Divided in Death

“And you’re telling me this because, somehow, I look like I give a shit?”

“You are mistress of this house, and responsible for the comfort of your guests.”

“They’re not guests. They’re cops.”

Peabody loitered as Eve charged upstairs. “Is it okay if McNab and I have the room we took last time?”

Summerset’s stony countenance softened with a smile. “Of course, Detective. I’ve arranged it.”

“Mag. Thanks.”

“Peabody!” Eve’s aggrieved voice shot down the stairs. “With me, goddamn it.”

“Bad traffic,” Peabody grumbled. “Terrible mood.”

She had to bolt up the stairs, then streak down the hall to catch up with Eve.

“If you’re going to brown-nose the resident cadaver, do it on your own time.”

“I wasn’t brown-nosing.” But the comment had Peabody’s nose twitching. “I was merely inquiring about my quarters during this operation. Besides, I don’t have to brown-nose Summerset. He likes me.”

“That ascribes to him the capacity for human emotions.” She swung into Roarke’s office, and frowned when she saw him serving coffee to both Reva and Caro. “You might’ve told me you were bringing them here,” she complained, “before I fought my way to the Upper East Side.”

“Sorry for the inconvenience, but here is where we need to be.”

“This is my case, my investigation, my op. I decide where we need to be.”

“This isn’t about authority, Lieutenant. And when your knowledge of electronics meets or exceeds mine, we’ll re-evaluate.” His tone was entirely too pleasant. “In the meantime… coffee?”

“I don’t have time for coffee.”

“Help yourself, Peabody,” he invited, then took Eve’s arm. “If I could have a moment, Lieutenant.”

She let him lead her into her office. She didn’t like it, but she allowed it. Then she blasted him when he’d closed the door. “We need to set some parameters. You’re working in conjunction with EDD. You do not have the authority to transport my suspect, and her mother, whenever and wherever you choose. Your personal feelings for them take a backseat, and if they can’t, you’re out.”

“It was necessary. You’re irritable and a

She had to take a breath, then two, before she managed to control her temper. He looked ready to brawl. Not that she minded that so much, but she was more interested in why.

“Okay, you are irritable and a

“If you’d give me a few minutes without crawling up my ass, I’ll show you.”

“I don’t like what I see, ace, I’m crawling right back.”

He stepped back to the door, then turned to her again. “I realize that I have, on occasion, acted in a way that failed to show the proper respect for your authority and your position. That was wrong. Not that it might not happen again, but it was wrong. This isn’t one of those times.”

“It feels like it.”

“That can’t be helped. On the other side, those two women are my employees. Spanking me in front of them demeans my authority and position, Eve.”

“That can’t be helped either. They know you’ve got balls.” She offered a razor-thin smile. “Now they know I’ve got them, too.”

“This isn’t about-” He cut himself off, offered a prayer for patience. “Christ, there’s no point to this. We’ll have a go at each other later.”

“Count on it.” She reached around him and opened the door herself.

Thinking of authority and position, she made sure that she strode through the door first. “You’ve got five minutes,” she told him.

“It shouldn’t take longer. Computer, lock down this room only, for silent ru

Acknowledged. Commencing silent ru

“What the hell is-” Eve whirled, hand on her weapon, as titanium shields lowered on the windows behind her. Others slid into place over the doors. The lights took on a red cast, and every machine in the room sent out a series of beeps and hums.

“Totally Bond,” Peabody murmured with a big, dazzled grin on her face.

Lockdown complete. Silent ru

“In your home office.” Reva got to her feet, walked over to examine the window shields. “A little paranoid, but excellent. Have you equipped the whole house with SR capability? I’d really like to see the-”

“You kids can play with the toys later,” Eve interrupted. “Now I’d like to know why we need them.”

“I ran some tests at Securecomp. Very detailed and exacting tests. They showed traces of a mobile bug.”

“Mobile?” Reva shook her head. “Someone got through security, all the sca

“So I believed, but the device is also very sophisticated. It wasn’t on someone’s person, Reva, but in yours.”

“In? Internal? That’s out of the question. Completely bogus.”

“Then you won’t object to a body scan?”

Her face went hard, her stance combative. “I submit to one every time I go in or out of the damn lab, Roarke.”

“I’ve something a little more sensitive, a little more specific.”

“Go ahead.” Reva threw out her arms. “I’ve got nothing to hide.”

“Computer, open Panel A.”

Acknowledged.

A section of the wall opened. Inside was a small room, hardly bigger than a closet. It held what looked like a high-end drying tube, with clear, rounded sides and a door with no apparent lock. There were no visible controls.

“Something I’ve been working on, on my own,” Roarke said when Reva lifted her eyebrows. “An individual security sca

“Is it safe?” Caro had risen, walked over quietly. “I’m sorry, but if it hasn’t been approved, there may be some risk.”

“I’ve used it myself,” he assured her. “It’s quite safe. It’ll feel warm on the skin as it scans,” he told Reva. “Not uncomfortably so, but you’ll notice the change in temperature as it moves from area to area.”

“Let’s just get it done. I’ve got the Truth Testing scheduled today. I’d like a little time between scans and probes if it’s all the same to you.”

“Computer, open sca

Acknowledged.

A door opened on the tube with a little puff of air. At Roarke’s gesture, Reva stepped inside, turned to face the room.

“Begin process on Ewing, Reva, full body, full power on my command. It needs to read and record your height,” he said. “Your weight, your body mass, and so on.”

“Fine.”

“When the door closes, the process should only take a few moments. There’ll be an audio and video readout, if you don’t object.”

“Just do it.”

“Computer, begin.”

The door of the tube closed. The lights inside it turned to a cool blue. Eve listened as Reva’s body statistics were noted. A horizontal red beam rose up from the floor of the tube, slowly traveling up the body, down again. Her various injuries were listed, and the evaluation of healing.

“Excellent.” Reva’s voice sounded hollow through the tube, but she was begi

“A few more tweaks,” Roarke said.

Then came a series of red and blue beams, crisscrossing her body, pulsing as they sca

Electronic device located, subdermal, sector two.

“What the hell is it talking about?” Her tone a quick jerk of panic, Reva pressed her hands against the tube. “Where’s section two? This is bullshit.”

Roarke noted the increase in her pulse rate, her blood pressure.

“Let it finish out, Reva.”

“Hurry up. Just hurry up. I want to get out of here.”

“It’s all right, Reva.” Caro spoke softly. “Only a little more, and it’ll be done. Everything’s going to be all right.”