Imitation in Death

Deliberately she cocked her brow. “Asking? Me? Why don’t you just go to your good pal Jack, or your buddy Ryan?”

“One tries to learn by one’s mistakes.”

“Does one?”

“I want to be there for several reasons, and one is because it’s become personal for you. It’s trickier when it’s personal.”

She turned back. “End hologram program. Screens off.” There was cold coffee on her desk. She picked up the cup, put it down. Then found herself reaching for the little statue of the goddess Peabody’s mother had given her.

“It’s not the notes. They’re just irritating on a personal level, and helpful otherwise. It’s not the fact that he’s marked me as a future target. That goes with the territory. It’s not even that he’s a vicious, arrogant, sick son of a bitch. You get that all the time. It was watching Marlene Cox fighting to come back, and more than that, seeing her mother will her back. Sitting beside that hospital bed, reading to her, holding her hand, talking to her, believing-refusing not to believe because she loved her more than… Well, more than anything.”

She set the statue down again. “The way the mother looked at me, with this utter faith that I’d make it right. In my line, you’re almost always trying to make it right for the dead. But Marlene’s alive. So it’s personal. It got turned on me, and yeah, it’s trickier when it’s personal.”

“Can you use me?”

“Slick operator like you? Don’t see why not. I’ll give you a ride into Central. You can report to Feeney in EDD.”

– -«»--«»--«»--

Her first task at Central was to arrange for Pamela Renquist to be brought to an interview room. Renquist’s high-priced lawyers were already working on her release. Eve would consider herself lucky to hold the woman another twelve hours.

Pamela came in without her attorney, but wearing her own clothes rather than prison garb. Used her pull for her priority, Eve assumed and gestured to the table.

“I’ve agreed to speak with you, and alone, because I don’t want to give you the importance of my attorneys.” Pamela sat, brushed at her soft, silk pants. “I’ll be released shortly, and have already instructed my attorneys to initiate suit against you for harassment, false arrest and imprisonment, and slander.”

“Gosh, I’m in big trouble now. Tell me where he is, Pam, and we’ll end this without anyone else getting hurt.”

“First, I don’t appreciate your familiar form of address.”

“Gee, now you hurt my feelings.”

“Secondly,” Pamela continued in a voice iced as February, “my husband is in London on business, and when he returns he will use all his influence to destroy you.”

“Hey, here’s a flash for you: Your husband is in New York City, finalizing his preparation to kill a female accountant using the method of Enrico Marsonini, who was infamous for the rape and torture of his victims before he cut them to pieces. He always took a finger or toe with him, as a kind of door prize.”

“You’re disgusting.”

“I’m disgusting.” Eve let out a baffled laugh. “You are some piece of work. To continue. Following the pattern of his latest mentor, Niles visited his intended victim in her home yesterday afternoon.”

Pamela curled her fingers, examined her manicure. “That’s preposterous.”

“You know it’s not. You know that your husband, the father of your child, the man you live with, is a psychopath. You’ve smelled the blood on him, haven’t you, Pam? You’ve seen what he is when you look at his face. You have a daughter. Isn’t it time for you to protect her?”

Pamela’s gaze flashed up, and a hint of rage eked through. “My daughter is none of your concern.”

“And apparently none of yours, either. I sent a child liaison officer to your home last evening. Rose, along with Sophia DiCarlo, has been taken into protective custody. The reason this is news to you is that you haven’t bothered contacting your daughter since you were brought in yesterday.”

“You had no right to remove my daughter from my home.”

“I do. But it was the liaison who opted to do so after speaking with her and her au pair, and other members of your staff. If you want your daughter back, it’s time to step away from the madman and stand with them against him. It’s time to shield your child.”

The rage, that tiny hint of emotion, was iced over again. “LieutenantDallas, my husband is an important man. Within a year, he will be named the new British Ambassador toSpain. It’s been promised to us. You will not besmirch his reputation or mine with your horrendous and ugly fantasies.”

“Go down with him then. It’s a nice bonus for me.”Eve rose, paused. “Eventually, he’d have done you, and your daughter. He wouldn’t have been able to stop himself. You’re not going toSpain,Pam, but wherever you end up, you’re going to have plenty of time to think about the fact that I saved your worthless life.”

She walked over, gave the steel-reinforced panel two hard thuds. “On the door,” she called, and walked away.

She was heading back to her office when she heard herself being hailed.Eve kept walking, and letPeabody catch up.

“Dallas. Sir. Lieutenant!”

“There’s paperwork in your cube. Deal with it. In my office in ten for a briefing. We head out in thirty.”

“Sir, I’ve already been informed about the op. McNab nipped over to meet me when I came out of exam.”

Good,Eve thought. Good for him. But she kept her cop scowl in place. “The fact that Detective Moron bypassed procedure does not negate the necessity for your briefing.”

“He wouldn’t have had to tell me if you had.”

It was the mutter that did it.Eve swung into Homicide. “My office. Now.”

“You put the thumb on Renquist last night.”Peabody trotted behindEve. “I should have been called in for the search. You bypassed procedure.”

Eveshoved her door closed. “Are you questioning my methods or my authority, Officer?”

“Your methods, Lieutenant. Sort of. I mean, jeez. If he’d been home last night, you’d have him, and I’d’ve missed it. As your aide-”

“As my aide you do what you’re told when you’re told. If you’re dissatisfied with this arrangement, put it in writing and file it.”

“You worked the case last night without me. You held an op briefing this morning without me. The exam shouldn’t have taken priority over my involvement in this case.”

“I decide what takes priority. It’s done. If you have any more bitching and complaining to do about this matter, I repeat, do so in writing and file it through the proper cha

Peabody’s chin jutted up. “I have no wish to file a complaint, Lieutenant.”

“Your choice. Complete the paperwork on your desk. Meet me in the garage in twenty-five. You’ll be briefed en route.”

– -«»--«»--«»--

It was going to be a long day,Eve imagined, as she walked throughKatieMitchell ’s loft, just as she’d walked through the hologram. And a long night.

Wherever Renquist had tucked himself, he’d done a good job of it.

Your move, she thought, and gulped down more coffee.

She’d thrown a net over every hotel in the sector, but she hadn’t found him. Even while she paced the loft, the search was widening.

She stepped up to the doorway of the office where Roarke and Feeney worked.

“Nothing,” Roarke said, sensing her. “It’s more likely he’s using a private residence. Short-term rental. We’re searching that area.”

She checked her wrist unit once more. There were hours yet, and she couldn’t risk going in and out of the building. She walked back to the kitchen, poked atMitchell ’s AutoChef.

“Restless?” Roarke said from behind her.

“I hate the waiting, doing nothing but going over and over it in my head. Makes me antsy.”

He leaned down to kiss the back of her head. “So does having a spat withPeabody.”

“Why do men always say women have spats? Men don’t have spats. It’s a stupid, weenie word.”

He rubbed her shoulders. Because they were like rock, he made a mental note to schedule a relaxation treatment for her. Whether she liked it or not. “Why don’t you ask her how the exam went?”