Seduction In Death

She nipped it out of his fingers, ate it herself. "Then get a damn plate. You can eat while I bring you up to speed. Peabody, it appears there's no cup of coffee in my hand. I can only assume I've somehow stepped into an alternate universe."

Peabody swallowed a heaping forkful of ham and eggs. "Maybe in this one I'm the lieutenant, and you're…" She hopped up, propelled by Eve's frightening look. "Let me get you a cup of coffee, Lieutenant. Sir."

"You do that. The rest of the team are due here by oh eight hundred. I've already got the diagram of the target area on-screen, with computer-generated selections for perso

"I'd prefer a spot in the park, sir, and a chance to be in on the takedown."

Eve angled her head at McNab and copped another slice of bacon from the plate Feeney had just fixed. "You should have thought of that before you picked a fight and got your pretty face all banged up. Which will only draw attention to you in a place where children play and birds sing merrily in the trees."

"Gotcha there," Feeney said to McNab. "You're with me."

"You'll want another e-man as point," Eve continued. "You know your men better than I do, so I leave it to you."

"Good, because I've already picked him. Roarke," he said, and wagged a finger at the doorway as the man in question strode in.

"Good morning." He was still in black, and though the shirt and trousers were elegant, he managed to look every bit as lean and dangerous as he had in the muscle shirt. "Sorry. Am I late?"

"You think you're sneaky, don't you?"

He snatched the bacon Eve had snatched out of her hand. "Not at all, Lieutenant. I know I am. Which is why I'm very suited for this op."

"You want in, it's up to him." She jerked a thumb at Feeney. "But remember, this is my op."

He bit into the bacon, handed it back to her. "How could I forget?"

By eight-thirty, the full team was briefed. She began assigning roles and positions.

"Hey, hey." Detective Baxter waved a hand. "How come I have to be a sidewalk sleeper?"

"Because you make such a good one," Eve told him. "And you look so sexy with a beggar's license around your neck."

"Trueheart ought to be the sleeper," Baxter insisted. "He's the rookie."

"I don't mind, Lieutenant."

Eve glanced at Trueheart. "You're too young, too wholesome. Baxter's got some miles on him. Peabody, you and Roarke will do the couple's stroll through this area." Eve used her laser pointer to highlight the diagram on-screen. Trueheart, you're park maintenance staff, and you'll cover this sector."

"I've got the best gig," Peabody told McNab.

"Nobody approaches the suspect," Eve continued. "That time of the afternoon, spring day, the park's going to have a lot of traffic. People taking their lunch in the open air, kids ru

She sat on the edge of her desk. "You'll also be on the lookout for the second suspect. We have no way of knowing if they work in tandem during their setup stage. If you spot him, if you think you've spotted him, you relay that data to Feeney. You do not, repeat, do not, move on him. If he shows, he's to be kept under surveillance."

She sca

CHAPTER NINETEEN

The last question was asked and answered, and the troops dispersed. Surveillance and placement in the park would begin at eleven hundred hours.

"The entire op will be recorded. Every man will be wired, audio and video. We'll have all the angles." Still she paced her office, searching for any holes in her plan.

"You'll have him in hand in a matter of hours," Roarke told her.

"Yeah, I'll have him." She stopped, peered out the window. It was a beautiful day, full of flowers and warmth and white puffy clouds. Springtime in New York. Come out and play.

The park would be full of people. That's what he wanted, she thought. He liked crowds. They added to the thrill, the risk, the satisfaction.

Kill in plain sight.

"I'll have him," she repeated. "But I want it quick and clean. Carrying the illegals isn't enough. Mixing it with a drink isn't enough. But once he hands it to me, he's done."

She turned, looked at the board. Looked at the faces.

"Finch make any transmissions I should know about?"

"None whatsoever."

"Good. I thought she was smart enough to be scared."

The others, she wondered, had they been frightened? Had there been a moment, one instant when they'd understood enough to have the fear leaping into their throats, clawing toward a scream?

"You saved her, Eve. But for you, her face would be on that board."

"It doesn't feel like enough." Peabody had said that, Eve remembered, right at the begi

"It's unlikely the answers will satisfy you."

"Having them is sometimes the only satisfaction you get." And she'd have to make it enough. "I don't want you taking a weapon," she said as she turned to Roarke.

"A weapon?" he asked i

"Issued, my ass. You've got a fucking arsenal in your museum upstairs. Leave them there."

"Of course. I give you my word I won't take anything out of my fully registered and legal collection."

"Roarke – I'm warning you…"

"It sounds like your other consultants are on their way." Giggles bounced into the room. "Be sure to remind them about the weapon policy."

"You want me to have you searched before the op?"

"Only if you do it, darling." His voice was oh-so-warm, and very Irish. "I'm shy."

Her pithy response was drowned out as Mavis and company piled into the room.

"Hey, Dallas, you missed the party."

"So I hear."

"We were supposed to have a practice session," Trina reminded her.

"I was, you know, unavoidably detained." She had to order herself to stand her ground when Trina came up to stare at her face. "What?"

"You look crappy."

"Thanks. That's just the look I was going for."

"When this is over, you're in for a full treatment, including relaxation therapy."

"Actually," Eve said, "I'm going out of town right after – "

"You can go wherever the hell you likeafter the treatment. How am I supposed to use you to drum up new clients when you go around looking like you spent a week in a cave? You trying to ruin my reputation?"

"Yes. Actually that's been my central goal since we met."

"Fu

"I'll just leave you to it," Roarke said.

"Where are you going?" Eve made a grab for him, much like a drowning man would grab at a dangling rope.

He evaded her hand. "I have work." And he turned his back on the love of his life, deserting her without a backward glance.

"Now, you're mine." Trina smiled with lips dyed a summer grass green. "Strip."

"Leonardo's whipping up an outfit for you," Mavis said sometime later. "He said you don't have anything in your wardrobe that suits this look."

"It just gets better and better." Eve kept reminding herself that she'd vowed to protect and serve whatever the cost. Even if that was ninety minutes of allowing a crazy woman to smooth, pack, and tuck God knew what all over her face and body.