The Coven

By Rich Olsen

Roberta Parker was brutally and sadistically tortured to death. She was a lesbian and a masochist that wanted more and more pain because in her opinion it only improved her orgasms. It appeared that someone may have taken that to the ultimate extreme.

Julie Markos is a Pittsburgh Metro Police Lieutenant and the head of sex crimes. She may be the most beautiful and sexy woman in Pittsburgh. She is dating David Kirkpatrick, the Chief of Detectives. He asks her to investigate the death of Roberta Parker because he cannot trust Homicide. The Homicide Captain, a woman, has assigned a man to the case when Ms Parker was last seen in a lesbian S&M strip club. David knows that the lesbian suspects will not speak to a man, but they will speak to Julie. Also, the Homicide Captain is a member of the strip club.

Julie’s problem, she isn’t a lesbian, or even bisexual and she is not into S&M, but she agrees. Once undercover in the club she meets a lawyer, a shrink, the Homicide Captain and a ruthless billionaire dominatrix, any of which could be the killer.

Julie’s other problem is the law says if you are a suspect of a crime you do not have to speak to the police. Therefore Julie can only interview suspects with the suspects approval, giving the suspects the upper hand. These suspects are all lesbians and Julie is forced to play their games in order to solve the horrific murder of Roberta Parker. As for who the killer is, that comes as a complete surprise to Julie and everyone else.

This book is set in Pittsburgh, about fifteen to twenty years in the future from whenever you are reading this.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Rich Olsen
• Release date: Mar 1, 2022
• ISBN: 9781005541255

Book preview

Fifteen to Twenty years in the future

I was at my desk in my office in Sex Crimes looking over reports. It was rather quiet, and there wasn’t much going on. As head of the Pittsburgh Metro Police Sex Crime Unit, this was my normal day, looking over reports that other detectives had prepared. To be honest, I missed life on the streets, but with my promotion came the desk. I couldn’t really blame anyone but myself. I was the one that took the Lieutenant’s test, I was the one that was ambitious and as I said, with ambition came a desk. That was the worst part of Command rank, riding a desk while the others did the real work in the streets. In truth though, I thought as a lieutenant, I could still be on the streets.

There had been a rather nasty homicide a few days ago. It had come to my attention. It involved a young woman, and I had heard that the woman was tortured, and raped before she was killed. I didn’t know any of the details, because the case wasn’t given to Sex Crimes, it was strictly Homicide at this time. I figured if the murder crossed my desk as some kind of a sex crime, I would assign detectives to it. Until it was classified a Sex Crime, it wasn’t my job to worry about it.

As I sat there going over reports, the phone rang. Hello, I answered, putting those reports aside.

Lieutenant, can you come to my office? It was the boss, Captain Roper. It was never a good sign when he called me Lieutenant. The Pittsburgh Metro Police tended to be somewhat informal. Most people referred to everyone else by first names. My boss usually called me Julie and I in turn call him Mike. Whenever he referred to me as Lieutenant, or Lieutenant Markos, I knew something was up.

Roper’s office is in a different part of the building and a different floor. He was in charge of sex crimes, gambling offenses, anything to do with the legal drugs and anything that might happen in a casino, smoker, or club. In the past, it would have been called vice, but so much of that was now legal that there is no more vice squad. Still crimes involving those areas were committed. Sex crimes being the largest concern. Rape was still committed, and men and women had sex in places that were considered public. Those things were investigated by my unit. The other vice related areas were someone else’s. Sex Crimes was half of Mike’s command, and I was his only lieutenant. The other divisions were headed by sergeants. That made me second in command of what some people still called the Vice Squad.

Mike’s office was on the third floor. Sex Crimes was on the second. His office was standard Pittsburgh Metro Police decor, like mine. There were walls and a door for privacy. Inside was the standard Pittsburgh Metro Police black composite desk. Since he was a captain, however, his office was larger than mine and had a couch and two easy chairs in addition to the two chairs in front of his desk. The sofa and easy chairs had the normal Pittsburgh Metro Police black fake leather covering. There were pictures on the walls and on his desk. His door was open when I arrived.

Mike was in his late forties, but it was hard to tell. No one looked their age anymore, that included me. He had a full head of red hair and eyes the color of emeralds. He had rugged facial features, but he wasn’t quite handsome. He could have been with the help of modern medicine, but he wasn’t the type. He did what he could about not looking his age, but he was happy with what nature gave him otherwise.

There was another man with him. I realized who it was as soon as I entered, before he looked at me and smiled. It was David.

Chief of Detectives David Kirkpatrick was forty, young for an Assistant Chief. He was a handsome man with dark wavy hair and brown eyes. He was tall, well over six feet and lean. I knew all this because David was my sometimes boyfriend and lover.

