Big Jack

Roarke lifted Eve’s chin with his hand-a gesture that had her wincing, and Peabody wandering discreetly away. “You’re very steely-minded on this one, Lieutenant.”

“No touching on the job,” she muttered and nudged his hand aside. “And I’m always steely-minded.”

“No. There are times you run on guts and wear yourself out emotionally, physically.”

“Every case is different. This one’s by the stages. Unless Trevor’s figured it all out by now, he’s not a particular threat to anyone. We’ll have his parents under wraps, and I’m sending a couple of uniforms to keep tabs on the grandmother’s place. We’ve got Ga

“I do.” Despite her earlier warning, he touched her again, rubbing a thumb along the shadows under her eyes. “But you could still use a good night’s sleep.”

“Then I’ll have to close this down so I can get one.” She hooked her thumbs in her front pockets, sighed heavily because she knew it would amuse him. “Go ahead, get it over with. Just make it quick and no tongues allowed.”

He laughed, as she’d expected, then leaned down to give her a very chaste kiss. “Acceptable?”

“Hardly even worth it.” And the quick gleam in his eye had her slapping a hand on his chest. “Save it, pal. Go back to work. Buy a large metropolitan area or something.”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

At Eve’s signal, Peabody stepped up to the car. “It must really set you up, having a man like that look at you the way he does every day.”

“At least it doesn’t keep me off the streets.” She slid in, slammed her door. “Let’s cook this bastard and maybe we can both get home on time for a change.”

Trevor detested visiting his grandmother. The concept of age and illness disgusted him. There were ways, after all, to beat back the worst symptoms of the aging process. Face and body sculpting, youth treatments, organ transplants.

Looking old was, to his mind, a product of laziness or poverty. Either was unacceptable.

Illness was something to be avoided at all costs. Most physical ailments were temporary and easily rectified. One simply had to take proper care. Mental illness was nothing but an embarrassment to anyone associated with the patient.

He considered his grandmother a self-indulgent lunatic, overly pampered by his father. If so much time and money wasn’t wasted making her comfortable in her mad little world, she’d straighten up quickly enough. He knew very well it cost enormous amounts of money-his inheritance-to keep her in the gilt-edged loony bin, to pay for her housing, her food, her care, her meds, her attendants.

Pissed away, he thought, as he drove his new two-seater Jetstream 3000 into the underground parking facility at the rest home. The crazy old bat could easily live another forty years, drooling his inheritance, what was rightfully his, away.

It was infuriating.

His father’s sentimental attachment to her was equally so. She could have been seen to, decently enough, in a lesser facility, or even a state-run project. He paid taxes, didn’t he, to subsidize those sort of facilities? What was the point of not using them since he was paying out the nose for them in any case?

She wouldn’t know the damn difference. And when he was in charge of the purse strings, she damn well would be moved.

He took a white florist box out of the trunk. He’d take her the roses, play the game. It would be worth his time and the investment in the flowers she’d forget ten minutes after he gave them to her, if she knew anything. If by some miracle she remembered knowing anything.

It was worth a shot. Since the old man seemed to know nothing, maybe his crazy old mother had some lead buried in her fogged brain.

He took the elevator to lobby level, gearing himself up for the performance. When he stepped off, he wore a pleasant, slightly concerned expression, presenting the image of a handsome young man paying an affectionate duty call on an aged and ailing relative.

He moved to the security desk, setting the box of flowers on the counter so the name of the upscale city florist could be read by the receptionist. “I’d like to see my grandmother. Janine Whittier? I’m Trevor. I didn’t call ahead as it’s an impulse visit. I was passing the florist’s and I thought of Grandma and how much she loves pink roses. Next thing I knew I was buying a dozen and heading here. It’s all right, isn’t it?”

“Of course!” The woman beamed at him. “That’s so sweet. I’m sure she’ll love the flowers nearly as much as she’ll love seeing her grandson. Just let me bring up her schedule and make certain she’s clear for visits today.”

“I know she has good days and bad days. I hope this is a good one.”

“Well, I see here she’s been checked into the second-floor common room. That’s a good sign. If I could just clear you through.” She gestured toward the palm plate.

“Oh, sure. Of course.” He laid his hand on it, waited while it verified his identification and his clearance. Ridiculous precautions, he thought. Who in hell would want to break into an old people’s home? It was the sort of thing that added several thousand a year to the tab.

“There you are, Mr. Whittier. I’ll just scan these.” She ran a hand-held over the roses to verify the contents, then gestured. “You can take the main staircase to the second floor, or the elevator if you prefer. The common area is to the left, down the hall. You can speak to one of the attendants on duty. I’m sending up your clearance now.”

“Thank you. This is a lovely place. It’s such a comfort to know Grandma’s being so well looked after.”

He took the stairs. He saw others, carrying flowers or gifts wrapped in colorful paper. Staff wore what he assumed were color-coded uniforms, all in calming pastels. In this unrestricted area, patients wandered, alone or with attendants. Through the wide, su

It amazed him, continuously, that people would work in such a place, whatever the salary. And that those who weren’t paid to be here would visit, voluntarily, on any sort of regular basis.

He himself hadn’t been inside the place for nearly a year and sincerely hoped this visit would be the last required of him.

As he glanced at the faces he passed he had a moment’s jolt that he wouldn’t recognize his grandmother. He should have refreshed his memory before the trip out, taken a look at some photographs.

The old all looked the same to him. They all looked doomed. More, they all looked useless.

A woman being wheeled by reached out with a clawlike hand to snatch at the ribbon trailing from the florist’s box.

“I love flowers. I love flowers.” Her voice was a pipe tooting out of a wizened face that made Trevor think of a dried apple. “Thank you, Joh

“Now, Tiffany.” The attendant, a perky-looking brunette, leaned over the motorized chair, patted the ancient woman on the shoulder. “This nice man isn’t your Joh

“I can have the flowers.” She looked up hopefully, her bony hand like a hook in the ribbon.

Trevor had to battle back a shudder, and he shifted to prevent that hideously spotted hand from making contact with any part of him. “They’re for my grandmother.” Even as bile rose in his throat, he smiled. “A very special lady. But… ” Under the pleased and approving eye of the attendant, he opened the box, took out a single pink rosebud. “I’m sure she wouldn’t mind if you had one.”

“That’s so kind of you,” the attendant responded. “There you are now, Tiffany, isn’t that nice? A pretty rose from a handsome man.”