J. Robb - Delusion in Death

“Oh, I’d say that, served on a silver platter.”

“Peabody, get a couple of uniforms to help you take Lew through processing. I don’t believe he’s going to feel very cooperative.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Screw that.” He tipped back, smirked at Eve as Peabody slipped out. “I’m not doing any time, even overnight. I’m with the HSO.”

“What you are, Callaway, is deeply stupid.”

“What you are, bitch, is fucked. When do I meet the head men, Agent?”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Callaway, if I gave the impression the offer would precede you serving out your sentences. The HSO does believe you’ll be very useful to us—should there be a medical miracle and you survive one hundred and twenty-seven life sentences. And we feel you’ll be very useful serving approximately the same amount of additional time in a federal institution.”

“This is bullshit. You said—”

“I believe the record will show I gave no specific details on this offer. In any case, lying during Interview or interrogation is accepted—even encouraged. I believe, Mr. Callaway, it’s you who are fucked. I’m very happy to have played a small part in it.”

Eve braced when he surged to his feet. “Please try it. My turn,” she said to Teasdale. But even as she spoke, Peabody came in with two uniforms.

“Oh well, maybe next time.”

“I want a deal.” He struggled against the vice grip on his arms.

“Sure. Ask me after, say, seventy of those life sentences.” Reo smiled at him like a raptor. “We’ll talk.”

“I want a lawyer!”

“Let him contact a rep after processing,” Eve told Peabody. “Nice work, Agent.”

“The same, Lieutenant. He was proud of it. You were right about that.”

“Yeah, and ambitious. You were right with the HSO angle.”

“I’ll report to my superior, handle the paperwork on my end.” Teasdale let out a long, windy breath. “Then I’d like a very big drink.”

“I hear that. One thing. Is Menzini still alive?”

“My information is he died a few months ago.”

“Okay. I’ll be around.” She turned to Reo. “No deals, right?”

“What’s to deal? He spelled it out. If he gets a decent lawyer, he’ll try for insanity or mental defect.”

“He’s not insane nor defective,” Mira said. “I had a session with him right here, on record. He isn’t legally insane, and was perfectly aware what he did was wrong, immoral, illegal. There won’t be a health facility sentence here. It’s his conscience, his morals that are defective, not his mind.”

“Good to hear. I’ll have all the records for you within the hour,” she told Reo.

“I’ll wait. By the way, sex-me-up shoes?”

“I was following a theme.”

“Well.” Reo turned her ankles, looked down. “They are pretty fabulous.”

“They are,” Mira agreed.

“I was going to say the same about yours. What a terrific color.”

“Could we not talk about shoes in the box that still smells of evildoer?”

“You started it,” Reo reminded her before she turned back to Mira. “Do you have time to run through your findings on him? I’ll buy you a drink in the lounge.”

“That sounds good. Eve?”

“I’m going to deal with the paperwork.”

She stepped out behind them, spotted Roarke with her commander.

“Sir.”

“Good work, Lieutenant. Excellent work.”

“Thank you, sir. We had a good team who put a lot of hours into it, a lot of skill.”

“Agreed. I’ll be addressing the team. We’ll be making an announcement to the media, holding a brief conference within the hour. You’ll need to be there.” He smiled at her, and for the first time in days, with a light in his eyes. “I realize that feels like punishment, but it’s important we inform the public, and you attend.”

“Yes, sir.”

“After which I suggest you go home and enjoy your evening. I’m going to.”

“I wonder if he means he’s going to have so much sex,” Roarke commented when Whitney was out of earshot.

“Please. Don’t put that image in my head. I need to see what you brought back from Callaway’s.”

“Secured in your office, except for the electronics. Feeney’s got them in EDD. I wanted to watch you work this one, so I came down for a bit. But I’ll go back, give him some time. The bastard’s encrypted everything. It’s not overly complicated, but it’s going to take a little time to get all his notes and so on.”

“Everything we can get adds to it, but I don’t think there’s a hurry. Still, I guess I’m going to be a couple hours.”

“Just let me know when you’re ready to go. And we’ll enjoy our evening.”

“I cracked that code,” she said as she split off to her office.

She stopped in the bullpen to speak to Sanchez and Carmichael. “Nice job before, on the grief-giving. You could be in vids.”

Sanchez pinned her with a pointed stare. “Did you think I was acting?”

She only lifted her eyebrows, pinned him in turn. “That or asking for a thirty-day rip.”

Carmichael snorted. “Told you not to try it. The LT always wins, Sanchez. It’s why she’s the LT.”

“Well, hell.” With a grin, Sanchez shrugged it off. “Is he down?”

“Down and out. You can pass cases back to the others, just let me know who’s on the board.”

“Can we give Baxter the bloater, cooking in his cat-infested apartment for eight days? I owe him some payback.”

“Fine with me.”

“Then it’s all worth it.”

She left them for her office. Yeah, the new guy not only slid right in, she thought. He fit like he’d been there for years.

She considered a moment, then engaged her ’link.

“This is Nadine, make it quick. I’m in a production meeting.”

“You’re going to want to step out for a minute.”

A flicker of annoyance came first, then cleared. “I’ve got to take this. Keep going.”

Eve waited while Nadine walked out of the room, closing the door behind her. “Tell me you made an arrest.”

“We made an arrest. Wait. There’s going to be a statement and a media conference within the hour. I’m giving you a heads up on it. The data you dug up for me helped.”

“Give me a name, give me the official charges.”

“I’m not going to do that, Nadine. You know I can’t. What you can do is get on air, do your breaking news thing. According to a source within the NYPSD, police have arrested and charged a suspect in the mass murders committed at On the Rocks and Café West. An official statement is imminent. Details to follow or whatever.”

“You’re going to start writing my copy now?”

“It’s the best I can do for you. Don’t ask me for the one-on-one right now. I’ll just say no because I’m fucking tired; I want to tie this up and go home. Ask me later.”

“Was he acting alone? Give me that?”

“At this time, we have no reason to believe otherwise. He confessed. That’s big, Nadine. We apprehended, arrested, and charged an individual, and said individual confessed to perpetrating the incidents that led to the deaths of a hundred and twenty-seven people. You’re going to want to postpone that meeting, get this out, and get your camera-ready ass to Central.”

“You can bet your mass-murderer-catching ass I will. Talk later.”

“A lot later,” Eve added when the screen went blank.

She hadn’t lied about being tired, she thought. Now that it was done, every ounce of fatigue she’d shoved back since walking into On the Rocks wanted to push through and drop her like a stone.

It just had to wait, she decided. She wanted to write up the arrest report personally. And first, she wanted a look at the journals and papers the search team had secured and logged in.