David and I dated when we wanted to date or needed a date. Afterward, the evening would usually end in sex which we both enjoyed. Then we would go months without seeing each other in that content. The reason was that David and I were too good of friends to ruin the relationship with anything else than casual sex. I knew David would have liked it to be more serious, more permanent, but he knew I wasn’t willing to settle down with anyone. If we lived together, we would fight and end up hating each other. I was just too independent and too set in my ways.

Couples had to compromise, and well let’s face it, I wasn’t willing to do that. Sure, maybe someday that special someone would come along that would make me want to compromise or give up my independence, but it wasn’t something I could imagine now. David was, however, the only person at this point in my life, I was willing to even think about compromising with. But still I needed my own space. As a result, he saw other women. I didn’t get upset that he did, if I wanted him to be faithful to me, then it would require compromises on my part as well, and like I said, I just wasn’t willing to do that yet.

Hello, Julie, David said as I entered. Have a seat. He was sitting in one of the easy chairs. Mike was behind his desk.

Hello, David, Mike, I said and sat. What’s up?

Did you hear about the murder of Roberta Parker? David asked.

Yeah, I said, but I haven’t heard much. Homicide is on it, and so far it doesn’t involve Sex Crimes.

It’s a Sex Crime, David said. A young woman was tortured, raped and murdered. From the prelims I’ve gotten, she was probably abducted and then tortured for four days before she was murdered.

I looked at them horrified. I had heard that she was tortured, but I hadn’t heard that the woman was tortured for four days! I said.

Yes, we believe she was also raped before she was finally killed. I’ll be getting the autopsy report any time now. From what I’ve gathered though, she suffered a great deal before she died.

That’s terrible, I said truly aghast. Why would someone do that. There are S&M clubs in this City where masochistic women or men will gladly become a sex slave. There’s no reason to do this to someone. Was this woman into pain?

From what I have been told, yes, David said. Also, from what I understand the woman was a lesbian, and she was probably abducted and killed by women, probably lesbians, but the preliminary report would indicate at least one man was present.

I was silent. I didn’t know what to say, so I said nothing and just thought about what David had told me. Finally I said, so how does this affect me? Do you want me to assign some of my detectives to help out Homicide with the investigation?

Frank Lovejoy is the lead Homicide Detective on this case, Julie, David told me.

Okay, I said in as noncommittal manner as I could.

I say that only because I was wondering what you thought of Detective Lovejoy, David said.

I know I screwed up my face before I said anything. When I did answer, I said, he’s a very capable detective. I’m sure he’ll solve the case.

From behind his desk, Mike shook his head. Then he pulled out his wallet and handed David fifty dollars. I should have known better, he said. You can buy lunch.

Did I miss something here? I asked.

We had a little bet, Mike said. Your boyfriend here said you would say that Frank Lovejoy was a capable detective and would solve the case. I bet him that you would tell the truth. I guess he really does know you better after all.

I looked at the two of them. Then I stared at David. So you think I’m lying, David? I said accusingly.

He just laughed at me. No, Julie, I don’t think you’re lying, I know you’re lying. You’re lying because you don’t want to say anything negative about a detective that isn’t in your command to a superior officer. Now then, Lieutenant, as your Chief of Detectives, I’m ordering you to say what you really believe.

I gave him a look that said, okay, you asked for this. Frank Lovejoy couldn’t detect himself out of a paper bag. If this is a sexually related murder where one or more lesbians killed another lesbian, for whatever reason, they will never talk to Detective Lovejoy about it. Of all the people that Captain LaDuke could have assigned the case to, he is probably the worst person. It is almost like she doesn’t want it solved, like she could be a suspect herself.

Again Mike just shook his head, and handed David another fifty dollars. It had better be a good lunch.

Again I just looked at the two of them. He said, Mike began, that after you said what you really thought, you would actually suggest that Adrian LaDuke purposely assigned the worst detective to it so it wouldn’t be solved. He even said you would suggest she might be a suspect. I bet him that you would just say that Frank Lovejoy is a shitty detective that wasn’t capable of doing the job.

I’m glad I can provide you two with so much entertainment, I said with a little sneer in my voice.

Me too, Julie, David said. I can use the extra hundred dollars.

Hey, I thought you said the winner would buy lunch, Mike interrupted.

I did, and I will, but I’ll make it a department expense, David smiled at Mike as he said that.

I should have known, Mike said shaking his head.

So then, I said getting back to the case, do you want me to put several detectives on the case now. I can assign them to Captain LaDuke if you want. I know she doesn’t like people to step on her investigations, but it would look rather suspicious if she didn’t accept help from Sex Crimes.

That’s not why we asked you here, Lieutenant, David said.

I knew this was a bad sign, him calling me Lieutenant. That meant he had an assignment for me I wouldn’t like. Alright, Chief, I returned, I’m listening.

This time Mike Roper spoke up. What we want, Lieutenant, is for you to investigate the case.

