a steak dinner that you didn’t want to talk to me just to tell me you were calling it a homicide.  We were already working it that way and you knew that.  So what gives?”  Kennian leaned forward, putting her elbows on the table.  Bornlan held up a finger.  “Doc, hang on.  I’m putting you on speaker so Shana can hear this as well.”  A beat and the phone came to rest between them on the table.  “All right, Doc... go ahead.”

“Of course, without all the results I cannot say with utmost confidence that my deduction is completely accurate....”

“But...?” Bornlan encouraged.

“But I am leaning towards the conclusion that this woman’s death was the result of a professional.”  Dead silence met her pronouncement and the doctor felt compelled to speak again.  “Detectives?  Did I lose you?”

Bornlan cleared her throat though her dark eyes never left Kennian’s blue ones.  “No, Doc.  We’re still here.  You’re sure?”

“As sure as I can be given the facts as I know them at the moment.”

“All right.  Thanks, Doc.”

“Anytime, Terry.  I’ll call you when I know more.”  She didn’t say another word before the line went dead.  Teresa and Shana looked at one another for another full minute before Bornlan blinked and shut her phone before snatching it from the table and replacing it in her pocket.

“You know what this means?”

Kennian nodded and stood, watching Bornlan do the same.

“Yes – we now have a convention full of possible suspects to interrogate.  Teresa... they are all professionals.”

“Better?  They were all listed in the victim’s encrypted files.”

“Why?”

“We find the answer to that, we will probably find our killer.”  Shana cocked her brow again.  “C’mon,” Bornlan invited.  “Let me show you what Jackie found.  Then we can decide how to play this.”


Chapter XXX

They walked back from the business center silently.  A call to James had emptied the place out long enough for them to print out the files that both Gabrielle and Jackie had sent them.  Once they re-entered the Cancun room, Shana turned to Teresa with a sheaf of papers in her hand.

“So everyone on Gabrielle’s list,” holding up the papers in her hand, “is going to match up with everyone from the victims?” gesturing to the files Teresa was holding.

“At first glance, it seemed that way,” Bornlan agreed as she started spreading the papers out across the table.  “The only way we’re gonna know for sure is to sit here and go through them name by name.”  She looked over the pages.  “It shouldn’t take too long though I think my list is longer than yours.”

“I know it is,” Kennian stated plainly.  Bornlan cocked a brow at her.  Shana smirked.  “Teresa, it took two more pages to print that list than it did this one.  Common sense.”

“Smart ass,” Bornlan grumbled, but it didn’t stop the smile from crossing her face when Shana chuckled at her frustration.  “C’mon, let’s get started.  I think I smelled lunch being prepared.  If we’re quick, we can catch them at lunch.”

A blonde brow arched.  “You are hungry?”

“Not really,” motioning to the nearly empty tray.  “Okay... maybe a little bit,” when Kennian’s second eyebrow rose to meet the first.  “Mostly, I figure that will be the easiest time to catch everyone in the convention rooms.  They actually do have good food here.”

“Come,” Kennian stated.  “Let us get through these lists.  If our victim was as organized as Gabrielle seems to be,” looking through the papers in her hand, “it shouldn’t take very long.  What does this woman do again?”

Bornlan wrinkled her forehead.  “That’s a good question.  We’re gonna need a secure computer.”  She put her hands on her hips.  “I’d love to get my hands on those computers they’re using in that monitoring room.  They looked pretty state-of-the-art.”

“We should go through these first, then I will see about setting something up.”

Bornlan nodded.  And they turned their attention to the lists in front of them.

************

“Olivia! Emma!” Gabrielle greeted as Olivia tentatively stuck her head in the convention room door.  Emma had no such compunction and ran to where Gabrielle stood just outside the monitoring room.  Gabrielle had just left Xena and was currently watching the servers dash around her con room setting up for lunch.  She caught Emma just as she wrapped her arms around her.  Gabrielle returned the embrace and looked at Olivia who just shrugged.

“Gabrielle!”

“Emma?  Is something wrong, Honey?” pulling back just slightly to look into the child’s eyes.

“No way!” she exclaimed.  “I’m having the best time.  Is it okay that we came to have lunch with Mama?  She said it would be okay, but Mommy thought we should ask you.  It’s the polite thing to do, you know since we’re not really s’posed to be here and this is your party.”

“I appreciate that.  You and your mommy are more than welcome to join us for lunch.  We’re just getting set up,” gesturing to the activity around the room.  “Everyone is still in their seminars for a few more minutes.  Why don’t you tell me what you’ve been up to today?”  She took Emma’s hand and led her to the table a few feet away.

Olivia crossed to stand at the door where Gabrielle had been when they entered the convention room, watching Gabrielle and Emma with a charmed expression on her face.  Xena stepped out a moment later, stopping short when she realized the woman standing beside the doorway was Olivia and not her partner.  She opened her mouth to speak, then followed Olivia’s gaze to the lovely tableau taking place in front of them.

“She’s amazing,” Olivia said quietly.

“Gabrielle or your daughter?”

“Yes,” Olivia agreed, turning her head slightly so Xena could see the happiness that shined beyond the hint of tears that glistened on the surface.  “I was actually talking about Gabrielle.  Don’t get me wrong – Emma is an incredible child.  She brought so much into my life and she makes happiness everywhere she goes.  But watching Gabrielle with her... I don’t know.  It’s like she blossoms.”

Xena nodded.  “It’s just part of who Gabrielle is.  She brings out the best in everyone she meets.  I’m a better person because of her.”

“That sounds a lot like Natalia and me.  She makes me want to be a better person.”

“Those are the best kind because they know us and they love us anyway.”

“Xena!” Emma cried when she saw her standing next to Olivia.  “We’ve come to have lunch with Mama.”

“That sounds wonderful, Jellybean,” picking Emma up in her arms.  “Looks like she’s pretty happy about it too.”  Xena turned so Emma could see Natalia approaching with her dimples on full display.

“Mama!”  Heads swiveled in her direction and smiles followed.  Emma had captivated them all the night before and they watched as Xena put her down so Emma could greet Natalia.  Natalia knelt and engulfed Emma in a firm hug.

“I missed you, Bean.”

“Mommy and I missed you too, but Gabrielle said it was okay if we had lunch with you.”

“She did? Well, that was very nice of her.  How about we go get your mommy and you can come sit with me until the line shortens a little bit?  You can tell me all about your day in the meantime.”  Natalia smiled directly at Olivia as she stood and took Emma’s hand.  Olivia couldn’t stop the smile of supreme satisfaction that crossed her face.

“Go to her,” Gabrielle said softly, stepping up beside Xena.  Olivia didn’t hesitate, but moved to join her family.  Xena and Gabrielle gave them a brief wave before walking back into the monitoring room.

************

“How are things, guys?” Xena asked as they approached Dinah and Lucy.  The two younger women exchanged glances and shrugged.

“It’s been quiet so far,” Lucy replied.  “No cops and nothing really out of the ordinary.”

Dinah nodded.  “What she said,” but her eyes told a different story.  Xena turned to Lucy and jerked her head.  Lucy obediently crossed to a secluded corner.  Xena stood between her and the rest of the room, keeping Dinah and Gabrielle out of her sight while maintaining the privacy of their conversation.

“Can you reach Scud?”

“Probably.  Why?”

“Because I figure our detective friends are going to need a secure internet connection and I don’t want them on our computers.  But if we set up a connection they can use....”

“Gotcha.  I’ll put the call in.  Can you let Amy know I’m probably gonna miss lunch?”

“Sure.  Thanks, Lucy.”

“Anytime, Boss.”  She pulled her phone from her pocket.  “It may take a few, but it should go fairly quickly once he gets here.”

“If you can’t reach him, talk to Barbara and Diana.  But try him first.  Most of this is his handiwork, and I respect most artists don’t want anyone else messing with their art.”

Lucy smirked.  “You’re pretty smart for an old chick.”

“Watch it, Kid.  I can still kick your ass.  Besides I’m married to an artist, remember?  And she can kick your ass too.”

Lucy’s eyes widened.  “Good point.”  Then she stepped into the hall to make her call.

************

“Dinah?” Gabrielle queried, putting a comforting hand on Dinah’s shoulder. 

Dinah sighed and closed her eyes, covering her face with her hands for a moment before scrubbing them through her hair.  “I’m all right, Gabrielle.  Desdemona being here put everyone on edge and knowing she’s dead....  I think people can sense things like that even if they don’t know what’s making them edgy, you know?  So they start projecting their discomfort.”

“It’s going to get worse, Dinah.  Because they’re going to have to know the truth sooner or later.  Are you going to be all right?”

“Hey, Kid!  What’s wrong?” Helena asked as she crossed the threshold into the room.  She immediately went to Dinah’s side and cupped her face in one hand.  Barbara rolled in behind her but stopped short of the two young women, wanting to make sure her girls were okay without interfering with whatever was going on between them.  She looked at Gabrielle.

Seeing Helena had things well under control, Gabrielle moved to Barbara’s side.  “What’s going on?” Barbara asked without preamble.

“Dinah’s getting some of the residual restlessness that seems to be permeating our attendees.  I was just making sure she was all right when you and Helena came in and Helena took over.”

Barbara nodded.  “I can teach her the techniques, but sometimes she needs to borrow some of Helena’s strength to fortify her walls.”

“Is that what they’re doing?” turning to see Dinah’s face cupped gently in Helena’s hands.  They had leaned their foreheads together and Dinah’s hands rested on Helena’s slim hips.

Barbara nodded.  “It made me so jealous the first time I saw it,” she confessed softly.  “I didn’t know that kind of sharing was possible at the time and I don’t have green eyes and red hair for nothing.”

Gabrielle smiled.  “I can relate,” she admitted wryly.  “How did they discover this?”

Before Barbara could reply, Dinah and Helena separated just slightly.  Helena’s knees buckled a little bit and Dinah tightened her hands on Helena’s hips until she nodded just slightly.  Helena arched a brow and Dinah crooked her lips in a tiny grin.  Then without a word, Dinah wrapped an arm around Helena’s waist and Helena’s arm dropped to Dinah’s shoulders.  Then they slowly went back into the kitchen area, leaving Gabrielle to look at Barbara in question.

“Time to refuel.  Sharing like that takes a lot out of Helena and she’s going to need more food faster than the serving staff could keep up with while everyone else is trying to eat.  Dinah will make sure she gets what she needs until she is able to sit and eat like the rest of us.”

“How did they discover this again?”

“I’ll tell you, I promise, but I need to go check on them first.”

Gabrielle patted Barbara’s hand.  “Please.  Let me know if there’s anything we can do.”

Barbara smiled.  “Thanks, Gabrielle.  That means....”

“I know, Sweetie,” Gabrielle said with a smile.  “Now go check on your girls.  It’s not like we won’t be here when you get back.”  Barbara just nodded and rolled off in the direction Dinah and Helena had just disappeared in.  Gabrielle watched her go before turning back to Xena.

“Problems?”

“Later,” Gabrielle promised as Lucy came back in the room.

“Scud was already on his way back over.  Should be here in a few minutes.  Apparently he ended up as one of the extras on the Backstage Tour and he didn’t heed the attendant’s warning to secure his rain gear properly.”

Xena snorted.  “Soaking wet, huh?”

“He said even his shoes squished.”

“Well, EW,” Gabrielle laughed, scrunching up her nose in disgust.

“Would you like to share what is so funny, Gabrielle?” Detective Bornlan asked from the doorway.  “Because I’m pretty sure murder is a serious business.”

Xena and Gabrielle turned simultaneously, but a hand on Xena’s belly kept her silent.  Gabrielle stepped forward just slightly, feeling Xena slide into place behind her and put her hands on Gabrielle’s shoulders.  “Are you accusing me of something, Sergeant Bornlan?”

Teresa Bornlan rubbed a hand over her face then held up her hands.  “No... I’m sorry.  It’s just been a long day already and I’ve got more questions now than I had earlier.”

Xena cocked a brow.  “Would you both like to join us for lunch?”  Bornlan tilted her head at the unexpected invitation.  “Despite my earlier aggravation, I do understand your position.  If we can make things run smoother and faster even just by giving you a decent meal, we will.  The sooner you wrap this up, the better for all of us.”

“That’s true,” Bornlan agreed.  “I don’t mean to offend, but would it be possible for just the four of us to share this room?  There are some confidential matters we need to discuss.”

“I can semi-clear the room, but we have someone coming in to set up a secure line for you.”  She chuckled at the twin looks of surprise she received.  “The sooner you find your criminal, the sooner you get out of our hair.  And no offense, but the sooner you go away, the sooner we can go back to what we were doing.”

