Without speaking, he held the side gate open for her, and they crossed the yard to the back lanai. The decorations from the wedding were gone, but the landscaping was still stunningly beautiful. People were scattered in chairs and couches in the screen-covered outdoor room. After a second, Linda recognized the two Mistresses, Olivia and Anne, whom Rainie had pointed out during the wedding ceremony. All of the Shadowlands Masters—Dan, Nolan, Cullen, Marcus, and Raoul—were present. Z sat at a long iron-and-oak table beside Vance and Galen. The two FBI agents headed the task force concentrating on the Harvest Association.

In jeans and a pink scoop-neck T-shirt, Jessica was serving soft drinks to the guests. Her “collar” sparkled in the sunlight almost as much as she did. She saw them and set the drinks down. “Linda!”

Pushing her worries back, Linda abandoned Sam to receive an enthusiastic hug from the short blonde. “Welcome home. Did you have a good honeymoon?”

“Awesome. Mostly.” After a glance over her shoulder at Master Z, her voice dropped. “When we got to the chalet, I gave him the toys I bought from Rainie. A present, right? But the bastard used them all that night. Every. Single. One.”

Remembering the number of items Jessica had purchased, Linda bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing.

“Yeah.” Jessica narrowed her eyes. “You know how some Doms don’t let you get off until they say? It’s much, much worse when they won’t let you stop. Seriously.”

Like what Sam had done to her after the bachelorette party? “I know exactly what you mean, and all I can say is that I’m really happy I didn’t buy half the things you did.”

Jessica busted out laughing so hard that everyone looked at them. “Damn Doms.”

Linda’s spirits lifted. How lovely to hear laughter.

Smiling, Z shook his head and said to Marcus, “I thought two weeks away from your little brat would be good for her.”

“Doesn’t look like it,” Nolan said. “You’ve got your work cut out for you.”

“Indeed,” Z said.

“Work? He calls me work?” Jessica said under her breath. She glared at Nolan. Then her eyes sliced to Linda, and she whispered, “That Dom needs a lesson. Let’s work on corrupting Beth.”

Linda choked on a laugh.

Z raised his voice. “I asked Galen and Vance to give us a rundown on what’s happening. Then perhaps Linda can talk with us.”

He’d want her to talk about that voice. About the slavers. Of course, she’d known the plan. Sickness rose in her belly.

Even as Z stood, concern on his face, Jessica tugged her to a chair. “Sit before you fall.”

“Thank you.” A shadow fell across her face. She looked up. Sam had taken a position next to her, arms crossed over his chest. The tightness under her breastbone eased slightly, then came back as she realized he wasn’t even looking at her. He stood there with a remote expression as if he were watching a boring television show. Not involved at all. Why? Why, Sam? Unable to help herself, she put her hand on his hip.

He shifted away.

She looked down, blinking hard. After a minute, she realized Jessica had sat beside her. Had taken her hand.

After squeezing Jessica’s hand in gratitude, Linda concentrated on the discussion.

Galen had been talking, his intensity a distinct contrast to his more laid-back partner. But both held the unmistakable aura of authority.

“We’ve eliminated the Harvest Association in three of the four quadrants,” Galen said. “The last one is the most entrenched and will be the most difficult.”

“Linda, I wanted to update you.” Vance’s blue eyes met hers. “The murderer you helped convict lasted three days in the penitentiary, then was shivved during a prison yard fight. He didn’t make it.”

She stared at him, unable to process the information.

After a moment of silence, Marcus sighed. “I do believe that sounds like a fitting end. May God have mercy on his soul.”

Someday, someday she hoped she’d feel the same. Maybe then, she’d know she was healed. She pulled in a slow breath. Be at peace, Holly. He won’t hurt anyone else.

Vance continued, enumerating other convictions. Then he glanced at Raoul. “A while back, we recovered a slave from Greville’s estate.”

Greville. Linda’s mouth compressed. He’d been Kim’s owner and had stabbed her. Almost killed her.

Raoul straightened. “Greville bought a slave after Kim?”

“I’m afraid so. I don’t know if you want to share this with Kim, but the girl was totally closed up. Not talking. Almost catatonic.” Galen’s lips tightened. “She came out of it soon after I told her Greville was dead, that another slave had killed him.”

“I thank you for the news,” Raoul said. “Mi gatita might find it helps the guilt she carries for his death.”