They knew I didn’t do much field work anymore, since I had become an administrator. They also knew I had enjoyed working on cases in the past. Still I couldn’t see what the problem was.

Fine, Captain, I can do that. But I don’t understand. May I be honest?

Of course, the boss said.

David, you don’t call me Lieutenant unless it is some official thing you know I’ll hate, you too, Mike. So what’s up? What are you not telling me? I asked, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Julie, I’m sure you know I have a daughter, Mike said. My daughter and Roberta Parker have been romantically involved from time to time. She has asked that you take the case. You would not be under the command of Captain LaDuke, but you would be working directly for me and David. You would have to do some undercover work, but most of it would be straight investigatory police work, but the people my daughter believe are involved are a strange lot. What those people will be required of you, you might not enjoy.

Then David smiled at me and said, or Julie, you might enjoy it a lot.

And what, Chief, does that mean? I said in a rather stern and testy voice.

Nothing, Julie, I was just making a joke, he said.

Alright, I replied. Then I turned to Roper, Mike, I know you have a daughter, but I haven’t seen her in a long time. Is she still a cop?

Yes, but most people don’t know that, he said. And it’s not my idea. So David and I want you to have lunch with us and Debbie and we will talk about this. And apparently the department, not your boyfriend is buying.

Sure, Mike, I can do that. Where and when? I asked.

One o’clock at the new place on McKnight Road, Rumbucker’s. Until then, I’ll get you everything we have on Roberta Parker’s murder. The autopsy report should be on my desk by then. Sergeant Conrad will be in charge of the day to day operations of Sex Crimes. You will report directly to David, and only because he outranks Captain LaDuke. It’s just easier that way.

Yes, I agreed, it certainly would be.

When I returned to my office, I decided not to say anything to Bill Conrad. I wanted to hear what this was all about first. I knew there was something they weren’t telling me, something they figured I wasn’t going to like very much.

Since I had several hours before lunch, I went over the evidence that had been collected so far. The autopsy report had been delivered while I was meeting with David and Mike. It was very early in the investigation and Detective Frank Lovejoy did not have much.

I knew Lovejoy, but not well. I knew he was a good honest cop, but not very imaginative. He went by the book, but then everyone that worked for Adrian LaDuke went by the book, especially her book. I know I wasn’t being fair about Captain LaDuke. Adrian LaDuke was in charge of Homicide and Homicide did have a good arrest record, but high turnover. It was just that Frank Lovejoy was not Adrian’s star detective. He was a plodder with no imagination, but it seemed like those were the only kind of detectives that Adrian could keep in Homicide.

Adrian had her own book, which mirrored the official book, but in her book, there was no initiative. You did it Adrian’s way or you transferred. Homicide was once considered the plum job in the department, but it had gotten to the point that detectives didn’t want to go there. It looked bad on their record that their captain asked them to leave. She was too unwavering. If she told you to do things one way and you did it any other way, even if it produced the desired results, than she would put you on report and transfer you somewhere else. It was hard on moral within the unit and she was always breaking in new homicide detectives. But on the upside, the people that did things her way, stayed and looked good. They came off as team players and honest by the book cops.

I could never work for Adrian, and we were not on a first name bases. No one was on a first name bases with her. David and I had joked about the good captain. He cannot call her Adrian because she insists he call her Captain as a sign of respect for her position, even though she is a subordinate. David and I had a running joke that her husband must call her Captain, and she calls her husband Doctor. He is a psychiatrist.

The was a rumor about Adrian LaDuke that she liked women more than men. No one knew that for sure within the department since she kept her personal life personal. It was known that she was bisexual, but many women were now a days. It was rumored that she had sex with different women but it was just rumors. As far as anyone knew, including the rumor mongers, she hadn’t an affair with a man. She had been married to her husband for twenty years. There are no rumors about them breaking up.

I knew that with Adrian in charge of Homicide we would butt heads if I began to investigate this case, especially behind her back. Personally I didn’t care about her private life one way or another, and as for butting heads, will it wasn’t my idea to do this but David’s, and as Chief of Detectives, he had that prerogative.

According to the autopsy, Roberta Parker suffered a lot before she died. She had numerous burns, cuts, punctures, abrasions, scrapes and whip marks all over her body. Her nipples and clitoris had suffered from prolonged torture, but they were intact. There was tearing of the vaginal walls as well as the walls of her anus. Something very big had been shoved in both of those cavities. As I read the autopsy report, I was actually trembling. I couldn’t imagine this kind of pain.

There was sperm in her stomach, but no DNA could be extracted from it, it had been in her stomach too long and was being digested. There was no other proof that a man or men had been involved. According to Lovejoy’s initial report, Roberta Parker was a lesbian. She frequently picked up women or allowed herself to be picked up by them. Therefore it was believed that her abductors and killers were women. But the presence of semen in her stomach would indicate one or more men were involved. I realized it could be that some men wanted to have sex with her and when she refused they kidnaped her and tortured her to death just because she was a lesbian. It was unusual today but it did still happen.

