Naked in Death (In Death #1)(39)

“Yes, Mr. DeBlass. I had a few questions and hoped it would be easier if I asked them in person.”

“My wife and I are willing to cooperate in any way we can.” He remained standing, a position Eve judged as one of power and of distance.

There was none of Elizabeth’s nerves or fragility in the man who stood beside her. He was taking charge, Eve decided, protecting his wife and guarding his own emotions with equal care.

“You were asking about Roarke,” he continued. “May I ask why?”

“I told the lieutenant that I’d asked Roarke to see Sharon. To try to…”

“Oh, Beth.” In a gesture that was both weary and resigned, he shook his head. “What could he do? Why would you bring him into it?”

She stepped away from him, her face so filled with despair, Eve’s heart broke. “I know you told me to let it alone, that we had to let her go. But I had to try again. She might have connected with him, Richard. He has a way.” She began to speak quickly now, her words tumbling out, tripping over each other. “He might have helped her if I’d asked him sooner. With enough time, there’s very little he can’t do. But he didn’t have enough time. Neither did my child.”

“All right,” Richard murmured, and laid a hand on her arm. “All right.”

She controlled herself again, drew back, drew in. “What can I do now, lieutenant, but pray for justice?”

“I’ll get you justice, Ms. Barrister.”

She closed her eyes and clung to that. “I think you will. I wasn’t sure of that, even after Roarke called me about you.”

“He called you — to discuss the case?”

“He called to see how we were — and to tell me he thought you’d be coming to see me personally before long.” She nearly smiled. “He’s rarely wrong. He told me I’d find you competent, organized, and involved. You are. I’m grateful I’ve had the opportunity to see that for myself and to know that you’re in charge of my daughter’s murder investigation.”

“Ms. Barrister,” Eve hesitated only a moment before deciding to take the risk. “What if I told you Roarke is a suspect?”

Elizabeth’s eyes went wide, then calmed again almost immediately. “I’d say you were taking an extraordinarily big wrong step.”

“Because Roarke is incapable of murder?”

“No, I wouldn’t say that.” It was a relief to think of it, if only for a moment, in objective terms. “Incapable of a senseless act, yes. He might kill cold-bloodedly, but never the defenseless. He might kill, I wouldn’t be surprised if he had. But would he do to anyone what was done to Sharon — before, during, after? No. Not Roarke.”

“No,” Richard echoed, and his hand searched for his wife’s again. “Not Roarke.”

Not Roarke, Eve thought again when she was back in her cab and headed for the underground. Why the hell hadn’t he told her he’d met Sharon DeBlass as a favor to her mother? What else hadn’t he told her?

Blackmail. Somehow she didn’t see him as a victim of blackmail. He wouldn’t give a damn what was said or broadcast about him. But the diary changed things and made blackmail a new and intriguing motive.

Just what had Sharon recorded about whom, and where were the goddamn diaries?

CHAPTER NINE

“No problem reversing the tail,” Feeney said as he shoveled in what passed for breakfast at the eatery at Cop Central. “I see him cue in on me. He’s looking around for you, but there’s plenty of bodies. So I get on the frigging plane.”

Feeney washed down irradiated eggs with black bean coffee without a wince. “He gets on, too, but he sits up in First Class. When we get off, he’s waiting, and that’s when he knows you’re not there.” He jabbed at Eve with his fork. “He was pissed, makes a quick call. So I get behind him, trail him to the Regent Hotel. They don’t like to tell you anything at the Regent. Flash your badge and they get all offended.”

“And you explained, tactfully, about civic duty.”

“Right.” Feeney pushed his empty plate into the recycler slot, crushed his empty cup with his hand, and sent it to follow. “He made a couple of calls — one to East Washington, one to Virginia. Then he makes a local — to the chief.”

“Shit.”

“Yeah. Chief Simpson’s pushing buttons for DeBlass, no question. Makes you wonder what buttons.”

Before Eve could comment, her communicator beeped. She pulled it out and answered the call from her commander.

“Dallas, be in Testing. Twenty minutes.”

“Sir, I’m meeting a snitch on the Colby matter at oh nine hundred.”

“Reschedule.” His voice was flat. “Twenty minutes.”

Slowly, Dallas replaced her communicator. “I guess we know one of the buttons.”

“Seems like DeBlass is taking a personal interest in you.” Feeney studied her face. There wasn’t a cop on the force who didn’t despise Testing. “You going to handle it okay?”

“Yeah, sure. This is going to tie me up most of the day, Feeney. Do me a favor. Do a run on the banks in Manhattan. I need to know if Sharon DeBlass kept a safe deposit box. If you don’t find anything there, spread out to the other boroughs.”