“Which was?”

“We’re at Disney,” Gabrielle replied like it was self-explanatory.

“Of course,” Bornlan replied as though she couldn’t understand what difference that made in the bigger scheme of things.  At that moment, Scud walked in the door.  Both detectives cocked an eyebrow at him, then looked at Xena.

“He’s one of my people,” Xena assured them.  “He’s the one going to set up your secure line if you want one.”

“I am not certain....” Kennian started before Bornlan cut in.

“That’d be great, thanks.”  She turned to her partner who appeared to be fuming though her eyes were ice cold.  “Will you excuse us for a minute, ladies?”  Xena and Gabrielle both nodded, and Kennian and Bornlan walked towards the door without actually leaving the room.

“I’m gonna go check on the Birds,” Gabrielle said sotto voce.  Xena just squeezed her hand and tilted her head in Scud’s direction.  Gabrielle nodded her understanding.  “Be right back.”

Xena watched her go, keeping an eye on the quietly bickering women near the door before shaking her head and padding over to where Scud was getting some razzing from Lucy over his wet head.

“Hey, at least my shoes are dry now!” He jerked his chin past Xena’s approaching figure.  “What’s going on there?”

Xena shrugged.  “Guess we’ll find out in a minute,” as the two approached them.

************

“Teresa, I do not think that is the most prudent course of action,” Shana complained the minute they were out of earshot.  She crossed her arms over her chest and stood rigidly straight.  Bornlan opened her mouth to make an angry retort, but drew in a deep breath and blew it out instead.  Then she ran a frustrated hand through her hair.  “After their attitude this morning....”

“Look, Shana... I understand why we should be cautious here, but I also know that phone call was pretty clear.  If they’re not suspects and they’re willing to help us, why shouldn’t we let them?  Especially if it will help us solve this case.”

“You do not think we can do this without them?”

“I think we’ve got a hell of a logistics problem here.  Most of the people on the victim’s list are attending one of these two conventions.  And none of them actually live here.  Keeping that many people here for an undetermined amount of time is simply not possible.  They all have lives and jobs elsewhere.  I’m afraid if we don’t solve this case before they are ready to leave, we may never solve it.  Or we at least will never be able to put our hands on the perpetrator.”

Kennian nodded slowly and uncrossed her arms to let them fall to her sides.  “Very well, Teresa.  I see your point. I will follow your lead in this matter.”

“Thanks, Shana.  Let’s go tell them to hook us up.”

************

Gabrielle met the two detectives in front of Xena and her crew at the same time.  Xena cocked a brow and Gabrielle motioned for Bornlan to speak first.  Bornlan bobbed her head in acknowledgement.

“We’d be grateful to accept your offer, Xena... both of them.”  Xena turned and nodded to Lucy and Scud who immediately began running new wire.  She looked at Gabrielle and smirked.

“Rita set up a place in the green room for them to recover.  Barbara said they’d eat lunch in there to give us the time we needed to get things settled here.  Works out well for everyone.”

“In that case,” turning to the two detectives and motioning to the empty table, “shall we eat?”


Chapter XXXI

“So Sergeant Bornlan, what’s on your mind?” Xena asked as soon as the servers moved away from the table.  Bornlan glanced at Scud and Lucy tucked into the far corner of the room running wires to and through equipment she really couldn’t put a name to.  Then she looked back at Xena with a question clearly written in her expression.  “They’ve got to stay if you want your secure connection, Detective.  They’re not listening; if you look closely you’ll see they’re both wired for sound.”

Both Bornlan and Kennian intently studied Lucy and Scud, earbuds securely in place as they moved in a rhythm unheard by anyone else in the room.  The fact that neither hesitated nor seemingly paid any attention to the conversation convinced the two detectives that neither of them could hear what was being said.  After exchanging glances, they turned back to Xena and Gabrielle who were waiting patiently for them to decide to trust.

“We got an interesting phone call a few minutes ago,” Bornlan said as she put her napkin in her lap and picked up her fork.  “A phone call directing us to focus our attention on suspects other than yourselves.  A phone call from someone high enough up in the government that my captain felt compelled to inform me that if I continued to pursue you as suspects, I would do so without backup or support from my department or any other law enforcement agency on the planet apparently.”

Teresa watched them closely for a reaction, knowing Shana was doing the same thing.  Two sets of eyes – one blue, one green – widened perceptibly before they slowly blinked in tandem.  Kennian looked between them before asking, “Did you practice such a response?”

Xena and Gabrielle exchanged glances.  Xena cocked an eyebrow at Gabrielle and Gabrielle barely shrugged in reply.  They turned back to the two police officers with the same intrigued expression on their faces.  Gabrielle opened her mouth to speak.

Before Gabrielle could answer Shana’s question, Teresa spoke.  “You’ve been a couple for a very long time haven’t you? Relatively speaking, of course... I mean considering your comparative youth,” she added in deference to what appeared to be their approximate age.

“A lifetime,” Gabrielle confirmed.  A beat.  “Why do you ask?”

“Because you’re so in tune with one another.  That takes a lot of time and practice.”  Bornlan cleared her throat.  “However, we’re getting off track.  Can you tell me why someone in the government feels the need to protect you?  Do you have something to hide?”

Xena smirked.  “Now really, Sergeant – if we had something to hide, do you really think we’d make it easy by simply telling you?”

“Xena!” Gabrielle sighed with exasperation.  Xena smiled at her fondly before redirecting their attention towards the two police officers and gesturing to Gabrielle. 

“No, Detectives,” Gabrielle replied.  “We’re not hiding anything; we didn’t kill her.  We don’t know who would call you or why they would deliver such instructions to your superiors.  We welcome your questions and are happy to offer our assistance to you in any way we can.”

“Why?”  When silence met her blunt question, Kennian continued a little more thoughtfully.  “Why are you so eager to help us?  This morning....”

“This morning you blindsided us with raw conjecture and thinly-veiled accusations.  Most people do not respond well to attack, Detective Kennian... justified or not.”  Gabrielle took a deep breath and sighed.  “I didn’t know Ms Von A’Calandra; I was only introduced to the woman two days ago when she attempted to crash my convention.  However, what I discovered about her in those two days did not impress me nor did it inspire feelings of kindness towards her.  Still, that doesn’t mean I killed her, does it?  It simply means I didn’t like the little of her that I was exposed to.”

“What was your impression of her Gabrielle?” Bornlan asked.

Gabrielle bit her lip thoughtfully.  “She was a cold, manipulative bitch who felt the world owed her something because of who she thought she was.”

“All that from your brief interaction with her?  That’s a little harsh, isn’t it?” Bornlan probed.  “I mean isn’t there some unwritten law about not speaking ill of the dead?”

Gabrielle pinched the bridge of her nose.  “That was the nicest thing I could think to say about her, Sergeant.”

“Ouch,” Bornlan said with a grimace.

“Yeah, she wasn’t real likeable,” Xena concurred.  “I wanted to pound her into the pavement for giving Gabrielle grief.”

“But you didn’t,” Kennian stated with conviction.  “Why?”

“Because that’s not Gabrielle’s way.  And I promised to let her handle things in her own way and her own time.”

Bornlan set her fork down and sat back, her gaze shifting between the two of them curiously.  They bore her stare with stoicism, continuing to methodically clear their plates.  Finally she exchanged glances with Kennian and they nodded their agreement.

“All right... so neither of you are guilty of her murder.”  She chuckled softly at the twin, raised eyebrows she received at her pronouncement.  “Call it going with my gut,” she told them with a shrug.  “But I’d be willing to bet my pension that if you had killed this woman, her body wouldn’t have been missed until you were both long gone from here.”  She rubbed a hand over her face. 

“You’d be right,” Xena assured her seriously, causing both officers to look at her for a long moment.  “I wouldn’t risk prison for the likes of her.”

“Right,” Bornlan said uneasily, feeling the core of truth in Xena’s statement.  “Would you want to see justice done for her?”

“Everyone deserves justice, Sergeant,” Gabrielle stated quietly.

“So you’ll help us?”

“She already told you we would,” Xena growled impatiently.

Bornlan flushed and cleared her throat.  “Of course.  So can either of you tell us why our victim had the names of your conference attendees encrypted in her computer?”

Xena and Gabrielle froze, then turned to look at each other.  Teresa watched their silent communication in fascination, wishing she could hear what wasn’t being said.  Finally they turned away from one another and back to the two detectives observing them so closely.

“Are you sure?” Gabrielle asked.

“Absolutely,” Kennian replied.  “We compared the lists you sent with the list our technician was able to unlock from her encrypted program.  Although a few of the names on her lists – most of those men, by the way – are not on either of your lists, ALL the names on your lists were on hers... with the exception of the two of you and Diana Prince.  Why is that, do you suppose?”

“Because she had an unnatural fixation with successful women?” Gabrielle replied.  “Of course that is mere speculation on my part – you did say she had included some men as well, correct?”  She waited for their nods.  “It is really hard to say, Detectives, considering we didn’t even know of the woman’s existence until two days ago.  Perhaps they are people she had met?  Or people she wished to?  We do have a number of incredibly successful women on both sides of the hallway.”

“I suppose those are all viable answers,” Bornlan acknowledged.  “But why was she looking you up, Gabrielle?”

“I beg your pardon?”

“And something else,” Teresa added, ignoring Gabrielle’s query.  “Her employees – she had something on every one of them... a reason for them not to leave her employ despite any animosity they felt towards her.”

“You mean like blackmail?”

“I mean exactly blackmail.”  She pulled a sheaf of papers from her pocket and flipped through them until she found what she was looking for.  “It was interesting, actually.  They were part of the encrypted files they were listed just like everyone else... just like your attendees.  Except they were in their own little subsection or whatever – they weren’t part of the main list.  Even more interesting - there was information about each of her employees – personal information; her thoughts about them; every single infraction she found them guilty of.  All kinds of details that she could use against them.”

“Not that this isn’t interesting, Sergeant Bornlan, but we’re due to start the afternoon sessions of the conference in a few minutes.  Do you think we could cut to the chase?”  Xena had a very good idea exactly where Bornlan was headed, but she wanted to hear her state it plainly.  Then maybe they could make some progress.

Bornlan glared at her but was met with The Look.   She sighed.  “If she had this kind of information on her employees, what do you want to bet she had something on all those other people... all of your convention attendees and those others besides?”

“That’s a pretty big leap there, Sergeant,” Gabrielle commented.

“Is it?  I think it makes as much sense as anything else we’ve got right now.  In fact, it makes more because that gives me motives for all of them.  We just have to figure out what those motives are.”

“Teresa, may I have a moment?” Shana cut in before Bornlan could speculate any further.  Brown eyes met blue and Teresa rose and moved away from the table with Shana right behind her.  Xena and Gabrielle watched them leave but remained silent.  Scud and Lucy exchanged looks and kept working.

************

Teresa blew out an impatient breath.  “What, Shana?”

“I believe you are sharing too much information with these individuals, Teresa.  Just because we have been instructed to no longer consider them suspects, it does not mean that we should trust them.  I have to believe that at least some of the people on the victim’s lists they would count as friends.  Consider your theory of blackmail as the reason behind the murder.  How do we know how far these two would go to protect those they consider friends or family?  We know nothing about them beyond the information we received when we were told to stand down concerning them.  That was very little, Teresa.”

Bornlan nodded at Shana’s argument and pinched her bottom lip thoughtfully.  “Those are valid points, Shana,” causing the blue eyes to sparkle in delight.  “But,” watching the frown return to Kennian’s face, “think about what we do know about them.  We know they are important enough to someone to get us a phone call from some mucky-muck high up in the government.  We know that Xena at least has some sort of background in law enforcement and I have to tell you, Shana – I believe her when she said we wouldn’t have known anything about a murder until they were long gone if she’d done it.”  She sighed and held up her hand when Shana’s lips parted to speak.

“Shana, I know you work with cold hard facts; you’re not big on going with your gut.”

“I do not have a ‘gut’, Teresa.  I only have the facts.”

“But we don’t have very many of those – at least not at the moment.  We’re going to have to put my instinct and your mind together on this thing if we’re going to have any hope of solving it.”  Kennian reluctantly nodded her agreement.

“Very well, Teresa.  I will endeavor to trust your ‘gut’.”

“Thank you, Shana.  Let’s get back.  Despite their patience, I think our hosts would like to get back to their other guests.  And we need to see if we can get some answers.”