Since Homicide and therefore Adrian LaDuke reported to David Kirkpatrick, it meant that everything went through his computer. He didn’t actually look at much of it, there were just too many crimes, but his computer had access to everything in the detective bureau. So David just sent everything he had to me and my computer.

Roberta Parker had been abducted four days before her death. She was last seen at the Amazon Club in the Strip on a Thursday night. The Amazon Club was a sex club for women. It was an anything goes club, but it had a reputation for being on the rough side. It was not billed as an S & M club, but the S & M crowd tended to go there. They also had strippers and live sex shows.

I knew this from my command of the Sex Crimes Unit. There was nothing illegal at the Amazon Club. It was a private club, and as long as everyone was consenting, the anything goes part was legal, as long as it was in the club. What would come to the attention of Sex Crimes was when some of the members took the activities outside the club in public view of everyone. That would get them arrested. Personally, I didn’t care what went on in private between two or more consenting adults.

The initial reports claimed that Roberta Parker left the Amazon Club about ten thirty. She was to meet some other women for more fun and games at the Pussy Cat Club. She was to meet them at two a m. She never showed. She was found two nights ago, on Tuesday, along the railroad tracks in South Side. She was nude, and tied up with some kind of barbed wire. The burns, cuts, bruises, abrasions, scrapes and other signs of torture were visible on her naked body. It had to have been a horrible death. As I read about the case I realized I wanted to see this person or persons put away but it wasn’t a case I wanted to work. It was too horrible but now I was hooked, and I knew it. I would have asked David and Mike if I could help with the investigation even if they hadn’t asked me to work it.

Chapter Two

I guess I should tell you about myself, Pittsburgh and this country. I’ll start with a short history of the recent United States. This country somehow suffered through eight Years of Republican control. The President, Congress and Supreme Court were all controlled by the Republicans. In those eight Years, the deficit skyrocketed, but there were still tax cuts for the wealthy. Privacy was less important than national security. The prisons were filling up with people using recreational drugs, while those that got wealthy in the illegal drug industry never went to jail. As with Prohibition, certain people became wealthy dealing in drugs and then went straight and became respectable. So after eight Years of conservative politics, the people of this country voted Democratic and liberal in record numbers.

For twelve Years, the Democrats and liberals have been in control. Privacy laws were enacted. Privacy became more important than national security. The police along with their investigatory and interview techniques became suspect. The courts decided that it was better for a hundred guilty people to go free than one innocent person to go to jail. This was both good and bad for the police. The police had to work harder to get a conviction, but we became more honest. Also when an arrest was finally made, it meant that a conviction had a much better chance because the police could no longer be sloppy and arrest someone that looked good.

The defense attorney on the other hand could easily win a case if they could show that the police might have planted evidence. Also, a suspect could now say nothing so as not to incriminate themselves. This made police work harder, but again it made us more honest.

Along with the liberalism of this country, there came a relaxation of what had been called victimless crimes. The courts, the legislature, and police agencies turned their backs on gambling, prostitution and certain drugs. As a result, the legislature finally legalized that which was no longer being enforced. Now they just regulated it.

Medication had made great strides in some areas. Sexually transmitted diseases were all but a thing of the past. The newest thing for the man was what was had become known as the come pill. It was a second generation erectile dysfunction pill. It allowed men to become erect almost instantly after an orgasm and then orgasm even quicker the second time. Men could still not have multiple orgasms as women could, but now they could have a second, third or fourth orgasm very quickly.

Of course this did nothing for women. Now the man could have sex with the woman, pop a come pill, get hard and do it over and over again. If the woman hadn’t orgasmed the first time, she could, in theory, have another shot at it. However, in reality, if the man wasn’t able to make the woman orgasm the first time, he probably wouldn’t do it the second, third or fourth, since he had to stop and wait about five minutes before he could begin again. This was just enough time for the woman to lose some of her edge. So the time it took for the man to orgasm the second, third and fourth times wasn’t long enough for the woman to orgasm. The end result was that men loved the come pill, while women hated it.

In addition to the come pill, drug companies had perfected breasts and penile .

As women, we had almost complete equality with men in this day and age, but men still ruled the world of fashion. This meant that women believed they needed breast enhancements to compete with other women and with men. In the past, where women wore make up and high heels to make them more attractive to men, now we felt like we needed big, very big breasts as well. It had gotten to the point that the C cup was considered small. But on the other hand, anything bigger than H or HH was overboard, at least for now.

Thanks to the drug companies, breasts enhancements were completely safe. Large breasts today were like high heels used to be. You have them because they are what women have. They may not be comfortable or healthy, but they are the trend, so you have them.

