Reunion in Death (In Death #14)(100)

"Lieutenant Dallas?" Eve stayed down as the footsteps approached, then stared at the sharp black shoes as she felt her system settle.

"Yeah? You Signorina Vincenti?"

"Yes, I am. Are you all right, Lieutenant?"

"Yeah." She straightened. "Just getting my wind back. Captain Giamanno?"

"Has not yet arrived. Your instructions were followed. Immediately after we ended our conversation, I contacted security. A man was sent up to guard Signorina Dunne's door. He remains there, as you directed. No one has come out or gone in."

"Good. I'm not going to wait for the local badge. I'll take her as quickly and quietly as I can."

"That would be appreciated. Our guests, well..." She spread her hands. "We wouldn't wish to upset anyone. Signore." She offered a hand to Roarke. "I welcome you back to the villa, despite the circumstances. I hope you and the lieutenant will let me know of any way I can assist you."

"You did very well, signorina. I won't forget it."

"Okay," said Eve. "Tell your security I'm coming in. I want men on that floor, keeping other guests out of the way. No other staff is to go up to that level until I've apprehended the suspect and removed her to a secured location from which Giamanno and I can finalize the paperwork and extradition."

"I have cleared an office on the main level for that purpose. Will I escort you to the suite?"

Eve didn't know if it was guts or courtesy, but she had to give the woman credit. She made the offer as if Eve were a visiting celeb come for a weekend vacation. "No, the elevator's far enough. I'll need a code card for the door."

"I have them." She gestured, explaining as they walked toward the gracious lakeside entrance, "When a guest has retired to his or her room, it is recommended that they activate the night lock and alarm, for their own security. These can only be opened from the inside, or by a second code card in case the staff must enter. An emergency of some nature."

She drew two thin cards from the pocket of her smart jacket. "The white, with the villa's logo, works the standard locks. The red is for the night system."

"Got it." They walked under a kind of portico, smothered with vines that scented the air with vanilla. Double glass doors etched with a portrait of the villa whisked open at their approach.

They moved through a cool sitting area, stylishly plush with color, where the sunlight dribbled in like spilled gold through arched windows. It caught and glinted on the teardrop-shaped crystals on the many tiers of a chandelier. Outside on a stone terrace, a couple in white robes strolled by, arm in arm.

"Some digs you got here," Eve complimented Signorina Vincenti.

"We are very proud. Perhaps one day when you are not on official business, you will come visit us. Life has so much stress, does it not, that one needs the small islands of tranquility. Ah, this is Signore Bartelli, our head of security."

"Lieutenant." He bent slightly from the waist. "Sir," he said with another slight bow to Roarke. "I will accompany you?"

She measured him. He was big, fit, and looked tough. "Sure, that'd be good."

"My man is on post," he began as they moved into a wide area and into the two-level lobby with its rose marble floors and columns. A wide staircase curved up, split, then wound gracefully in opposite directions. "I have also had the corridor on that floor monitored since we received your transmission."

"Anyway she can get out without using the hallway?"

"Only if she leaps from the terrace. It is four floors up, and not recommended."

"Put a man outside, on the ground. Just in case."

"As you wish." He took out a small communicator, relayed the order as they stepped into an elevator.

"I want all civilians kept in their rooms up there. She'll resist if she can, run if she can, take a hostage if she can."

"The safety of our guests is paramount. We will see to their protection."

When the elevator doors opened, Eve laid a hand on the butt of her weapon. She saw the guard outside a set of wide double doors. He sat, blocking them, sipping coffee.

One sharp command in Italian from his superior had him springing to his feet, rattling back a response.

"She has made no attempt to leave the room by this door,"Bartelli told Eve. "No one has tried to enter. Two guests, one from the next room, one from the end of this hallway, left their rooms. There are morning activities," he explained. "And the health club and pools are open twenty-four hours for the convenience of our guests."

"Handy. All right, move aside and stand by."

She shoved the chair out of the way, slid in the first code. "Which way is the bedroom?"

"It is to the left, through an archway. Perhaps twelve feet from this door."

"And to the right?"

"A smaller sitting room."

She slid in the second code. "Go right," she said to Roarke.

She nudged the door open, soundlessly, and with her weapon out did a first, fast sweep. The living area of the suite was deep in shadow with the privacy drapes snug over the windows. There wasn't a sound.

"On the door," she murmured to Bartelli and slipped inside.

Her boots sank into the soft pile of an ancient carpet, clicked quietly over polished tile. She moved fast and silent through the archway and into the darkened bedroom. She smelled flowers, female. And heard nothing.