She looked down at the floor, then made herself lift her gaze and meet his eyes. “I want it so bad I can taste it. I want it so bad, so fucking bad, it scares me. I want it, Feeney, so bad that I know I have to put it away. I have to, or I’ll do something I’m not sure I can live with.”
He nodded, and that was enough for both of them. “Let’s go do the job, then.”
Commander Whitney was a big man who sat behind a big desk. Eve knew his day was filled with paperwork and politics, with diplomacy and directives. But it didn’t make him less of a cop.
He had skin the tone of glossy oak, and the eyes that beamed out of his wide face were dark and intelligent. There was more gray in his hair than there’d been the year before, and Eve imagined his wife nagged him to deal with it.
Personally, Eve liked it. It added one more aspect of authority.
He listened, and she found his silence during her report both heavy and comforting.
She remained standing when she was finished, and though she didn’t glance over at Peabody, she knew her partner was holding her breath.
“Your source on this information is reliable?”
“Sir, as this information came to me through unknown sources, I am unable to vouch for the reliability of same, but I’m convinced the data itself is reliable.”
He raised his eyebrows and nodded. “Carefully said. It may stand if and when you’re pushed on it. How do you intend to proceed?”
“I intend to disclose this information to Reva Ewing.”
“That should make her lawyers stand up and dance.”
“Sir, she didn’t kill Bissel and Kade. I can’t in good conscience withhold this information from someone who is, essentially, another victim.”
“No. I just hate seeing lawyers dance.”
There was the faintest snort from Peabody, hastily transformed into a cough.
“The PA’s not going to be happy,” Whitney added.
“He may be happy enough to dance himself if we tie the HSO into a double murder, and the deliberate framing of a civilian. That eventuality would make this case very hot,” Eve added when she saw the speculative look in Whitney’s eyes. “Hot enough to generate considerable media. Global media, with the prosecuting attorney in the forefront.”
“That’s interesting, and political thinking, Dallas. You surprise me.”
“I can push my mind in a political direction when pressed, and assume you’d be able to expand on that area when briefing the PA.”
“You can be sure of it.”
“Ewing may also prove useful in providing contacts to assist me in pursuing this HSO aspect of my investigation.”
“The HSO, once made aware of this aspect of your investigation, will try, very hard, to end said investigation.”
Nonaction, she thought. That would be the term, and what they’d want from her.
She’d be damned if they’d get it.
“They have no authority over the NYPSD on a homicide investigation. An innocent woman was implicated, deliberately, in a double homicide.”
An innocent child, she thought, couldn’t stop the thought, was deliberately ignored and left to be beaten, to be raped. Left to kill to survive.
“That isn’t national or global security, Commander, it’s just dirty.” Her throat was starting to burn, but she ignored it and ordered herself to stay with the facts. To stay with the now.
“A legitimate corporation, for which Ewing works, has a viable government Code Red contract to develop an extermination program to block the alleged plans of a techno-terrorist organization. If the HSO has attempted to hamper the research and development currently underway at Securecomp, that isn’t a matter of national or global security either. It’s dangerous and self-aggrandizing corporate espionage.”
“I can promise you, they’ll have a different spin.”
“They can spin it until they create a new plane of gravity, it won’t alter the fact that two people were brutally murdered, and an innocent civilian deliberately framed for it. The media’s already smearing Reva Ewing’s name all over the screen. She doesn’t deserve it. She nearly died standing as shield for President Foster, because that was her job. No more, no less. She’s done her job, no more, no less, for Securecomp, and in doing so will be partly responsible for developing another shield against a threat that could, potentially, shut down the Pentagon, the NSC, the GSC, Parliament, and the damn HSO.”
He held up a hand. “She’d do better with you than the lawyers. I’m not arguing with you,” he added as the insult flickered over Eve’s face. “I read her file. You understand you have the option of simply dropping the charges and allowing Ewing to do her own spin. The NYPSD, and you, might look overbearing or foolish initially, but that would wear off before long.”
“Two people would still be dead.”
“Two operatives, Dallas. By-product of the job.” He held up his hand again before Eve could speak. “Do you have an opinion on that, Detective Peabody?”
“Yes, sir. If I went down, line of duty, that’d be a by-product of the job. But I’d expect Dallas and my fellow officers to do everything they could to get me justice. We don’t just let murder go because it’s a professional hazard.”
“You stand up well for yourself, Detective. Now that I see we’re all on the same side of the line. Talk to Ewing. I’ll take this to Chief Tibble. Only Chief Tibble,” he added, “on a need-to-know.”
“Thank you, sir. The EDD team will work primarily out of my residence. It has more levels of security than we have at Central.”
“That doesn’t surprise me. Document everything, Dallas, but for now your reports to me will remain verbal only. I want to be informed the minute you have any kind of contact with any agent or representative of the HSO. Keep your ass covered, because if it takes a hit, so does this department.”
“That went well,” Peabody commented as they headed down to the garage.
“Well enough.”
“When he asked me if I had an opinion, I almost clutched.”
“He wouldn’t have asked if he didn’t want to hear it.”
“Maybe not, but brass usually wants to hear what they want to hear. There was this other thing I was thinking.” She ran a hand, very casually, down her jacket to smooth the line. “Due to the nature of this investigation and certain sensitivities, it might be more secure, all in all, if members of the team remained at your residence.”
“Might it be?” Eve replied.
“Well, yeah, seeing…” She trailed off, studied their pea-green city vehicle. “Unit swept and shielded?”
“Maintenance said so, but they’re lying sacks of shit. It should be safe enough for you to make your pitch in general terms.”
Peabody climbed in. “First, you have those extra layers of security in place, so we don’t have to watch what we say or do. Part of investigating is talking through data and information. Also EDD could take shifts, if necessary. And since McNab and I are getting ready to move to our new apartment, my place is a wreck.” She smiled prettily. “So how about it?”
“It’s not a party.”
“Absolutely not.” Peabody stifled the smile and looked stern. “I’m proposing this for the good of the team, and the investigation.”
“And because there’s always ice cream stocked in the freezer.”
“Well, yes. Do I look stupid?”
It wasn’t unusual for Roarke to call for a spot-check on security in any department at any time. But it was less usual for him to run scanners personally-and to run tests on his own equipment.
The level-ten lab at Securecomp could only be accessed by employees with the highest clearance. Still, none of them grumbled at the body scans, or the delay while the scanner was run through a series of checks, then the scans rerun.