Like everything else, as more and more women had big, firm breasts, big firm breasts became the standard. What was considered normal breast size in the twentieth century was out of style today. Even among lesbians, unnaturally big breasts were now the norm and the attraction.

Men now had to have big penises also. They said it was for women, but it wasn’t. Like big breasts, a big penis was designed to impress men. Women in general, myself included, could care less about a big dick, especially when it was inside us, but men liked walking around nude in the locker room showing off their outrageous manhood.

Income tax was eliminated in favor of a national sales tax. This was originally met with much opposition, but gradually the people of this country came to like it better. Yes now everything cost twenty percent more due to the national sales tax, but now the Federal Government took nothing out of your pay check. If you worked ten hours overtime, your check included the money from ten hours overtime. No longer did the government take half of that, or the interest on the money you saved. Some States still had an income tax, as did some municipalities, but even these were becoming less and less.

The national sales tax meant that the IRS was no longer a threat to the general public. Since there was no income tax, the IRS now concerned themselves with the Black Marketeers.

There was a big Black Market in the country, people selling goods without collecting sales tax, but now the IRS went after those sellers, not the average citizen, the buyer.

Also to be considered wealthy, you needed at least a billion dollars. In fact this was the first year that having a billion dollars was not enough to make the top four hundred richest people in the country. That required at least two billion. But on the other end of the spectrum, some people made less than thirty thousand a Year. As in the past, the rich got richer while the poor got poorer.

Marriage both suffered and was aided by this. Gay marriage was legal in every state. At one time the conservative Congress attempted to pass an amendment to the Constitution stating that marriage was between a man and a woman only, but this was viewed as being prejudice, so it was changed to say it that the purpose of marriage was for raising children. That created a new wrinkle the conservatives never thought up. That would mean that once the woman reached menopause and their children became adults, they would have to get divorced under the new amendment. After all, she could no longer bear children and they had no children to raise, so it would be against the Constitution, and therefore the law, to be married. If one of the parties in the marriage, the man or the woman was sterile, or infertile, either naturally or medically, and they had no children to raise, they could not legally be married. If a man and a woman wanted to get married, but not have kids, it would also be illegal. Yet on the other hand, if a gay or lesbian had a child, they could marry another person of the same sex because they could show they were raising a child. So it was quickly pointed out that the amendment would make it easier for gays and lesbians to marry, but force a man and a woman to get divorced. In the end, liberal minds prevailed, and marriage became a legal union between two people for the purpose of raising children and the division of property and other assets. As it turned out, in Pennsylvania, all that was necessary was to eliminate the thinking that marriage was only between a man and a woman.

On the other end of the spectrum, couples decided to just live together instead of getting married. There was no stigma attached to unmarried mothers, so marriage was not needed for respectability. But even this had an upside. Dead beat dads, and moms were sought after by a new division of the Treasury Department. Now in an ironic twist of fate, the dead beat parents didn’t have to worry about the IRS because they weren’t paying taxes, but they did have to worry if they won’t paying child support.

But even that changed. The court took a realistic look at child support. In the past, the courts charged some dads almost nothing in terms of support and made raising the child impossible, while other dads paid so much they couldn’t live while the mother had more money than she needed. Congress looked into what it actually cost to raise a child, and that was the minimum amount of support. It was only raised if the parent paying support was wealthier than the norm. If that was the case, than a fair increase in support was allowed.

As far as Welfare was concerned, Congress realized that some people needed to be on Welfare for one reason or another, but even the liberals came to realize that people on welfare needed to work. They also realized that Welfare was not designed to be a lifestyle.

With gay marriage came the acceptance of homosexuality and bisexuality. Studies showed that ten to fifteen percent of the population was homosexual, had been for eons and would continue to be. People talked that it was against God’s laws until science finally won that battle. Fifteen hundred different animal species practice some form of homosexuality, fifteen hundred of the animal species that God created. So if God created unthinking animals that practiced homosexuality, than how could it be against God’s law?

The other thing that science showed was that sexuality, like eye and hair color, and race are not life choices, but genetic. Like other genetic factors such as race and sex, sexual choice was decided at birth as well. Again, if God made sexual choice genetic like He did hair color, how could it be wrong. It would be like saying God is condemning you to hell because you were born a red head.

Now about Pittsburgh. When this country went completely liberal, Pittsburgh decided the way to revitalize the City was with sin. Pittsburgh is now the Vegas of the east. It is sometimes called Sin City East. There are casinos with table games, and national entertainers. Plus prostitution is legal, but theoretically they must be registered and checked by a doctor regularly. It is a law that was rarely enforced since STD’s are a thing of the past.

In reality no one gets busted for prostitution unless you are soliciting in a public place. Someone walking the streets selling his or her body will be arrested for prostitution, but then so will someone turning tricks during a lap dance. The person must be in a private club or in a private area. The Pittsburgh Metro Police just doesn’t have time to worry about what people do behind closed doors or in private.