************

“Hey Boss,” Lucy called softly across the room, earning her a scowl from Xena that she returned with a charming smile.  Lucy jerked her head and Gabrielle stifled a snicker at Xena’s exaggerated sigh.  She patted the leg closest to her and rose, pulling Xena up with her. 

“Go see what your second wants, Xe.  I’m gonna go check on mine.”

Xena glanced at the two detectives involved in what appeared to be a heated conversation, then turned back to Gabrielle and nodded once sharply.  “Let me know if there’s anything....”

Gabrielle leaned forward and brushed their lips together.  “I love you.”

Xena smiled genuinely.  “I love you too.”  Gabrielle turned and walked to the back of the room and out of sight.  Xena moved to where Lucy and Scud stood waiting for her, making a valiant effort at studying the ceiling tiles.  She rolled her eyes and cleared her throat.

“Something I can do for the two of you?”

“Notta thing,” Lucy smirked.  “I’ve gotten my sugar fill for today.”

Xena’s lips quirked.  “I’ll make sure Amy knows that.”

Lucy’s jaw dropped.  “WHAT?!?”  Her voice dropped to a harsh whisper.  “No... you can’t do that.  That’s not what I meant!”

“It’s what you said,” Xena deadpanned.

Lucy glared at her.  “I hate you.”  Then she turned and punched Scud in the arm.

“OW!” he grumbled, glaring at her.  She returned his glare.  “What’d I do?” he whined.  She growled at him and he stepped behind Xena.

“Your secure connection is done.  Can I go now?”

Xena nodded and Scud scooted backwards towards the door Gabrielle had disappeared behind.  Lucy kept her glare on him, causing him to turn tail and run.  Xena just snickered and arched an eyebrow.

“I’m gonna go find Amy,” she said, kicking the ground with the toe of her boot.  Xena smiled. 

“You do that.  And Lucy,” waiting for Lucy to turn and look at her. “Thanks.”

Lucy nodded, allowing her dimples to show.  “Let me know when we’re ready to start.”  Then she vanished through the side door that led into the law enforcement conference room.  Xena remained where she was, waiting for the detectives to finish their conversation and Gabrielle to return from hers.

************

Gabrielle was nearly overrun by a harried server as she crossed into the back area.  She backed into the wall to avoid being hit just as the waiter jerked to a stop to avoid hitting her.  He looked at her with alarm.  “Are you all right, Gabrielle?”

“I’m fine, Devon.  You?”

“I’m good.  Say, are the ladies in the green room all right?  Seems like we’ve been taking almost as much food in for the three of them as we have for the entire rest of your convention.”

“Is that where you were headed?” motioning to the full tray he carried.

“Yes ma’am.  Sorry,” he added when she shook her head chidingly at him.  “You can’t take the polite out of the boy, I guess.”

She smiled.  “I guess not.  I’m just not used to hearing it much anymore.”  She held out her hands for the tray and he gave it to her without a second thought.  “I’ll take this in.  I was coming to check on them anyway.”

Devon followed and opened the door for her.  “Let me know if there’s anything else we can do or something more they need, all right?”

“Thank you, Devon.  I’d like to meet your mama someday.  She did a good job with you.”

“Yes ma’am,” he agreed, though he couldn’t stop the blush that climbed up his neck.  He waited until she was greeted by her friends, then he closed the door soundly behind her.

“Hey, guys!” setting the tray of sweets in front of Helena.  “I just came....”

“... to check on us.  I’m good, Gabrielle.  Honestly,” Helena responded, looking into Gabrielle’s eyes so she could see the truth.  She nodded in satisfaction, then turned to Dinah.

“And you, Dinah?”

“I’m great.  I was able to completely block everything.  I don’t know how long it will hold; I’ve never taken so much from Helena before.  But for now, it’s all good.”

“It’ll stay good, Kid.  I promise.”

“Helena....”  Helena dropped to one knee in front of Barbara and cupped her face in one hand.

“It’s all right, Sweetheart.  I know how much I can give her without killing myself.  And I know how long it takes me to recover from sharing like that.  But I’m not going to let her suffer if I don’t have to.  I can’t.  Not after what she did.”

Barbara covered Helena’s hand on her face with one hand while the other cupped Helena’s face as well.  “I know, Love.  Doesn’t mean I’m going to stop worrying about both of you when it happens either.”

Gabrielle looked at the three of them.  “One day I would like to hear this story if it’s something you can share.  But for now I just needed to see how you were.”

Barbara smiled.  “We’re good.”  She looked at her watch.  “Are we about ready to start the afternoon sessions?”

Gabrielle nodded.  “Can you take care of that for me?  Our detective friends were still sorting some things out when I left to come in here.”

Barbara nodded.  “Sure.  Dinah, you ready?”  Dinah nodded and turned to Helena who stretched and yawned.  She shook her dark head.

“I’m just gonna stretch out here and catch a little cat nap.  You know where to find me if you need me.”  Then without another word, she curled up on the comfortable couch and promptly fell asleep.  The three women watched her a moment longer before Gabrielle and Dinah left the room.  Barbara rolled over and kissed Helena’s forehead.  Then with a final glance, she shut off the lights and quietly shut the door.  It was time to get back to work.


Chapter XXXII

Xena had escorted Dana into the law enforcement convention and gave her a brief introduction before turning the attendees loose to begin their morning sessions.  Most of the women started moving to the smaller rooms where their seminars were scheduled to take place, but before Dana could move from the stage, she heard a squeal that made her smile.  She and Xena exchanged looks then Xena gave her a single nod and left her to wait for her friend.

“Dana!” Garcia exclaimed as she moved through people who turned to follow her progress towards the stage.  Scully stood still and waited for Penelope to join her on the platform.  Then Garcia embraced the other FBI agent, lifting her completely off her feet and causing Scully to shriek.

“Penelope! Put me down before you hurt yourself!”  Garcia did so, and the two of them turned at the sound of laughter coming from the floor. 

“Hey, Dana,” JJ greeted with a grin.

“JJ, Em... I didn’t know you guys were going to be here.”

“We could say the same thing, Dana,” was Emily’s rejoinder as Scully and Garcia walked off the stage. The small group exchanged brief hugs.  “I think it’s a shame we have to come to Florida to run into you considering we work in the same building.”

”Um, Emily?  Why is your mother at a law enforcement conference?” glancing to where Sabrina Duncan had stopped momentarily to watch the tableau before she gave Emily a small wave and ducked into her seminar room.  “I thought she hated....”

“Yeah, she does although I think she’s resigned to it at this point more than anything.  But that’s not my mother.  That’s my Aunt Bre.”

Dana’s eyes widened.  “Wow.”

Emily smiled.  “Yeah.  Long story.”

“All right.”  Dana nodded her head and glanced at her watch.  “Look, I need to get to my session.  Can we...?”

“Join us for lunch,” JJ invited.

“Yes!” Garcia enthusiastically seconded.  Dana grinned.

“It’s settled, then.  See you all shortly.”

Then they separated and the day was officially underway.

************

“May I ask what you thought you were doing... attending my lecture, Andrea?” Miranda inquired coldly as she stepped up behind Andy.  The media conference had just broken up after the morning sessions and Andy was currently in the food service line choosing the things she wanted for lunch.  Andy didn’t flinch or turn around, though her spine stiffened involuntarily at the venom and accusation apparent in Miranda’s voice.

“I thought I was learning something,” she replied softly.  “Miranda....”

“No!” Miranda bit off quickly.  “No!  You don’t get to... not after you left!  Not after the way you left!”

“Miranda, if you’re going to be angry, that’s fine.  But maybe you should examine why you’re still so mad at me.  After all, you could have just as easily torpedoed my career by blackballing me.  Instead you gave me a recommendation – a recommendation Greg not only read to me word for word, but part of which he used in his own recommendation when I went to the Times.”

“Perhaps I should bring him up on plagiarism charges.”

“Miranda,” Andy said with a hint of exaggeration, turning to look at her former boss.  “I don’t think you can sue someone for plagiarism of a letter of recommendation.”

“Pity.  Yet another disappointment.”

Before Miranda could move away, Andy placed a restraining hand on her arm.  Miranda looked down at the warm hand, then up into Andy’s equally warm eyes.  Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Emily having a mild conniption, and she shook her head slightly.

“Thank you, Miranda.  I behaved very unprofessionally at the end, and you repaid my childishness with not simply kindness, but respect... far more than I had any right to expect.”

Miranda didn’t answer, but she studied Andy’s eyes and face for a long moment.  Then she nodded her head sharply and awkwardly patted the hand on her arm once before feeling Andy release her grasp.  Miranda turned and went back to her table and Andy watched her go....

... then found herself nearly accosted by Emily as Miranda’s first assistant came barreling over to her.  Emily grabbed her elbow, and Andy only kept herself from jerking away because of the plate of food she held. Instead she glared at Emily.

“EM!  What the hell?  Let go of me!”

“Andy!  What the hell were you thinking??  I told you to stay away from her.”

“I did.  She approached me, Em.”  Emily looked at Andy like she’d grown a second head.  Andy scowled.  “Don’t look at me like that.”

“You’re sure.”

“Pretty sure, Em.  I’ve been trying to get my lunch and sit down to eat for the last ten minutes.  I’m not one to miss many meals if I can help it, you know.”

Emily gave her a once-over and smirked.  “I know, Six.  Nigel and I still haven’t figured out how you managed to get down to a four.”

“Good genes.”

Emily rolled her eyes.  “I hate you, you know.”

“I know. I love you too, Em.” Emily shook her head and returned to her table.  Andy snickered and walked towards her seat.

************

“So what did you think of Nikki’s offer this morning, Annabelle?” Simone asked as they walked down the convention hallway in pursuit of chocolate milk.  Simone had a craving and since there was none to be had on the lunch buffet, Annabelle decided a quiet walk would be a welcome distraction from the controlled chaos and information overload the conference was producing.  She rubbed her forehead thoughtfully.

“I thought it was interesting.  It might... give us a new start.”  She felt Simone stiffen and pulled them to a stop by their joined hands.  “I know there’s still talk, Simone.  And I know that bothers you far more than you let on.”

“I wouldn’t trade it, Sweetheart.  Not if it meant you weren’t in my life anymore.”

Annabelle reached up a hand and cupped Simone’s face, bringing their foreheads together when Simone’s eyes closed.  “I believe you, ya know.  But Simone... all the fault and responsibility for that part of our lives isn’t yours and I won’t let you carry the guilt like it’s solely your burden to bear.”

“But....”  Soft fingers covered Simone’s lips and she stopped speaking and opened her eyes.

“Shh... no, Simone.  It was us... together.  Don’t try to take that away from me.”

Simone’s mouth curved into a smile under Annabelle’s touch and she clasped Annabelle’s hand in hers.  “All right, Sweetheart... all right.  But we’re pretty far afield of the original question.  Is it something you want to do?  Not what you think I want,” Simone cautioned, holding up her hand before Annabelle could interrupt.  “But is it something you’d want to make a commitment to?  Because I think we’re looking at a year or more, depending on what we find when we start working.”

Annabelle held Simone’s eyes for a moment longer before tugging them forward again, resuming their trek towards the resort’s single retail store.  Simone remained silent, giving Annabelle a chance to consider all sides of the question.

They reached the store and went to the coolers in the back, snatching up a quart of chocolate milk and paying for it before exiting once more and heading back towards the convention hall.  Simone cracked it open and took a deep draught, feeling the headache she’d felt at the base of her skull for the better part of the morning start to fade.

“Natalie and Tootie are gonna kill us,” a brunette grumbled as she strode past them with a blonde woman in tow.

“Actually, Tootie’s going to kill you for making her get up so early,” the blonde corrected before they were out of earshot once more.  Simone shook her head and swallowed another mouthful of milk.

“You feeling any better?” Annabelle asked when Simone’s attention returned to her again.

Simone smiled.  “Much, and glad I’m not them,” indicating the rapidly retreating backs of Jo and Blair, who by the looks of it were still arguing.

“Yeah, I have to wonder why this Tootie person wants to kill them for making her get up early.”  Annabelle quirked an eyebrow.  “Might make for an interesting story to work on while we’re in Great Britain when we need a break from the ghosts.”

Simone looked at her carefully.  “So you want to go?”

“I think we should.  The book idea has serious possibilities and it would be nice to be able to see Europe as an adult with my lover instead of as a child with a chaperone.”

“Good,” Simone replied, but it was enough.

************

“All right, ladies,” Dana said some hours later as she noted how close the law enforcement seminar was running to lunchtime.  “We’re about out of time for this morning’s session so are there any more questions?”

