The In Death Collection 06-10 (83 page)

“That’s not my problem.” But her throat was tight and her stomach uneasy.

“It’s the department’s problem. Questions are going to be asked and need to be
answered. You’re going to have to figure out when and how to make a statement to defuse this situation.”

“Damn it, Webster, I’m in a media block. I can’t talk to them because too much of it
touches on my investigation.”

He gave her a level look, hoping she knew it was friend to friend now. “Then let me tell you,
you’re in a squeeze. The voice prints will be compared, and a statement on the results will be issued. The record from the
crime scene this morning will be reviewed, and a decision on your conduct and hers will be rendered. Your request for a search and
scan will be put on hold pending those decisions. That’s the official line I’m required to give you. Now, on a personal
note, I’m telling you, get a lawyer, Dallas. Get the best fucking lawyer Roarke’s money can buy, and put this
away.”

“I’m not using him or his money to clean up my mess.”

“You’ve always been a stubborn bitch, Dallas. It’s one of the many things I find
attractive about you.”

“Bite me.”

“I did. It didn’t take.” Eyes sober again, he stepped forward. “I care about
you—as a friend and a colleague. I’m warning you, she intends to take you under. And not everyone’s going to
hold out a hand to keep you from sinking. When you’re in the position you’ve reached—professional and
personal—there’s a lot of latent jealousy simmering. This is the kind of thing that pops the lid on it.”

“I’ll handle it.”

“Fine.” He shook his head and started out. “I’ll just tell you again: Watch
your excellent ass.”

She sat, lowered her head to her hands, and wondered what the hell to do next.

• • •

At the end of her shift, she opted to get the hell out. She took the files with her, including the data Chicago
had finally transferred. But she was by God going home on time. A vicious headache kept her company on the drive.

She was snarled in northbound traffic, between Fifty-first and Fifty-second on Madison when Bowers
stomped up the stairs from the subway at Delancey. She was, for Ellen Bowers, decidedly cheerful. As far as she was concerned,
she’d scalded Eve Dallas’s ass. Fried the bitch, she thought and very nearly skipped down the sidewalk.

It had been so gratifying to stand in front of a camera, have a reporter nod understandingly, while she
detailed all the abuse she’d suffered.

Man oh man, it was about fucking time it was her face on-screen, her words being heard.

She’d wanted, oh, she’d wanted to tell them how it had all started years ago, back in the
academy when Dallas had walked in and taken over. Fucking taken over. Broken all the records. Yeah, she’d broken them, all
right. Broken them by giving instructors blow jobs. Probably gone down on the female supervisors, too. And anybody with any sense
knew the slut had been doing Feeney and probably goddamn Whitney for years. God knew what kind of sick sex games she played
with Roarke in that big, fancy house.

Her days were over, Bowers decided and treated herself by stopping into a 24/7 and springing for a quart of
chocolate chunky ice cream. She’d eat the whole goddamn quart while she wrote her daily report in her private journal.

Bitch thought she could kick Ellen Bowers around and get away with it. Surprise, surprise. All that bouncing
around from precinct to precinct, from assignment to assignment had finally paid off.

She had contacts. Damn right. She knew people.

She knew the right people.

This time, the destruction of Eve Dallas would be her
springboard to fame, respect,
and she’d be the one sitting at a desk in Homicide.

She’d be the one with her face on the screen.

Yeah, yeah, it was about goddamn time, she thought again as black hate crawled into her belly. And when
she was done grinding Dallas into dust, she was going to see to it that prick Trueheart paid for his disloyalty.

She knew damn well Dallas had let him fuck her.

That’s the way it was, that’s the way it worked. That’s why she’d never let
some slick-talking creep stick his dick into her. She knew what people thought; she knew what people said. Sure she did.

They said she was a troublemaker. They said she was a sloppy cop. They said maybe she had a little blip in
the brain somewhere.

They were all assholes, every last one of them, from Tibble right on down to Trueheart.

They weren’t going to slide her quietly out of the department, shake her loose of the job with half
pension. She’d fucking
own
the NYPSD when she was done.

All of them were coming down, all of them, starting with Dallas.

