Vengeance in Death

"I hate doctors." She took out her weapon. But as she crouched down as if to lay it on the floor, she flipped it into her hand. A beam shot out from the scalpel, sending a line of fire burning across her biceps. Her fingers went numb, and the stu

"I'm afraid I anticipated that. I do know you well." He crossed the room as he spoke, picking up her weapon as Eve fought to rise over the pain and focus. "I'm told the pain from a laser incision is excruciating. We recommend anesthesia." He laughed and stepped back. "But you'll live. You may want to bind up that arm. You're getting blood all over the floor." Willing to oblige, he leaned over and ripped the sleeve off her shirt, dropped it into her lap. "Try that."

He watched her fumble to wrap it around the wound. Listened to her labored breathing as she fought to tie it with one hand and her teeth. "You're a tenacious opponent, Lieutenant, and fairly clever. But you've failed. You were doomed to fail from the begi

"Spare me the religious crap, Liam. Under all that holy talk, it's all just a game to you."

"Make a joyful noise, Lieutenant. Enjoying God's work is a tribute to His powers, not a sin."

"And you've enjoyed this."

"Very much. Every step you took, every move you made brought us here, tonight, where it was always meant for me to be. God's will."

"Your god's an asshole."

He struck her across the face, backhanded. "Don't dare blaspheme. Don't ever deride God in my presence, you whore." He left her curled on the floor and picked up the glass of wine he'd poured while waiting for her. "Jesus drank the fruit of the grape while sitting among his enemies." He sipped, calmed. "When Roarke arrives, the circle will be complete. I have the power of the Lord in my hands." He gri

"He isn't coming." Summerset's voice was slurred from the drugs Liam had pumped into him. "I told you he isn't coming."

"He'll be here. He can't keep away from his harlot."

Eve clamped down on the pain and managed to get to her knees. When she looked into Liam's face, she knew it was far too late for him. The madness his mother had planted in the child had rooted deep in the man.

"How the hell did you let this Bible-thumping fuckhead into our house?''

"Do you want me to hurt you again?" Liam demanded. "Do you want more pain?"

"I wasn't talking to you."

"I thought he was the police," Summerset said wearily. "He was driving a cruiser, wearing a uniform. He said you'd sent him."

"Couldn't break the security field here, could you, Liam. Just a little over your head."

"With time I would have." His face went sulky, like a child's denied a favored treat. "There's nothing I can't do. But I'm tired of waiting."

"You missed the last two times, didn't you?" Eve forced herself to her feet, clamped her teeth together as the pain sang through her. "You didn't get Brian, and you didn't finish Pat Murray. He's going to make a full recovery, and he'll point across the courtroom at you at your trial."

"They were simply tests of my commitment. God always tests His disciples." But he pressed his fingers to his lips, rubbed them there. "It's almost over now. It's the last round, and you lose." Eyes bright as a bird's, he cocked his head. "You might want to sit down, Lieutenant. You lost some blood, and you're looking very pale."

"I'll stand. Aren't you going to tell me your game plan? That's how it works. What's the point in ending it if you don't brag first?"

"I don't consider it bragging. I'm honoring my father, avenging his death. Point by bloody point. When I'm done here, I'll go back for Kelly and Murray and one more. Suffocation, drowning, then poison. Six si

He set the laser down to run a finger down the folds of the veil of the Virgin Mother he'd placed on a table. "The order's changed, but God understands. Tonight, Roarke will walk into his own private hell. His longtime companion, his trusted friend, dead. His whore, his slut cop, dead. It will look as if they did away with each other. A terrible fight right here in his own home, a fight for life, for death. For a moment, just for a moment, he'll believe that."

He smiled at Eve. "Then I'll step out and he'll know the truth. The pain will be worse then, unbearable, excruciating. He'll know what it is to lose, to have all that matters stolen from him. He'll know that by his own evil he brought the angel of death into this house. The avenging sword."

"Angel. Avenging Angel." She had to risk it, play on his madness. "A. A.? Is that where you got your cover? We know all about you. Everything. How you infiltrated Roarke's company, worked on his equipment. Stole from him." She stepped closer, keeping her eyes steady on his. "We know where you came from, where you've been. We found your hole. Your picture's on the news right now. Right next to your mother's."

"You're lying. Lying whore."

"How do I know who you are? How do I know about A. A.? And the dinky little room in your mother's apartment where you kept your equipment. And the other place, downtown." It has to be downtown, she told herself. "The bugs your mother planted in Summerset's quarters. We played the game, Liam, and we beat you. What we didn't find out, Audrey filled in. Right before I locked her in a cage."

"You're lying!" He screamed it, and rushed her.

Braced and ready, Eve met the attack, using her uninjured arm to block the blow, her elbow jabbing into his stomach. She got her foot under him, threw her weight into the move, and sent them both tumbling to the floor. She ignored the eye-searing pain when he fell on her injured arm; slamming her fist up, she co

It was she who screamed when he dug his fingers into her wound, and the room swam blackly. When her vision cleared he had her weapon on her throat, where firing it even at mid-setting could be fatal.

"You lying cunt bitch. I'll cut out your tongue for your lies."

"Turn on the screen." She wanted to curl up, hide from the agony screaming in her arm. "See for yourself. Go ahead, Liam, turn it on. Cha

When he released his grip on her arm she had to swallow a sob. He bounded off her, raced to the recessed unit. "She's lying, she's lying. She doesn't know anything." He talked to himself in a sing-song tone as he switched on the viewing screen. "Hail Mary, full of grace. She's going to die. They're all going to die. The valley of the shadow of death, but they'll fear. God will destroy them, all of them, through me. It's for me."

"You have to stop this." Summerset strained against his bonds as Eve crawled to him. "Get out. He's mad. You can get out while he's involved with the screen. He doesn't even know where he is now. You can get out. He'll kill you if you don't."

"I'd never make it to the door." Her wound was bleeding again, dripping through the makeshift bandage. "I have to keep him focused on me. As long as he is, he's not interested in you. I have to keep him busy, distracted, and he might not hear Roarke come in." She dragged herself up to her knees. "If he doesn't hear Roarke, he'll have a chance."

"Audrey's his mother?"

"Yeah." She gained her feet. "She's responsible for all of it." She looked over as Liam screamed at the images on the screen. "For everything. For him." She steadied herself, bearing down when her knees threatened to fold under her. "Liam, I'll take you to her. You want to see your mother, don't you? She asked to see you. You want to see her, don't you? I'll take you."

"Did you hurt her?" Tears began to leak from his eyes.

"No, of course not." She took a shaky step forward. "She's fine. She's waiting for you. She'll tell you what to do next. She always tells you what to do, doesn't she?"