Faithless in Death (In Death, #52)(84)

When Eve walked outside, she noted a few lights had come on in some of the townhomes. Including the one across the street. And she caught movement in one of the upper windows—there, then gone.

She stepped to the door, pressed the buzzer. It took three tries before the door opened.

The woman, early twenties, had dark hair still tousled from sleep. She wore long cotton sleep pants, a plain white tee. She had a kid, somewhere around Bella’s age, to Eve’s best guess, on her hip, and another, a girl of about three, clinging to her leg.

“Ms. Dawber?”

“Yes.” Though her voice stayed soft and pleasant, Eve saw raw fear in her eyes. “Is there a problem?”

“Yeah, there is.” Eve held up her badge. “NYPSD. Did you see or hear anything from the Piper home last night?”

“No.”

Lying, Eve thought. Fear lying.

“Is anyone else in the house, Ms. Dawber?”

“No. Just me and the kids. My husband is at work. I’m sorry I can’t help you, Officer. I need to start breakfast for my children.”

“Lieutenant. Lieutenant Dallas.”

Something flickered over the woman’s face at the name.

“I’m sorry. May I see your identification again?”

This time Gina studied it.

“Zoe Metcalf heard and saw something last night and contacted me.”

What came into Gina’s eyes now burned at the fear. And that was hope. “I don’t understand.”

“She took your advice on tucking a little money away whenever she could and used it to buy a clone ’link. She called nine-one-one and worked her way to me. She and her son are safe, Gina. I can take you and your kids to her, to safety.”

“Take the baby.” Gina literally thrust him into Eve’s arms. “Lollie and I can’t leave the house, but take Westley. Please take him away from here.”

Eve struggled with the baby as he flailed and cried and reached for his mother. “Why can’t you leave the house?”

“House arrest.” Gina hiked up her left pants leg to reveal an ankle tracker. “He put one on Lollie, too, just to make sure I toed the line. He’ll have one on the baby before much longer.”

“We’ll get it off.”

“No, no, it’s programmed to shock if I tamper with it, if I leave the house without permission or an authorized companion. I could take it, I could, but Lollie’s just three. Please. Come on, baby, don’t cry now.”

Eve yanked out her ’link. “Roarke, I need you across the street now. We’ll get it off, deactivate the shocker. You need to trust me.”

“You don’t understand what these people are like, what they can do.”

“Yes, I do. Take him back.” Eve pushed the very unhappy baby back at Gina. “See the man coming over? Nobody, absolutely nobody, has a better hand with electronics.”

She swung around to Roarke. “Tracker on the woman and the girl, with shockers.”

“On the child?” Roarke masked the quick outrage, then crouched down to examine the one on Gina’s ankle. “Ah, I see. Well now, nothing to this at all. It’s not only old tech, but basic as it comes.”

“But he said—” Gina broke off, shut her eyes. “He told me it was state-of-the-art. New tech, and unbreakable. He’s a liar, but I believed it. Do mine first, please, just in case. When I tried to get mine off before, it knocked me out.”

“It won’t now. I’ve already disengaged the shocker. Just another moment here, and …” He unlocked it, started to hand it to Eve.

“Let me get an evidence bag.”

Knowing Roarke, she jogged back to the sedan. He made sure she had a field kit in every vehicle. She got two, jogged back.

He talked in that musical voice, soothing as a kiss on the brow, to the child as he disengaged her tracker.

“I don’t like it,” the kid told him, with her bottom lip poked out.

“Who would like such a thing? And there you are, darling. You won’t have to wear it ever again.”

“Ms. Dawber—”

“Don’t call me that.” The look Gina shot Eve scorched. The fearful woman had vanished.

“Gina. Get what you absolutely need, and we’ll get you and your children to safety.”

“We don’t need a damn thing but each other. We need to go now, right now. Some of the rats will start waking up. We don’t need anything from here, don’t want anything from here. Please.”

“Change of plan,” Eve said to Roarke. “Do me a solid, get the sweepers started, and contact Feeney, get him and McNab here. Gina, does the man who put that tracker on you have an office in the house, electronics?”

“Yeah, locked room. I tried to get in. I paid.”

“We want those confiscated, too. I’ll get them to safety.”

“Done. Let me help you.”

He picked up the little girl, who seemed fine with it.

As they got the kids in the back, Gina looked up the block. “That’s the head rat.”

Eve watched a woman, early forties, flying brown hair, run out of a house.

“Can she contact Natural Order?”

“No, even the rats don’t get communication privileges.”