The morning had been very successful as far as she was concerned.  Aside from the forensic people she knew from the Jeffersonian Institute, most of the other women were unknown to her.  Yet they were all quite brilliant in their own right and Dana was certain she’d leave here glad to have met each of them.  There were a few she might even keep in contact with given the opportunity.

They were chatting amongst themselves when they opened the door and as a group they stopped short, seeing the buffet was already set up and a number of folks already eating.  Janet was at the front and she smiled when Sam and Mac waved her over.  She was the first over the threshold and the rest followed her example, exiting quickly and finding the others in their party.

“Are we late?” she asked as she put a hand on Sam’s shoulder and leaned over to put down her briefcase.  She smiled when Sam’s hand covered hers and squeezed gently.

“Not at all.  I think they set things up a little early today.”

“Hmm... wonder why?”

Mac shrugged.  “I don’t care.  I was starving and this is good.”

Sam nodded.  “It really is,” holding up her fork so Janet could have a taste.  “How was your seminar?”

Janet closed her eyes.  “I’ll tell you in a minute.  I’m gonna go get some lunch before it’s gone.”

Mac and Sam chuckled and turned their attention back to eating only to be brought up short when Abbie and Casey stopped at their table.  “May we join you?” Abbie asked.

“Please,” Mac offered even as Janet rejoined them and Diana took her seat.

Abbie introduced herself and Casey and Mac did the same for herself and the two Air Force officers and Diana.

“It’s nice to meet you all,” Casey said graciously with a smile on her lips.  “Abbie’s told me a little about working with you, Mac.”  She looked at Janet, Sam and Diana.  “Are the three of you part of the JAG Corps as well?”

“Oh no,” Janet denied.  “Diana is with Homeland Security.  I’m a doctor and Sam is involved in deep space telemetry.  She’s here as an Air Force liaison from the Department of Homeland Security and I’ve been participating in the pathology seminars.”

Two sets of eyebrows rose into dark and red hairlines.  “You do a lot of autopsies in the Air Force?”

Janet laughed gently.  “Not at all, though I’ve certainly done my share.  And I have extensive knowledge in biological warfare, which is something our law enforcement communities need to be more and more aware of these days.  Mostly it was an excuse to come to Disney World with Sam though I’m not sure our daughter is going to forgive us for coming here without her.”

“She’s an adult,” Sam whined.

“Not the point, Sam – you know that.”  Diana and Mac snickered; Abbie and Casey blinked.

“You two have a daughter... together??” Casey asked.  “Isn’t that...?”

“Normally,” Sam confirmed.  “Extenuating circumstances.”

“I’d like to hear that story if you can share it,” Abbie stated with a confirming nod from Casey.

Sam and Janet exchanged glances; Sam shrugged and Janet nodded.  Mac watched in fascination, knowing her friends were sharing a side of themselves very few were permitted to witness.  She cut her eyes at Abbie and Casey, seeing the same realization dawn on them.  Before either Sam or Janet could speak, Casey spoke up again.

“Anything you share with us would be held in confidence.”  She looked between the two of them.  “But please don’t feel that you have to tell us anything.  We simply wanted to meet you.”

Sam blinked.  “Why?” she asked pointedly.  “Not to be rude, but why would you be interested in us?”

Abbie smiled.  “Straightforward – I like that.  Mac is a good friend.  And since you are her friends, we thought perhaps you could be our friends as well.”

“We’d like that,” Janet replied.  “It’s hard to find female friends or colleagues at our level.”  Diana and Mac nodded their agreement to that statement; Abbie and Casey smiled.

“So... friends then?”

Sam and Janet looked at one another, then turned to Abbie and Casey with equally bright smiles.  “Friends,” they agreed.  “Now let me tell you about our daughter.  Would you like to see pictures?”

Casey nodded.  “Absolutely.”  Janet proceeded to pull out her wallet and started telling their story.

************

“I can’t believe we overslept so late,” Blair commented as they entered the main building.  They hadn’t eaten yet and were hoping to make it into the conference room before lunch was over.  She clutched Jo’s arm.  “It was worth it, though.”

Jo grinned at Blair and covered the warm hand wrapped around her bicep.  “I know,” her grin cocky.  Blair frowned and slapped Jo’s belly with her free hand.  Jo scowled.  “What?”

“Barbarian,” Blair muttered.

“You should worry.  Natalie and Tootie are gonna kill us.”

“Actually Tootie’s going to kill you for making her get up so early.”

“Time she joins the rest of us in the real world.”

Blair made a show of looking at her watch before cocking an eyebrow in Jo’s direction.  “I don’t think we’ve got much of a leg to stand on, Joey.”

Jo snorted.  “Unlike Tootie, it’s not like we do this often.”

Blair looked at her thoughtfully.  “Perhaps we should.”  Jo turned and met Blair’s brown eyes and Blair smiled.  “Just something to think about.”  Then they reached the conference rooms and crossed to the media side hoping to find Natalie and Tootie.


Chapter XXXIII

“Would you like to invite your friends to join us?” Catherine asked Wendy as they stood in line for lunch.  Nikki and Nora had already served themselves and were seated together talking quietly.  Wendy glanced at them before looking back at Catherine and shook her head.

“No, not yet.  I know I said they’d like to meet all of you – and they would; I’d just like a little more time to get to know them on my own first, I think.”

Catherine smiled and patted Wendy’s arm comfortingly.  “It’s all right, Wendy.  Take your time.  Just don’t forget you’ve got friends here who’ve got your back.”

“Thanks, Catherine.  I appreciate that more than you know.  If things go well, I’ll see if maybe they’ll join us for dinner.”

“Sounds good,” Catherine agreed.  “Besides, Sofia and Lilly are networking, and you know they wouldn’t want to miss out on meeting them,” she added with a knowing smirk.  Then she took her plate and moved to the table Sara and Claire were already sitting at.  Sara cocked an eyebrow at her and Catherine shook her head, placing her food on the table before pulling out her chair and taking a seat.

“She wants a chance to talk to them alone a little more.  Can’t really blame her.”

Sara shook her head.  “No, not really.”

Claire turned back to the conversation at that point.  “I asked Melinda to join us.”  Catherine and Sara both nodded their agreement as Melinda Warner took a seat beside Claire.  Then their conversation turned to the seminars each had attended that morning.

************

“May I join you?” Wendy asked as she approached Nikki and Nora.  As one, the two women looked up at her before nodding simultaneously.  Wendy smiled and took a seat.  “Thanks.  I thought maybe we could talk some more.”

“Before we get the third degree from your friends?” Nikki asked with a hint of a smile on her lips and a glance in Catherine’s direction.

“Yeah, exactly,” Wendy answered with a chuckle.  “I know they mean well, and they’re only concerned, but I’d kind of like us to figure this out first.”

Nikki nodded.  “Me too.”

“Would you like me to leave?” Nora offered.

“No!” the word exploding from two identical pairs of lips causing their eyes to meet in surprise.  Nikki cocked a brow at Wendy.

“It’s a little different situation – Nora is your partner, your family... not just your friend.”  Wendy’s matter-of-fact statement caused Nikki’s eyes to shine brightly and Nora covered her hand.  “Besides,” Wendy continued impishly, “how else am I going to find out about shoe fetishes and other important stuff?”

Nikki glared at Wendy, then turned to her snickering partner.  “It’s not a fetish,” she declared pompously.  “It’s....”

“It’s an obsession, baby,” Nora cut in.  “But I love you anyway.”

Nikki tried pouting but could only smile at Nora’s public declaration.  It had been a long road getting to that point in their relationship and she reveled in it.  It was only Nora tapping on her hand that brought her thoughts back to the present.

“Sorry,” she apologized.  “What’d I miss?”

“I just asked if you’d tell me more about your childhood,” Wendy replied.  “You said you lost your mother shortly after childbirth – do you have any memories of her at all?”

Nikki bit her lip and looked down at the table as she shook her head.  “Only those that my Daddy and Grandmere shared with me.  It was complications from my birth that caused her death.”

“Oh God, Nikki... I’m sorry.  I didn’t realize....”

Nikki shook her head briskly.  “It’s all right, Sugar.  How could you?  I know she and Daddy were devoted to one another.  He never remarried, and he spoke of her often.  He still does.”

“Wow – that’s amazing.  You don’t see a lot of that kind of love these days.  Tell me about them?”

So Nikki did, relaying bits of her family history in the process.  She told of the dashing young man her father had been and how he had swept her mother off her feet at her debutante ball.  “Grandmere wasn’t too sure about Arthur Beaumont as a prospective suitor for her only daughter.”

“Wild man, huh?”

Nikki rolled her eyes and chuckled.  “Aren’t they all?”

Wendy laughed.  “Good point.  So what changed her mind?”

“Mama did... at least Mama convinced Grandmere to give Daddy a chance.”

“And she did?”

“Grandmere is a brilliant woman – she knew Mama was already in love. And Daddy came from good solid New Orleans stock; that counted for a little in his favor.  According to Daddy, when he went to pick Mama up for their first date, Grandmere laid down the law to him.”

“And that was enough?”

“Oh yes.  Grandmere is also very... formidable and she has the power and connections to back up any threat she makes.”

“She sounds like an interesting woman.  I‘d like to meet her.”

“Come to New Orleans, Sugar.  I’ll introduce you.”

“Did she raise you?” Wendy blurted out, then covered her reddening face.  “Sorry, that was kinda rude, huh?  I just....  You said it was just you and your dad, but you don’t strike me as someone raised by a man no matter how well-bred he was.”

Nikki grinned.  “Grandmere will be thrilled.  She helped raise me, yes.  Since Daddy had no desire to remarry and there were no other female role models in my life, Grandmere stepped in with Daddy’s blessing to fill that place.  He knew I’d need that in my life, but she was always my Grandmother and my friend.  She never tried to be my mama although Grandmere is the one who did all the ‘mom’ things with me.  You know, took me shopping and to the beauty parlor and to ballet class and gymnastics.  She gave me my coming out party.”

Wendy’s eyes widened and her eyes darted rapidly between Nikki and Nora.  Nikki laughed genuinely at her reaction.  Even Nora chuckled,glad to see her lover laugh so wholeheartedly.  Nikki held up her hand before Wendy could speak.

“Not that kind of coming out, Sugar.  My debutante ball... introducing me to society.”

“I can’t imagine that.  It’s so different from the way I grew up.”

“How so?” Nora asked knowing Nikki wouldn’t.

“Single moms in the seventies weren’t highly regarded even in a place as progressive and open-minded as San Francisco.  Especially one who had no idea who the father of her baby was.”

Nikki winced.  “That’s harsh.”

Wendy shrugged.  “It was what it was.  Apparently some ‘dashing Southern gentleman’ breezed into town on business.  She was quite taken with him, and she thought he felt the same way.  Obviously he didn’t, but their courtship was whirlwind enough that she got pregnant with me and he never knew.”

“And she didn’t try to find him?”

Wendy shrugged.  “I think she tried, but I’m not even sure she knew his real name.  On my birth certificate, she wrote ‘father unknown’.”

“Have you looked for him?  Since you went into criminal science?” Nora asked when it became apparent that neither Nikki nor Wendy was going to say anything else.

“I’ve run a few traces on the name she gave me, but nothing else.”

“Afraid of what you might find?” Nora asked gently.

“Something like that.  I’m really not sure how I’d react if I did find him at this point in time.  I just know that I can’t find a Beauregard Butler anywhere that even remotely fits the description my mom gave me,” stabbing her fork at the food on her plate.

Nikki barely flinched, but Nora recognized the sign without seeing the brown eyes widen.  She slipped her hand underneath the table and stroked Nikki’s knee comfortingly.  Nikki’s only acknowledgment of her touch was to cover Nora’s hand with her own.  She smiled weakly at Nora then turned her attention back to Wendy who had missed the byplay due to her focus on her lunch.

“So tell us about your mom, Wendy.  She sounds like a gutsy lady.”

“She is.  I’ll never forget this one time....”

************

“Guess Abbie is still upset with us,” Olivia commented as she watched Abbie and Casey take seats at what they’d dubbed as the military table with Mac, Sam, Janet and Diana.

“Or maybe Casey wanted to meet them.  You know she’s a big military supporter though I think her dad was an Army man.”

“I think that only matters on the football field.”

“You’ve never been on a military base much, have you?” Liz Donnelly broke in.  “It doesn’t matter much when you’re fighting and bleeding together but any other time....  Let’s just say that most military people are supremely loyal to their branch of service.”