Because it all started with Dallas.

The rage worked under her cheer. It was always there, whispering to her. But she could control it.
She’d controlled it for years. Because she was smart, smarter than all of them. Every time some department asshole ordered
her to take a personality test, she hushed those whispers with a careful dose of Calm-It and passed.

Maybe she needed higher doses just lately, and it was best if she mixed some Zoner in for a nice soothing
cocktail, but she was still in control.

She knew how to get around the assholes and their tests and their questions. And she knew what buttons to
push, you bet she did. Her finger was on the trigger now, and it was staying there.

She had an inside track—and nobody knew but her. And now she had a nice, tidy pile of untraceable
credits
just for doing what she’d wanted to do in the first place: going public.

Her teeth flashed in a smile as she turned the corner and headed down the dark street toward her building.
She was going to be rich, famous, powerful, as she was meant to be.

And with a little help from her friend, she’d pin Dallas to the wall.

“Officer Bowers?”

“Yeah?” Eyes narrowed, she turned, peered into the dark. Her hand lowered, hovered near
her stunner. “What?”

“I have a message. From your friend.”

“Oh yeah?” Her hand shifted, reached up to pat her container of ice cream.
“What’s the message?”

“It’s delicate. We need privacy.”

“No problem.” She stepped forward, thrilled that there might be more she could use.
“Come on up.”

“I’m afraid you need to come down.” The droid leaped out of the dark, his eyes
colorless, his face blank. He swung the metal pipe once, cracking it against the side of her head before she could suck in air to
scream.

The ice cream flew, landed with a splat. Blood smeared the sidewalk as he dragged her across. Her body
bounced with muffled bumps on the stairs as he pulled it through the open basement door and down.

Efficiently, he climbed up again, locked the door. He didn’t need the light. He’d been
programmed to see in the dark. Quickly, he stripped off the uniform, took her ID, her weapon, and bundled all, including the pipe, in
the large bag he’d brought with him. It would be placed in a recycle bin he’d already chosen and sabotaged.

And there in the cold dark, with emotionless skill, he used his hands and feet to break her to pieces.

“Sloppy, half-assed work.” Eve fumed as she paced Roarke’s office. She had to
bitch to someone, and he was there. He made sympathetic noises while he scanned an incoming fax and went over the latest progress
report from one of his largest interplanetary undertakings, the Olympus Resort.

It occurred to him that the resort could use another personal visit and that his wife could use a vacation. He
made a mental note to work it in around their schedules.

“Two different primaries,” she continued, striding around the office. “Two different
cops, and both of them fucked up the case. What are they using to train them in Chicago—old videos of the Three
Boobs?”

“I think that’s Stooges,” Roarke murmured.

“What?”

He glanced up, focused fully on her, and smiled at the absolute baffled fury on her face. “Stooges,
darling. The Three Stooges.”

“What’s the difference, they’re still incompetent knot-heads. Half the
paperwork’s missing. There’s no documentation of witness interviews or reports, the postmortem documents are lost.
They did manage to ID
the victim, but nobody did a background check. Or if it was done, it’s not in
the file.”

Roarke made some notations on the fax—a small adjustment that dealt with approximately three
quarters of a million and change, and shot it off to his midtown office and his assistant’s attention. “What do you
have?”

“A dead guy,” she snapped, “with a missing heart.” She frowned as Roarke
rose and walked over to select a bottle of wine from his chill box. “I can see one cop screwing up a case. I don’t like
it, but I can see it. But two cops screwing up the same one, it just doesn’t hold. And now both of them are out of touch, so
I’m going to have to do some dance with their boss tomorrow.”

She had so much anger and frustration bottled up inside her. “Maybe somebody got to them.
Bribed, threatened. Shit. The leak on this might not just be in the NYPSD, it might be all over the damn place.”

“And your interfering senator is from the great state of Illinois, as I recall.”

“Yeah.” Christ, she hated politics. “I have to clear it with the commander, but I
should probably dance with this Chicago boss in person.”

Taking his time, Roarke poured two glasses, carried both across the room to stand in front of her.
“I’ll take you.”

