Immortal in Death (In Death #3)(30)

She broke off, trembled visibly. “I’m sorry, Dallas, I’m babbling. I’m so scared. You found Leonardo, didn’t you? Something’s really, really wrong. He’s hurt, isn’t he? He’s dead.”

“No, he’s not hurt.” Eve crossed the room and sat on the foot of the bed. “He came into the cop shop this morning. He had a cut on his arm, that’s all. The two of you had pretty much the same idea last night. He got tanked and headed for your place, ended up cutting his arm on an empty bottle he dropped before he keeled.”

“He was drunk?” Mavis sprang up at that. “He hardly ever drinks. He knows he can’t. He told me how he does things he can’t remember if he drinks too much. It scares him, and… To my place,” she said, eyes softening. “That’s so sweet. Then he came to see you because he couldn’t find me.”

“He came to see me to confess to the murder of Pandora.”

Mavis reared back as if Eve had struck her. “That’s impossible. Leonardo wouldn’t hurt anyone. He’s just not capable of it. He was just trying to protect me.”

“He didn’t know anything about your involvement at that time. He believes he must have argued with Pandora, fought with her, then killed her.”

“Well, that’s absolutely wrong.”

“So the evidence indicates.” Eve rubbed her weary eyes, kept her fingers pressed there for a moment. “The cut on his arm came from a piece of the broken bottle. None of his blood was found at the scene, none of Pandora’s was on the clothes he’d been wearing. We haven’t pinned down his movements precisely as yet, but we don’t have anything on him.”

Mavis missed a beat, caught up. “Oh, then it’s all right. You didn’t believe him.”

“I haven’t decided that, but the evidence, at this point, keeps him clear.”

“Thank God.” Mavis slid down onto the bed beside Eve. “When can I see him, Dallas? Leonardo and I have to work things out between us.”

“That may take a little time.” Eve squeezed her eyes shut, opened them again, made herself look at Mavis. “I have to ask you for a favor, the biggest anyone’s ever asked you.”

“Is it going to hurt?”

“Yeah.” Eve watched Mavis’s attempt at a smile fade away. “I have to ask you to trust me to take care of you. To believe that I’m so good at my job that nothing, however small, will get past me. I have to ask you to remember you’re my closest friend, and that I love you.”

Mavis’s breath started to jerk. Her eyes stayed dry, burning dry. The saliva evaporated from her mouth. “You’re going to arrest me.”

“The lab reports came in.” She caught Mavis’s hands, held them hard in hers. “They weren’t a surprise, because I knew someone had set things up. I was expecting this, Mavis. I hoped I could find something — anything — before it did, but I haven’t been able to. Feeney’s working on it, too. He’s the best, Mavis, trust me here. And Roarke’s already lined up the top defense lawyers known to man. It’s just procedure.”

“You have to arrest me for murder.”

“It’s murder two. That’s a small break. I know it doesn’t sound like one, but the PA’s office isn’t going to try to block bail. I’ll have you back here eating cake in a few hours.”

But her mind was replaying one segment, over and over. It’s murder two. It’s murder two. “You have to put me in a cage.”

Eve’s lungs were burning, and the sensation was rapidly moving toward her heart. “Not for long. I swear it. Feeney’s working right now to get the preliminary hearing up and running. He’s got plenty of markers he can pull in. By the time we’ve got you through booking, you’ll have the hearing, the judge will set bail, and you’ll be back here.”

Wearing an ident alarm to track her movements, Eve thought. Trapped in the house to avoid the stalking media. The cage would be plush and friendly, but it would still be a cage.

“You make it sound easy.”

“It’s not going to be easy, but it’ll be easier if you remember you’ve got a couple of top cops on your side. Don’t waive any of your rights, okay? Any of them. And once we start this, you wait for your lawyers. Don’t say anything to me you don’t have to say. Don’t say anything to anyone. Understand me?”

“All right.” Mavis drew her hands away, rose. “Let’s get it over with.”

Hours later, when it was done, Eve stepped back into the house. The lights were low. She hoped Mavis had taken the tranq Eve had recommended and gone to sleep. Eve already knew she wouldn’t do the same.

She knew Feeney would have followed her request to pass Mavis personally over to Roarke. There had been other work to do. The press conference had been particularly hideous. As expected, questions about her friendship with Mavis had been brought up, conflict of interest hinted at. She owed the commander a great deal for the appearance he’d put in and his statement of absolute faith in his primary investigator.

The one on one with Nadine Furst had been a little easier. All you had to do, Eve thought glumly as she climbed the stairs, was save a person’s life, and they were happy to take your side. The blood lust for the story might have been in Nadine’s heart, but so was a sense of debt. Mavis would get fair treatment from Channel 75.