Reunion in Death (In Death #14)(18)

"Not anymore," Eve commented.

"Your data, Lieutenant," Roarke said as he ordered it onto the next wall screen.

She studied Julianna's side-by-side images. "She cut her hair, went red, changed her eye color. Didn't bother with much else. That jibes with her old pattern. Logged her correct, if temporary address. Julianna dots her i's and crosses her t's. What does she have to do with Walter Pettibone?"

"Do you think she went pro?"

"She likes money," Eve mused. "It, I don't know, feeds some need. The same need killing men feeds. But it doesn't fit her old pattern. Point is, she's back, and she killed Pettibone. I have to update the all-points."

"Have you considered she came here, killed here, because of you?"

Eve blew out a breath. "Maybe. That would mean I made a hell of an impression on her all those years ago."

"You tend to-make an impression."

Since she couldn't think of a response, she pulled out her communicator and ordered the new all-points bulletin on Julianna Dunne.

"If she follows her old pattern, she's already out of the city. But we scooped her up once, we'll scoop her up again. I'll need to bring Feeney in on this. We were partners when Julianna went down."

"As I'm fond of him, I hope you don't intend to do that until morning."

"Yeah." She glanced at her wrist unit. "Nothing else to be done tonight."

"I don't know." He walked around the desk again, slid his arms around her. "I can think of one thing."

"You usually do."

"Why don't we go to bed, and I'll get you naked. Then we'll see if you think of it, too."

"I guess that's reasonable." She started out with him. "I didn't ask: Did the rest of the deal go okay with the Peabodys?"

"Mmm. Fine."

"Figured. You play with strangers better than I do. Listen, I hear they're going to stay in this camper thing they travel in, and that's not a good idea. I thought since you have hotels and stuff you could get them a deal on a room."

"That's not going to be necessary."

"Well yeah, because if they bunk in that thing on the street or in some lot, a beat cop's going to cite them, maybe pull them in. They won't flop at Peabody's because her place is pretty tight. You've got to have an empty hotel room or apartment somewhere they can use."

"I imagine I do, yes, but..." At the door to their bedroom, he pulled her inside, toward the bed. "Eve."

She began to get a bad feeling. "What?"

"Do you love me?"

A very bad feeling. "Maybe."

He lowered his mouth to hers, kissed her soft and deep. "Just say yes."

"I'm not saying yes until I know why you're asking the question."

"Perhaps I'm insecure, and needy, and want reassurance."

"My ass."

"Yes, I want your ass as well, but first there's the matter of your great and generous and unconditional love for me."

She let him release her weapon harness, noticed he put it well out of reach before turning back and loosening the buttons of her shirt. "Who said anything about unconditional? I don't remember signing that clause in the deal."

"What is it about your body that's a constant fascination to me?" He feathered his fingers lightly over her br**sts. "It's all so firm and soft all at once."

"You're stalling. And you never stall." She grabbed his wrists before he could finish the job of distracting her. "You did something. What did you..." Realization struck, and her jaw dropped nearly to her toes. "Oh my God."

"I don't know how it happened, precisely. I really can't say how it came to be that Peabody's parents are even now tucked away in a guest room on the third floor. East wing."

"Here? They're going to stay here? You asked them to stay here? With us?"

"I'm not sure."

"What do you mean you're not sure? Did you ask them or not?"

"There's no point in getting into a snit." One must, he knew very well, switch to offense when defense was running thin. "You're the one who asked them to dinner, after all."

"To dinner," she hissed, as if they might hear her in the east wing. "A meal doesn't come with sleeping privileges. Roarke, they're Peabody's. What the hell are we going to do with them?"

"I don't know that either." Humor danced back in his eyes, and he sat and laughed. "I'm no easy mark. You know that. And I swear to you even now I'm not sure how she managed it, though manage it, she did, I'm showing them around after dinner as Phoebe wanted a bit of a tour. She's saying how nice it must be to have so many lovely rooms, and how comfortable and homey it all is despite all the size and space of it. And we're in the east wing, and she's wandering around one of the guest rooms and going to the window and saying what a wonderful view of the gardens. And look here, Sam, isn't this a beautiful view and so on. She misses her flowers, she tells me. And I say something about her being welcome to roam the garden here if she likes."

"How did you get from walking around the gardens to sleeping in the guest room?"