Vengeance in Death (In Death #6)(33)

“Is there a problem with your vehicle, Lieutenant?”

“No more than usual.” She stripped off her jacket, and out of habit, tossed it over the newel post.

“You left it in front of the house.”

“I know where it is.”

“There is a garage for the purpose of storing vehicles.”

“Move it yourself. Where’s Roarke?”

“Roarke is in his Fifth Avenue office. He’s expected home within the hour.”

“Fine, tell him to come up to my office when he gets here.”

“I’ll inform him of your request.”

“It wasn’t a request.” She smirked as she watched Summerset pick up her jacket by the collar with two reluctant fingers. “Any more than it’s a request when I tell you to make no plans to leave the city until further notice.”

A muscle in his jaw twitched visibly. “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you, Lieutenant?”

“Oh, yeah, it’s a bucketful of laughs for me. A couple of dead guys, one of them slaughtered on my husband’s property, both of them old pals of his. I’ve been breaking up over it all day.” When he stepped forward, her eyes went to dangerous slits. “Don’t get in my face, old man. Don’t even think about it.”

The core of his anger simmered out in one terse sentence. “You interrogated Ms. Morrell.”

“I tried to verify your piss-poor alibi.”

“You led her to believe I was involved in a police investigation.”

“News flash: You are involved in a police investigation.”

He drew air audibly through his nose. “My personal life — “

“You’ve got no personal life until these cases are closed.” She could read his embarrassment clearly enough, and told herself she didn’t have time for it. “You want to do yourself a favor, you do exactly what I tell you. You don’t go anywhere alone. You make certain you can account for every minute of your time, day and night. Because somebody else is going to die before much more time passes if I can’t stop it. He wants the finger to point at you, so you make sure it doesn’t.”

“It’s your job to protect the innocent.”

She’d started up the stairs and now she stopped, turned back until their eyes met. “I know what my job is, and I’m damned good at it.”

When he snorted she came down two steps. She came down slowly, her movements deliberate, because her own temper was much too close to the boil. “Good enough to have figured out why you’ve hated the sight of me since I first walked in that door. Since you understood Roarke had feelings for me. Part A was easy — a first-year rookie could have snagged onto it. I’m a cop, and that’s enough for you to hold me in contempt.”

He offered a thin smile. “I’ve had little reason to admire those in your profession.”

“Part B was tougher.” She came down another step so that their eyes were level. “I thought I had that figured, too, but I didn’t realize that Part B had a couple of stages. Stage one: I’m not one of the glamorous, well-bred stunners that Roarke socialized with. I haven’t got the looks or the pedigree or the style to suit you.”

He felt a quick tug of shame, but inclined his head. “No, you don’t. He could have had anyone, his pick of the cream of society.”

“But you didn’t want just anyone for him, Summerset. That’s stage two, and I just figured that out this morning. You resent me because I’m not Marlena. That’s who you wanted for him,” she said quietly as the color slipped out of his cheeks. “You hoped he’d find someone who reminded you of her, instead you got stuck with an inferior model. Tough luck all around.”

She turned and walked away, and didn’t see his legs buckle, or the way his hand shot out to grip the newel post as the truth of what she’d tossed in his face struck him like a fist in the heart.

When he was sure he was alone, he sat on the steps and buried his face in his hands as the grief he thought he’d conquered long ago flowed through him, fresh and hot and bitter.

When Roarke arrived home twenty minutes later, Summerset was composed. His hands no longer trembled, his heart no longer shuddered. His duties, as he saw them — as he needed to see them — were always to be performed smoothly and unobtrusively.

He took Roarke’s coat, approving of the fine and fluid weight of the silk, and draped it over his arm. “The lieutenant is upstairs in her office. She would like to speak with you.”

Roarke glanced up the stairs. He was sure Eve hadn’t put it quite so politely. “How long has she been home?”

“Less than thirty minutes.”

“And she’s alone?”

“Yes. Quite alone.”

Absently he flicked open the top two buttons of his shirt. His afternoon meetings had been long and tedious. A rare tension headache was brewing at the base of his skull.

“Log any calls that come through for me. I don’t want to be disturbed.”

“Dinner?”

Roarke merely shook his head as he started up the stairs. He’d managed to put his temper on hold throughout the day, but he felt it bubbling back now, black and hot. He knew it would be best, certainly more productive, if they could speak calmly.