Nora Roberts: Promises in Death

“Oh, boy, oh, boy.” Bouncing on her toes, Peabody rubbed her hands together. “Who’s juiced now?”

Eve moved Alex, arranged for Cleo to be taken straight to the conference room upon arrival.

She paced awhile as she worked out the best strategy. And was ready when she got word Detective Grady was in the house. She grabbed a mug of coffee, a file bag, and timed it so she swung into the conference room a few minutes after Peabody.

“Appreciate you coming down.” She kept her voice clipped, just a hair over into resentful.

“Not a problem for me,” Cleo assured her. “Everybody in the squad wanted a piece of this. Now we’ve got one. I hear you have the son of a bitch in holding.”

“For now. He’s got three lawyers with him and more on tap. I want to record this. Okay with you?”

“Sure.”

“Want some coffee, Detective?” Peabody asked.

“Sure. Thanks. I heard about the second murder. Rod Sandy? That’s on Ricker, too?”

“Has to be. Okay, this is the way it’s playing out.” All business now, cop to cop, Eve sat across from Cleo. “Ricker and Sandy kill Coltraine. Ricker does Sandy to put the first murder on him. Could work, but where’s Sandy’s motive? There’s no evidence of anything between Coltraine and Sandy. Sandy’s Ricker’s tool. Was. Like father like son,” Eve said with a shrug. “You use the tool until you’re done, then you break it so nobody else can. Ricker’s blood? It’s poison.”

Cleo only smiled. “That may be your opinion, but that’s not going to put Alex Ricker away for Ammy. If that’s all you’ve got, you’re not as good as everybody says you are.”

“I put the old man away.” Eve let anger-and some pride-punch through the words. “Nobody else ever did, or could. Don’t forget that. I’ll get his spawn, too. Count on it.”

“Then why do you need me?”

“You worked with her. Morris, he’s too close. I can’t get what I need out of him. Everything’s colored with emotion there. You worked with her, were friends with her. According to my partner, the fact you’re female adds another layer to that.”

“You said it yourself,” Peabody told Cleo, “women talk about things to each other. Maybe they don’t talk about those things even to guys they’re sleeping with. Plus, you were both cops.”

“She never mentioned Ricker to me, not by name. But like I already told you, she talked about a guy she’d been involved with. How they’d broken it off, and she’d come here.”

“She must’ve given you more than that,” Eve pressed. “Are you saying you never asked what happened? Nothing?”

“It was her business. Maybe I poked a little.” As if reluctant, Cleo hesitated, then sipped coffee. “I don’t know how it helps, not with a solid case, but she said a few things off and on. Like he had money, and she’d traveled with him some. It just wasn’t meant to be, and that kind of thing. She did say once he was too much like his father, but she didn’t get into it. I didn’t push because I didn’t know we were talking about Ricker, for God’s sake.”

She frowned a moment. Eve could all but see the wheels turning in her head. How much to add, how much to fabricate. “You know, I remember she said something about how he had this friend. How they were practically joined at the hip, and that was annoying. She said she’d have thought they had a love affair except he was too busy doing her.”

No, she didn’t, Eve thought. Coltraine wouldn’t have said that in a million.

“The friend didn’t like her,” Cleo added. “Tension there. Resented her. They had words at the end. He called her a cunt.”

Eve picked up her cue, narrowed her eyes. “You’re sure of that. That exact word?”

“Cunt cop, that’s what she said he said. Said it to her as she was walking out with stuff she had at the boyfriend’s place. She just kept walking. That was Ammy. No point in mixing it up when it was done, you know? She was glad it was over, and that was that. She decided to transfer up here. That’s what she said.”

“But?” Eve prompted.

“I’ve gone over and over it, trying to read the nuances. Hindsight. I guess I’d have to say she was into Morris. She really cared about Morris. But she was still hung up on the guy back home. If I had to judge it, to judge her, I’d say if Ricker contacted her, made the play, she’d have gone for him. To him. He could’ve used her feelings to get at her.”

Eve started to speak, broke off when her communicator signaled. “Crap. Sorry. I have to handle this.”

“We can use some of this,” Peabody said as Eve walked out. “The nuances, like you said, to try to pressure Ricker.”

Keep it up, Peabody, Eve thought, and answered Morris’s signal.

“Dallas.”

“I’m at the lab. Cleo Grady is Max Ricker’s daughter. We’re doing a second test, but-”

“It’s all I need.”

“I’m coming in, Dallas. I need to be there when you take her.”

“I’ve got her now, working her now. She thinks she’s helping me nail Alex Ricker. I don’t want her to see you, Morris.”

“She won’t.”

He cut her off, so she contacted Baxter. “DNA’s confirmed. Contact Reo. I want a warrant for that bank box.”

She cut him off in turn, pulled out her ’link when it signaled. And her communicator beeped in her hand. She saw Roarke on the readout of the ’link, answered with a, “Hold it a damn minute,” then switched to the comm.

“Hey, Lieutenant! We are back on Planet Earth.”

“Get your ass in here, Callendar. Turn over your prisoners. Go home.”

“Affirmative to one and two. Negativo on three. Come on, Dallas, I want to see it through.”

“Your choice. Peabody will let you know which interview rooms. Nice work, Detective.”

“Fucking A.”

Eve ended the transmission, switched to ’link. “Yeah?”

“Busy girl.”

“Yeah, and I’ve been trying to fit in a manicure all day.”

“I had a meeting cancel, and have a bit of time on my hands. To echo Callendar, I’d like to see this through.”

“There’s going to be plenty to see here. If you really want to come down, maybe you could hang with Morris. Feeney’s on the electronics. Unless he decides he needs super-geek, I’d like Morris to have a friend nearby.”

“I can do that.”

Yes, he could, she thought. “Then get your ass in here.”

“Fucking A.”

She shoved her ’link back in her pocket, dragged her communicator out again to tag Feeney. “Any hit?”

“No attempt to contact the Ricker ’link.”

“I’ll give her more time to try to talk to Daddy.” Like a boxer before the big match, she rolled her shoulders. Then walked back into the conference room.

THE TRICK, EVE THOUGHT, WOULD BE TO PIT all the players against each other and take them all down. Timing would be essential. Too much time and Grady would get suspicious.

“You’re going to take Sisto and work Zeban. You’re in charge.”

“I love the ‘in charge’ part.” Peabody grinned happily. “What about Grady?”

“I’m going to handle her in a minute. Meanwhile, we need to give her time and space, enough for her to use if she wants to call her daddy for kudos or instructions. But… little brainstorm.” Eve contacted Feeney again.

“Don’t give me grief, kid. I can’t make the woman use the damn ’link. And as for the unit, McNab’s on it.”

“Here’s the thing. The civilian consultant’s coming in because he wants to play. But I want you to give him another assignment, in case she doesn’t use the ’link. You’ll need to clear it with Whitney, and Omega, but here’s what I have in mind.”