Origin in Death (In Death #21)(63)

As she raked her fingers through her hair, her computer beeped. Galahad jumped a little, then immediately shot up a leg and began to lick his backside.

Tasks complete . . .

"Hey, there's timing." She leaped up now, grabbing her sweats." "Plus I think the sex burned the alcohol out of my system."

"You're welcome."

He said it with a laugh, but she'd learned a few things in over a year of marriage. "The way you touched me? It counteracted the trauma that is Trina. This is great power."

His eyes warmed for her as he got to his feet.

"But the hearts have got to go. Computer, display matches, on wall screen."

Singular match displayed . . .

"Score," Eve bellowed when the images flashed on, side by side. "Hello, Deena."

Flavia, Deena, DOB June 8, 2027, Rome, Italy. Father, Dimitri, doctor, specializing in pediatrics. Mother, Anna Trevani, doctor, psychiatry. No siblings No marriage, cohabitation on record. No offspring on record. No criminal on record. Last known address, Brookhollow College. No data on record: after May 19-20, 2047. Image displayed is of official ID taken June 2045

"Lovely young woman," Roarke stated. "Extremely lovely."

"And she poofs. Early graduation. Computer, search for any missing persons report on Flavia, Deena. International search."

Working ...

"Side task. Are her parents still living? If so, where, and under what employment?"

Acknowledged. Working . . .

"Her address was listed at the college, not a residence. No criminal, no marriage, no cohab, and she goes into the wind before her twentieth birthday."

"And surfaces," Roarke put in, "a dozen years later to kill the Icoves."

"Couple years younger than Avril, but they'd have been at school at the same time. Exclusive boarding school, they'd have brushed up against each other."

"A long way from school chums to partners in crime."

"Yeah, but it connects them. She saw the image from the center, and didn't say, 'Hey, that's Deena from Brookhollow. Haven't seen her in years.' And yeah," she said, holding up a hand, "a defense attorney's going to say Avril's not required to remember everyone she went to school with. That it's been a dozen years since she got out of college, which coincidentally coincides with Deena's vanishing act. But it puts her in the same place, at the same time, with the suspect."

Secondary task complete. Flavia, Dimitri, and Trevani, Anna, reside in Rome, Italy. Both are employed on staff at The Children's Institute in that city ...

"Cross-check the Children's Institute for association with Icove, Wilfred B., Sr. and/or Wilfred B., Jr., also association with Wilson, Jonah Delecourt."

Added task. Working . . .

"I can save you the time," Roarke told her. "I've contributed to that institution through my Italian companies. I know that, at least at one time, Icove Sr. served on the advisory board."

"Better and better. So he connects with the Flavias, who connect with Deena, aka Dolores, who connects with Avril, who connects with Brookhollow. I've got me a f**king diagram."

Primary task complete. No missing person's report was filed to an/ known authority on Flavia, Deena . . .

"They don't file because either they know where she is or because they don't want the cops nosing around. If it's the second, they hired private. Either way she's under data radar for a decade. And-"

Additional task complete. Icove, Wilfred B., Sr., served on advisory board and as guest surgeon, guest lecturer, for the Children's Institute from its creation in 2025 to his death. Wilson, Jonah Delecourt, served on advisory board from 2025 to 2048.

"Okay, now we've got-"

Question .. .

"What," Eve snapped.

Do you wish to end task involving images from Brookhollow at this time"

"What other images are there?"

Secondary match, current enrollment Brookhollow Academy correlating to Flavia, Deena.

"You said singular match. Display, damn it."

Affirmative . ..

The image that came on was rounder, softer than Deena Fla. And it was a child.

Eve's heart fluttered into her throat. "Identify current image."

Rodriguez, Diana, DOB March 17, 2047, Argentina. Parents, Hector, laboratory technician, and Cruz, Magdalene, physical therapist.

"Places of employment."

Working . . . Rodriguez, Hector, employed Genedyne Research. Cruz, Magdalene, employed St. Catherine's Reconstructive and Rehabilitation Center.

"Association of both places of employment to Icove, Wilfred B., Sr.; Icove, Wilfred B., Jr.; Wilson, Jonah; and Samuels, Eva or Evelyn."

"She's not their child," Roarke put in. "Not biologically. She's the image of Deena Flavia."

"Breed them and sell them. Breed and sell. Sons of bitches. Manipulate the genes-make them perfect, made to order. Train, educate, program them. Then sell them."

He reached out, instinctively rubbing her shoulders. "Would she have wanted the child, do you think? Or just revenge."

"I don't know. Depends on what drives her harder. Maybe she figures on getting both."

The computer came back, listing all four names with connections to the locations in Argentina.