The City has pot, hash and opium bars now since the Federal Government also allows that. The states regulate it like they used to regulate alcohol. You can even get cocaine in some of them legally, but the other drugs, the unnatural, manmade drugs, are still illegal. Strip clubs show it all and sell liquor, some are even smokers. as they call the pot, hash and opium bars. Bars must still close, but there are different liquor licenses, so some bars can open later and stay open longer.

In Allegheny County, the biggest police department was the Pittsburgh Police ,with the Allegheny County Police second. Soon there were too much duplication of services. Why have a City SWAT Team and a County one as well. This went across the board. Then it was decided that the way to go would be a Pittsburgh Metro Police Department, the same as the Miami Dade Police Department. This allowed one department to cross governmental lines within the County.

Like everything new and revolutionary, it was met with a lot of disdain. There were a lot of small departments, each having a police chief, a captain, a lieutenant and a sergeant. When these departments were all swallowed by the Pittsburgh Metro, many of these people had to take a demotion. Now there might be one captain for a precinct that had been three or four different departments, with four chiefs and four captains. But in time, everyone adjusted and those involved liked it better.

At the end of the Twentieth Century and the beginning of the Twenty-first Century Pittsburgh was losing population, especially young people. It was estimated that just before the City decided to be the Vegas of the East, the population of the City was down to two hundred and fifty thousand, the County was just under a million and the Metro area was about two million. Then came the sin.

Today, Pittsburgh is over two million, Allegheny County is over four million people and the Metro area close to seven million. That’s good for business, but bad for crime. It does make for job security.

Enough about the City and the Country, now let me tell you about myself. I’m thirty which is considered young for a Lieutenant, but then I am talented and I do well on test. I’m pretty as David has said many times but he also says I could have been Miss America. I wouldn’t go so far. I have large breasts, but like I said, everyone does. Mine are natural, but I did make them firmer.

I don’t look thirty, instead I look about twenty-five, maybe even a little younger. Medicine and chemistry had made this possible. It’s like big breast, big breast were easy to get and safe, and it was easy to make yourself look younger and more attractive. A fifty year old woman could easily pass for someone in her early thirties now.

I am a straight, heterosexual woman and this case could present a problem. I like my partner to have a dick. I tried women twice, both times I didn’t like it. Maybe I chose the wrong women or the wrong activities, I don’t know. I do know I like men, and I like dicks, even if I don’t like them as big as men do.

Again, homosexuality and bisexuality were no longer thought of as a perversion. In fact nothing between consenting adults was considered perverse. The main thing is that everyone must consent. If they don’t, it was a sex crime.

Private clubs allow open sex acts, and they can sell liquor and food. They had become popular. Private clubs like the Amazon Club are what used to be bars. In the past, the Amazon Club would have been a lesbian bar, if there were any lesbian bars in Pittsburgh in the early twenty-first century. But today with the relaxed attitude about sex, the public bars gave way to private clubs. Public bars still existed, because many people don’t want to go into a bar or club for a drink and see people having sex. Also many private clubs have a public bar in the front and then the private club in the back. That allows someone to go in and get a drink and then if they want, they can go and enjoy semipublic sex. It is quite possible that Roberta Parker went to one of those bars, and when the other person suggested they go to a club, she was abducted.

The Sex Crimes Unit was busier than it was supposed to be. With all this sex available, sex crimes should have been down, but rape was never a crime about sex, but a crime about power and domination. That is what my Unit had to deal with mostly. Now you know about me and Pittsburgh and this country in general.

Chapter Three

It was one o’clock, when I arrived at Rumbucker’s. It was a new restaurant, but unlike many restaurants, it was not a private club. That meant no nudity. I was glad, because I wasn’t in the mood to have naked body parts shoved in my face. I’ve eaten in private clubs, I think everyone has, but after reading about Roberta Parker and seeing the pictures, I wasn’t in the mood to think about sex.

The restaurant’s theme was Pittsburgh in the late Twentieth Century. The decorations were from that time, and so was the style of dress. Cleavage was not predominant in the waitresses’ uniform because it was less predominant in the late Twentieth Century waitress blouse, or at least the management thought so. I don’t really remember. Of course they all had big boobs, but they were covered up.

The walls were covered with scenes of Pittsburgh from that era. Pictures of the Super Bowl champs of that time, and pictures of pre-sin Pittsburgh. I found it interesting.

I waited for Mike and David. I went to the bar to wait. I saw Sergeant Debbie Roper in there waiting. She used to work in robbery, but I hadn’t seen her in several years. I nodded and she came over and sat next to me.

Hi, Julie, she said. She had a glass of white wine. I ordered a Bloody Mary. I was partial to those drinks. I like the blend of the tabasco sauce with the vodka and tomato juice.

Hi Debbie, I answered. I haven’t seen you much. Are you still in robbery?

