J. Robb - Purity in Death

"That they are. And people who work for me are to do as I tell them. Or they don't work for me any longer. If you're going to sulk over it, take yourself off elsewhere so I don't have to look at you."

"I'm almost eighteen."

Roarke eased a hip onto a work counter. "A man, are you? Then behave as one, and not like a boy who's been caught with his hand in the cookie jar."

"I could've gotten more data."

"You could've crashed that impressive brain of yours. The fact is, Jamie, I've plans for you that don't include going to your memorial."

Jamie's shoulders hunched now, his gaze lowered. He kicked idly at the base of the workstation with the toe of his ancient airboot. "I'd've been careful."

"Careful? Careful isn't trying to sneak into the lab in the middle of the night to boot up an infected computer without anyone at control, without anyone monitoring. What that is, is arrogant and it's stupid. I'll tolerate a bit of arrogance, even admire it. But stupidity's another matter. Beyond all that, you disobeyed an order."

"I wanted to help. I just wanted to help."

"You have been, and you'll continue to help if you give me your word you won't try the same thing again. Look at me. You say you want to be a cop. God knows why as you'll work yourself half to death for piss-poor wages and little to no appreciation from the people you swear to protect and serve. A good cop follows orders. He doesn't always agree with them, doesn't always like them, but he follows them."

"I know." The wind seemed to go out of him, slumping his shoulders again. "I screwed up."

"You did indeed. But not as badly as you might. Your word on it, Jamie." Roarke held out a hand. "As a man."

Jamie looked down at the proffered hand. His shoulders straightened, and he clasped it. "I won't do it again. I promise."

"Then that's the end of it. Go, grab some breakfast. We'll be back at this in a half hour."

Eve eased around the corner, waited until Jamie had dashed out and away.

Roarke was already at a workstation when she walked in. She noted he wasn't doing casework, but transmitting some complicated instructions for his broker. When he was done, she opened her mouth to speak, then closed it again when he immediately started another transmission to his admin.

She reminded herself of all the time he was giving her, the work he was juggling, reshuffling, adjusting so he could carve out the time. It helped keep her from grinding her teeth when he followed up the transmission to his admin with one to FreeStar One.

"If you're going to stand back there shuffling your feet, Lieutenant, you might bring me a cup of coffee. I'm going to need another ten minutes here."

He was doing her a favor, she told herself as she choked back the sass and got the coffee. She listened with half an ear as he pulled in transmissions, answered, transferred, instructed and, as far as she could tell, ruled his empire from the workstation more suited to a drone than a king.

"That thing you were bidding on, the office complex. I guess they caved and took your offer."

"Yes."

"And I wasn't shuffling my feet."

"Mentally you were. I'm going to have to take a meeting this afternoon. Shouldn't tie me up more than ninety minutes."

"Whatever it takes. You've already given the department more than it could expect."

"Pay me," he said, and yanked her down for a kiss.

"You work cheap, Ace."

"That was only a deposit. Have you decided how you're going to handle this morning?"

"Pretty much. Before I brief the team, I wanted to say that was a good technique with the kid before. Slap him down, break him, crush him into dust, then build him back up again."

He sampled the coffee. "Heard that did you?"

"I might've added a couple of creative threats. Something that gives a good visual. But all in all, it was very impressive."

"Little peabrain thinking he'd come in, run an infected, and present us with the data this morning. I nearly planted a boot up his ass."

"How did you know he tried?"

"Because I took the precaution of adding an extra layer of security to the door and locked down all the units." The faintest smile touched the corners of his mouth. "And I expected him to try it as I would've done at his age."

"I'm surprised he didn't get through."

"I've a bit more skill than a teenage boy, thanks."

"Yeah, yeah, and bigger balls, too. I was thinking of that jammer of his. You took the prototype away from him, but I'd've bet a month of my piss-poor wages he had another."

"You mean this?" Roarke pulled it out of his pocket. "I had Summerset toss his room-discreetly. When it wasn't found there, I assumed-correctly-he had it on him. So I picked his pocket on the way into dinner last night. And slipped him another with a few particular defects."

"Defects?"

"Gives you a quick, rather unpleasant little jolt when you begin the cloning function. That was small of me, I suppose. But he needed to be put in his place."

Amused, she clinked her coffee mug to his. "Yeah, all in all, pretty impressive. You want in on this briefing, or do you need some more time to buy Saturn or Venus?"

"I don't buy planets. They're just not cost effective." He rose.

They walked into Eve's office to see Jamie, Feeney, and Baxter chowing down from a table set up in the middle of the room and loaded with food.

"These eggs" -Baxter swallowed, forked up another bite-"are from chickens. Chickens."

"Cluck-cluck." Eve walked over to snag a piece of bacon.

"You fell into gravy with this guy, Dallas. No offense," Baxter said to Roarke, and shoveled in more eggs.

"None taken." Amused, he nodded toward the meat platter. "Have you tried the ham? It's from pig."

"Oink-oink," Jamie said, cracking himself up.

"If we've finished visiting the farm animals, you've got ten minutes to slurp the rest of this up." Eve polished off the slice of bacon. "And Baxter, if you spread it around Central about me falling into gravy, I'll see to it that you never have another chicken egg as long as you live."

She scowled at her wrist unit. "Why aren't Peabody and McNab in here?" She turned, intending to use the house 'link to roust them. Roarke stopped her with a hand to her shoulder.

"Eve." He said it quietly, nudging her around until she faced the door.

Her throat snapped closed. Her hand went to Feeney's shoulder in turn, squeezed hard. They watched McNab walk slowly into the room.

He used a cane. It looked almost stylish somehow-glossy black, silver-tipped. He was sweating. She could see the beads of effort popping out on his face, even as he grinned from ear to ear.

His steps were unsteady, obviously labored. But he was on his feet. Walking.

Peabody was just behind him, struggling not to cry.

Eve felt Feeney's hand come up, close tight over hers.

"It's about time you got up off that lazy ass of yours." His voice was thick, but Feeney was afraid to lift a cup and drink to clear it. His hand was far from steady. "Team's been carrying you long enough."

"I thought about trying to pull it off for one more day." McNab was out of breath when he reached the table. Still, he reached out with his right hand, closed his fingers over a slice of bacon, lifted it to his mouth. "But I smelled food."

"You wanted breakfast, you should have come in twenty minutes ago." Eve waited until he looked at her. "Better eat fast," she ordered. "We've got work."

"Yes, sir." He tried to sidestep to a chair, wobbled. Eve caught his elbow, held it until he had his balance again.

"Dallas?"

"Detective."

"I figure this is the only chance I'll ever have at this." He gave her a hard, noisy kiss on the mouth that had Baxter applauding.

Eve choked back a laugh and looked at him coolly. "And you think I won't knock you on your ass for that?"