Brotherhood in Death (In Death #42)(120)

The women, Eve thought, had brought their past with them.

She went upstairs, saw Peabody with MacKensie and a woman she recognized from the sketches as Grace Carter Blake.

“You don’t know what they did to us.” MacKensie’s voice trembled. “You don’t know what they made us.”

“Hush now.” Blake consoled her. With the coat she’d worn on Su’s security feed over simple white pajamas, she stood, shoulders straight, eyes exhausted.

“She needs to know. They destroyed us. They took our lives.”

“You’ll have the chance to tell me,” Eve said. “Peabody, did you read them their rights?”

“Done. I can take them in.”

“No, I need you elsewhere. Have them transported. We’ll talk later,” she said to both women.

“We will all be invoking our right to counsel,” Blake said.

“You go right ahead.”

“You don’t understand,” MacKensie began, but Blake cut her off.

“Carlee, not now. Lawyer.” Blake stared through Eve. “We say nothing without our legal counsel. And as a lawyer, I’ll stand in as same until we’re able to contact other.”

“No, you won’t. If you’re a lawyer and not an idiot, you understand you’re under arrest for conspiracy to murder, among other charges, all connected to the other suspects. That conflict of interest precludes you acting as counsel, except for yourself. Get them gone, Peabody.”

She rubbed her eyes, pulled out her ’link.

“Don’t tell me.” Curled in bed, video unblocked, Reo kept her eyes shut. “Another warrant.”

“I’ve just busted the murder ring, and the raping brotherhood, and made five arrests.”

Reo’s eyes popped open.

“You’re going to want to tell your boss, and meet me at St. Alban’s, where I’ll be questioning Marshall Easterday.”

She clicked off, nearly turned into Roarke. “Don’t ask,” she said, anticipating him. “The answer is I’m fine. I need to finish this, and it’s going to take some time. But . . . I could use you and that damn copter later. I’m not going to finish until I see the Brotherhood house. We won’t have much trouble finding it now.”

“None at all. The hit came through while we were taking the house—as did McNab’s on the van.”

“That’s handy. So . . . can I tap you for the transpo later?”

“Of course. I’ll clear the time, whenever you’re ready.”

“Don’t hug me.” She could anticipate that, too. “You can pretend you did, and I’ll pretend you did. I’ll probably really appreciate the real thing when this is done.”

“I’ll clear time for that as well.” So he simply brushed his finger over the dent in her chin. “I’ll leave you to it, Lieutenant.”

“I appreciate the assist.” She broke cop dignity long enough to take his hand. “All the way around.”

When he left, she took a moment to settle, then got back to work.

—

Within the hour she stood with Peabody and Reo in Easterday’s hospital suite. To Eve’s mind he looked better than he had a right to.

“How can you do this?” He lifted the hand chained to the bed. “Those women murdered my friends, tortured them, and they tortured me. They—they forced me to watch while they . . . what they did to Freddy.”

“They’ll face those consequences. But we’re here to talk about you, and your brotherhood. We’re here to talk about what you and your brothers began forty-nine years ago.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Those women—”

“We have the recording from the first rape. Her name is Tara Daniels.” God bless Harvo. “Remember her?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t know anyone by that name.”

“And they say you always remember your first.” Her voice seethed with disgust. “Betz recorded it, and kept the old, original disc, and souvenirs from every victim since in his bank box in the Bronx.”

Easterday hadn’t known about the bank box, Eve thought, catching the quick leap of shock into his eyes.

“We’re identifying all those victims as we speak, through DNA. You’re alive, Easterday, because we got to you in time, despite the fact you chose to run rather than face what you’d done.”

“You’re wrong. You’re just wrong. I want—”

“I have the evidence.” She leaned in, close to his battered face. “I viewed the recording, I watched you rape Tara Daniels, and watch, laugh, drink while your friends raped her. I watched Frederick Betz stick a needle in her so you could all pretend she wanted you.

“Want to see it? I can arrange to have it shown right here on your view screen.”

“No. No. I . . . you don’t understand.”

“Enlighten me.”

“We were . . . we were young, and under such tremendous pressure. We needed to let off some steam—we weren’t allowed outside the security perimeters without permission. And she—she—she’d been provocative, teasing. She was drunk and she’d already been with Edward. And she came on to me.”