“How on earth did a Marine make friends with the Air Force then?” Serena asked.  “Jarheads tend to be the most gung-ho servicemen there are; they regard the Air Force as pretenders.”  She stopped speaking when everyone turned and looked at her.  “What?” she questioned.  “My brother’s a Marine.”

Both tables nodded their acceptance of her explanation.  “Either way, it’s good to see them networking,” Liz stated.  “We should all be doing the same thing,” with a pointed look around the table.

“I think Melinda’s got the right idea as well,” Olivia said, tilting her head in the direction of their medical examiner.  Dr. Warner was sitting with Claire Washburn and the CSI crew from Las Vegas.

“Maybe we should,” Olivia said as she rose and extended her hand to Alex who accepted it with alacrity.

“Detective?”

“I’ve got some folks I’d like for you to meet,” and together they left to make some new friends.

************

Melinda and Claire listened carefully as Catherine filled them in on the little they knew about the tableau taking place at the table next to them where Wendy Simms, Nikki Beaumont and Nora Delaney sat eating lunch.

“So they don’t know if they’re related or just a weird sort of anomaly?” Melinda asked.  “Makes you wish for a lab.”

“Actually we have one,” Catherine commented as Sara blushed a deep red.  “It’s just in the experimental stages; it hasn’t been approved for testing or use yet.  Besides, they both need to be willing to be guinea pigs before we can do anything.”  Claire turned to Sara.

“This is your doing, isn’t it?”  Sara nodded but wouldn’t meet her eyes.  Claire put an arm around the younger woman’s shoulders and pulled her chin up until their eyes met.  “Don’t be ashamed of your brilliance, Sara Sidle.”

“I’m not, Claire.  I just....”  She froze when Catherine’s hand covered hers.

“Sara, despite all of our run-ins and head-butting, I have never doubted the value of your mind and I’ve seen the stuff in your booth over there.  Have a little faith in yourself.  Who knows?  Maybe Wendy or the other woman will ask for a DNA test.”

“You think they’re kin,” Claire stated.

“You don’t?”

“I try not to jump to conclusions without the facts to back them up....”

“But...?” Melinda prompted.

“But it’s very hard to deny a resemblance that’s that dead-on.  They’ve got to share at least a common throw-back relative.”

“It would certainly make for an interesting study if they’re not actually related.”

“It certainly would,” Claire agreed.  “Now,” with another look at Sara, “tell us about these things you’ve developed.”

“Yes, please,” Melinda seconded, vaguely aware of Alex and Olivia passing their table as they moved towards the table that held the FBI complement.

************

“Excuse me?”  A voice breaking into her description of the prototypes she had developed for CSIs and forensic tech caused Sara to stop speaking and turn around.

“Yes?”

Abby stuck out her hand.  “Abby Sciuto.  Dr. Saroyan and I were sitting at the next table over when you started talking about the prototypes you’ve developed,” motioning to Cam briefly.  “We were wondering if we could just sit in on the discussion instead of trying to eavesdrop.”

Sara smiled, appreciating Abby’s forthrightness and honesty.  She slid her chair back from the table so she was facing both tables.  “Sure,” she offered.  “Pull up a chair.”

Abby clapped her hands together and gestured Cam over.  The rest of her table smiled at her enthusiasm, glad to know she was enjoying herself. They idly noted Dana Scully’s passage by their table as she headed to the back of the room.  Then Kate, Ziva, Bones and Angela turned back to discussing the trials and tribulations of living and working near the Nation’s capital, happy to table the discussion of anything related to law enforcement for the moment.

************

“I thought it was an interesting seminar,” Jordan commented to Brooke as they sat down to eat.  Brooke shook her head.

“I am happy to be involved in the law side of things.  I’m pretty sure I couldn’t handle being on that side of a case.”  She looked at the petite redhead who was already seated.  “What about you, Helen?”

“The live ones give me issues enough.  Don’t think I want the dead ones to be doing the same.”

Scribbs laughed heartily.  “Ain’t that the truth?  I’m glad I missed that session then though I imagine Ash rather enjoyed it, didn’t you?”

Ash glared at her partner momentarily before nodding curtly.  “Yes, Emma, I did.  I found it to be enlightening.”

“So did I,” Jordan agreed, her face lighting up in response.  “I may go talk to Agent Scully once she’s done with lunch.”  Olivia and Alex passed by the table, stopping when they stood beside Garcia.  “Or maybe when they’re done with the folks from New York,” she added prosaically.  Then she and her tablemates turned their attention to lunch until Sam came in the door looking for Brooke.

“Brooke, did you hear?”

“Sammy....” reminding Sam of her manners.  Sam had the grace to look abashed at the chiding tone and ducked her head in apology.  It didn’t temper the sparkle in her eyes though. 

“Sorry,” she muttered.  “Hi everyone,” giving them a cursory wave before turning back to Brooke.  “Did you hear?”

Brooke pulled Sam down to sit in the empty chair beside her and took both hands in hers.  “No, Sam.  I haven’t heard anything about anything.  What’s going on?”

Sam’s legs jumped up and down in her excitement and Brooke smiled at the tension that sung through her.  Whatever Sam’s news was, she was certainly excited about it.

“I asked and she said yes, Brooke.” not understanding the frown that crossed Brooke’s face for a long moment.  Then she brought their joined hands to her lips and brushed a kiss across Brooke’s knuckles.  “Oh no, Sweetheart... nothing like that.  I’ve already got my one and only,” kissing the ring she’d put on Brooke’s finger the night before.  Brooke’s grin got an answering one from Sam before Brooke’s expression turned solemn again.

“Okay... then what are you talking about?”

“I asked Gabrielle about teaching the art of storytelling.”

“And she agreed?” starting to catch some of Sam’s excitement.  Sam bobbed her head up and down.

“Uh huh.  She’d going to do a seminar for us tonight.”

“I wouldn’t mind hearing that,” Helen commented.

“Neither would I,” agreed Jordan.  “Wonder if she would object if some of us came as well.”

“I don’t see why she would,” Sam said slowly.  “Though it might be better to ask her first.”

“Maybe I’ll do that now while I’m thinking about it,” Jordan replied.  “I think Alex and Olivia may be a while.”  She excused herself and left the room.  The rest turned back to their discussion.

************

“Excuse me, Penelope?” Garcia turned and found Olivia standing behind her.  She jumped up and gave the detective a hug, grinning when it was fully returned. 

“Olivia!  How good to see you!  I wasn’t sure, I mean....”

“It’s all right, Penelope.  I understand.  I wasn’t either til I got over here.”  Olivia looked at the others watching their interaction.  “I’m Detective Olivia Benson.  This is ADA Alexandra Cabot.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Detective, Counselor.”  Dana squinted her eyes at Olivia.  “Have we met?”

“I don’t think so although I did work for the FBI for a short time.”

“That’s where I’ve seen you.  That’s how you know Garcia!” Emily said as she rose and offered her hand.  “Emily Prentiss – It’s nice to meet you both.  Let me introduce you,” motioning around the table at each woman as she gave their name, saving her aunt and her friends for last.

“It’s nice to meet you all,” Olivia said sincerely.  “We didn’t mean to interrupt your lunch, but I wanted to know if I had actually been right in my recognition of Penelope.  We just haven’t had much time to socialize until now.”

“That’s true,” Garcia commented with a frown.  “Everything’s run like clockwork until now.”

“Wonder what’s up?” JJ asked rhetorically as Lucy stepped into the room and unerringly found Amy, indulging in a few minutes of having no responsibilities.

Dana wiped her mouth then set her napkin on the table as she stood.  “I’ll go find out.”  The rest followed her with their eyes, hoping she might get some answers.


Chapter XXXIV

“Well, well,” Tootie commented to Natalie as the door opened and Blair and Jo stood hesitantly in the doorway.  “Look who finally made it out of bed,” she smirked then rose from her seat and waved them over.  They showed their badges to the doorkeeper and motioned towards Natalie and Tootie.  The woman nodded and let them in and Blair and Jo crossed the room to join their friends.

“Nice of the two of you finally join us,” Tootie teased with a smile.  “Must’ve been some night.”

Jo smiled rakishly.  “You have no idea,” she stated with firmness as she ushered Blair to a chair.  “I’ll go get us some lunch?” she offered, her voice and tone completely different.  Blair nodded.

“Thank you, Joey.”

Jo headed to the buffet and Blair turned her attention back to her friends.  “Everything okay?” Natalie asked quietly.  Blair gave her a blinding smile.

“Everything is wonderful.  I’m sorry we missed breakfast.  That was actually my fault.”

“You just didn’t want to be up before daylight,” Tootie said gravely, though her eyes twinkled.

Blair rolled her eyes and Natalie snorted at them.  “D’uh, Tootie.  Even perfection takes time.  You should know that,” Blair added wryly.  Tootie started laughing and soon the entire table had joined her.  It was this scene to which Jo returned.  She set a plate in front of Blair and another in the place next to her before she took a seat.

“What’s so funny?”

Blair clasped her hand warmly.  “Memories, Joey.”

“Oh... speaking of – did you hear?  Oh wait... of course you didn’t.  How could you?  You weren’t in here.”  Natalie would have rambled a little longer, but Jo put a hand out.

“Nat?  Take a breath and then spill it.”

“Right.  Gabrielle is teaching a seminar tonight.”

Blair and Jo looked at one another and blinked.  Then they turned back to their tablemates.  “Um… okay,” Blair said slowly.  She shrugged.  “What’s the big deal?”

Natalie and Tootie exchanged glances then looked back at Jo and Blair.  “Really?  Are you kidding me?  Did you miss her performance last night??”

“Nat!”

Jo’s impatient tone cut Natalie’s incredulous reaction and Natalie took a deep breath.  “Sorry.  This is just really exciting.”

“We understand that, Nat.  What we’re not clear about is why.”

Natalie huffed.  “It would be like Clarence Darrow teaching you law personally, or William Shakespeare giving you his secrets for writing plays that would survive and flourish for hundreds of years.”

“Oh.  We didn’t realize....”

“What she did last night is a lost art.  No one tells stories like that anymore.”

“Okay,” Jo said, wiping her mouth before taking a long swallow of water.  “If it’s a dead art, why is she teaching it?”

“Not a dead art – a lost art.  There are still storytellers in the world – only now they write books and make movies and produce theatre.  But to actually be able to hold people in the palm of your hand; to touch their hearts with only your words – no props, no aids, no preparation or notes except for what’s in your mind – that’s something you don’t see anymore.  I think it would be amazing to learn how to do that if only for myself.”

“So can anyone attend this seminar?”

Natalie shrugged.  “I dunno.  I suppose you could ask Gabrielle.”  She looked at her watch.  “We should be restarting....”  She frowned.  “A few minutes ago actually.  Wonder what’s going on.”

Blair looked around.  “I don’t see Gabrielle.”

“Neither do I,” Tootie concurred.  “I don’t see Barbara either,” she added with a frown. 

Jo rose. “I’ll see what I can find out.”  She headed towards the side door, knowing it led to the private area that had been set aside for the convention planners.  Just as she reached the wall, Jo saw Barbara enter from one of the doors hidden by the stage area.  She shifted her angle to meet Barbara before she got to the main part of the room.

Barbara frowned in confusion when she realized Jo was headed directly towards her, but she stopped her wheelchair and waited.  It was obvious Jo had something on her mind and if Barbara was going to have to deal with something else on top of all the other stuff already going on, she preferred to do so with as small an audience as could be managed under the circumstances.

Jo recognized immediately that Barbara was expecting trouble so she offered her hand and a smile as she knelt to be at Barbara’s level.  Barbara accepted the hand with a smile of her own and cocked an eyebrow in question with a pointed glance at Jo’s convention badge.

“Are you lost, Detective?”

Jo chuckled and shook her head.  “No, not at all.  My partner and I were supposed to meet our friends for breakfast, but we overslept.  So we decided we’d try for lunch, ya know....  I mean since these two conventions are kinda working together and all, we figured it wouldn’t be much of a problem.”

Barbara held up her hand.  “It’s fine, Detective.”

“Jo, please.  I’m not at work.”

Barbara smiled.  “Fair enough, Jo.  Is there something I can do for you?”

“Yeah, actually.  Nat and Tootie were telling me and Blair about some storytelling session Gabrielle is gonna do tonight.  We were wondering if it was open to us as well.”

Barbara blinked, not having expected the question.  “Um....”

“Look, I know you probably have to ask Gabrielle and all, but if you don’t mind, I know Blair and I would like the opportunity to hear what she has to say.”

