They made their way through the crowd of mourners, through the muted hum of conversation. The air was heavy with the scent of flowers, dim with the quiet light the grieving seemed to prefer.
"Lieutenant."
Eve turned at the hand on her arm and looked into Jenna Franco's eyes. She didn't see grief in them, but she saw plenty of annoyance. She didn't mask it as smoothly as Peachtree.
"Deputy Mayor."
"I need to speak with you. Privately."
"I have something to do first. You'll have to wait."
She tugged her arm free, turned her back. It was petty, she knew. But since she had a damn good idea what the private chat was going to entail, she doubted she and Jenna Franco were going to waste much time on the amenities.
Eve braced herself before approaching Colleen Halloway. She would probably be in her forties, maybe fifties, Eve calculated, but looked younger. Grief had given her skin a kind of translucence that added a youthful fragility against the unrelieved black of her mourning.
"Lieutenant."
It was Anna Whitney who spoke first. Eve had often found herself on the commander's wife's wrong side. But at the moment there was none of the usual hint of impatience or irritation on her face.
And to Eve's surprise, Anna took her hand and squeezed it.
"Mrs. Whitney."
"Detective Halloway's mother has been hoping to speak with you." Her voice was low, her back turned slightly so that the words were for Eve alone. "Do you know the one thing more difficult than being married to a cop, Lieutenant?"
"No. I always figured that was the short straw."
The faintest smile ghosted around Anna's mouth. "There's one shorter yet. That's giving birth to one. Be careful with her."
"Yes, ma'am."
"Colleen?" With a natural gentleness Eve admired, Anna draped an arm over the woman's shoulders. "This is Lieutenant Dallas. Lieutenant, Kevin's mother."
"Mrs. Halloway. I'm very sorry for your loss."
"Lieutenant Dallas." Colleen gripped Eve's hand. It was stronger, firmer than Eve had expected. "Thank you so much for coming. I wonder-there's a small privacy room upstairs. I wonder if you could spare a few minutes? I'd like to speak with you."
"All right."
She led Eve out of the dim parlor, up a set of stairs. Cops had spilled out, crowded there as well. But they stepped aside, eyes lowered respectfully as Colleen passed.
"My husband would like to meet you as well. And Lily. But I asked them if I could have this time alone with you. They understood."
She opened a door, walked into a small sitting room. More flowers, soft fabrics just a little overdone in style, just a little too dark in their wine-red tones.
"These places are so horribly depressing, aren't they? I wonder why they don't let in the light." Colleen walked to the window, threw open the heavy drapes, and let in the sun. "I suppose a lot of people find comfort in the shadows."
"Do you?" she asked Eve, then shook her head. "My thoughts are rambling. Please, sit down."
Colleen took a chair, sat with her back very straight. "I've seen you on-screen. You always seem so competent, even when it's coverage of one of those social functions you attend with your husband. He's terribly handsome, isn't he?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"It was kind of him to come as well. To make the time, to speak to me, my husband, Lily. Very kind. Kevin spoke of you occasionally. You never worked with him, though, did you?"
"Not directly, no. But I often depend on EDD in my work. Hall… Kevin was a valued member of the department."
"He admired you. I wanted to tell you," she added, smiling a little at the blank look on Eve's face. "He sometimes spoke of you working with Captain Feeney and the other young detective, Ian McNab. He was, I think, a little envious of your relationship with both Ian and the captain."
"Mrs. Halloway-"
"I only tell you that so you might understand why he might have said or done the things he said or did when he was in such terrible trouble."
"Mrs. Halloway, I don't need an explanation. Kevin was ill, very ill, and none of what happened after they infected him was any fault of his."
"It's good to hear you say that. I heard the statements this morning. Both of them. I wasn't sure if yours was just the departmental line, or if you meant it."
"I did mean it. Every word of it."
Colleen nodded. Her lips trembled once, then firmed. "I know what you did to try to save Kevin. I know you risked your own life to do so. And I know," she continued as Eve started to speak, "that you'll say you were doing your job. That's what all of you say. But I want to thank you first as a mother, just as a mother."
Her eyes swam and though she blinked to fight the tears, one spilled out and trailed down her cheek. "And I want to thank you for Kevin. Please… let me finish."
Still she had to stop for a moment, clear her throat. "My son was proud to be a police officer. He believed in what that stood for, respected it, and gave his best. They might have taken that from him as well as his life if not for you. If not for you, his captain, his commander, his fellow officers… that pride and respect might have been taken from him. Instead…"
She reached into a small black purse and took out her son's badge. "Instead, there's honor. I'll never forget it." She leaned forward now, her expression intense. "Stop them. You will stop them."
"Yes, ma'am. I'll stop them."
With a nod, Colleen leaned back again. "I've kept you long enough. I'm sure you have a great deal of work. I think I'd like to sit here in the light, for a little while."
Eve rose and went to the door. Then she turned and said what was on her mind. "Mrs. Halloway? He must have been awfully proud of you, too."
Again those lips curved, just a little. Again a single tear spilled down her cheek.
Eve slipped out and closed the door.
She was nearly to the stairs when Franco swooped up. Chang scurried in her wake like a pet dog. "We'll talk now."
When she headed for the privacy room, Eve caught her arm. "Mrs. Halloway's in there."
The impatience on Franco's face faded. Her one last glance at the door was full of sympathy. Then that faded as well as she strode down the hallway, pushed her way into another room.
It was some sort of office, manned at the moment by a young woman at a gleaming wooden breakfront that had been modeled into a workstation.
"I need this space," Franco snapped. "You'll have to leave."
Eve lifted her brows as the girl scrambled out. Franco was a woman who went where she wanted when she wanted. Eve admired the trait.
When Chang closed the door behind them, Franco launched into the attack. "You were instructed to use the official statement when responding to the media. We can't waste time and resources running along behind you and clearing up the mess."
"Then you'd better try to keep up. I got a heads up minutes before the latest statement from Purity was to be aired. I responded to said statement as I deemed appropriate."
"It's not your place to deem what is an appropriate response to the media." This came from Chang, in clipped tones. "It's my job to tell you what's appropriate in this area."
"The last time I looked I don't answer to you, and should that day ever come, I'll retire."
"Chief Tibble ordered you to cooperate," he reminded her. "Yet you refuse to accept the bookings that were arranged for maximum spin and effect. And now you issue your own statement without clearance. A statement that speaks not just for you, Lieutenant, but for the department. This is not acceptable."
"If the chief or my commander determines I've done or said the unacceptable, then they can dress me down, Chang. You can't."
She took a step toward him, was darkly pleased to see him take one back. "Don't ever try to tell me how to do my job."