Desperation in Death (In Death #55)(106)

“Good. Good. We’ll give it all to the feds. I’m going to request Teasdale use Willowby as NYPSD liaison on it. She earned it.”

“A very good call, Lieutenant. I’m not especially needed here at this point, so when you’re ready, I’m with you.”

“I’m ready now.” More than ready, she admitted, to get out and away from this hard, bright house. “And you have to change and go to work.”

“I do have to go in for a bit of time, but I don’t need to change. I’m the boss, after all. But I’ve had a change of clothes sent in for you.”

“Why?”

“When you held Amara, his blood was still wet on her. And so on you.”

“Oh.” She glanced down, blew out a breath at the bloodstains on her shirt, her jacket. “You know what? Let it ride. Let them see it when I have them in the box.”

She checked in with Peabody for status, then contacted Yancy to arrange for Dorian to come in to Central.

“He says she nailed Beaty,” Eve said as she strapped in for the flight back. “But we’re going to add the flesh-and-blood ID there, and see if she, or any of them, can do the same with some of the others.”

She sat back, closed her eyes a moment. “We may not find out who shoved that spike of wood into Mina Cabot. Not the single individual responsible for that.”

“They’re all responsible, aren’t they?”

“That’s how I see it. That’s how I expect the courts to see it. But.”

He reached over, rubbed his hand over hers. “What that brave child began, you’re finishing. There’ll be payment, Eve, and with payment, justice. And with that payment and justice, some closure for her family.”

She could see them, the mother, the father, the brother, huddled together in a pool of grief.

“They’ll never get over it.”

“I don’t know how anyone could, but what you’ve done will help them get through it. And surely there’s a young girl out there right now who’d be a target, tonight, tomorrow, next week. Now she’ll live the rest of her life never knowing that. Never knowing she owes that life to Mina and Dorian, to you and all the rest who fought for her. It matters, I think, she’ll never know.”

She looked at him, loved him. “Maybe she’ll grow up to be a total asshole.”

And he looked at her, loved her. “Maybe she’ll grow up to be a damn good cop.”

She considered. “I guess it’s all fifty-fifty.”

When they landed at Central—sweet relief—she climbed out, and he lifted off to fly to his Midtown office.

By the time she got down to Homicide through the cop buzz of a major bust, she wanted five minutes of quiet and coffee. She’d take two minutes if she could have a giant coffee.

But she ran straight into Reo.

“Good, you’re back. Jenkinson and Reineke are working one in Interview A, Carmichael and Santiago have another in B, Peabody’s with Willowby—who’s splitting her time between dealing with the victims in conference room three and Interview. I’ve got—”

“Conference room—the working one.” There went two minutes in her office, Eve thought as she strode down the hall.

“I’ve already got one who’s ready and willing to flip on the others,” Reo continued. “Apparently, she was friendly with Marlene Williamson, and she’s been ready to bolt since they terminated Williamson. She’ll testify, and she’s talked her ass off already.”

“What did you give her?”

“Twenty in—that’s solid, no wiggle—on-planet.” Reo held up a hand. “She’s already rolled on Beaty and a host of others. Among those others are a few we don’t have—but now will very shortly.”

In the conference room, Eve headed straight to the coffee.

“I’ve just finalized the deal,” Reo continued. “It’s a win, Dallas. You’ve got a lot of hard cases in this, and we’re not going to get a bouquet of confessions out of them. What she’s feeding us will give us a mountain for the trials.”

“I’m going to get a confession out of Iris Beaty.”

“You’re going to have to go through her lawyer. Word is she’s called in big guns.”

“Name.”

“Sampson Merit, great big guns with offices in East Washington, New York, and New L.A.”

“Did she have him on tap?”

“I’d say yes, as he’s already here and consulting with her.”

“Can we freeze her finances?”

“We’d have to analyze and separate what she’d earned legally prior to the Academy, then—”

Eve waved that away, pulled out her comm. “Callendar, whatever you’re doing, stop that and do this. Sampson Merit, lawyer, New York, East Washington, New L.A. Dig in, dig deep. Find me the connection to Iris Beaty and the Academy. Get me the dirt because he’s going to be dirty.”

“Got my shovel right here,” Callendar said before Eve clicked off.

“I’ve heard a lot of things about Merit, Dallas, but never any whiff of this sort of thing.”

Eve shook her head. “She had him on tap, and he jumped. She’s got something on him.” Eve pointed to the board. “This is ugly stuff, and it’ll get uglier in the media, and dragged out. A big deal like that doesn’t need the money, doesn’t need to risk his rep this way. Maybe he’s just a shitbag, and he’ll jump this fast at the idea of a case that’s going to pay big and get him in on-screen. But it’s just as likely the other way. Never caught a whiff? How much do you want to bet plenty will say the same when we start arresting the really rich assholes who buy kids online?”