“It’s cop business.”

“And you’re my cop.” He lifted her hand, curled her fingers around the stem of the
glass. “You won’t go to Chicago without me, Eve. That’s personal. Now, drink some wine and tell me the
rest.”

She could have argued, for form’s sake. But it seemed like a waste of energy. “Bowers filed
a couple more complaints.” She ordered herself to relax her jaw and sip. “She was first on scene this morning, and she
caused trouble so I relieved her of duty. It’s on record, and when they review, they won’t be able to fault my actions,
but she’s really getting in my face.”

Her stomach muscles began to tighten with tension as she spoke of it, thought of it. “My contact at
IAB came
down to warn me she’s stirring the pot, that she went to the media.”

“Darling, the world is full of assholes and morons.” He reached up, skimmed a finger down
the shallow dent in her chin. “Most are surprisingly recognizable. She’ll end up sinking herself.”

“Yeah, eventually, but Webster’s worried.”

“Webster?”

“The guy I know in IAB.”

“Ah.” Hoping to distract her a little, he cupped a hand at the back of her neck, rubbed.
“I don’t believe I’ve heard that name before. And how well do you know him, darling?”

“We don’t run into each other much anymore.”

“But there was a time . . .”

She shrugged, would have shifted, but his fingers tightened just enough to make her eyes narrow. “It
was nothing. It was a long time ago.”

“What was?”

“When we got drunk and naked and bounced around on each other,” she said between her
teeth. “Happy?”

He chuckled, leaned in to kiss her lightly. “I’m devastated. Now you’ll have to get
drunk and naked and bounce around with me to make up for it.”

It wouldn’t have hurt her ego, she realized, if he’d pretended to be just a little jealous.
“I’ve got work.”

“Me, too.” He set his glass aside, pulled her against him. “You are such work,
Lieutenant.”

She turned her head, told herself she was not going to enjoy the way his teeth scraped along her neck at just
the perfect point. “I’m not drunk, pal.”

“Well.” He nipped the glass out of her hand, put it down. “Two out of three works
for me,” he decided and pulled her to the floor.

When the blood stopped roaring in her head and she could think again, she told herself she would not let him
know she’d enjoyed being ravished on the office floor.

“Well, you had your fun, ace, now get off of me.”

With a little humming sound, he burrowed against her throat. “I love the taste of you. Right
here.” As he nibbled, he felt her heart pick up speed again and kick against his. “More?”

“No, cut it out.” Her blood was starting to buzz again. “I’ve got
work.” She shoved at him, putting some muscle behind it while she still could. There was a combination of relief and
disappointment when he rolled aside.

She scrambled up, grabbed his shirt as it was closest to hand. She sent him a bland look. Christ, was all she
could think, the man had such a body. “You going to lie there, naked and smug, all night?”

“I would, but we have work to do.”

“We?”

“Mmm.” He rose and settled for his trousers. “Your missing documents. If they ever
existed, I can get them back for you.”

“You can—” She stopped herself, holding up a hand. “I don’t want to
know how you could manage that, I really don’t. But I’m going to handle this through the proper
channels.”

As soon as she said it, she wanted to bite her tongue. That little statement was going to make it hard to ask
him to dig up data, unofficially, on the Westley Friend suicide.

“Up to you.” He shrugged, picked up his wine again. “But I could probably have
your data in a couple of hours.”

It was tempting, too tempting. She shook her head. “I’ll just plod along on my own, thanks.
That’s my ’link,” she added, glancing back through the open connecting door to her office.

“I’ll transfer it here.” He moved around the desk, tapped a quick series of keys, and
had his own ’link beeping. “Roarke.”

“Roarke, damn it, where’s Dallas?”

He kept his gaze on Nadine’s image on-screen, catching the brisk shake of Eve’s head.
“Sorry, Nadine, she’s not available right now. Can I do something for you?”

“Turn on your screen, channel 48. Shit, Roarke. You
tell her to call me with
a rebuttal. I can get it on live the minute she does.”

“I’ll let her know. Thanks.” He disengaged, then looked across the room.
“View screen on, channel 48.”