No, I work a lot of undercover now, mostly in the different sex clubs. I’ve moved to intelligence. I know it’s hard to believe, but you learn a lot about what’s going on in this area in the different sex clubs. And what the hell, you won’t believe the tips. She smiled at that last statement.

I wasn’t sure what to say. I wanted to ask her if she was working on anything in particular, but I knew if she was really undercover, she probably couldn’t talk to me about it.

Then I saw David and Mike enter. Mike went up to Debbie and kissed her on the cheek, hi, sweetie, he said. Then he turned to me. Well, Julie, I see you know my daughter. She’s going by Barns now.

Really, why? I asked, a little shocked.

It’s my fault, Julie, Debbie said. I took my mother’s maiden name so I couldn’t be linked to my father. Since I’ve gone undercover, I don’t want anyone to know I’m a cop, or a cop’s daughter.

Oh, I said. I guess that makes sense. I wondered what had happened to you, and why your father removed all your pictures from his desk.

I assume, Debbie said, that you know I’m a lesbian. It’s well known within the department that I am.

Yes, I said, so what?

Well Julie, she said, I work undercover at a lesbian bar, The Amazon Club.

Okay, I said, still not understanding why she was saying this.

You realize, Sergeant, David said, that I’m a lesbian, as well.

We all just looked at him funny. Then he added, sure Sergeant, just like you, I too am only attracted to women. When he said that, he just smiled.

Cute, David, I said. Since I’m not attracted to lesbians, I guess I shouldn’t have anything to do with you in the future.

Of course, Julie, Debbie said, sometimes you never know. And she smiled.

Okay, let’s get our seats and order, then we can get down to business, Mike said.

The menu had a lot of salads and sandwiches. Everything had cute names indicative of Pittsburgh of the past. I ordered a steak salad. Debbie ordered pasta with white sauce and vegetables. Mike said he should order lobster since the department was paying for it, but instead ordered a steak sandwich, and David got a double cheeseburger. We all ordered drinks, with Mike and David ordering beers.

Alright, Mike said, this was your idea, Debbie, I’ll let you start.

"Okay, Bobbie and I were occasional lovers for a while. I met her in my undercover activities at some of the different clubs. I play the part of a dominatrix at the clubs. It’s a nice cover and I don’t have to worry about all the other dominatrix out there trying to pick me up. I’m not into pain, but Bobbie was.

"I’ll admit that I hooked up with Bobbie for info. It seemed like she knew a lot of the players, so I thought maybe I could get some pillow talk out of her. I learned about her and her likes, but not much about the others. In the beginning I enjoyed the relationship. She wasn’t into hardcore pain that much, so it was fun. A few clamps and letting her know how to please me, but as the relationship went on, so did her need for pain. Before my eyes, she changed from someone that had a slight masochistic twinge to a full blown masochist. I am not a sadist and only a pretend dominatrix, so I couldn’t give her what she wanted. So slowly we drifted apart.

"When she was kidnaped I hadn’t been with her for six months or more, maybe even a year. It was just too painful to watch what she was doing to herself. Sometimes she would actually come over to see me bruised and cut. There was even a few times she had burns because of hot wax poured on her body. I couldn’t stand to see someone allow that to happen to themselves.

I tried to talk to her, as a friend, convince her that she was wrong, maybe see a shrink. She smiled and said she was. I knew what she meant by that, and it almost made me sick. I told her that one day she was going to allow herself to get picked up by someone that won’t stop. All she would say was that the pain intensified the orgasms. She was having the greatest orgasms of her life.

Our food had arrived. Debbie drank some of her white wine, and the rest of us picked at our food. Then she continued. She was in the Amazon Club the night she disappeared. I was working there as well. She met up with the Sadistic Five" as I like to call them.

"These are five women that are friends and come into the Amazon Club all the time.

They go to one of the more private rooms for their fun and games. They always find some willing submissive to accompany them. In their defense, the submissive always returns several hours later, in the same condition she left, and seemingly happier.

I don’t know what the Sadistic Five do. I had asked Bobbie. She told me they do the normal things, clamps, wax, some piercings, whippings, and humiliation. Also Bobbie would have to service all the women as she called it. In the end, Bobbie said she would have several orgasms and they would be very powerful.

Debbie started in on her pasta. "The apparent leader of the Sadistic Five is Monica Richmond. If that name sounds familiar, it should. She is an extremely successful defense attorney, successful and very wealthy. Even though I play the dominatrix on stage, Monica has asked me several times if I would like to be their slave for a session of what she calls fun and games. I have declined every time. She tells me I don’t know what I’m missing. I tell her I have no desire to find out. I’m not into pain. It never goes further than that.

"Monica asks many women to join them in their fun and games. Some women do, and they seem to enjoy it. A few have returned early. Apparently they didn’t find the fun and games to be much fun. When that happens, Monica just returns and looks for someone else. Again in the defense of the Sadistic Five, if the submissive doesn’t like it, the submissive is allowed to return and that’s the end of it.

