J. Robb - Treachery in Death

“I’m doing it for Whitney, for Peabody, for every man and woman in my bullpen. I’m doing it for every cop she killed and a dead junkie. I’m doing it for every cop who deserves to wear the badge. And though I’ll do everything in my power to bring them all down, I’m doing it for every cop she turned into a disgrace.”

She stopped herself, took a breath. “If you know me, I guess you should know that.”

“I do. I know that very well. I let it be personal, too. You’re personal to me.”

Eve felt the little pinch under her heart. “Are we good?”

“I can’t help but wish you hadn’t made your case so well; then I could still be angry.” Mira rose. “I’m not going to bother to tell you to be careful. I don’t need to tell you to be smart. Do you have questions for me?”

“You’ve already answered one of them. Just one other. I figure I know the answer, but it never hurts. Does she know I’m daring her to sic her dog on me?”

“While she knows now you’re looking at her, and looking hard, she’d never put her life at risk. I don’t believe she can conceive of you doing so, not for something as unimportant to her as justice, as honor. If she sics her dog on you, she’ll believe it’s her idea. And it should be soon.”

“Okay.” The sooner, the better.

“Are you having nightmares, Eve? Flashbacks?”

“No. Not really. Not in awhile. It feels, mostly, done. It’s never all the way done.” Still down there, she thought, down in the deep, but ... “It feels mostly done.”

“All right.” Mira took Eve’s hand in hers for a squeeze. “Thanks for the tea.”

Alone, Eve started to check in with Peabody, then Janburry tapped on her doorjamb.

“You clear, Lieutenant?”

“Yeah. Sorry, have you been waiting?”

“No problem. Might’ve had a little one if you’d managed to get a confession on our dead guy.”

“That’s going to take a little more work. I just set up the play, passed you the ball. Could you close the door, Detective Delfino?”

After she had, Delfino leaned back against it. “Renee Oberman,” she said. “Commander Oberman’s baby girl.”

“Is that how you read it?”

“He’s the reader.” She jerked a thumb at her partner. “Me? I smell it, like shit and blood in the water.”

“She’s got a descriptive idiom,” Janburry commented. “I’m wondering if we can borrow your homework, Lieutenant, seeing as we missed a couple days of school on this.”

“I haven’t been given full authorization, but I can tell you we’re both looking in the same direction. I could give you this.” She took a disc out of her pocket. “It would save you some time. But before I do, let’s make a deal.”

“We’re listening,” Janburry told her.

“You can have Bix when it’s time to haul him out of the shit and blood in the water, but Renee’s mine. Not because she’s the bigger catch. You could just say it’s personal. The rest, well, share and share alike.”

“How much rest is there?”

“Still working on that. Do we have a deal?”

The partners exchanged a look. “Is there a secret handshake?” Janburry asked.

“We’ll settle for regular.” After they’d shaken on it, Eve offered the disc. “You’ll find multiple false IDs, multiple secret accounts, and considerable real property tracked back to Renee, Bix, Garnet, and others we’ve nailed down.”

“How involved is IAB?” Delfino wanted to know.

“Thoroughly. Lieutenant Webster is point man there, but his captain has been briefed, as have Commander Whitney and Chief Tibble. This is NTK. Nobody else needs to know until we take them down.”

“Blood and shit in the water,” Delfino repeated. “That’s what dirty cops smell like. Cops who kill cops? They have a special stench over that.”

“He’s going to come after you.” Janburry studied Eve. “You know that.”

“I’m counting on that.”

“You want cover?”

“I’ve got it, thanks. But I will contact you if and when. Whoever takes him down, he’s your collar. That’s the deal.”

When her office emptied out again, Eve flipped the lock. She deserved a little reward, a little boost before she got back down to business.

She took a tool from her desk and hunkered down beside her recycler. But when she removed the panel, no sealed evidence bag of chocolate waited for her.

“Damn it! This blows. This seriously blows.”

Sulking, mourning the loss, she stared at what she’d considered a brilliant hiding place. Her mistake, she admitted, had been leaving her stash in place while she’d gone on vacation.

She’d given the despicable Candy Thief too much time and opportunity to search and consume.

Now she not only wouldn’t get her reward, her boost, but she had to find another hide.

She replaced the panel, tossed her tool back in her desk drawer. She gave herself another thirty seconds to sulk before contacting Peabody.

“Status?”

“I’m a little more than halfway through. Devin had one hell of a collection. Maybe this is a dead end. If she kept documentation or notes, one of Renee’s crew probably found it and destroyed it.”

“Keep at it. Follow it through. If they didn’t find and destroy it, it’s because she hid it well.” Eve gave her recycler a dirty look. “I’ve got some things I need to finish up and tie up here, then I’ll be in. How about the e-team? Are they—Hold on,” she ordered when she heard the faint click at her door.

Rising, she drew her weapon.

Roarke opened the door, cocked his head. “Well now, that isn’t the greeting I’d hoped for.”

She let out a breath, holstered her weapon. “Keep at it, Peabody,” she said. “Tag me if you find anything. Otherwise I’ll see you when I get there.” She broke transmission.

“That door was locked.”

“And your point is?” He stepped over, kissed her thoroughly. “I didn’t knock as I thought you might be taking one of your sprawled-on-the-floor-unconscious naps.”

“Maybe I need a better lock. Maybe I need to start locking it more often.” She dropped into her chair. “Not that it would stop the Candy Thief. My stash is gone.”

“You were going to stun your Candy Thief?”

“I might, come the day. But no, I thought Renee might have snapped and sent Bix down to try to throw me out of my own office window. I gave her plenty of incentive when I had Bix in Interview, and I wanted a reward. I want candy.”

“I haven’t any on me. Get something from Vending.”

“I want my candy.”

He smothered a laugh. “There, there.”

“Bite me.” But she shook it off. “Why are you here? Why is everyone in my office today?”

“I’m here as I also deserve a reward. As do Feeney and McNab.”

“You pulled it off.”

“We did. For the most part they did, but I managed a few flourishes.”

“We need to set it up, need to get IAB tapped in.”

“Feeney’s dealing with it. It’s his baby, after all. Or more McNab’s. Ian flashed some brilliance today. And what have you been up to, Lieutenant?”

“Too many meetings. I’d go psycho if I had to face days stuffed with meetings. There are all these people in them.”

“Typically, yes.”

She filled him in quickly, but paused when she’d moved onto the interview with Bix—and when Roarke walked to her window, looked out.

As Mira had done.

“I went around about my strategy, purposes, reasonings with Mira, who wasn’t thrilled with me after. Until I laid it out. Do I have to lay it out for you?”

“No. I understand your strategy, purposes, reasonings. I imagine Mira did as well. But it takes a bit to push through and accept them.”