Treachery in Death (In Death #32)(106)

At the movement, Lilah moaned. Her eyelids flickered. The doctor peeled an eyelid up to examine her pupil while another medical cut away her pants to reveal a nasty break beneath the splint cage.

Eve managed to slip through, grab and grip Lilah’s hand as the team worked around her. “Report, Detective. Give me a report.”

Lilah’s eyes, blind with shock and pain, rolled open. “What?”

“Detective Strong!” Eve watched the eyes widen, very slightly. “I need your report.”

“Killed me.”

“No, they didn’t. Why did they try?”

“Oberman. Behind Oberman.” The words garbled as Lilah’s fingers moved weakly in Eve’s. “My mother. Tic.”

“I’ll get your mother. I’ll get Tic.”

“Scared.”

Fresh pain jerked her body, shuddered in her eyes. Eve made herself stare straight into them. “I’ve got you covered. I’ve got you, Detective.”

“Oberman.” Eve could feel Lilah fight for the words. “Safe. Bix. Blew it.”

“No, you didn’t. I’ve got it.”

“Mom. Tic.”

“I’ll get them.”

Eve leaned in as Lilah’s eyes rolled closed again, as machines beeped, as the young doctor snapped at her to back off, threatened to call Security.

“You don’t die on me, Detective. That’s a goddamn order.”

Behind her Eve heard Louise’s voice—calm, brisk, full of authority. She stepped back, watched her friend shove her arms into a protective cloak.

“Trueheart, stay with her. Baxter, with me.”

Eve shoved through the doors. “Did she say anything else before I got here?” Eve demanded.

“You were about thirty seconds behind us. She came around for a few seconds when they were off-loading her, but she didn’t say anything I could make out.”

“One or both of you sticks with her, all the way. Nobody gets to her. Nobody touches her unless Louise clears them.”

“Did somebody help her fall down that glide, Dallas?”

“Undetermined, but probable. If there was reason for that, there’s reason to go at her again.”

“They won’t get through us.” His gaze ticked to the door, back to Eve. “She’s one of Oberman’s?”

“Not anymore. She’s one of mine.”

Louise pushed out while Eve paced the hallway.

“We’re taking her up, prepping her for surgery. She needs an orthopedic surgeon, a plastic man, a neuro. They have good ones here,” Louise said before Eve could respond. “I know them. She’s got internal injuries, and I’ll take those. If she makes it through, and her chances are decent with this team, she’ll need more work. And she’ll have a hell of a road back.”

“She’ll make it. One of my men has to be with her, every second. I need you to handpick every doctor, nurse, orderly who comes near her, give their data to Baxter.”

“OR Five,” Louise said. “I’ve got to go scrub in. You can fill me in on this later.”

“Louise . . .” Eve strode to the elevator with her. “How decent?”

“How tough is she?”

“Pretty tough, I think.”

“That helps. Trust us to do the rest.”

With no choice, Eve stood back, watched them roll Lilah toward an elevator, watched Baxter and Trueheart fall, once again, into flank position.

“We’ll watch out for her, Lieutenant.” Trueheart put a hand on the side guard of the gurney, and Eve nodded as the doors closed.

“How is she?” Roarke asked.

She closed her eyes a moment as her mind replayed all the chaos of the exam room.

“Broken arm, including a shattered elbow. Compound fracture of the leg, cracked skull, damaged spleen and kidney, severe facial lacerations. Those are the highlights.”

She looked down at the hand that had held Lilah’s, and the blood smeared on it. “I have to wash up. I’m going to wash up, then I’m going to take Renee apart.”

She needed to bank her anger. Anger could wait.

On the more sedate ride back to Central, Eve contacted Feeney. “Can you run your new toy from a conference room in my division?”

“We can set that up.”

“I need you to do it now, and on the extreme QT. Since her boy’s back in the basket, she’ll have to start wrangling. And I have something else.”

“How impossible this time?”

“You tell me. She’s got to have eyes, maybe ears, too, on her squad room, on her own office. She’s got to be monitoring or spot checking. Possibly she’s got some sort of alert set up in her office to let her know if anyone goes in when she’s not around. Can you tap into that, give us the feed?”

“Well, for Christ’s sake. Without knowing the system, the placement, the keys, or the alert specs?” He gave her a long, sad look. “Hell, why not? What’s another freaking miracle today?”

“Can you do it really fast?”

“Not as fast as I’d boot your ass if you get within range.”

“I’m bringing my geek in to give you a hand.”

“Send him. You stay away.”