Before Barbara could respond, Jordan walked up and noting Jo’s position, knelt on the other side of Barbara’s chair.  Barbara blinked rapidly and turned her attention to Jordan, suddenly feeling uncomfortably surrounded.  She took a deep breath.

“Dr. Cavanaugh?”

“Ms Gordon, some of us just heard that Gabrielle is doing a special symposium tonight.  Is it true?”

“Um... yes?” shaking her head slightly.  She cleared her throat.  “Yes, she is actually.  Let me guess,” she continued wryly before Jordan could continue.  “You’d like to attend.”

“Can we?” Jordan asked, her eyes lighting up as she smiled in anticipation.

Barbara pinched the bridge of her nose and blew out a breath, but she couldn’t help the smile that crossed her face.  “Let me check with Gabrielle.  I’ll make sure you get an answer as soon as she makes a decision, all right?”

“All right,” the two kneeling women agreed simultaneously.  “Thank you, Ms Gordon.”

Barbara nodded her agreement.  “One thing – my name is Barbara, please.  I am only Ms Gordon in the classroom,” watching Jo and Jordan nod their acceptance.  Then she looked pointedly at her watch.  “Now I suggest you return to your side of the convention hall,” said with a smirk.  “We’re ready to get underway again, and I would imagine they are as well.”

“Thanks, Barbara,” Jo said as she rose.  She waited for Jordan to stand then together they collected Blair and headed back to the law enforcement conference.  Barbara waited until the trio exited the room, then she made her way to the stage to get the afternoon sessions started.

************

“Hey, Babe!” Lucy greeted as she walked over to the table where her girlfriend was currently ensconced.  Amy grinned and rose, embracing Lucy enthusiastically.  Max rolled her eyes in mock-disgust while Janet just looked on and sighed. 

“You two need a room,” Max muttered.  “Oh wait... you have one,” snarking.

“Max!” Amy sighed, pulling back slightly from Lucy to glare at her friend.

“All right!  All right!” holding up her hands in a conciliatory manner and stood up.  “I’m gonna go find Dom since we should be starting soon.”  She looked at Lucy.  “Right?”

Lucy nodded.  “Yeah.  I’m just waiting on the word from the boss.”  She gave Amy an Eskimo kiss.

“What’s the hold-up?”

Lucy shrugged and turned enough to look at Max.  “I dunno – I didn’t ask.  I just figured I’d take advantage while I had the chance.”

“Right,” Max said drolly.  “You coming, Janet?” sounding more like an order than a question.  Janet looked between her friends before sighing and nodding.  She stood slowly.

“We’ll be back,” she said as she reluctantly followed Max out of the room.

“I don’t get them sometimes,” Lucy admitted while they watched them go.  Amy grinned.

“That’s okay – they really don’t get you either.”  She looked around.  “Why is everybody looking at us?”

Lucy looked at the room.  No one was overtly staring, but she noticed a number of eyes glance in their direction before skittering away followed by low conversation among tablemates.  Then she saw their guest speaker making her way over.  “I dunno, but I bet we’re going to find out.”

************

Lucy eased away from Amy so they were standing side by side instead of next to one another as Dana reached them.  “Agent Scully?”

“Hi, Lucy.  I was just wondering if there was a problem.  We seem to be running behind,” she added with a pointed glance at her watch.

“I’m just waiting for the boss to let me know she’s ready to start the afternoon sessions.”  Lucy pushed off the table she was leaning against.  “I’ll go see if I can find her.”  She leaned over and pecked Amy’s cheek, then headed back into the monitoring room.  The other two watched her go, then Dana turned to Amy who just shrugged.  Dana shook her head and turned to stand beside Amy while they waited for developments.

************

“Hey, Boss,” Lucy greeted as she re-entered the private room.  Xena was alone, and Lucy looked around pointedly before cocking an eyebrow in her direction.

“Gabrielle is checking on Barbara and her girls and the detectives got a call and left out of here pretty quickly,” Xena said as Gabrielle and Dinah crossed into the room from the back.

“Everything all right?” Gabrielle’s question was directed at Xena.

Xena shrugged.  “They didn’t say.  I expect if it’s about DIVA’s case, we’ll find out soon enough.”

“In the meantime,” Lucy cut in, “people are getting antsy over there,” jerking her thumb towards the law enforcement room.  “You think we can get things started soon?”

“Sure, Junior,” Xena said with a grin at the glare Lucy gave her.  “I’ll take care of it.”  She headed to the door, then looked back at Gabrielle who hadn’t moved.  “You gonna...?”

“Barbara’s taking care of it for me.  Can you ask Diana to come see me, please?”  Xena nodded, then stepped over the threshold.  Lucy and Dinah took their places behind the computers, checking the equipment as a matter of course and readying things to record the afternoon seminars.

“Hey, Dinah,” Lucy said as she got comfortable at the computer table again.  Blue eyes met hers with a question.  “Where’s your Catwoman friend?” noting the startlement that Dinah swiftly hid.  “Is everything all right?”

“Catwoman friend?” Dinah repeated, hoping Lucy couldn’t hear the nervousness in her voice.  “Oh,” she added more naturally, “you mean Helena?”

“Of course I mean Helena... who else?  C’mon, doesn’t she remind you of Halle Berry as Catwoman?  Kind of slick and predatory in all that leather?”

“Are you talking about Helena?” Barbara asked as she rolled into the room.  Dinah nodded.

“Lucy was just mentioning how much Helena reminded her of Catwoman... like Halle Berry,” Dinah added when she saw Barbara’s eyes widen perceptibly though that was the only indication Barbara gave to show her surprise.  She tilted her head as if in thought.

“Now that you mention it, I guess she does a little bit.  Although it may be her penchant for leather,” Barbara said, brushing off further questions by continuing.  “Helena can only tolerate being closed in with crowds like this for a limited amount of time.  So she’s taking a break.”

Lucy nodded.  “I can understand that.  I’m glad she’s all right.” turning her attention to her monitors as the women broke into smaller groups for their sessions to begin again.

************

“So?” Blair asked as soon as Jo reached the table.  She had already said her goodbyes to Natalie and Tootie and risen, knowing their time was short.

“She’s going to talk to Gabrielle.  We’ll have an answer as soon as she does.”

Blair nodded.  “Very well.”  She turned to Jordan.  “Did we miss anything interesting this morning, Jordan?”

Jordan smirked.  “Depends on what you consider interesting, Blair.”  She held up her hand.  “It’s been a good morning; it’s been a good conference.”  They stepped back into the law enforcement room.  “I think a lot of the women here are making friends they will keep long after this is over.”

Before either Jo or Blair could comment, they saw Xena enter the room and their focus turned to preparing for the afternoon seminars.

************

“Gabrielle, have you got a minute?” Barbara asked.  Gabrielle motioned her over to the table and took a seat, waiting for Barbara to join her.

“What’s up?”

Barbara pinched the bridge of her nose.  “Apparently word of your teaching seminar has reached the law enforcement room.  I’ve already had a couple of attendees approach me to ask if they would be allowed to join us.”

Gabrielle’s eyebrows hiked up to her forehead.  “Excuse me?!”  She waved off Barbara’s words when she started to repeat what she’d said.  “I’m sorry – I did understand what you said, I’m just a little surprised by it.  Why would they want to?”

Barbara just leveled a look at Gabrielle.  “Seriously??  Um, Gabrielle... do you realize the talent you have?  Or how it touches people?”  Just then Xena and Diana walked into the room together and Xena arched an eyebrow in Gabrielle’s direction. This time, it was her pinching the bridge of her nose and shaking her head.  Xena transferred her attention to Barbara and waited for her unspoken question to get a response.

Barbara smiled.  “Nothing bad, Xena.  Your law enforcement types have gotten wind of Gabrielle’s impromptu storytelling seminar tonight, and they want to be included.”  Diana immediately went and knelt at Gabrielle’s side.

“Your Ma....” She stopped, recognizing she couldn’t address her queen as such in this company.  “You’re going to tell stories, Gabrielle?  You have to let us come too,” her blue eyes pleading.  She more than anyone but Xena missed the storyteller that Gabrielle had been before modern technology had changed the way stories were told and histories were passed down, and Xena had but to ask for a story to have Gabrielle tell one.

Gabrielle gently cupped Diana’s face.  “I’m not telling stories, my friend.  I’m going to try and teach them how to do so.”  Diana tilted her head and Gabrielle smiled softly.  “It means so much?”

Diana nodded.  “Because I have seen you teach.  You will be telling stories to teach them.”

Gabrielle sighed.  Diana was right.  She looked at Xena who returned her look with one full of love and support, then glanced at Barbara who nodded slightly in encouragement.  Gabrielle turned back to Diana and nodded.  “All right,” she replied, smiling when she saw the grin that lit Diana’s features.  She looked back at Xena who was smiling in satisfaction.  “Will you let them know?”

Xena sketched a half-bow in her direction.  “Your wish,” she replied with a quirk of her lips.  Then she turned to re-enter the conference room, knowing she would have to visit each of the breakout rooms and interrupt the ongoing seminars in order to get the word out.  However if the rest of the attendees were half as enthusiastic as Diana had been, it would be worth it.  She smiled.  Despite everything she was glad they had done this, if for no other reason than having the opportunity to see Gabrielle return to her roots for just a little while.  With a hint of jauntiness in her step, Xena entered the first room to make her announcement, anxious to see a good response.

************

“Was there something else, Gabrielle?” Diana asked as Xena left the room.  Gabrielle nodded.

“We have a slight problem.”  Diana arched an eyebrow and Gabrielle’s lips twitched.  “Beyond that.  It seems Paula was not able to finish erasing everything from DIVA’s files before the police got into them.”  Even though she wondered how Gabrielle knew of Paula’s actions, Diana didn’t even blink at Gabrielle’s knowledge of what had been done.

“Isn’t that tampering with evidence, Gabrielle?” Barbara asked quietly, glad Lucy and Dinah were too fully engrossed in their work to overhear the whispered conversation.

“Only if you get caught, Oracle,” Diana stated, knowing Barbara would appreciate the irony.  Barbara inclined her head in acknowledgement. 

“So you need to know what they got?” Diana asked.  Gabrielle shook her head.

“Not exactly.  I know all they got on our people were their names.  The problem is Desdemona also had blackmail material on her own employees in a separate section, and Paula didn’t catch those.  So the detectives have assumed the other files were tampered with and everyone here was being blackmailed.  Everyone is still a suspect at this point except for you, Xena and I.”

“So...?”

“So I want to know what she had on her people.  And have Paula send you what she found on everyone else.  I don’t think anyone here did it, but….”

“But someone did,” Barbara said grimly.

“Exactly,” Gabrielle concurred.  “And the sooner we find out who did this, the better for all of us.


Chapter XXXV

Gabrielle looked around the room as Diana walked out and headed to the green room where Helena was currently resting.  She knew Diana would take pains not to disturb Helena, but she needed the privacy the green room would afford her for however long she could get it.  Gabrielle turned her eyes back to Barbara and sighed.  Barbara cocked an eyebrow at her.

“I just realized – if we’re doing a joint session tonight instead of waiting for the talent show tomorrow night, we’re gonna have to reset the rooms now instead of waiting until after lunch tomorrow.”

Barbara’s eyes widened, then she nodded.  “All right.  Well, we don’t have to move Lucy and Dinah – they’re behind the stage,” motioning to the platform that was already in place.  “I’ll contact Rita and let her know our plans have changed, then I’ll relieve Lucy and Dinah.  I can watch both sets of computers and they can help you get started in here.”

Gabrielle nodded.  “Sounds good, especially since we don’t know where our detective friends went or how long it will be until they get back.”

“What sounds good?” Xena asked as she stepped back into the room.  “Where’s Diana?”

“I’ll explain that while you help me take the table down and start rearranging the room.”

It was to this controlled chaos that Detectives Bornlan and Kennian returned.  They looked at one another then crossed to the front of the room, hoping to attract the attention of either Xena or Gabrielle.  Rita was the first to notice them and motioned towards them, then she gave Xena and Gabrielle a nod of understanding and went back to directing her set-up team.  Xena and Gabrielle turned to the waiting detectives.

Both heads tilted in question.  When neither Xena nor Gabrielle seemed compelled to offer an explanation, Bornlan gestured around them.

“You wanna tell us what’s going on?”

“We’re resetting the rooms.”

“For what purpose?”

“I am giving a storytelling seminar tonight and we need to be able to accommodate both conventions.  The only real way to do that is to reset this room.  We had already planned to do that tomorrow after lunch for the talent show tomorrow night.  We’ve just adjusted our schedule to accommodate the change.”