Anyway, Monica has probably approached every regular at the Amazon Club at one time or another. Most she has approached more than once. She will even approach the ones that didn’t like the fun and games the first time. If anyone says no, that’s the end of it.

Again Debbie ate some of her pasta and drank some more wine. Then she continued.

Bobbie left the Amazon Club around ten thirty. Monica and friends returned to the bar area. I don’t know if they left or not. There was no reason for me to watch them. Debbie then looked around at everyone to indicate she was finished.

It was David that spoke up first. So what do want us to do, or more specifically, what do you want from Lieutenant Markos?

I can’t really investigate Bobbie’s death. It would blow my cover, unless you want me to do that, Chief. That’s your call. Second, I shouldn’t be investigating her death, I was too close to her. I’d like to, but I don’t like Monica and her friends, and I might not be objective.

For now, David said, I don’t want you to blow your cover. We have been getting good intel from you. Also I agree, you were too close to Roberta to be objective. So again, what do you want from Lieutenant Markos?

Debbie smiled at me. I know Julie isn’t a lesbian. She claims not to be bisexual either, I don’t know if that’s true or not. Chief, I, like everyone else, knows about your involvement with Julie. So this is a difficult thing to ask. I would like Julie to dance at the club for a couple of days. Get a feel for the women there and then begin her own investigation. I think she should start with Monica Richmond unless she thinks there is someone better.

That’s fine, if it is fine with Julie, David said. He figured since everyone at the table knew about us, there was no reason to call me Lieutenant at this point.

I’m not thrilled with taking off my clothes in front of a bunch of lesbians, but I can do that, I said. Then I smiled and said, I do get to keep my tips, don’t I?

I do, Debbie said. I make more, a lot more, dancing than I do as a cop.

Do I have to have sex with these women? I asked.

Debbie paused before answering. Finally she said, that’s up to you, Julie. If you were going to do it for a long term, than I’d say yes, but for a day or two, you can come up with something. The other problem is what kind of a stripper you are. Are you a dominatrix or a submissive?

Why do I have to be either?

It would be a novel idea, but the women that come into the Amazon Club want something. They want to know if you are one of them or one of the others. Now everyone is either one of them or one of the others, the best you could do would be someone that is sadomasochistic, but then you’d be one of both groups.

So, Debbie, I said a little worried, how do I do this without having to have sex? Could I just serve drinks?

No, the strippers take the drink orders as well. I have come to believe that women that go to these clubs want to see tits and ass as much as men do. Maybe we’ve finally gotten an equality of the sexes. Let me think about this and see if I can come up with a solution.

What if instead of a stripper, I was a customer. I could bring another woman, another cop with me. We could pretend we are dating or lovers or something, I suggested.

That might work, but if you are just sitting there with another woman and doing nothing, you will be fair game for everyone.

Isn’t that what we want? I asked.

That might work, Debbie said. But those women are going to want to see you naked, Julie. You want to meet as many of them as you can.

And when you say those women, does that include you? I asked.

She said nothing. Finally she smiled, well that would be a perk. I’ll admit I’d like that. But of course I could always walk into the women’s locker room, but somehow it isn’t just the same.

I shook my head. What was I getting myself into? Can I be a tease? Say I want to check everyone out. Tell them I’ll do more in a couple days. After all do all the strippers have sex on day one?

No, but you won’t make as much money, but then it isn’t money that’s motivating you, so yeah, I thing that would work, Debbie said.

We ate in silence for the rest of the meal. The check came and David picked it up. This is on the City, he said. This is a working lunch. He smiled at Mike when he said that.

Now there’s one other thing we need to talk about, Debbie said. And that is the women I think you will have to investigate. They are Monica Richmond, and her group.

The Sadistic Five, I confirmed.

"Yes, now Monica is a suspect since Bobbie was last seen with her. Monica knows the law, and since she is a suspect, she will want you to play sex games with her. I don’t see any way you can get out of it.

Next we have Sylvia Masterson. She believes she is the premier mistress in all of Pittsburgh, possibly the world. She will come on strong. She was there that night, but not with Bobbie that I could see. Sylvia will do her best to play sex games with you as well Julie.

I ordered another Bloody Mary. I did not like the sound of this. This was the other shoe. Now I knew what it was that David hadn’t told me.

The next person you need to know about, Debbie continued, "is Dana Cross. She is ruthless, and a billionaire. Submissive women flock around her. Probably because they want presents from Dana. She wasn’t there that night, but that means nothing. As I said, she is ruthless and powerful. She is used to getting what she wants. That could include seeing what it is like to torture a woman to death.

"Next we have Lady Beth. She is a weird one. She believes she is better than everyone else. That makes her dangerous.

There is also Alex, she said. "Alex goes both ways, submissive and dominatrix.