Interlude in Death

  “Seven.”

  “Seven, then. Seven years. And he approaches me with what could be considered a bribe or blackmail, depending on your point of view, to pressure me into rolling over on you. It was arrogant and ill-conceived.”

  She thought it through as she paced. “I don’t think he expected it to work. I think he expected me to tell him to fuck off. That way he could roll us into a ball together and shoot two for one.”

  “He can’t touch you—or me, for that matter.”

  “He can make things hot by implicating us in a homicide. And he’s laying the groundwork. He pushes my buttons in a public venue, then gets one of his monkeys to get in my face. Altercation ensues. A couple hours later, monkey has his brains splattered all over the stairway of a Roarke Enterprises hotel—and what’s this! Why it’s a clue, Sherlock, and a dandy one, too. A star stud from one of Roarke Securities uniforms, floating in the victim’s blood.”

  “Not particularly subtle.”

  “He doesn’t have time to be subtle. He’s in a hurry,” she continued. “I don’t know why, but he’s rushing things. Shove circumstantial evidence down the throat of the local authorities and they’ve got to pursue the possibility that the irritated husband and suspected interplanetary hoodlum ordered one of his own monkeys to teach Skinner’s a lesson.”

  “You touched my wife, now I have to kill you?” Roarke’s shrug was elegant and careless. “Overdramatic, over-romanticized. Particularly since you punched him in the face before I could ride to the rescue.”

  “In his narrow little world, men are the hunters, the defenders. It plays when you look at it through his window. It’s another miscalculation though, because it’s not your style. You want the hell beat out of someone, you do it yourself.”

  He smiled at her fondly. “I like watching you do it even more, darling.”

  She spared him a look. “Standard testing on you, any profile would kick the theory out of the park. You’re just not hardwired to pay somebody to kill, or to get your dick in a twist because somebody hassles me. We could have Mira run you through a Level One testing just to push that aside.”

  “No, thank you, darling. More coffee?”

  She grunted, paced a bit more while he rose to go to the mini AutoChef for a fresh pot and cups. “It’s a sloppy frame. Thing is, Skinner believes you’re capable, and that if he dumps enough on the ILE if and when they take over he’ll push you into an investigative process that will mess you up—and me by association.”

  “Lieutenant, the ILE has investigated me in the past. They don’t worry me. What does is that if it goes that far, your reputation and career could take some bruises. I won’t tolerate that. I think the commander and I should have a chat.”

  “And what do you think he’s counting on?” she demanded.

  “Why disappoint him?” Coffee cup in hand, he sat on the arm of his chair. “I’ve compiled personal and professional data on Skinner. Nothing seems particularly relevant to this, but I haven’t studied his case files in depth. Yet.”

  Eve set down the coffee he’d just poured her with a little snap of china on wood. “Case files? You hacked into his case files? Are you a lunatic? He gets wind of that, you’re up on charges and in lockup before your fancy lawyers can knot their fancy ties.”

  “He won’t get wind of it.”

  “CompuGuard—” She broke off, scowled at the bedroom unit. CompuGuard monitored all e-transmissions and programming on-planet or off. Though she was aware Roarke had unregistered equipment at home, the hotel system was a different matter. “Are you telling me this unit’s unregistered?”

  “Absolutely not.” His expression was innocent as a choirboy’s. “It’s duly registered and meets all legal requirements. Or did until a couple of hours ago.”

  “You can’t filter out CompuGuard in a few hours.”

  Roarke sighed heavily, shook his head. “First you hurt my feelings, now you insult me. I don’t know why I put up with this abuse.”

  Then he moved fast, grabbing her up, hauling her against him and crushing her mouth with a kiss so hot she wondered if her lips were smoking.

  “Oh, yes.” He released her, picked up his coffee again. “That’s why.”

  “If that was supposed to distract me from the fact that you’ve illegally blocked CompuGuard and broken into official data, it was a damn good try. But the joke’s on you. I was going to ask you to dig up the data.”