“Is that prudent?  We are investigating a murder after all.”

Xena and Gabrielle looked at Kennian for a moment before Gabrielle responded.  “Detective Kennian, we realize that you’re investigating a murder.  And if you and Detective Bornlan decide you need to interview any or all of our convention attendees, we will of course give you the access you need to do so.  In the meantime these women have paid to be here and attend the lectures and seminars we’ve put together.  We’re not going to simply put everything on hold because of a murder that may or may not have anything to do with the women here.”

Bornlan nodded and held out her hand before Kennian could speak.  “She’s right, Shana.  The world doesn’t stop because we have work to do.  Go set up the access we need,” motioning to the lone computer that Scud and Lucy had set up for them in the back corner of the room.  Blue eyes bore into brown then Kennian jerked her head once and stalked off.  Bornlan held up her hand before either Xena or Gabrielle could speak.

“I’m sorry.  We’re getting a lot of pressure to clear this case quickly.”

“Why?”

Bornlan frowned at Xena’s terse question, so Xena reiterated it.  “Why are you getting pressure to clear this case so quickly?  What’s so special about that DIVA person that it requires you to solve this crime immediately?”

“We know we need to solve it quickly simply from a logistics standpoint.  Your attendees are only here for a few days, and unless we have a motive or murder weapon or a probable cause to tie someone directly into this crime, we’re not going to be able to keep people here indefinitely.  Our captain didn’t appreciate the call he got exonerating you with no explanation so I suspect he’s getting some heat from someone pretty high up the chain to just make this go away quickly.  That means....”

“Shit rolls downhill?” Xena offered deadpan.

Bornlan chuckled.  “Something like that, yeah.”

“All right, Detective.  Where do you want to start?”

Bornlan blew out a breath.  “Do the women here know what’s happened?”

“Only the people that were in this room when you told us this morning.”

“All right. Shana should be about done setting up our connection to Jackie.  As soon as she’s done, we’ll go make the announcement to your con goers.  Maybe you should go ahead and gather them all together in the main rooms.  It will make things easier and a lot quicker for us.”

“Okay.  I’ll have Barbara keep an eye on things in here,” Gabrielle said, excusing herself.  Xena looked at Bornlan. 

“Would you like to come with me, Detective?” gesturing towards the law enforcement room.  Teresa scratched the side of her neck and shook her head.

“Actually, would you take Shana with you?”  She continued without verbal prompting, the query clear in Xena’s blue eyes.  “We’re going to have to split up to interview people as quickly as possible; and since the law enforcement conference is your responsibility, I assume you’d want to be there,” waiting for Xena’s confirmation.  “So you’d be watching the crowd when the announcement was made.”

“Detective Bornlan, Gabrielle is....”

“Gabrielle is a lovely woman and I’m sure very capable in her capacity as a convention planner as well as whatever her day job is.  But even without any details on the two of you, I know in my gut that the reason you are running a law enforcement conference is because that’s what your background is in.  You are naturally an observer of those around you.”

“And you’re willing to risk your investigation on your gut, Detective?”

“It’s all I’ve got at the moment, Xena; I’m running out of time and I’m running out of options.”

Xena held Teresa’s brown eyes for a moment longer, then nodded sharply.  “All right, Detective.  I’ll do what I can to help.”

“Thank you.  If you can just get your people together on that side of the hall....”  Xena nodded and motioned to Gabrielle who took her cue and headed directly into the media room.  The afternoon sessions were fixing to take an interesting turn.

************

Now what? Blake wondered as Gabrielle stuck her head into the room after knocking.  She had just gotten rid of her headache and had made it into the conference room in time for Barbara to dismiss them from lunch and into their afternoon sessions.  She sincerely hoped it wasn’t anything bad, but the solemn look on Gabrielle’s face told her that hope was going to be in vain. 

However, Gabrielle simply asked them all to return to the main room without further explanation before she closed the door and moved to the next seminar room.

Blake and the rest looked around at one another, then as one body rose and made their way out the door.  Then they took their seats and waited for the rest of the attendees to join them and for Gabrielle to tell them what was going on.

************

Xena sighed when she stepped into the convention room again.  The instructors had been very forgiving of her first interruption; after all, it wasn’t every day that people who routinely dealt with the baser side of man’s depravity were included in something as astounding as storytelling.  Especially by someone as gifted as Gabrielle.  This, however, went right back to their jobs their careers and livelihoods.

Still she knocked on each door, stepping inside long enough to ask them all to gather in the main room for an announcement.  They exchanged glances and sighed, knowing instinctively none of them was going to like what was coming.

************

Alex’s phone buzzed once as she and Casey rose from their seats and she frowned when she glanced at the message.  Casey placed a hand on her arm and asked softly, “Everything all right?”

Alex bit her lip.  “I’m not sure,” she replied as they made their way slowly out of the small room and into the main one.  “When I went back into Witness Protection after the Conner’s trial, I was sent to Albuquerque, New Mexico, and the Federal Marshal in charge of my case was a woman by the name of Mary Shannon.”

Casey nodded.  “Right, so?” guiding Alex to a seat beside Olivia before she took Alex’s other side and motioned for Abbie to come sit beside her.  She held up a hand before anyone could interrupt.  Alex kept her eyes on her screen, her brow still furrowed.

“Mary and I became friends... well, as much as a charge can be with their handler,” she added, then smirked.  “She was much better than Hammond was, and I was nicer to her because of it.  Anyway,” turning her attention to Casey and only then realizing they were seated at the table with their friends and colleagues.  “Oh... hi.”

Olivia put a hand on Alex’s arm.  “What’s wrong, honey?”  Alex handed her phone to Olivia, whose expression mirrored hers almost exactly.

“Would you care to clue the rest of us in, please?” Abbie said a little impatiently.

Alex cleared her throat.  “Mary Shannon was my Marshal liaison when I left New York the second time... after the Conner’s trial.  She was supposed to be attending this convention, but got held up in Albuquerque because of some last minute business.  However, she contacted me this morning, saying she had made it into town after all and asking if we could get together for dinner.  She and Olivia wanted to meet each other and I figured this would be the perfect opportunity without having to go back to Albuquerque.”

“Okay, so?” Liz prompted when Alex stopped to take a breath.  Alex just gave her a smirk and an arched eyebrow.  “Sorry.  Go on.”

“Right, well – she just texted me that she’d need a raincheck for dinner.  It appears that she has to escort someone out of Orlando immediately.”

“Well, with any luck, you’ll get another chance soon,” Tracey offered.

Alex nodded.  “Maybe.  In the meantime, I wonder what’s....  Hey, isn’t that Pa...?”  She trailed off as she endeavored to twist in her seat, eyes following the blonde currently accompanying Xena towards the front of the room.  She shook her head.  Olivia wrapped an arm around Alex’s shoulders and leaned in to whisper in her ear.

“You all right, Alex?”

Alex nodded.  “Yes.  Overactive imagination, I guess,” she added when Xena called for their attention then introduced Detective Shana Kennian.

“Ladies, it is my duty to inform you that a woman known to you all, Desdemona Imala Von A’Calandra, was found dead in her hotel room this morning.”  No one blinked, but Kennian felt the air suck out of the room.  “At this time her death has been ruled a homicide, and you are all considered persons of interest.”

“Why?”

“Who asked that?”

“I did,” Doris said as she rose from her seat.  “We have a right to know why we’re being considered persons of interest.”

“At the moment I am not at liberty to disclose that information.  However, it is substantial enough that I am going to ask that you all remain here until otherwise instructed.  We will be questioning each of you as quickly as we can.  Thank you.”

Kennian stepped from the platform and Xena took the microphone.

“I can assure you that this is mostly a formality, ladies, but you all know that the easier you make it for the authorities, the better it will go for you and the quicker we can be done with this business.  I’d like you to return to your seminars and focus on them instead of this.  I know it’s asking a lot,” hearing the mutters at her words.  “But it’ll be better than sitting out here waiting.  Besides, you paid for them,” she said with a crooked smile.  “May as well get your money’s worth, right?”

“She’s right,” Catherine agreed unexpectedly as she stood up.  “I’m not going to let the death of someone like that mess up a conference I’ve enjoyed a great deal.”

The air flooded back in the room and the women started murmuring to one another as they got up and slowly returned to their seminar rooms.

“That was unnecessary,” Kennian admonished Xena as she joined the blonde at the door.  “Someone here is guilty, Xena.  And we will find them.”

“Someone is guilty,” Xena agreed placidly.  “I just don’t think they’re attending either conference.”

“And what is the basis for your theory?” her tone scathing.

“Years of studying human behavior.”

“I believe you are incorrect.”

Xena just smiled.  “We’ll see.”

************

“Olivia?”

“Natalia?  What’s wrong, baby?”

“Can you come back to the convention room?”

“Right now?  We just got to Epcot.”  Olivia took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of her nose.  “Natalia, what’s wrong?”

Natalia raked her hands through her long hair and let out a nervous breath.  “Desdemona was found murdered in her room this morning.  And everyone here is considered a person of interest.”

“Excuse me?  Are you serious?”

“Olivia, I wouldn’t joke about something like this.”

“I’m sorry, Sweetheart.  I know you wouldn’t.”  Olivia ran a frustrated hand through her own hair.  “It’s just not something you expect to hear outside of Springfield,” mocking the quirks of their hometown.  “All right.  We’ll be there in a few minutes, okay?”

“Thank you, Sweetie.  I just... I need....”

“I know.  Em will understand,” watching as her daughter’s eyes turned towards her.  She gave Emma a tremulous smile and put the car in gear, pulling out of the space they had just recently filled.  “I love you, Natalia.”

“I love you more.”

“Not fair, Rivera.  You know I’ve gotta hang up.”

The last thing Olivia heard was Natalia’s soft chuckle before the line went dead.  She edged back onto the road headed towards the resort, feeling Emma’s eyes on her.  “C’mon, Jellybean.  Your mama needs us.  Epcot will be here later.”

“Is Mama all right?”

“I think so, but let’s go make sure, okay?”

“Okay, Mommy.”  A beat.  “Mommy, do we get to go to Gabrielle’s storytelling tonight?”

“Do you want to, Jellybean?”

“YES!”

Olivia laughed aloud at Emma’s enthusiasm.  “Then I guess we’re going to storytelling tonight as long as it’s all right with Gabrielle.”

“Oh, it’s all right with Gabrielle.  I already asked.”

Olivia’s eyes went into her hairline, but she just shook her head.  “All right, Jellybean.  I guess we’ve got plans for the night.  Does that make it a date?”

“Mommy!” Emma said with laughter in her voice and rolling her eyes.  Then they pulled back into the resort parking lot and headed in to find Natalia, wondering what else awaited them.


Chapter XXXVI

“Shana, you need to calm down,” Teresa instructed firmly.  Blue eyes glared at her balefully, but Kennian stopped slamming things around.  She took a deep breath and put her hands in her pockets to remove the temptation to resume her slamming.

“You do not understand, Teresa.  Xena was mocking me.”

“No, she wasn’t.  She was stating her opinion.”

“She was patronizing – assuming she knows better than a police detective because of years of supposedly observing human behavior.”

Bornlan shrugged.  “She may.  We have no way of knowing what circumstances have given her the knowledge she has or how long she’s had to acquire that experience.  For all we know she is some kind of government spook – which would explain why we can’t find anything about her; why she would have that kind of knowledge; and why someone very high up is looking out for her.”

“You agree with her,” Shana stated flatly.

Teresa shrugged again, this time with a sheepish expression on her face, then nodded succinctly.  “I do actually.  I think our best bet for suspects is going to be among the victim’s own employees.  However, we have an obligation to follow all the leads we have, and at the moment that means we need to speak to each and every woman in both conventions and see if we can discover what the victim had on each of them even if it is only to eliminate them from the suspect list.  Who knows... maybe we have a version of Murder on the Orient Express playing out here.”

Kennian just glared at her again.  Bornlan returned the look stare for stare.  Kennian looked away first.

“Look... we’re doing all we can do.  You’ve got the computer secured and set to ring you with any alerts and updates we might get.  We’ve got unis standing by in case we need them and the Captain is trying to get a couple more detectives assigned to us to speed things along.  Considering the constraints we are working under, we’re not doing too badly at the moment.”

“I suppose.  I am simply frustrated by this entire process.  I feel as though we are being played by someone though as yet I could not say for certain who that might be.”

“Then I suggest we get to work and try to figure it out because we’re running out of time.”

************

“Gabrielle?”  Gabrielle looked up at Helena as she approached.  “Whoa,” she added, giving the busy room the once-over.  “What’d I miss?”

