"Do you know what this meeting is going to be like?" SarahBeth asked Katherine as they walked.
Katherine shook her head. "Not really. I've been to a few meetings, but that was a while ago, and this one will probably be really different anyway."
"Why did you stop going?" Perry asked.
"Too boring?" SarahBeth added.
"No, nothing like that. One time I was at one and this woman freaked out because I was there. I couldn't quite figure it out, but it sounded like I'd killed a friend of hers once, or somebody from her family. She really went crazy, screaming and running around, so I left. It was obvious nothing was going to get done as long as I was there." She shrugged. "After that, Pete would just go by himself, and he'd tell me about it later." She gestured. "We turn right here."
They crossed the street and Katherine led them to an apartment building and into the lobby. They climbed four flights of stairs, with much complaining from SarahBeth, and Katherine knocked on an unmarked door.
Finch opened it and said, "Are you here for an exam? I'm on my break."
"No, we're here for underwear," SarahBeth said, "especially bras–"
T.C. appeared and grabbed her wrist, hauling her into the apartment. Perry and Katherine followed.
The kitchen looked very much like the one they were familiar with, though they were miles from the apartment where SarahBeth and Perry had last seen T.C. She climbed up onto a stool next to the tiny kitchen table, lit a cigarette, and regarded them, then she rubbed her hands together. "So, I hear that you've moved on from Sarah Little," she said to SarahBeth. "And now you find that you need some new intimate apparel? I'm not surprised, women are sometimes indifferent to that sort of thing, but men always appreciate a woman when she's dressed properly."
SarahBeth nodded. "That's what I've been telling her," she said, indicating Katherine. "She thinks her boyfriend is immune to racy underwear."
T.C. hooted a laugh. "Pete?" she demanded. "I remember at Movie Night once he was sitting right where I'm sitting now, and The Amazing Frankie was sitting on the floor there next to him. She was somewhat the worse for drink, and she hadn't noticed that the top button of her shirt had come open. Pete didn't look at the movie once all night, he just stared down at her décolletage. At one point, David had to catch his wrist, or he would have poured his beer into her cleavage, which was admittedly quite impressive. She was wearing a black push-up bra, in a style which I happen to have available in your size." She got to her feet. "Please come with me."
"Fifteen wanted us to mention that he sent us," SarahBeth said as they followed her into the bedroom, which was almost completely filled with cartons of various sizes. "I think he's expecting–"
T.C. laughed. "He'll get his cut. He sends me a lot of business. He used to try to come and hang out while the customers were trying on the merchandise, though, but I put a stop to that. It made the ladies nervous and put them out of the mood for spending."
Katherine took off her coat and dropped it on the floor, then she took off her shoulder holster and unclasped her gunbelt. T.C. gestured at her T-shirt, which was torn and bloody where she'd been shot.
"Is that a fashion statement," she asked, "or would you like to buy a T-shirt as well?"
Katherine glanced at her shoulder, and she grinned. "I guess I'd better get a new T-shirt. I'd probably really disrupt the meeting if I came in with blood all over me."
She unzipped her jeans and dropped them to the floor, and T.C. regarded her underwear.
"We definitely need to help you today," she said. "I think your underwear is older than your young friend here."
katherine makes a
deal