  “Were you really, Lieutenant? You never fail to surprise me.”

  “They beat him until his bones were dust.” Her tone was flat, dull. All cop. “They erased half his face. And left the other half clean so I’d know as soon as I saw him. The minute he stepped in front of me tonight, he was dead. I was the goddamn murder weapon.” She looked back at the computer. “So. Let’s get to work.”

  They culled out cases during Skinner’s last decade of active duty and cross-referenced with anything relating to them during the seven years of his retirement. It overlapped the time before Roarke had come to America from Ireland, but it seemed a logical place to start.

  As the caseload was enormous, they split it. Eve worked on the bedroom unit, and Roarke set up in the second bedroom.

  By three, Eve’s temples were throbbing, her stomach raw from caffeine intake. And she’d developed a new and reluctant admiration for Commander Skinner.

  “Damn good cop,” she acknowledged. Thorough, focused, and up until his retirement, he had apparently dedicated himself, body and soul, to the job.

  How had it felt to step away from all that? she wondered. It had been his choice, after all. At sixty-four, retirement was an option, not a requirement. He could have easily put in another ten years on active. He might have risen to commissioner.

  Instead, he’d put in his fifty and then used that as a springboard in a run for Congress. And had fallen hard on his face. A half century of public service hadn’t been enough to offset views so narrow even the most dug-in of the Conservative Party had balked. Added to that, his platform had swung unevenly from side to side.

  He was an unwavering supporter of the Gun Ban, something the Conservatives tried to overturn at every opportunity. Yet he beat the drum to reinstate the death penalty, which alienated the Liberals from mid-road to far left.

  He wanted to dissolve legal and regulated prostitution and strike out all legal and tax benefits for cohabitating couples. He preached about the sanctity of marriage, as long as it was heterosexual, but disavowed the government stipend for professional mothers.

  Motherhood, the gospel according to Skinner stated, was a God-given duty, and payment in its own right.

  His mixed-voice and muddled campaign had gone down in flames. However much he’d rebounded financially via lectures, books, and consults, Eve imagined he still bore the burns of that failure.

  Still, she couldn’t see how Roarke tied into it.

  Rubbing her forehead, she pushed away and got up to work out the kinks. Maybe she was overreacting. Did she want it to be personal for Skinner because he’d made it personal for her? Maybe Roarke was no more than a symbol for Skinner. Someone who had slipped and slid around the system that Skinner himself had dedicated his life to.

  She checked her wrist unit. Maybe she’d catch some sleep, go back to it fresh in the morning. She would juggle the data first, though, so that when she looked at it again it would be in a new pattern. Whatever she was missing—and her gut still told her she was missing something—might float to the top.

  “Computer, extrapolate any and all references to Roarke…” She yawned hugely, shook her head to clear it. “In any and all files, personal and professional, under Skinner, Commander Douglas.”

  Working…

  “List references chronologically, first to last, um…give me official police records first, followed by personal files.”

  Understood. Working…. No reference to Roarke under Skinner, Commander Douglas police records. Reference under Skinner, Captain Douglas only…. Extrapolatin
g personal files…

  “Yeah, well, you keep saying that, but…” Eve whirled around, stared at the monitor. “Computer, stop. List any and all reference to Roarke under Skinner, Douglas, any rank.”

  Working…first listed reference in Skinner, Captain Douglas, case file C-439014, to Roarke, Patrick a/k/a O’Hara, Sean, a/k/a MacNeil, Thomas, date stamped March, twelve, twenty-thirty-six. Subject Roarke suspect in illegal weapons running, illegal entry into United States, grand theft auto and conspiracy to murder of police officers. Subject believed to have fled Atlanta area, and subsequently the country. Last known residence, Dublin, Ireland. Case file complete, investigative data available. Do you wish full case file?

  “Yes. In hard copy.”

  Working…

  Eve sat down again, slowly as the computer hummed. 2036, she thought. Twenty-three years ago. Roarke would have been what, twelve, thirteen?