Gabrielle smirked.  “My class on storytelling has been extended to include the law enforcement conference as well.”  Helena’s brows went to her forehead and Gabrielle smiled.  “Diana asked; I couldn’t tell her no.”

“All right,” Helena agreed.  “And speaking of Diana,” she added in a lower voice, “she needs to see you,” jerking her head towards the back room she’d just vacated.

Gabrielle looked at her closely, seeing the residual exhaustion around her eyes.  “C’mon,” she said, taking Helena’s elbow and guiding her back towards the green room.  “You need a longer nap.”

“But....”

“But nothing,” Gabrielle replied firmly, giving Barbara a reassuring nod before they crossed the threshold out of the monitoring room.  “You and I both know you would be able to hear anything Diana and I said from here if you really wanted to.  I trust you, and I promised Barbara....”

Helena stopped walking and pulled away from Gabrielle, crossing her arms over her chest defensively.  “You promised Barbara what?”

Gabrielle stepped back to Helena, tugging on her arm gently until Helena relented and allowed Gabrielle to lock arms with her and move them along.  “Nothing bad, Helena.  I just promised Barbara I’d help keep an eye on you... you know, when she couldn’t.”

“I can take care of myself.”

“Yes, you can... and you do, most of the time.  But you have been known to be reckless with yourself more than once in your life.”  Gabrielle sighed.  “Helena, you’re the most precious thing in the whole world to Barbara Gordon, and if me making sure you get enough rest helps give her a little peace, then I will damn well make sure you get enough rest.  Are we clear?”

Helena blinked, the augmentation disappearing as rapidly as it had appeared at Gabrielle’s commanding tone.  “Yeah... we’re clear.”  She let Gabrielle get them to the door before she pulled them both to a stop once more.  Gabrielle looked at her with a questioning expression.  “Can I ask why?”

“Why what?  Why I promised?” watching Helena nod her head.  Gabrielle dropped her chin to her chest briefly and blew out a thick, heavy breath.  Even now the memories of Mt. Fugi had the ability to steal the very air from her lungs and make her heart clench in remembered agony.  She felt Helena’s hand cup her chin with a gentleness she had only known from one other.  “Gabrielle?”

Gabrielle allowed her head to be brought up, but she kept her eyes closed until she felt Xena’s arms wrap around her from behind.  She relaxed into the strong body while bringing her hand up to cover Helena’s that still rested on her face.

“You all right?” Xena murmured into her ear.  Gabrielle nodded even as a tear trickled from her closed eyes.  Then she opened watery green eyes and held Helena’s questioning gaze.

“This, Helena... this is why I promised Barbara.  I know what it’s like to live without this.”

Helena inhaled sharply, feeling a little of Gabrielle’s pain through the physical connection of their hands.  It was a residual effect of her helping Dinah - and thankfully for her a temporary one – that she could briefly feel strong emotion in others.  That had been what had woken her originally – the announcement of DIVA’s murder had created enough of a stir in the air around her that it had jolted Helena from a sound sleep. Diana’s entrance into the green room had actually been a calming thing as she had helped ground Helena until she could wake up completely.

Helena’s eyes augmented sharply and she met Gabrielle’s pained ones squarely.  “Now do you understand?”

Helena simply pulled Gabrielle’s head towards her own until she could brush her lips over Gabrielle’s forehead in apology.  Then without a word, she slipped her hand from Gabrielle’s grasp and walked into the green room.

Gabrielle let out a deep breath, and Xena let her hands draw soothing patterns on Gabrielle’s belly.  She felt Gabrielle relax further into her and pressed her lips to the juncture of her neck and shoulder.  Gabrielle turned in her embrace, letting Xena see the flash of her eyes from green to red-rimmed yellow before forcing them back to their natural state.

“I’m all right, Love.  She just caught me by surprise... and so did the memory.”

Xena didn’t have to ask which memory.  There was only one memory that still caused this kind of reaction in Gabrielle.  Before she could open her mouth to speak, Gabrielle covered her lips and shook her head.

“Don’t... please?”

Xena nodded and leaned down to catch Gabrielle’s lips....

... before a throat clearing behind Gabrielle made Xena look up and glare into sheepish blue eyes.  Still Diana didn’t look away and Xena sighed, pulling back reluctantly.  She motioned to Gabrielle with her eyes and Gabrielle leaned forward and kissed Xena quickly and thoroughly, causing Xena’s eyes to widen briefly before slamming shut and clenching her hands into Gabrielle’s waist.

When it was over, Gabrielle eased away from Xena still licking her lips.  Xena took a deep breath and forced her hands open.  Gabrielle grinned and winked at her, then turned to face Diana with her Queen’s mask firmly in place.  She cocked an eyebrow, smiling big when she felt Xena’s hands come to rest on her hips again.  Diana cleared her throat and dipped her head but didn’t drop her eyes.

“My queen?”

“Yes, Diana; speak, my friend.”

“I’m sorry to interrupt – is everything all right?  Helena came back into the room without a word, curled back on the couch and is either deep in meditation or sound asleep again.  When you didn’t follow, I came out to see....”

“Diana, it’s all right,” Gabrielle said gently.  Diana nodded uncertainly but straightened when the tone of Gabrielle’s voice changed.  “Now what did you find?”

Diana jerked her head towards the green room.  “C’mon... you’re going to want to see this for yourselves.”

************

Xena and Gabrielle exchanged glances before turning to Diana simultaneously.  “Is this for real?” Xena finally queried.

“Oh yes,” Diana affirmed.  “Paula ran the checks twice to be certain.  Every single employee she had was being blackmailed by her in some way or another so all of them had a motive for wanting her dead.  Some of them should be in jail for the stuff she had on them.”  She hesitated, then drew a deep breath and continued.  “In fairness, some of what she has on the people attending both conventions is just as bad... or worse.  The question is do we share with the police or do we make them work for it?” looking back and forth between Xena and Gabrielle.

Xena and Gabrielle looked at one another again.  Xena arched an eyebrow and Gabrielle shrugged.  Then Xena nodded and Gabrielle sighed.  “Have Paula send you the specs on everyone... even the ones who aren’t here – men, women, corporations, whatever.  If we’re going to give the detectives a hand solving this, then we’re going to be thorough.”

Diana reached behind her and picked up another sheaf of papers.  “I thought you might say that.”

Xena accepted the pile of papers and straightened them, then passed them to Gabrielle.  Within a few minutes, Gabrielle had them organized in the order Desdemona had placed them on her list.  She gave them back to Xena and turned to Diana.

“Do we have any idea who did this yet?”

Diana shook her head.  “Having looked through the list, I’d say there are a few likely suspects.”

“But...?”

“But what?  If I was Bornlan and Kennian, I’d be looking a lot closer at those employees.  There’s only so much the human mind can take before it breaks and who’s to say what form that breaking would take.”  Diana shrugged.  “On the other hand, we all know that what’s on those pages doesn’t necessarily reflect the whole truth.”

“So we let the detectives dig through this themselves?”

Xena smirked.  “You really think they will accept more help from us?  Detective Kennian is convinced I am plotting against them.”

Gabrielle’s brows flew into her hairline.  “Excuse me?”

Xena waved away her question.  “Nothing to worry about.”  She smiled when Gabrielle gave her a look of patented disbelief.  “Trust me, Sweetheart.  I’m not letting them mess this up.”  She looked at Diana.  “So we’re good to go with this stuff.”

“Absolutely, Consort.”

“All right.  Let’s go find Detective Sergeant Bornlan.  I have a feeling she will be more gracious about accepting our help than Detective Kennian.”

“You and Diana go ahead, Xe.  I’m gonna check on Helena and then go see how things are going in the monitoring room.”  She smiled at the skeptical look Xena gave her and smiled softly.  “I’m all right, love.  I just don’t want to get into something with Detective Kennian, and if I see her right now, I just might.”

“My defender,” Xena murmured and Gabrielle nodded.

“Always.”

“All right, you two – enough before I need a shot of insulin.”

Xena snickered, even as she rose and grabbed the papers.  “Jealous much?”

“You know it,” Diana agreed instantly as they headed towards the door.  “Every Amazon wants what you have... together, I mean,” seeing the look in Xena’s eyes when she glanced at Gabrielle and back to Diana.

“Xena, leave Diana alone.”

“Yes, my queen,” sketching a half-bow in Gabrielle’s direction before jerking her head at Diana.  “C’mon, Princess.  Sooner we get this done, the sooner the rest of this can be over with.”

“You really think they’ll figure this out in time?” Gabrielle heard Diana ask before the door closed behind them.  Though she was interested in Xena’s response, she was more concerned about Helena, and she rose and crossed to the room Helena was currently ensconced in.  She allowed her Bacchae instincts to come to the fore, seeing the rise and fall of Helena’s chest and hearing the even breaths that indicated the deep level of her sleep.  Gabrielle noted how tightly Helena was curled and walked silently to the door, motioning Devon over with a slight motion of her head.

“Yes, Miss Gabrielle?”

“Devon, could you bring me a blanket?”

He blinked twice before swallowing and nodding his head.  “Sure, Miss Gabrielle,” tapping the phone he carried and putting in a request to housekeeping.  “All done.  Is everything all right?  Do we need to adjust the temperature?”

“No, the temperature is fine, especially with all the people and the activities we’ve got going on.  But Helena... you remember from earlier?”  He nodded again.  “She’s resting right now and she’s a little cold so I thought a blanket might help.”

Just then a woman from housekeeping came around the corner with a perplexed look on her face.  “Thank you, Stella,” Devon said as he took the blanket from her.

“Yes... thank you, Stella,” giving the woman a smile.  “And thank you, Devon,” Gabrielle added, accepting the blanket from him.  The two cast members watched her disappear back into the green room, then returned to their current assignments.

Gabrielle studied Helena for a long moment.  She knew from having talked to Barbara that Helena was hot-blooded by nature... a virtual furnace.  Gabrielle wondered if Helena’s current temperature was tied into helping Dinah and figured it probably was.  She carefully covered Helena, seeing the younger woman relax almost immediately.  Then she left Helena to her rest and returned to the converted monitoring room to reassure Barbara.

************

Xena and Diana crossed the hall, intent on finding Detectives Bornlan and Kennian before they started their interrogations.  Hopefully the information they currently held would help narrow down the suspect list.  Xena had the distinct feeling if the two detectives tried to take on a roomful of law enforcement specialists OR a room full of reporters, things would go badly rather quickly for everyone involved.

They could hear the raised voices as they approached the room and Xena and Diana exchanged glances, glad when it became silent.  Diana lifted her hand and knocked on the door, then opened the door to allow Xena to enter in front of her.  Kennian stiffened; Bornlan sighed quietly and beckoned them into the room.

“What can we do for you ladies?”

Xena arched an eyebrow.  “It’s actually more what we can do for you,” she replied as she passed the papers to Bornlan.  The detective took a look at them, unable to keep the shock out of her expression.  She handed the sheaf over to her partner even as she pinned Xena with a look.

“Where did you get these?”

Xena shrugged.  “I know people.”

Bornlan glared.  “I’m sure you do.  But that’s not what I asked.  Where did you get these, Xena?  I have experts that couldn’t pull this stuff up... and they’re the best at what they do.”

“They’re the best at what they do that you know.  I just know better people.”

“What is to keep us from arresting you for obstruction of justice?” Kennian asked in an irritated tone.

“Aside from the fact I’m not obstructing anything?” Xena replied mildly.  “Probably the fact that you’ve been told I am untouchable if you want to do more than write parking tickets for the rest of your career,” smirking just slightly when Kennian clenched her jaw.  “Look, Detectives – doesn’t it make sense that if I know people who can call off the dogs as it were, I also know people who can make things happen?  Appreciate small favors and realize I’m doing this for myself and all the women here as much as I am for you.”

“You really do think they’re all completely innocent, don’t you?”

Xena snorted.  “Detective Bornlan, no one is completely innocent and we’ve all got secrets we’d rather keep hidden.  But I don’t believe any of the women attending either my conference or Gabrielle’s committed this particular crime.”

“And you, Agent Prince?”

“I believe Xena is correct, but I also know it is your job to investigate all avenues of interest.”

“So you think talking to all the women here is a waste of time.”

“I don’t think you’ll find your killer here.”

Bornlan motioned them to chairs.  “Please,” she invited.  “I’d like to hear what you have to say.” 

“This ought to be interesting,” Kennian said before taking a seat and crossing her arms, waiting for the discussion to begin.

Part 5