Ceremony in Death (In Death #5)(74)

“Yeah, yeah, that’s right.” Feeney closed his eyes to try to bring it back. “I was still working Homicide then, and there wasn’t a cop on planet who wasn’t personally caught up by the case. Never did any of his work here, that we know of, but I remember he had a wife. Pale, jumpy little woman. Left him — before he got snagged seems to me. And there was a kid, a boy. Spooky.”

“Why?”

“He had his old man’s eyes. Except they were dead, you know? I remember thinking we might be tracking him one day. In his father’s footsteps. Then they ducked under the Privacy Act, and nobody ever heard of them again.”

“Until now.” Eve kept her eyes level. “I’m seeing Conroy’s son tonight. At a witch’s coven.”

Roarke brought the limo. She’d been certain he would, just to annoy her. She’d have stayed annoyed if he hadn’t seen that the AutoChef was stocked, Italian style.

Eve was wolfing down manicotti before they crossed the Jacqueline Onassis Bridge. But she shook her head at the burgundy he poured.

“I’m on duty,” she said with her mouth full.

“I’m not.” He sipped, studied her. “Why haven’t you taken care of that?” he asked, brushing gentle fingers over her throat.

“I got tied up.”

“Now, that’s something we’ve yet to explore.” He smiled genially when she goggled at him. “Just a thought. I caught the replay of your little tete-a-tete with Nadine on the way over to Central. I’m surprised you agreed to it.”

“It was a trade. I got my share.” She leaned forward, engaged the privacy shield between them and the driver. “And I’d better fill you in before we join in tonight’s festivities.”

She detailed the new line she was pursuing, then sampled one of the sweet, fat olives on the antipasto tray. “It bumps him up a few notches on the list,” she concluded.

“The sins of the father?”

“Sometimes it works that way.”

He said nothing a moment. They both had reason to be uncomfortable with the theory. “You know best, Lieutenant, but isn’t it just as likely circumstances would push him to the opposite pole?”

“He knew Alice, he has knowledge of chemicals. Her grandfather had chemicals in his system, and she’d been hallucinating. The other two victims were ritual slayings. Forte belongs to a cult. I can’t ignore the steps.”

“He looked remarkably unhomicidal to me.”

She poked through the antipasto, selected a marinated pepper. “I once took down this little old lady, looked like everybody’s favorite granny. She took in stray cats and baked cookies for the neighborhood kids. Grew geraniums on her windowsill.” Enjoying the bite, Eve chose another pepper. “She’d lured a half a dozen kids into her apartment, and had fed their internal organs to the kitties before we nailed her.”

“Charming story.” Roarke slipped his plate into the holding slot. “Point taken.” Reaching into his pocket, he took out the amulet Isis had given him the night before, slipped it over Eve’s neck.

“What’s this for?”

“It looks better on you than me.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “Bull. You’re being superstitious.”

“No, I’m not,” he lied and set her plate in with his before he shifted and began to unbutton her shirt.

“Hey, what are you doing?”

“Passing the time.” His hands, clever and quick, swooped down to take her br**sts. “It’ll take an hour to get there by car.”

“I’m not having sex in the back of a limo,” she told him. “It’s — “

“Delicious,” he finished and replaced his hands with his mouth.

She felt remarkably limber and relaxed by the time the limo turned onto a narrow country road. Here the trees were plentiful, the stars brilliant, and the dark complete. Half-denuded trees arched over the roadway, tunneling them in. She caught the glinting gold eyes of what might have been a fox as a shadow darted across the road and into the woods.

“Feeney and Peabody still behind us?”

“Hmm.” Roarke tucked his shirt back into his trousers. “It would seem so. “You’re putting that on inside out,” he said mildly and grinned.

“Hell.” Eve struggled back out of the shirt, pulled the arms through, and tried again. “Don’t look so smug, I just pretended to enjoy that.”

“Darling Eve.” He took her hand, kissed it. “You’re too good to me.”

“You’re telling me.” She slipped the amulet off, looped it over his head. “You wear it.” Before he could object, she caught his face in her hands. “Please.”

“You don’t believe in it, anyway.”

“No.” She tucked it under his shirt, patted it. “But I think you do. Your driver knows where he’s going?”

“The directions from Isis are programmed in.” He checked his watch. “By my calculations, we should be nearly there.”

“Looks like we’re nowhere if you ask me.” She stared out the window. Nothing but dark, trees, and more dark. “I’d rather be on my own turf. Hard to believe there’s this much nothing less than two hours’ drive from New York.”