  It wasn’t Roarke that was at the root of Skinner’s obsession.

  It was Roarke’s father.

  At his own unit, Roarke ran through layers of Skinner’s financials. Among the most clear-cut motives for murder were greed, revenge, jealousy, sex, fear of disgrace, and profit. So he’d follow the money first.

  There was a possibility, he’d decided, that Skinner had invested in one of his companies—or a competitor’s. Perhaps he’d lost a substantial amount of money. Men had hated men for less.

  And financially Skinner had taken a beating during his run for Congress. It had left him nearly broke as well as humiliated.

  “Roarke.”

  “Hmm.” He held up a finger to hold Eve off as she came into the room. “Communications,” he said. “I have an interest in the Atlanta media sources, and they were very unkind to Skinner during his congressional attempt. This would have weighed heavily against his chances of winning. Media Network Link is mine outright, and they were downright vicious. Accurate, but vicious. Added to that, he’s invested fairly heavily in Corday Electronics, based in Atlanta. My own company has eroded their profits and customer base steadily for the last four years. I really should finish them off with a takeover,” he added as an afterthought.

  “Roarke.”

  “Yes?” He reached around absently to take her hand as he continued to scroll data.

  “It goes deeper than politics and stock options. Twenty-three years ago illegal arms dealers set up a base in Atlanta, and Skinner headed up the special unit formed to take them down. They had a weasel on the inside, and solid information. But when they moved in, it was a trap. Weasels turn both ways, and we all know it.”

  She took a deep breath, hoping she was telling it the way it should be told. Love twisted her up as often, maybe more often, than it smoothed things out for her.

  “Thirteen cops were killed,” she continued, “six more wounded. They were outgunned, but despite it, Skinner broke the cartel’s back. The cartel lost twenty-two men, mostly soldiers. And he bagged two of the top line that night. That led to two more arrests in the next twelve months. But he lost one. He was never able to get his hands on one.”

  “Darling, I might’ve been precocious, but at twelve I’d yet to run arms, unless you’re counting a few hand-helds or homemade boomers sold in alleyways. And I hadn’t ventured beyond Dublin City. As for weaseling, that’s something I’ve never stooped to.”

  “No.” She kept staring at his face. “Not you.”

  And watched his eyes change, darken and chill, as it fell into place for him. “Well, then,” he said, very softly. “Son of a bitch.”

  5

  As a boy, Roarke had been the favored recipient of his father’s fists and boots. He’d usually seen them coming, and had avoided them when possible, lived with them when it wasn’t.

  To his knowledge, this was the first time the old man had sucker punched him from the grave.

  Still, he sat calmly enough, reading the hard copy of the reports Eve had brought him. He was a long way from the skinny, battered boy who had run the Dublin alleyways. Though he didn’t care much for having to remind himself of it now.

  “This double cross went down a couple of months before my father ended up in the gutter with a knife in his throat. Apparently someone beat Skinner to him. He has that particular unsolved murder noted in his file here. Perhaps he arranged it.”

  “I don’t think so.” She wasn’t quite sure how to approach Roarke on the subject of his father and his boyhood. He tended to walk away from his past, whereas she—well, she tended to walk into the wall of her own past no matter how often, how deliberately, she changed directions.

  “Why do you say that? Look, Eve, it isn’t the same for me as it is for you. You needn’t be careful. He doesn’t haunt me. Tell me why if my father slipped through Skinner’s fingers in Atlanta, Skinner wouldn’t arrange to have his throat slit in Dublin City.”

  “First, he was a cop, not an assassin. There’s no record in the file that he’d located his target in Dublin. There’s correspondence with Interpol, with local Irish authorities. He was working on extradition procedures should his target show up on Irish soil, and would likely have gotten the paperwork and the warrant. That’s what he’d have wanted,” she continued, and rose to prowl the room. “He’d want the bastard back on his own turf, back where it went down and his men were killed. He’d want that face-to-face. He didn’t get it.”

