J. Robb - Betrayal in Death

"Trouble him?" Her gut clenched. "What happened?"

He glanced at the choice of seats again, sighed, then opted to give his statement standing.

He had to give her credit. After one explosive oath, she fell silent. She listened, her eyes narrowed, flat as a shark's and just as ruthless.

When he was done giving what he felt was an admirably concise and thorough statement, she hammered him with questions over points he'd never considered.

Yes, he habitually stopped at that market, at that time, on his half-day. He most often observed the maxibus stop there as he enjoyed the rough ballet, so to speak, of passengers.

Yost had come up behind him, slightly to the left side. Yes, he himself was right-handed.

Yost had been wearing a sandy wig, a brush cut, military style, and a pearl gray overcoat. Light material, though it had been warm enough to go without a topcoat. The stunner had brushed Yost on his right shoulder, causing him to drop the syringe before the full dose could be administered.

It had, apparently, caught the bystander mid-chest, but he was recovering well from that and the minor scrapes and bruises received on his trip down to the sidewalk.

"Does anyone know you were carrying an illegal weapon?"

"The grocer. Otherwise, I told the beat droid Yost had the stunner, and had attempted to attack me with it and hit the unfortunate man from Utah instead. I did, however, give the man's wife my card so that all medical expenses could be sent to me. It was the least I could do."

"The least you could have done was let me and my men do our jobs. If you hadn't ditched the tag, we might have nabbed him when he went for you."

"Perhaps," Summerset said evenly, "if you had been courteous enough to discuss your plans that involved me with me, rather than sneak behind my back, I might have cooperated."

"My ass."

"Quite correct, but we never explored the possibility. As it is, I managed to defend myself quite satisfactorily, made him extremely uncomfortable. It cost me some minor embarrassment and ten dollars' worth of overpriced grapes."

"You think this is a joke? Is this a fucking joke?"

His jaw tightened. "No, Lieutenant, I don't. If I found it even marginally amusing, I would not be in a police station. But I am here, voluntarily, and have given you a statement in the hopes this information may in some way assist you in your investigation."

"You can assist me in my investigation by sitting your tight ass down until I arrange for a black-and-white to take you home."

"I will not ride in a police vehicle."

"You damn well will. You're a known target. I've got enough to worry about without having you dance around the city with a bull's-eye on your butt. From this moment on, you'll do exactly what I tell you, or I'll – "

She broke off as her door opened and Roarke came in.

"Oh yeah, come right in, don't bother to knock. It's old home week."

"Eve" was all he said, brushing a hand over her arm. But his eyes were riveted to Summerset's face. "Are you all right?"

"Yes, of course." Should have known, Summerset thought with a vicious tug of guilt. He should have known Roarke would learn of the incident almost before it was over. "I've just given the lieutenant my statement of the events. I intended to contact you when I returned home."

"Did you?" Roarke murmured. "One of the MTs called to the scene recognized you when you checked on an injured man. He managed to pass the word up to me before you did."

"I'm sorry. I had hoped to reassure you that there was no harm done. As you can see, I was unhurt."

"Do you think I'm going to tolerate this?" Roarke spoke softly, in a tone that warned Eve the teeth of temper were ready to snap and bite.

"There's nothing to tolerate. It's done and over."

Her eyebrows went up. It was the voice of a patient father chastising a son. Her gaze cut to Roarke, saw the temper shimmer.

"All right, over and done. I've made arrangements for you to have a holiday. You have the next two weeks off. I suggest you use the chalet in Switzerland. It's one of your favorites."

"It's not convenient for me to holiday at the moment. Thank you all the same."

"Pack what you need. Your transpo will be ready in two hours."

"I'm not leaving."

"I want you out of the city, and now. If the chalet doesn't suit you, go where you like. But you will go."

"I have no intention of going anywhere."

"Fuck it. You're fired."

"Very well. I will remove my belongings and book a hotel until – "

"Oh, shut up. Both of you shut the hell up." She fisted her hands in her hair, yanked fiercely. "Just my luck, you finally say the words I've been waiting over a year to hear and I can't do my happy dance. You expect him to put his tail between his skinny legs and hide?" she demanded of Roarke. "You think when you're in the middle of this kind of mess he's just going to bop over to Switzerland and yodel, or whatever the hell they do there?"

"You of all people should understand why it's necessary to remove him from immediate danger. Yost missed. He'll be angry, his pride in his work will be damaged. He'll come in again, and harder."

"Which is why Summerset will be escorted home to that fortress we live in, and stay there, in protective custody, until I say different."

"I will not agree to such – "

"I said shut up!" She rounded on Summerset, taking one step that put her directly between both furious men. She could all but feel the bullets of heat and rage shooting out of each of them. "Do you want him sick with worry over you? Do you want him grieving if you make a mistake and something happens to you? Maybe your pride's too big for you to swallow comfortably, pal, but it's not too big for me to shove down your throat. You're both going to do what I tell you, or I'm charging you" – she drilled a finger into Summerset's chest – "with carrying a concealed. And you" – she whipped around to Roarke and gave him the same treatment – "with interfering with a police procedure. I'll toss you in a cage together and let you fight it out while I finish the damn job. But what I won't do is stand here and listen to the pair of you bicker like a couple of kids."

Roarke gripped her arm, fingers digging in like vises before he found some tattered threads of control. Saying nothing, he turned and walked out.

"Well, wasn't that fun?"

"Lieutenant."

"Shut up, just shut the hell up a minute." She stalked to her window, stared out hard. "You're the only thing he brought with him from the past that he values."

Emotion wavered over Summerset's face. Suddenly, even his bones felt weary. He lowered himself into her chair. "I'll give you my full cooperation, Lieutenant. Shall I wait here while you arrange my transportation?"

"Here's fine."

"Lieutenant," he said before she reached the door. Their eyes met. "It isn't just pride. I can't leave him. He's… he's mine."

"I know it." She let out a sigh. "I'll get a couple of guys in soft clothes in an unmarked to take you home. That should take some of the sting out of it." She opened the door, and turned back with a sneer to steady them both. "Next time he fires you, pal, I'm doing laps in champagne."

Eve dealt with the transportation, assigned a couple of uniforms to head over to Madison and interview shopkeepers who might have seen Yost flee the scene. Though she didn't put out much hope it would lead to anything, she ordered them to hunt up the maxibus driver for a statement.

Then she gathered up Peabody and went down to the garage.

"He'll stay put? Summerset?"

"Yeah, he'll stay put. If I doubted it, I'd lock him up. Right now, I'm more worried about… well, hmmm," she finished when she saw the object of her concern leaning against the side of her vehicle. "I have a feeling I'm going to need a minute here, Peabody."