Obsession in Death (In Death #40)(64)

“I’d hoped you’d sleep longer.” He kissed her furrowed brow.

“I know you’re not a droid, but I’d like a walk-through of your power-up system because nobody should look like you do on four hours of sleep.”

“Lifelong habit. If I could be up and out before my father or Meg stirred, I’d avoid the morning boot. And you’re not wearing that.”

She’d been thinking she’d once escaped into sleep when she could to avoid her father’s boot – or worse – and frowned at him. “What?”

“You may find yourself on screen again today, so you may as well dress for it.”

“I can’t be worried about clothes when —”

“I will.” He took the jacket and shirt she’d yet to put on. “The pants are fine – a nice rich caramel, classic, good fit. I’ll deal with this, you deal with breakfast. I’m past ready to eat.”

She’d have argued, but the deal gave her control of breakfast. And it sure as hell wouldn’t be oatmeal.

So in her support tank and rich caramel, classic, good-fitting pants, she went straight for the AutoChef.

She wanted waffles – that’s right – waffles in an ocean of syrup. She added sides of mixed berries because he’d make some comment about a balanced meal. Besides, she liked them.

When she turned with the tray, he had a vest the same brown as the pants, but with thin gold stripes, a crisp white shirt, and a jacket of deep, dark green with brown leather buttons.

Okay, she thought, it would look put together, but not fancy, fussy, or showy. She set the tray down on the table in the sitting area – which instantly perked up Galahad’s ears.

Roarke simply pointed a warning finger that had the cat shooting up a leg to wash as if a morning ablution had been his only intention.

Eve put on the shirt over the tank and the fat diamond pendant Roarke had given her the day he told her he loved her. She buttoned on the vest, then sat to flood her waffles with syrup.

“You could just pour a cup of that, drink it straight.”

“Not the same,” she said over soaked waffles. “What wheel were you dealing this early?”

“The village in Tuscany I told you about. We’re moving forward on that.”

“Huh.” She couldn’t say why it struck her so odd he’d buy an Italian village. He owned an island – where they were due to take their winter break if she ever caught this obsessed killer. He owned the lion’s share of an off-planet resort. And those didn’t even make a dent in what made up his empire.

“I thought we might visit there next summer,” Roarke continued, enjoying his less saturated waffles. “There should be considerable progress on the villa’s rehab by then.”

Eve glanced toward the window where the falling sleet looked bitter and just a bit toothy. She could barely imagine summer, and sunshine and heat.

“Miserable, isn’t it?” But he said it easily – and why not, she thought, since they were eating waffles in the warmth with a fire snapping and a holiday tree sparkling.

What was the killer doing? she wondered. Sleeping still? Did she – it was damn well a woman – have a job that allowed her to sleep until the sun, what there would be of it today, rose?

Did she dream, as Eve had dreamed, of blood? Of eyes blindly staring that still held a brutal accusation?

“I’m going to work here this morning,” she decided. “They can’t drag me on screen if I’m here. I can have Peabody come in – McNab, if Feeney can spare him. We’ll have more matches by now in the lab, and still with the new parameters, it’s a smaller grouping.”

“I’ll send a car for them.”

“What?” Genuinely appalled, she gaped at him. “Why? The subway —”

“Eve.” He gestured toward the window, the ugly, frigid sleet.

“Cops are supposed to freeze their asses off,” she told him. “You spoil them.”

“And why not?” he countered. “They’ll get here faster, and drier.” He rubbed a hand on her thigh. “What is it – under it all?”

“Dreams,” she admitted. “Just ugly dreams. Ledo playing pool with a broken cue, with the other half stuck in his chest. Reminding me I broke the cue in the first place. Reminding me he helped me on the dead sleeper – Snooks, the sleeper went by Snooks. Not a lot of help, but he did give me a little. And Bastwick, pounding at me on the witness stand again.”

Eve shook her head, went back to coffee.

“And the killer. She looked like me – sort of. A reflection, I guess, smudged. I guess that came from Hastings talking about her eyes being something like mine. And I get the shrink-wrap of that,” she added. “We’re sitting there, drinking wine. Or she’s drinking it. There’s a big, bubbly pizza on the table between us. Like we’re sharing a friendly moment, you know? And she’s making her case. Just how many murderers, rapists, pedophiles, spouse beaters would Bastwick have gotten off if she’d lived? How many people would mug or steal or kill to get the scratch to buy what Ledo sold? Couldn’t I see the greater good here? Wasn’t it about that? About protect and serve? About justice? About respect for the law and the people who enforce it?”

She fell silent a moment, but he knew she wasn’t finished. She was working up to the rest.