Ceremony in Death (In Death #5)(46)

Eve cleared her throat and gave a quick and concise report of everything that took place after the alarm. She concluded with what Jamie had told her at the breakfast table.

“I don’t know how much of that you want to feed to IAD. Jamie’s statement corroborates Alice’s contention that Frank was trying to trap Cross.”

“I’ll filter out what I can.” He continued to rub his eyes. “First his granddaughter, now his grandson.”

“I think I shook him enough to keep him in line.”

“Dallas, teenagers are remarkably hard to shake. I’ve been there.”

“I do want him to have some protection, as well as surveillance. Using my own judgment, I’m arranging for this privately.”

Whitney lifted a brow. “You mean Roarke’s arranging it?”

Eve folded her hands. “The boy will be watched.”

“We’ll leave it at that.” He leaned back. “A homemade, hand-held jammer, you said? One the kid jerry-rigged that managed to bypass the outer layers of the security on that fortress you live in?”

“So it would seem.”

“Where is it? You didn’t give it back to him.”

“I’m not an idiot,” she said as if she’d been slapped on the wrist. “Roarke has it.” And as she completed the sentence, and the thought, her training slipped enough for her to wince.

“Roarke has it.” Despite the situation, Whitney threw back his head and laughed. “Oh that’s rich. You gave the wolf the key to the henhouse.” He caught her narrow-eyed scowl and muffled the next chuckle. “Just trying for a little levity, Lieutenant.”

“Yes, sir. Ha ha. I’ll get it back.”

“No offense, Dallas, but if you’re taking bets, I’ve got a hundred I’ll put on Roarke. In any case, unofficially, the department appreciates his assistance and cooperation.”

“You’ll excuse me if I don’t relay that. It’ll only go to his head.” Recognizing dismissal, she rose. “Commander, Frank was clean. IAD is going to confirm that. Whether his death was of natural causes or induced is going to be more difficult to establish. I could use Captain Feeney.”

“You know you don’t need Feeney on this, Dallas, not in an investigative sense. I appreciate your feelings, but this stays here until further notice. You might find yourself sitting in this chair one day,” he said and watched her brow furrow in surprise. “Difficult decisions sit here with you. And giving unpleasant orders is every bit as frustrating as taking them. Keep me posted.”

“Yes, sir.” She walked out, knowing that she didn’t want his chair, his rank, or his responsibilities.

CHAPTER TEN

Her first duty was to inform Lobar’s next of kin. Once it was done, Eve spent a few moments pondering family. They hadn’t cared. The woman’s face on-screen had stayed blank, as if Eve had informed her of the death of a stranger rather than a son she had birthed and raised. She had thanked Eve politely, asked no questions, agreed that the remains be sent home when released.

They would, she’d said, give him a decent, Christian burial.

She imagined they would have done the same for a family pet.

What calcified the feelings to that extent? she wondered. If there had been feelings to begin with. What made one mother grieve so pitifully, as Alice’s mother was, and another take the news of her child’s death without a single tear?

What had her own mother felt on her birth? Had she been happy, or simply relieved to have the nine-month intruder finally evicted from her body?

She had no memory of a mother, not even some shadowy female form in her life. Only of her father, of the man who had dragged her from place to place, kept her in locked rooms. Who had raped her. And the memories of him, after so many years of denial, were much too clear.

Perhaps some people were fated to survive without family, she thought. Or simply to survive them.

Because her thoughts were dark, it was with mixed feelings she called Dr. Mira’s office for a consultation. After she’d managed to intimidate Mira’s assistant into squeezing her in the next day, she grabbed her bag, beeped Peabody, and headed out.

She didn’t miss Peabody’s wary expression as they pulled up in front of Selina’s apartment, but she ignored it. It was starting to rain, a nasty, surprisingly cold drip out of suddenly leaden skies. The wind was up, whistling down the long canyon of street and biting where it struck exposed flesh.

On the opposite sidewalk, a man rushed east, huddled under a black umbrella. He turned quickly into a shop with a grinning skull and the words The Arcane painted on the door.

“Perfect day to pay a visit to Satan’s handmaid.” Peabody strained for false cheer and surreptitiously fingered a bit of Saint-John’s-wort she’d stuck in her pocket. Her mother’s advice for protection against black magic. The stalwart Peabody had discovered she believed in witches after all.

They went through the same routine with security, only the wait was longer and more unpleasant as the rain began to stream down in earnest. Nasty forks of lightning jabbed at the sky, their tines bright bloodred at the edges.

Eve glanced up, then back at her aide. Her smile was hard and cold. “Yeah, perfect.”

They trailed water into the lobby, into the elevator, and into the foyer of Selina Cross’s apartment.