Rapture in Death (In Death #4)(76)

He offered the logbook, knowing she’d scowl over the codes and components. “So?”

“It took some art to get down to that. He had it locked under his private pass, his voice pattern, his palm print. Some layers of fail safe, too. Nearly blew ourselves up about an hour ago, right, Roarke?”

Roarke rose and tucked his hands in his pockets. “I never doubted you for an instant, Captain.”

“Like hell.” In tune with his man, Feeney grinned. “If you weren’t saying your prayers, boyo, I was saying mine. Still, I can’t think of many others I’d be pleased to be blown to hell with.”

“The feeling’s nearly mutual.”

“If you two have finished your little male bonding dance, would you care to explain what the hell I’m supposed to be looking at here?”

“It’s a scanner. The most intricate I’ve seen outside of Testing.”

“Testing?”

It was a procedure every cop dreaded, and one every cop faced whenever they were forced to set their weapon on maximum for termination.

“Even though every member of NYPSD’s brain pattern is on record, a scan’s taken during Testing. Search for damage, flaws, any abnormalities that might have contributed to the use of maximum force. That scan’s compared with the last taken, then the subject is taken on a couple of VR rides that use the data downloaded from the scan. Nasty business.”

Feeney had only faced it once and hoped never to go through the process again.

“And he’s managed to duplicate or simulate that process?” Eve asked.

“I’d say he’s improved on it on a couple of levels.” Feeney gestured toward the stack of discs. “That’s a lot of brain wave patterns. Shouldn’t be too difficult to compare them with the victims’ and identify.”

Her pattern would be on one, she thought. Her mind, on disc. “Tidy,” she said half to herself.

“Brilliant, really. And potentially deadly. Our boy’s got some spiffy twists on mood sets. They’re all tied into musical patterns, you know, notes and chords. He picks the tune, see, then enhances what you’d call the tone of it, to pump along the target’s reaction, their state of mind say, their unconscious impulses.”

“So he uses it to get into their head, deep. The subconscious.”

“Got a lot of medical technology I’m not real familiar with, but I’d say that’s about it. Heavy into sexual urges,” Feeney added. “That’s our boy’s specialty. I’ve got a little more breakdown to do, but I’d say he could program the brain pattern, set the mood enhance, and give the target mind a nice hefty push.”

“Off a ledge?” she demanded.

“That’s tricky, Dallas. Where I’m at here is enhancement, suggestive shit. Sure, if somebody was leaning toward the ledge, thinking about going over, this might give them that last nudge. But to coerce a mind to act in a manner completely adverse, completely out of character, I’d have to back off on that for now.”

“They jumped, choked, and bled to death,” she reminded him impatiently. “Maybe we’ve all got suicidal urges buried in the subconscious. And this just brings them to the surface.”

“You need Mira for that, not me. I’ll keep digging.” He smiled hopefully. “After breakfast?”

She forced down impatience. “After breakfast. I appreciate the long night, Feeney, and the quick work. But I needed the best.”

“And you got it. The guy you decided to link yourself up with isn’t half bad, either, as a tech. I’d make a decent E-man out of him if he’d give up the drudgery of his lifestyle.”

“My first offer of the day.” Roarke smiled. “You know where the kitchen is, Feeney. You’re welcome to the AutoChef, or you can ask Summerset to arrange for the meal of your choice.”

“Around here, that means real eggs.” He stretched kinks out, popped joints. “You want me to tell him breakfast for three?”

“You get started,” Roarke suggested. “We’ll be down shortly.” He waited until Feeney had sauntered out, whistling at the thought of eggs Benedict and blueberry pancakes. “You haven’t much time, I know.”

“I have enough, if you have something to say.”

“I do.” It was rare for him to feel awkward. He’d almost forgotten the sensation until it swamped him. “What Feeney just pointed out to you, about his opinion on the capabilities here. The fact that it’s unlikely for the subject to be influenced to act out of character, to do something abhorrent.”

She saw immediately where he was going and wanted to curse. “Roarke — “

“I’ll finish this. I’ve been the man who took you last night. I’ve lived in that skin, and it hasn’t been so long ago that I’ve forgotten him. I turned him into something else because I wanted to. And I could. Money helped, and a certain need for… polish. But he’s still there. He’s still part of me. I was reminded of that rather violently last night.”

“Do you want me to hate you for it, to blame you for it?”

“No, I want you to understand it, and me. I came from the kind of man who hurt you last night.”

“So did I.”

That stopped him, had emotion swimming back into his eyes. “Christ, Eve.”