Rapture in Death

She smiled beautifully and gave her bell tinkle of a laugh.

CHAPTER TWENTY

It wouldn't take long, Eve calculated, for Peabody or Feeney to home in on her signal. She just needed time. And she had a feeling Reea

"Did you work with Jess?"

"That amateur." Reea

"No. I think courage and viciousness have no gender."

"Well." Disappointed, Reea

"You went farther."

"Oh, leagues. Why don't you sit down, Eve? We'd both be more comfortable."

"I'm comfortable on my feet."

"As you like. But a few steps back, if you don't mind." She gestured with the stu

Eve took a step back. She thought of Roarke, several floors above. He wouldn't come down to seek her out. At least she didn't have that concern. If anything, he'd call down if he locked onto something. So he was safe, and she could stall.

"You're a medical doctor," Eve pointed out. "A psychiatrist. You've spent years studying to help the human condition. Why take lives, Reea

"Branded at conception perhaps." She smiled. "Oh, you don't like that theory. You'd have used it to push your case, but you don't like it. You don't know where you came from, or from what." She saw Eve's eyes flicker and nodded, pleased. "I've studied all available data on Eve Dallas as soon as I learned Roarke was involved with you. I'm very attached to Roarke, once toyed with the idea of making our all-too-brief liaison into something more permanent."

"He dumped you?"

The smile froze as the insult hit target. "That's beneath you, such a petty female hit. No, he didn't. We simply drifted in opposite directions. I had intended to drift back, let's say, eventually. So I was intrigued when he took such an avid interest in a cop, of all things. Not his usual taste, certainly not his usual style. But you are… interesting. More so after I accessed data on you."

She made herself comfortable on the arm of the relaxation chair. The weapon stayed aimed and steady. "The young, abused child found in a Dallas alley. Broken, battered, confused. No memory of how she'd gotten there, who'd beat her, raped her, abandoned her. A blank. I found that fascinating. No past, no parents, no hint of what made her. I'm going to enjoy studying you."

"You won't get your hands in my head."

"Oh, but I will. You'll even suggest it yourself, once you take a trip or two on the unit I've made just for you. I really hate that I'm going to have to see to it that you forget everything we discuss here. You have such a keen mind, such a strong energy. But it will give us a chance to work together. As fond as I am of William, he's so… short-sighted."

"How involved is he?"

"He has no idea. The first test I ran on the doctored unit was on William. Quite a success, and it made things so much easier. I could direct him to adjust each unit I wanted. He's quicker, more adept electronically than I. He actually helped me refine the design and personalize the one I sent to Senator Pearly."

"Why?"

"Another test. He was very vocal about the misuse of subliminals. He enjoyed games, as I'm sure you've discovered, but he continually pushed for regulations. Censorship, if you ask me. He stuck his nose into pornography, consenting adult dual controls, commercial advertising and its use of suggestion, all ma

"How did you gain access to his brain pattern?"

"William. He's very clever. It took him several weeks of intense work, but he managed to hack through security." She angled her head, enjoying the moment. "At the top level of NYPSD as well. He injected a virus there. Just to keep your EDD men occupied."

"And that's where you accessed my pattern."

"Indeed it is. He has a soft heart, my William, it would pain him horribly to know he had a vital part in coercion."

"But you used him, you made him part of it. And it doesn't pain you at all."

"No, it doesn't. William made it all possible. And if not him, there would have been another."

"He loves you. You can see it."

"Oh please." It made her laugh. "He's a puppy. All men are when it comes to an attractive female form. They simply sit up and beg. That's amusing, occasionally irritating, and always useful." Intrigued, she touched her tongue to her top lip. "Don't tell me you haven't used your basic female advantage on Roarke."

"We don't use each other."

"You're missing a simple advantage." But Reea

Eve waited a beat. "And would you agree with that analysis, Dr. Ott?"

"Yes, indeed. My mother self-terminated when I was six. My father never got over it. He turned me over to my grandparents and wandered off to heal. I don't believe he ever did. But I saw my mother's face after she'd taken the lethal handful of pills. She looked quite beautiful and very happy. So why shouldn't death, taken, be an enjoyable experience."

"Try it," Eve suggested, "and see." Then she smiled. "I'll help you."

"One day, perhaps. After I've completed my study."

"We're laboratory rats then; not toys, not games, but experiments. Droids for dissecting."

"Yes. Young Drew. I regretted that because he was young and had potential. I'd consulted with him, rashly I see now, when William and I were working on the Olympus Resort. He fell in love with me. So young. I was flattered, and William's very tolerant of outside distractions."

"He just knew too much, so you sent him a modified unit and told him to hang himself."

"Basically. It wouldn't have been necessary, but he didn't want to let the relationship die. It meant he had to, before he lost that glaze infatuation puts over a man's eyes, and looked too closely."

"You stripped your victims," Eve added. "The final humiliation?"

"No." Reea

"No, you're a monster, Reea

"It won't happen. Jess will pay. You'll fight to put him there after my report tomorrow. And if you can't make the coercion charges stick, you'll always believe he was responsible. And when there are others, I'll be very select, very careful, and I'll see to it that each subject self-terminates well out of your range. You won't be bothered by it again."

"You arranged for two in my range." A sickness churned in her stomach. "To get my attention."