Poor Kim. But thinking of the lives the slavers had ruined, Linda couldn’t keep from shuddering. Unable to help herself, she glanced over at Sam. He was watching her, but he didn’t move closer.

“We’re still trying to locate all the missing women,” Vance said. “Not many of the slavers are willing to cooperate.”

“Those fucktards,” Anne growled. “Let me have a turn with them, and they’ll beg to tell you everything.”

As laughter broke out, Linda glanced inquisitively at Jessica.

Jessica leaned over and whispered, “Remember, she’s a sadist.” Her eyebrows waggled. “And she loves cock-and-ball torture.”

Oh. Ow. But wouldn’t that be a wonderful kind of justice?

“Now that you’re caught up, let’s talk about the spotter in the Shadowlands,” Vance said.

Was he talking about the person whose voice she’d heard? “What’s that?”

“Since the association targets women in the lifestyle, BDSM clubs are prime hunting grounds,” Galen said. “The spotter chooses which women should be kidnapped.”

Linda shivered.

“You arrested the Overseer,” Olivia said. “He worked with the spotter. Can’t he identify him?”

“He didn’t know the spotter’s name, just had an e-mail address and phone number.” Vance’s jaw hardened. “The description the Overseer gave us fits half the men in the club, and since he’s blind, he can’t ID the bastard.”

“You picked up a lot of the association personnel. None of them can help?” Cullen asked.

“The association hires a different person for each part of a kidnapping,” Galen said. “A spotter to pick the women, an investigator to choose the most vulnerable, one for the kidnapping, others to ‘warehouse’ the victims until the auction. One person in that chain knows very little about the others.”

Vance nodded at Sam and Raoul. “Without you two, this quadrant would still be in operation.”

“But the bastard who targeted Shadowlands submissives remains.” Z’s voice was low, but the fury was plain.

“Surprising you couldn’t pick him out, psychologist-mind reader that you are,” Cullen said.

Linda thought Cullen was joking, but no one laughed.

“I wondered that myself,” Z said. “But a Dom considering a submissive for a scene has the same emotions as the spotter—lust and acquisitiveness. I doubt there’s any guilt present.”

Galen took a sip of his drink. “You’re right. Human traffickers feel women are meant to be slaves.”

Yes, Linda thought. The slavers had made her feel as if she were nothing. She unclenched her hands. Stay focused. “So last night I probably heard the man who targeted Gabi and Jessica for kidnapping?”

No wonder Z was so furious.

“The rat bastard,” Jessica muttered. “If I find him, I’ll help Anne crush his widdle dick.”

Linda snickered.

“You find something funny about this?” Nolan growled in disbelief.

“It’s just”—Linda swallowed down more laughter—“if he picked Jessica and Gabi for a rebellious slave auction, he’s got a really good eye.”

After a second, Jessica burst into giggles. No one else even smiled.

Galen stared at the two of them, laughing like fools, before commenting to Z, “Women really are the tougher sex.”

“Indeed.” Z picked up Jessica and sat down with her in his lap. “Silence, pet. Let’s keep going.”

“Z said you’d heard the man during your captivity. Do you remember when?” Vance asked Linda.

Her amusement disappeared, and she tried to steady her breathing. “It would have to be before the first auction. On the boat. I-I had my eyes closed. Didn’t look at anything.”

Galen tilted his head. “Why only then?”

The temperature in the garden seemed to drop, and she wrapped her arms around herself, wishing Sam would hold her the way Z was holding Jessica. But today…today he wasn’t the man she knew. “They stored us belowdecks in k-kennels.”

Galen nodded. “We impounded a boat like that.” His level gaze met hers, silently saying, It can’t hurt you now.

The tightness around her chest loosened a little. “On the boat, select buyers came to look at us. I-I felt like an animal. In a cage. Being stared at. I’d curl up on the floor and close my eyes.” She pulled in a breath. “The man I heard in the Shadowlands was in a group arguing the merits of older or younger slaves.”

Vance frowned. “Z said you were sure that was the man, so he must have a pretty distinctive voice. Can you describe it?”

She cocked her head to listen to the memory. Her nausea increased. “Tenor. Thin and slightly metallic.”

Everyone stared at her.

“What?” she asked.

Marcus smiled. “That won’t help to find him, darlin’. Tell us, how is his voice different from a normal one?”

“There are no normal voices. Everybody is different.”