Vengeance in Death (In Death #6)(57)

“Roarke — “

“The transmission didn’t come from this house. So I have an electronic leak somewhere. I know the setup here, in and out. He doesn’t.” He added a bit of charm to his smile. “I’ve worked with Feeney.”

“That’s different.” But since she couldn’t explain how it was different, she shrugged. “McNab has to clear it. I won’t order him to work with a civilian.”

“Fair enough.”

By eight, Eve had Peabody installed in a temporary office down the hall from her own. It was actually a small and elegant sitting room off a sweeping guest bedroom, but it was equipped with a tidy little communication and information center for the convenience of overnight associates who often visited.

Peabody gawked at the original pen-and-ink drawings covering the walls, the hand-knotted area rug, the deep silver cushions spread over an S-shaped settee.

“Pretty grand work space.”

“Don’t get used to it,” Eve warned. “I want to be back at Central by next week. I want this closed.”

“Sure, but I’ll just enjoy this while it lasts.” She’d already eyed the mini AutoChef and speculated on what it might offer. “How many rooms are in this place?”

“I don’t know. Sometimes I think they mate at night and make more little rooms that grow into big rooms, and mate at night —” Eve stopped herself, shook her head. “I didn’t get much sleep. I’m punchy. I’ve got data here that needs a fresh eye and organizing.”

“I got eight straight. My eye’s fresh.”

“Don’t be smug.” Eve pinched the bridge of her nose. “This data is unofficial, Peabody, but I think our man’s in here, somewhere. There’s a temporary block on this computer so that your work will bypass CompuGuard. I’m working on a way around that, but until I figure it out, there’s no fancy way to put this. I’m asking you to break the law.”

Peabody considered for a moment. “Is that AutoChef fully stocked?”

Eve had to smile. “Around here? They always are. I have to get something to Whitney by this afternoon. I’m putting what I can together. Since this guy doesn’t wait long between hits, we’re in a squeeze.”

“Then I better get to work.”

Eve left her to it, but when she walked into her office, she found McNab and Roarke huddled together. The snazzy black armor of her computer was on the floor. Its guts were exposed, its dignity in ruins. Her desk ‘link was in several unidentifiable pieces.

“What the hell are you two doing?”

“Men’s work,” Roarke said and flashed her a grin. His hair was tied back, his sleeves rolled up, and he looked to be having the time of his life.

She would have mentioned men and their toys, but decided it would be a waste of breath.

“If you don’t get this back together, I’m taking over your office.”

“Help yourself. You see here, Ian? If we interface this it should open the whole system long enough for us to see if there’s a leak.”

“Don’t you have a thing that does that?” she demanded. “A scanner?”

“This is the best way to keep a scan from showing up.” McNab spared her a look that clearly told her she was in the way. “We can search, and nobody — especially our mystery caller — will know we’re looking.”

Intrigued now, Eve moved closer. “So he stays confident. That’s good. What does this do?”

“Don’t touch anything.” McNab nearly smacked her hand before he remembered she outranked him. “Sir.”

“I wasn’t going to touch anything.” Annoyed, Eve jammed her hands into her pockets. “Why’d you take my ‘link apart?”

“Because,” McNab began with sighing patience, “that’s where the transmissions come through, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, but — “

“Eve. Darling.” Roarke paused in his work long enough to pat her cheek. “Go away.”

“Fine. I’ll just go do some real cop work.” She maintained dignity until she slammed the office door.

“Whoa, she’s going to make you pay for that one.”

“You don’t know the half of it,” Roarke murmured. “Let’s run this, Ian, first level. See what we find.”

On her own, Eve struggled with the wording and tone of her official report. If she used the Marlena connection so that she could give Whitney the names of the men who’d killed her — justify the investigation of their families — she’d lock Roarke into it.

All the men had been murdered, all their cases remained open. So far even the International Center for Criminal Activity hadn’t connected those murders. Could she use them now, and sell Whitney and the chief of police, the media, on one of those murders being the motive for her current investigation?

Maybe, if she was good enough, if she could lie with conviction and logic.

Step one: Build the facts and evidence that Summerset was being used. She needed Mira’s findings to polish that up.

Step two: Build a logical theory that the setup was motivated by revenge — mistakenly targeted revenge. To do that she had to build a reasonable case that the six men who died had died by separate hands, for separate causes.