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“What?” He struggled to sit up and only went sheet-white with the pain. “I’m going to be all right?”
“You’ll live. You might not walk again, and you’re going to have some serious pain with the physical therapy and treatments over the next few months. But you’ll live. Bad news? Doctors say you’re pretty strong and healthy otherwise, so you should last decades in a cage.”
“You said I was dead. You said-”
“Yeah.” She hooked her thumbs in her front pockets. “Cops’re such liars. I don’t know why you assholes believe us.”
“Bitch. Goddamn bitch.” He fought to raise himself, going white, then red as he strained against the stabilizers. “I want a lawyer. I want a doctor.”
“You can have both. Excuse me, Sparrow, I’ve got to go arrange for a meeting between your superiors and mine. I bet they’re going to have a high old time with this recording.”
“You walk out of here with that…” He gasped against the pain, and the fear. Eve read them both in his eyes. “You walk out of here with that recording, and I’ll have your records all over the media within the hour. Everything that happened in Dallas. Everything in that file, including the speculation that you committed patricide. You’re finished as a cop when I get finished spi
Eve tilted her head, and smiled. “What records?”
She let her smile widen as she pushed open the door. “Nailed, to the wall,” she said to Peabody.
And she could hear Sparrow screaming for a doctor as she strode away.
“I need you to take the recording, copy it, write the report. I want him charged fast. Go through Whitney, push the grease.”
“What are the charges?”
“It’s all on the record. He’s not going anywhere,” Eve added as they started down in the overcrowded elevator. “And I don’t think Bissel will try for him again, but I want a man on the door.”
“Okay. Are you going somewhere?”
“I want to play some of this off of Mira, see if any of this new data gives her an idea how and where Bissel might move next. He’s seriously screwed with Sparrow alive and wrapped, and that might make him more dangerous. Nobody’s left for him to go for.”
“There’s you.”
“Yeah. That’d be a nice plus.”
“You sure have a twisted sense of optimism.”
“Yeah, I’m Polly-freaking-a
“I get to drive the mag civilian vehicle. Again?” Peabody did a quick tap and shuffle. “Man, I love being a detective.”
“Get Sparrow secured, write the report, get Whitney to push through the arrest warrant, then get back over here and serve it. Then see how much you love it.”
She pulled out her pocket ‘link. “Oh, and requisition us a new ride.”
“You’re the superior officer,” Peabody reminded her. “The request should come from you.”
“And my name is kick-her-ass in Requisitions. I put in, they’ll dig up some piece of shit heap with an attitude. They save them for me.”
“That’s a factor. You know, we could bog down the request, and keep using one of Roarke’s. I mean, he’s got plenty of vehicles.”
“We’re cops. We use a cop car.”
“Spoilsport,” Peabody grumbled when Eve hiked away.
She took a cab to Mira’s residence because her body was one massive ache, and the idea of the subway with its crowds and smells seemed like more punishment than she deserved.
Mira answered the door herself, and had already changed out of her work gear into rust-colored pants and a roomy white shirt.
“Thanks for making the time.”
“It’s absolutely no problem. Look at you,” Mira said with concern as she lifted a hand to Eve’s face. “The incident’s all over the news. With speculation it was a botched terrorist attack on Central.”
“It goes back to Bissel, and it’s a lot more personal. I’ll explain.”
“You should sit down, and we’ll…” She turned, beamed as her husband came toward her with a loaded tray. “De
“Eve likes coffee.” He winked at Eve with his dreamy eyes. He was wearing a baggy cardigan with a hole in the sleeve and worn brown trousers. He smelled, Eve thought, a little like cherries.
His expression sobered as he sca
“It was pretty much deliberate. It’s nice to see you, Mr. Mira.”
“Charlie, you should take care of this girl.”
“Yes, I will. Why don’t we go upstairs, and I’ll take a look at you?”
“Thanks, but I really don’t have time-”
De
“It looks worse than it is,” Eve began.
“Yes, so they always say.”
There was a lot of color. It was one of the things Eve always noted about Mira’s home. All the color and pretty little whatnots sitting around. Flowers and photographs.
Mira took her into a cozy sitting room done in quiet blues and misty greens. Over a small fireplace was a family portrait of the Miras, their children and spouses, their grandchildren. It wasn’t a formal pose, but a casual kind of grouping, as if a conversation was taking place.
“Nice,” Eve said.
“Yes, isn’t it? My daughter had it done from a photograph and gave it to me last Christmas. The children have already grown so much since. Well. I just need to get a few things. De
“Hmm?” He’d set down the tray and looked around absently.
“Keep Eve company.”
“Your husband’s not coming?” De
“No, he’s… this is really a professional visit. I’m sorry to interrupt your evening.”
“Pretty girl’s never an interruption.” He patted his pockets, looked around blankly. “I seem to have misplaced the sugar.”
There was something about him-the mop of hair, the baggy sweater, the bemused expression-that stirred a little glow of affection inside her. “I don’t use any.”
“Good thing. Don’t know where the hell I left it. Remembered the cookies, though.” He picked one up, handed it to her. “Look like you could use one, sweetie.”
“Yeah.” She stared at it and wondered why it, the gesture, the room, the scent of the flowers on the mantel combined to make her eyes sting. “Thanks.”
“It’s rarely as bad as we think it is.” He patted her shoulder and had her throat going hot. “Unless it’s worse. Charlie’ll fix you up. I’m going to take my coffee out on the patio,” he said when Mira came back. “Let you girls gab.”
Eve bit into the cookie, swallowed hard. “I’ve got a crush on him,” she said when she and Mira were alone.
“So do I. You’ll need to take off your clothes.”
“Why?”
“I can tell by the way you move you’ve got injuries, and pain. Let’s deal with it.”
“I don’t want-”
“And you can take your mind off what I’m doing by telling me about Bissel.”
Accepting that an argument would only drag things out, Eve stripped off the shirt, then the trousers. Mira’s quick wince of sympathy had Eve hunching in defense.
“Mostly from the safeties. You know, the harness, impact bags.”
“And would have been considerably worse without them, yes. You were treated on scene?”
“Yeah.” Eve felt her insides draw up as Mira opened a medical bag. “Look, they did all the stuff. And I took a blocker, so-”
“When?”
“When what?”
“When did you take something for pain?”
“Before… a while ago. A few hours,” she mumbled when leveled by Mira’s patient gaze. “I don’t like meds.”
“All right, let’s see what we can do without them. I’m going to put the chair back. Relax. Close your eyes. Trust me.”
“That’s what they all say.”
“Tell me what you’ve learned about Bissel.”
It wasn’t so bad, Eve thought. Whatever Mira was doing didn’t add to the pain, or layer on any stings or twinges. Best, it didn’t make her feel lightheaded and stupid.