J. Robb - Ceremony In Death

"Don't bother to call the Truant Brigade, Lieutenant, it's Saturday."

How the hell was she supposed to keep track? "Then why aren't you terrorizing one of the sky malls like a normal delinquent?"

His grin spread. "I hate sky malls. They're so yesterday. Caught you on Channel 75."

"Did you drop by for my autograph?"

"You scrawl it on a credit slip, I could outfit this heap of yours and make it rock." He looked past her toward the shop. "I got a load of the witch through the glass. She's doing some heavy retail today."

Eve glanced back, noted the customers browsing inside. "You've seen her before."

"Yeah, couple times when I tailed Alice."

"Ever see anything interesting?"

"Nope. Everybody's always wearing clothes in there." He wiggled his brows. "A guy has to hope. I studied up on Wicca. They liked to be naked a lot. Did see the head witch kick a guy out of the shop once."

"Really." It was Eve's turn to lean on the hood. "Why?"

"Couldn't say, but she was maximum pissed. I could see they were having words, and I thought she was going to belt him. Especially when he shoved her."

"He shoved her."

"Yeah. I thought about going in then, though she was a hell of a lot bigger than he was. Still, guys got no business pushing women around. But whatever she said had him backing off. Backing way off until he was backing right out of the door. And he went off in a big hurry."

"What did he look like?"

"Skinny dude, five ten, maybe a hundred and twenty-five. Couple years older than me. Long black hair, red tips. Long face, with his incisors fanged. Red eyes. Light complexion. Turned out in tight black leather, no shirt, couple of tattoos, but I was too far away to make them out."

He shot her a smile, grim around the edges. "Sounds familiar, doesn't it? Last time I saw him, he wasn't looking so jazzy."

Lobar, Eve thought, exchanging a glance with Peabody. The kid had given a solid and nearly professional description. "And when was this? When did you see the incident?"

"The day – " His voice cracked a little, so he cleared his throat. "The day before Alice died."

"And what did Isis do after Lobar?"

"She made a call. Couple minutes later the dude she lives with came on the run. They talked for a couple minutes, real intense, then she put up the Closed sign and they went into the back room. Ticked me off," he added. "I could have followed the leather guy."

"You want to stop tailing people, Jamie. They make you, they tend to get annoyed."

"People I tail don't make me. I'm too good."

"You thought you were good at B and E too," she reminded him dryly and watched as his color rose.

"That was different. Look, the guy that was stabbed, he was right there, at Alice's viewing. It has to be connected, to her, to that Lobar creep, and I got a right to know."

She straightened. "Are you requesting the status of my investigation?''

"Yeah, yeah, right." He rolled his eyes skyward. "What's the status of your investigation?"

"Ongoing," she said shortly, then jerked a thumb. "Now, scram."

"I got a right to know," he insisted. "Survivors of victims, and all that."

"You're the grandson of a cop," she reminded him. "You know I'm not going to tell you anything. And you're a minor. I don't have to tell you anything. Now, go play somewhere else, kid, before I have Peabody here roust you for loitering."

The muscles of his jaw tightened and jumped. "I'm not a kid. And if you don't deal with Alice's killer, I will."

Eve snagged his arm by the jacket before he could storm away. "Don't cross the line," she said very quietly. She kept her face close to his, forcing him to look directly into her eyes. "You want justice, you'll get it. I'll by God get it for you. You want revenge, I'll slap you in a cage. You remember what Frank stood for, and what your sister was, and then you think it all through again. Now, get out of here."

"I loved them." He jerked his arm free, but not before she saw tears rush into his eyes. "Fuck your justice. And fuck you."

She let him walk because, though the language had been an adult's, the tears had been a child's.

"The kid's hurting," Peabody murmured.

"I know." So was she now. "Tail him, will you, just to be sure he doesn't get in any trouble. Give it thirty minutes, until he calms down, then beep your location. I'll pick you up."

"You going to talk to Isis?"

"Yeah, let's see what she and Lobar had to say to each other. Oh, and Peabody, watch your step. Jamie's a clever kid. If he made one of Roarke's men, he's likely to make you."

Peabody flashed a smile. "I think I can manage to tail a kid for a few blocks."

Trusting her aide to keep Jamie out of trouble, Eve walked into Spirit Quest. The air swam with incense and the scented melted wax from dozens of candles. The October sun was strong and gleamed in shooting colors through hanging prisms.

The look Isis sent her held none of that exotic welcome.

"You've finished with Chas, Lieutenant?"

"For now. I'd like a few minutes."

Isis turned to answer a question from a customer on a blend of herbs to enhance memory. "Steep it for five minutes," Isis told her. "Then strain it. You'll need to drink it daily for at least a week. If it doesn't help, let me know." She turned her head back to Eve. "As you can see, this is a bad time."

"I'll be quick. I'm just curious about the visit you had from Lobar here, a few days before he ended up with his throat slashed."

She'd kept her voice down, but left her intention clear. They would talk, in private, or in public. The location was up to Isis.

"I don't think I misjudged you," Isis said quietly, "but you make me doubt myself." She signaled to a young woman Eve recognized from the initiation rite. "Jane will handle the customers," Isis said as she started toward the back room. "But I don't want to leave her long. She's very new at shop work."

"Alice's replacement."

Isis's eyes burned. "No one could replace Alice."

She entered what appeared to be a combination of office and storeroom. On the reinforced plastic shelves were gargoyles, candles, sealed bins of dried herbs, clear stoppered bottles filled with liquids of varying hues.

On the small desk was a very modern and efficient computer and communication system. "Jazzy equipment," Eve commented. "Very now."

"We don't eschew technology, Lieutenant. We adapt, and we use what is available to us. It's always been so." She gestured to a chair with a high, carved back, took another for herself, one with armrests shaped like wings. "You said you would be quick. But first I need to know if you intend to leave Chas in peace."

"My priority is closing a case, not the peace of mind of a suspect."

"How could you suspect him?" Her hands curled around the armrests as she leaned forward. "You, of all people, know what he's overcome."

"If his past is relevant – "

"Is yours?" Isis demanded. "Is the fact that you survived a nightmare to your credit or to your detriment?"

"My past is my business," Eve said evenly, "and you know nothing about it."

"What comes to me, comes in flashes and impressions. Stronger in some cases than others. I know you suffered and were innocent. Just as Chas is. I know you carry scars and harbor doubts. As he does. I know you struggle to make your own peace. And I see a room."

Her voice changed, deepened, just as her eyes did. "A small, cold room washed with dirty red light. And a child, battered and bleeding, huddled in a corner. The pain is unspeakable, beyond endurance. And I see a man. He's covered with blood. His face is – "

"Stop it." Eve's heart was hammering, choking off her air. For a moment, she'd been back there, back in that child who'd crawled whimpering like an animal into the corner with blood staining her hands. "Damn you."