Eve couldn’t have said why she picked the Blue Squirrel for anything resembling food, and a passing resemblance was as close as anything on the menu came to food. Maybe she needed to touch base with something from her old life-to indulge in a few memories of sitting at one of the sticky tables, half lit on a Zombie while Mavis bounced on stage and screeched out songs for the crowd.
Or maybe, she thought as she studied the soy burger on her plate, she had a death wish.
“I know better than to eat this,” she muttered, and took a bite anyway. “Nothing in this comes from the natural universe.”
“You’ve gotten spoiled.” Peabody plowed through a chicken wrap and side of veggie chips with apparent pleasure. “Meat from actual cows, real coffee, genuine chicken eggs, and all that.”
Eve scowled and bit into the burger again. Now she could say why she’d opted for the Squirrel. She’d wanted to prove to herself she wasn’t spoiled.
“Somebody helps themselves to the coffee from my office AutoChef whenever she damn well pleases.”
“Sure, it’s the first degree of separation rule.” Peabody wagged a veggie chip that was, remotely, carrot-colored. “I get spoiled by association. Or maybe it’s second degree, because the coffee comes from Roarke to you. So you’re first degree. But since you’re married-”
“Shut up and eat.”
Obviously, Eve thought, since she was eating the mysterious substance purporting to be meat substitute that was slapped between two bricks of some sort of bread matter, she wasn’t spoiled.
A person got used to what they were used to, that’s all. And since Roarke insisted on having cow meat and other natural food products around the house, she was accustomed to them. She didn’t even notice the difference now. The food was just there, like a chair, or a picture on the wall that she didn’t really look at…
Because it was day to day.
She yanked out her communicator.
“Feeney.” His face filled her screen. “And this better be good.”
Eve noted that his hair, however he’d shortened it, was sticking up in mad tufts. Whatever he was working on, she concluded, wasn’t going well.
“I need you to take the civilian and his magic fingers over to Queens. Take those sculptures apart.”
“You want us to take sculptures apart.”
“You didn’t find eyes and ears in the house yet, right?”
“I got a couple of boys doing another sweep.”
“Move them out, and you and Roarke move in. The sculptures, Feeney. She wouldn’t have thought twice about the sculptures. Reva wouldn’t have checked them because he brought them in. She wouldn’t have thought twice about them, and they’re every fucking where inside and out. Take them apart.”
“Fine, fine. I could use a change of scene.”
“Have Roarke talk to her, see if there was anywhere in particular where she might’ve done some work at home in addition to her office. Or had conversations with him or anyone regarding Securecomp. When you nail those locations, concentrate on the artwork-such as it is-in that sector.”
“I got it. I’ll leave McNab on this detail here. Boy’s young enough a little frustration won’t kill him.”
Eve stuck the communicator away. “Finish that off,” she said with a nod at Peabody’s plate. “We’re going back to the Flatiron, and tearing down Bissel’s works-in-progress.”
“You got all that because I said you were spoiled?”
“You never know what’s going to kick it off, do you? Another thing I’m thinking: Chloe didn’t have any of Bissel’s work in her place. Wouldn’t you think she’d have wheedled something? Some small piece of her lover’s work? She’s in love with him, or so she believes. She’s an art major, she works in his gallery, but she doesn’t have a sample of his genius.”
“You’re thinking that’s gone the way of her locket.”
“We’ll contact Deena on the way, and see.”
Eve stood in the studio, hands on hips, as she studied the complicated twists and marriages of metals that formed the sculptures.
“Okay, I miscalculated this. Taking these apart’s going to require specific tools. We’ve got them around here, but using them’s another matter.”
“I actually know how to use some of them.”
“Why doesn’t that surprise me?” Eve circled the tallest of the works. “Thing is, if we cut or melt or just fucking blast, we’d damage or eradicate the device. If there is indeed a device. And we need EDD or one of those handy scanners to verify that.”
“The sweepers went over them.”
“I’m betting it wouldn’t register on a standard sweep. Even on a deeper one. A spook sweep, now that might be different. This guy sold these pieces of crap all over the world. Corporations, private residences, even government facilities.”
“And if they’re bugged, it’s a pretty slick way of getting intel.”
“Mmm.” Eve kept circling, studying. “I can’t see them wasting his talent. This makes sense to me. It’s logical. I bet they’d have loved to have had one of these inside one of Roarke’s companies. Trouble was, he didn’t like the work, and even with Reva’s influence he didn’t pony up. Didn’t matter so much, since they bugged her.”
“It’s going to sound paranoid, but do you think somebody’s watching us now?”
“Maybe.” In case, Eve offered a wide grin. Screw security and lockdowns and silent runnings. She hoped they were watching. It was time to go hand-to-hand.
“If they are, they’d better come out and play real soon. Unless they’re sniveling cowards on top of murdering bastards and perverted peepers. I’m having these dissected. We’re shutting down this floor until I do. So they’d better take a good look while they still have the chance.”
She called for the elevator, stepped in. “Peabody, I don’t like Carter Bissel in the wind. I want him found.”
“I’ll give the locals a goose.”
“Do that. In person.”
“Huh?”
“Go down, talk to the local PSD, interview the partner, and everyone who knew him. Get us a line on the brother. There’s a reason Felicity went to see him. I want the reason.”
“To Jamaica?” Peabody’s voice rose three registers. “I’m going to Jamaica?”
“One of us has to stay here, work this from here. You can get this done in forty-eight, max. I don’t want you skipping naked through the surf.”
“Can I skip through the surf with appropriate swim wear for maybe one hour?”
It took considerable effort for Eve to keep her lips from twitching. “I don’t want to hear about it. Especially since I’m sending McNab with you.”
“Oh my God. I’m having the best dream.”
Okay, maybe she couldn’t quite stop it from twitching. “You can leave as soon as Feeney clears him. This isn’t an island holiday.”
“Absolutely not. But I could probably have one drink out of a coconut shell-in the line, Lieutenant, since I’ll be interviewing the owner of a tiki bar.”
“They’ll watch you.” Peabody’s grin faded as Eve spoke. “Whoever’s responsible for this will know when you get on the transport, when you get off. They’ll know your hotel, what you have for dinner, what you have in that coconut shell. Believe that, and stay ready.”
“You’re sending McNab with me so he can watch my back.”
“So you can watch each other’s backs. I don’t anticipate anyone will move on you, but I didn’t anticipate anyone would move on Chloe McCoy either.”
“No one could have, Dallas.”
“You can always anticipate,” Eve stated as she stepped off into the lobby, and turned to seal off the elevator. “If I had, she wouldn’t be dead.”
She sent Peabody off to pack and went solo to the morgue. Morris was just suiting up in his protective gear when she walked in.