Witness in Death (In Death #10)(107)

"Why are you doing this for me?"

"Isn't there some saying about looking gift horses in the mouth?"

"Yes. Very true." Areena got to her feet. "I wish, well obviously, I wish we'd met under different circumstances." She held out her hand. "Good-bye, Lieutenant."

Eve clasped her hand, let the grip hold.

When she walked back into her office, Roarke was there. She picked up her jacket, her bag. "What do you say we get the hell out of here?"

"I like the idea." But he caught her hand, ran his gaze over her face. "You look lighter, Lieutenant."

"I am. Considerably."

"And Areena?"

"She's a hell of a woman. It's weird." As she puzzled it, she sat on the edge of the desk. "It's the first time in eleven years on the job I've ever come across a killer I admire, and a victim I couldn't..."

"Care about," Roarke finished.

"I'm not supposed to care one way or the other. I'm just supposed to do the job."

"But you do care, Lieutenant. Brutally, you care. And this time you ran up against someone you were obliged to stand for who deserved exactly what he got."

"Murder's never deserved," she said, then made a small sound of impatience. "Hell with it. Justice was served in a courtroom. It might have been onstage, but it wasn't make-believe. There was no pretense when Areena Mansfield picked up that knife and rammed it into the heart Richard Draco didn't have. And when she took that step, that stand, justice was served."

"She'll have the jury eating out of her hand. Before it's over, they'll canonize her rather than convicting her. You know that."

"Yeah. Hell, I'm counting on that. You know what I figured out, pal?"

"Tell me."

"You can't go back. Can't fix what broke. But you can go forward. And every step matters. Every one makes a difference." She pushed away from the desk, cupped his face in her hands. "From where I'm standing, you're the best step I ever took."

"Then let's take the next, and go home."

She walked out with him, and because it fit the mood, took his hand in hers. She would sleep that night. She would sleep clean.

The End