Creation in Death (In Death #25)(39)

Then he shot Roarke a quick look. “I mean the uh me for mine, you for yours. It’s not like I get the uh for the lieutenant, for which she would kick my ass, then leave you to turn what was left of it into bloody dust. Which She-Body would then grind into the earth before she set it on fire. I was just saying.”

“I know what you were saying.” McNab could, invariably, entertain him. “And I couldn’t agree more, with everything including the bloody dust. They are compelling women. Lieutenant,” Roarke said as her long stride brought her to him.

“So glad you two have time for fizzy breaks.”

“Sir. I’ve been bringing Roarke up to date, and relaying your orders.”

“Looked like slurping and ogling to me.”

“Ah…those may have been minor factors, but neither overshadowed the update or relay. Vic’s images are broadcasted, Lieutenant. I set up another line for responses from those sources. We’ve been fielding tips and inquiries on the investigations, and I figured if we got something out of this, we didn’t want it to get bogged down in the general dump.”

“Good. That’s good thinking. I want you to pass off whatever you’re doing and take Rossi’s equipment. Her comp. I’m looking for personalized fitness programs. Find me one that matches our unsub.”

“On that.”

“Feeney?”

“Roving mode,” McNab told her. “Gives a look and a buzz to whatever everyone’s working. Tightens it up or opens it out. He was playing the medical equipment angle when I came out to get—when I stepped out to update Roarke.”

“Tell him I need somebody to go down to BodyWorks. Rossi used a couple of comps there routinely. The manager’s been contacted and is cooperating. Get them brought in and gone through. Same search.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Roarke, with me.”

Roarke fell into step beside her. “Formidable.”

“What?”

“You. I’d used compelling, but formidable suits as well. Very sexy.”

“Don’t say ‘sexy’ on the job.”

“You just did.”

Okay, she admitted, he made her laugh. Which was obviously the point and intent. And it did relieve some of the tension at the base of her skull. “Got your smarty pants on, I see.”

She moved into the bullpen, stopped her forward motion when one of the men called her name. “Got a DB in a flop off Avenue D,” he began. “Licensed companion over there…”

He jerked his head toward the skinny woman in a bloody shirt seated at his desk. “She says the guy wanted to party, the party was had. He refused to pay the bill and popped her two good ones when she objected to getting stiffed. Pulled out her sticker, which she claims he ran into. Six times.”

“Clumsy of him.”

“Yeah. Thing is, Lieutenant, she called it in. Didn’t try to rabbit, and she’s sticking to the story. Claims he laughed like a looney bird every time the knife went in. Got a couple of wits saw them make the deal, another who heard them yelling in the flop. You can see she’s got herself a pretty good shiner working there.”

“Yeah. Got priors?”

“Couple little bumps, nothing violent. Had her LC ticket for three years.”

“And the DB?”

“Oh, he had a nice long sheet. Assaults, assaults with deadlies, illegals—possession and intent. Just got out of the cage for an attempted robbery—beat hell out of a clerk at a twenty-four/seven. On the Zeus.”

Eve studied the LC. The woman looked more annoyed than worried. And her face was sporting a sick rainbow of bruises. “Guy on Zeus could run into a knife multiple times. Wait for the tox screen on the DB, run her through again, see if she stands on the story, then put her in holding.”

“Guy was juiced up, a lime green PD’s going to get a self-defense. Could slap her for the sticker, as it was over legal limit.”

“What’s the point?”

“Yeah, that’s what I was thinking. Wanted to run it by you first.”

“She ask for a PD or a rep?”

“Not yet. Pissed is what she is.” He nodded over to her desk. “Knows the incident means an automatic thirty-day suspension of her license. So she’s out the fee and a month’s work, got a fist in the face, and ruined what she says is a new shirt.”

“That’s the life. Get the tox, wrap it up. Reach out to Illegals on the DB if anything looks shaky,” Eve added. “Somebody over there probably has a take on him.”

She walked into her office, shut the door.

“She’ll walk,” Roarke commented.

“Likely. Smart not to run, to come in voluntarily. Less smart to party with a guy on Zeus, if that was the case. And if she’s worked that sector for a couple, three years, she’d know if he was pumped.”

“A girl’s got to make a living.”

“That’s what they tell me. So, anything from the unregistered?”

“Nothing that gels, not at this point. I have Summerset running more searches and crosses. He knows what to look for, and how to find it.”

Her brows drew together. “Am I going to have to be grateful to him?”

“I’ll take care of that.”