Treachery in Death (In Death #32)(102)

“No.” Mira finally sipped her tea. “No, I know you wouldn’t.”

“Bix would stick his blaster in his ear and fire before he’d turn on Renee. Am I wrong?”

“No. I believe he would sacrifice himself, and consider it honor, to shield her. Which means, if he does try to kill you—and you survive—you only have him.”

“I’ve got some geeks up my sleeve, but even without that, collaring him puts a big crack in her wall. She’s disgraced, her career takes a hit it can’t recover from. And we open the floodgates to the money. Garnet’s, Bix’s, hers, the others. Explain that, bitch. She’d be scrambling. More, I think I worked Bix into casting a hard shadow on her.”

Calmer, Mira sipped again. “You showed him, by his own words and demeanor, to be a soldier—one who follows orders without question, one with intense loyalty to Renee. Not a man who goes outside his CO, who breaks ranks and acts on his own volition.”

“So I also have a top shrink up my sleeve, because you’d testify to that, in really big, fancy words. Janburry and Delfino, the cops on Garnet’s case, they’ll draw in on Bix. If Bix makes a run at me, he’s going to end up with his face on the sidewalk and a cop’s boot on his neck. I hope it’s mine, but I’ll settle for any cop’s boot.”

“I know she observed as well. You wanted her to so you could let her know you’re looking in her direction. You did that because it will unnerve her, anger her, and—you hope—push her into giving Bix his green light. But you also did it, Eve, because it’s personal.”

“It’s absolutely f**king down to the bone personal.” And a relief to say it. A goddamn thrill to say it. “She’s spit on everything I value, on everything I am. On everything I made myself out of a nightmare she can’t even conceive of. It matters.”

“Yes,” Mira murmured. “Yes, it does.”

“When I take her down I’m doing it for me, for the badge, for the man who trained me, taught me, who helped make me someone who deserves to wear it. But that’s only part of it. I’m doing it for you, goddamn it.”

“Eve—”

“Be quiet,” she ordered, and stunned them both. She had to get it out, she realized. Had to, here and now, let this vicious stew of emotion roiling in her guts spill over.

“I’m doing it for Whitney, for Peabody, for every man and woman in my bullpen. I’m doing it for every cop she killed and a dead junkie. I’m doing it for every cop who deserves to wear the badge. And though I’ll do everything in my power to bring them all down, I’m doing it for every cop she turned into a disgrace.”

She stopped herself, took a breath. “If you know me, I guess you should know that.”

“I do. I know that very well. I let it be personal, too. You’re personal to me.”

Eve felt the little pinch under her heart. “Are we good?”

“I can’t help but wish you hadn’t made your case so well; then I could still be angry.” Mira rose. “I’m not going to bother to tell you to be careful. I don’t need to tell you to be smart. Do you have questions for me?”

“You’ve already answered one of them. Just one other. I figure I know the answer, but it never hurts. Does she know I’m daring her to sic her dog on me?”

“While she knows now you’re looking at her, and looking hard, she’d never put her life at risk. I don’t believe she can conceive of you doing so, not for something as unimportant to her as justice, as honor. If she sics her dog on you, she’ll believe it’s her idea. And it should be soon.”

“Okay.” The sooner, the better.

“Are you having nightmares, Eve? Flashbacks?”

“No. Not really. Not in awhile. It feels, mostly, done. It’s never all the way done.” Still down there, she thought, down in the deep, but ... “It feels mostly done.”

“All right.” Mira took Eve’s hand in hers for a squeeze. “Thanks for the tea.”

Alone, Eve started to check in with Peabody, then Janburry tapped on her doorjamb.

“You clear, Lieutenant?”

“Yeah. Sorry, have you been waiting?”

“No problem. Might’ve had a little one if you’d managed to get a confession on our dead guy.”

“That’s going to take a little more work. I just set up the play, passed you the ball. Could you close the door, Detective Delfino?”

After she had, Delfino leaned back against it. “Renee Oberman,” she said. “Commander Oberman’s baby girl.”

“Is that how you read it?”

“He’s the reader.” She jerked a thumb at her partner. “Me? I smell it, like shit and blood in the water.”

“She’s got a descriptive idiom,” Janburry commented. “I’m wondering if we can borrow your homework, Lieutenant, seeing as we missed a couple days of school on this.”

“I haven’t been given full authorization, but I can tell you we’re both looking in the same direction. I could give you this.” She took a disc out of her pocket. “It would save you some time. But before I do, let’s make a deal.”

“We’re listening,” Janburry told her.