  She turned back. “If he’d gotten it, he could’ve closed the book, moved on. And he wouldn’t be compelled to go after you. You’re what’s left of the single biggest personal and professional failure of his life. He lost his men, and the person responsible for their loss got away from him.”

  “Dead wouldn’t be enough, without arrest, trial, and sentencing.”

  “No, it wouldn’t. And here you are, rich, successful, famous—and married, for Christ’s sake—to a cop. I don’t need Mira to draw me a profile on this one. Skinner believes that perpetrators of certain crimes, including any crime that results in the death of a police official, should pay with their life. After due process. Your father skipped out on that one. You’re here, you pay.”

  “Then he’s doomed to disappointment. For a number of reasons. One, I’m a great deal smarter than my father was.” He rose, went to her, skimmed a finger down the dent in her chin. “And my cop is better than Skinner ever hoped to be.”

  “I have to take him down. I have to fuck over fifty years of duty, and take him down.”

  “I know.” And would suffer for it, Roarke thought, as Skinner never would. As Skinner could never understand. “We need to sleep,” he said and pressed his lips to her brow.

  She dreamed of Dallas, and the frigid, filthy room in Texas where her father had kept her. She dreamed of cold and hunger and unspeakable fear. The red light from the sex club across the street flashed into the room, over her face. And over his face as he struck her.

  She dreamed of pain when she dreamed of her father. The tearing of her young flesh as he forced himself into her. The snapping of bone, her own high, thin scream when he broke her arm.

  She dreamed of blood.

  Like Roarke’s, her father had died by a knife. But the one that had killed him had been gripped in her own eight-year-old hand.

  In the big, soft bed in the plush suite, she whimpered like a child. Beside her, Roarke gathered her close and held her until the dream died.

  She was up and dressed by six. The snappy jacket that had ended up in her suitcase fit well over her harness and weapon. The weight of them made her feel more at home.

  She used the bedroom ’link to contact Peabody. At least she assumed the lump under the heap of covers was Peabody.

  “Whaa?”

  “Wake up,” Eve ordered. “I want your report in fifteen minutes.”

  “Who?”

  “Jesus, Peabody. Get up, get dressed. Get here.”

  “Why don’t I order up some breakfast?” Roarke suggested when she broke transmission.

  “Fine, make it for a crowd. I’m going to spread a
little sunshine and wake everybody up.” She hesitated. “I trust my people, Roarke, and I know how much I can tell them. I don’t know Angelo.”

  He continued to read the morning stock reports on-screen. “She works for me.”

  “So, one way or the other, does every third person in the known universe. That tells me nothing.”

  “What was your impression of her?”

  “Sharp, smart, solid. And ambitious.”

  “So was mine,” he said easily. “Or she wouldn’t be chief of police on Olympus. Tell her what she needs to know. My father’s unfortunate history doesn’t trouble me.”

  “Will you talk to Mira?” She kept her gaze level as he rose, turned toward her. “I want to call her in, I want a consult. Will you talk to her?”

  “I don’t need a therapist, Eve. I’m not the one with nightmares.” He cursed softly, ran a hand through his hair when her face went blank and still. “Sorry. Bloody hell. But my point is we each handle things as we handle them.”

  “And you can push and nudge and find ways to smooth it over for me. But I can’t do that for you.”

  The temper in her voice alleviated a large slice of his guilt over mentioning her nightmare. “Screen off,” he ordered and crossed to her. Took her face in his hands. “Let me tell you what I once told Mira—not in a consult, not in a session. You saved me, Eve.” He watched her blink in absolute shock. “What you are, what I feel for you, what we are together saved me.” He kept his eyes on hers as he kissed her. “Call your people. I’ll contact Darcia.”

  He was nearly out of the room before she found her voice. “Roarke?” She never seemed to find the words as he did, but these came easy. “We saved each other.”

  There was no way she could make the huge, elegant parlor feel like one of the conference rooms in Cop Central. Especially when her team was gorging on cream pastries, strawberries the size of golf balls, and a couple of pigs’ worth of real bacon.