Golden in Death(117)

“So the fuck what? He still did it himself. And if you’re so much smarter than I am, why is that pontificating excuse for a chemistry teacher’s older-than-dirt wife dead?”

“You mean Lilliana Rosalind? She’s fine. We intercepted that shipment because you’re an idiot.”

“Enough, enough. This interview is over.” Kobast lurched to his feet.

Eve nodded. “You know it is, Counselor. Your client has confessed, on the record, to four murders and an attempted murder. The other as sorted charges are mixed in there, too. And all because somebody said he couldn’t have everything he wanted when he wanted it.”

She looked back at Whitt. “Now you’ll spend the rest of your life in a cage being told every day what you can’t have.”

“I won’t go to prison.” His lips curled. “Do you understand who I am? Who my family is?”

“I absolutely do.”

“Stephen, be quiet. I don’t want to hear another word. This interview is over. Stephen, you’ll need to go back to your cell and wait for me. Ms. Reo, we need to talk.”

“You better fix this, Broward, do you fucking hear me? You better fix this if you know what’s good for you. You’ve got a wife, too.”

Kobash jerked at the shock of the threat, said nothing.

“Peabody, get a uniform to assist you in taking Mr. Whitt back to his cell.”

“I’ll come after you,” Whitt mumbled, his eyes dead and fixed on Eve.

“Stephen, for God’s sake.”

“I’ll come after all of you.”

“Keep believing that,” Eve suggested. “It may help you through the first decade or so. Interview end. Record off.”





Epilogue


In her office near end of shift, Eve drifted off with her head on her desk. She’d sent Peabody home, written the reports, filled out the forms, turned the lock.

She’d had her meetings with Reo, with Mira, added them to her notes.

And closed the book, cleared the board.

When she’d realized she couldn’t take another cup of coffee, she put her head down, closed her eyes.

Roarke woke her with a stroke on the back, a kiss on the head.

“I’m just … resting.”

“Out for the count, Lieutenant, but I thought you’d object to me carrying you out of your office.”

“Yeah, I would.” She rubbed her eyes clear. “I appreciate you coming down.”

“I’m happy to be a part of this, and you can tell me how you worked it all on the way.”

“Okay.”

“Your board’s clear.”

She glanced back at it as she rose. “For now.”

She started the saga on the way to the garage, wound through it as Roarke drove.

“His counsel pushed for a deal. Reo stuck firm. They’ll order their own shrink, try to work something there, but it won’t fly. He knew right from wrong, he just didn’t give a rat’s ass.”

“Will you tell the ex-girlfriend?”

“I’ve already talked to her. I thought she should know before this hits because the media will dig up her name and the connection. And I spoke with Rosalind, let him know there’s nothing to worry about. Same with the others on the list. I figure I owe Harvo a big bottle of something, even though she’s feeling pretty good without it.”

“She seems like a champagne sort.”

“Maybe. Okay. The son of a bitch killed his only real friend because it was convenient. He didn’t have a scrap of remorse over it. There was a time Mavis was my only friend—not that I wanted one. Well, and Feeney, but that was different, because boss. But after Mavis wore me down into friendship, I’d have stood for her no matter what. Now I’ve got all these damn people, and it’s the same. I’d stand for them.”

“He has nothing inside him. And no one who means more than he means to himself. What about Grange?”

“She’s done, or will be. I only wish I could put her in a cage. But I had a discussion with the powers that be at the prep school, gave them documentation, which includes her naked with a then student—minor. She’s done.”

“It did start with her, didn’t it?”

“People like Whitt, I think they’re born empty. But yeah, she nurtured it, planted the seeds for it, perpetuated it. So, done,” she said when he pulled up at Rufty’s house.

Charles and Louise waited on the sidewalk.

“We wanted to walk awhile,” Louise said as Eve got out of the car. “So we walked down to wait for you.” She took Eve’s hands. “Thank you.”

“It’s the job, Louise.”

“I know it, but this is personal.”

“It’s not the job to take this time, to know he’d need a friend,” Charles put in, “when you tell him. It won’t bring Kent back, but it will give Martin some peace.”

She hoped it would, as she hoped it would bring some peace to Jay Duran when she told him.

She walked to the door and, taking Roarke’s hand, rang the bell.

Later, sometime later when the day was finally done, she sat with Roarke by the pond, beside the tree they’d planted, with the scent of spring in the air, the stars blooming overhead, and the lights of the house glowing.