Instantly, the screen filled with Bowers’s face and a spew of venom. “With three separate
complaints filed, the department won’t be able to overlook Lieutenant Dallas’s corrupt or abusive behavior any longer.
Her thirst for power has caused her to cross lines, to ignore regulations, to slant reports, and to misuse witnesses in order to close
cases in her favor.”

“Officer Bowers, those are serious accusations.”

“Each one is fact.” Bowers jabbed a finger toward the perfectly groomed reporter.
“And each will be proven through the internal investigation already under way. I’ve assured the Internal Affairs Bureau
that I’ll be turning over all documentation in these matters. Including those that prove Eve Dallas has habitually traded sexual
favors for information and for promotions within the NYPSD.”

“Why, you slut,” Roarke said easily, and slipped a supportive arm around his wife even as
his own blood began to boil. “I’ll have to divorce you now.”

“It’s not a joke.”

“She’s a joke, Eve. A poor and pitiful one. Screen off.”

“No, screen on. I want to hear it all.”

“It’s long been suspected, and will be verified, that Dallas’s husband, Roarke, is
involved in a variety of criminal activities. He was, in fact, a prime suspect in a murder investigation early last year. An investigation
Dallas was—conveniently—in charge of. Roarke was not charged in that matter, and Dallas is now the wife of a powerful,
wealthy man who uses her connections to cover his own illegal activities.”

“She’s gone too far.” Under Roarke’s hand, Eve began to vibrate with rage.
“She’s gone too far when she brings you into it.”

His eyes were cool, much too cool, as he studied the face on-screen. “I could hardly be left
out.”

“Officer Bowers, by your own admission, Lieutenant Dallas is a powerful, perhaps dangerous,
woman.” The on-air reporter couldn’t keep the gleam of delight out of his eyes. “Tell me, why are you risking
going public at this time with your suspicions?”

“Someone has to speak the truth.” Bowers lifted her chin, fixed her face in sober lines and
shifted slightly so that she stared directly into the camera. “The department may choose to cover up for a dirty cop, but I
honor my uniform too much to be a part of it.”

“They’ll hang her for this.” Eve drew in a breath, let it out slowly. “However
much sticks to me, she’s just terminated her own career. They won’t transfer her this time. They’ll kick
her.”

“Screen off,” Roarke ordered again, then wrapped Eve in his arms. “She
can’t hurt you. She can, for the short term, inconvenience and irritate, but that’s all. You can, if you like, sue for
defamation. She crossed several steps over from freedom of speech. But . . .” He ran his hands up and
down Eve’s back. “Take the advice of someone who’s dodged those slings and arrows before. Let it
go.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead, to support and to soothe. “Say no more than necessary. Stay above it, and the
longer you do, the quicker it’ll pass.”

Closing her eyes, she let him draw her in, cradle her head on his shoulder. “I want to kill her. Just
one quick snap of the neck.”

“I can have a droid made up in her likeness. You can kill it as often as you like.”

It made her laugh a little. “It couldn’t hurt. Look, I’m going to try to get some work
done. I can’t think about her; it makes me crazy.”

“All right.” He let her go, slipped his hands into his pockets. “Eve?”

“Yeah?” She paused in the doorway, glanced back.

“You could see it if you looked at her closely, looked at her eyes. She’s not quite
sane.”

“I did look. And no. No, she’s not.”

Therefore, Roarke mused as his wife closed the door
between them, Bowers was
that much more dangerous. The lieutenant wouldn’t approve, he thought, but it couldn’t be helped. He would work in
his private room that evening, on his unregistered equipment.

And any and all data on Bowers would be in his hands by morning.

It was, Eve thought as she sat in her idling vehicle and studied the crowd blocking the gate leading to the
house, infuriating enough to have to dodge reporters when it was job-related, when it was on-scene or at Cop Central.

But it was beyond infuriating to have a three-deep line of reporters screaming questions at her through the
ironwork of her own gate. When it was personal. When it had nothing to do with the job.

She continued to sit, watching the temperature of the crowd rise even as the ambient temperature struggled
up to begin to melt the snow in steady drips. Behind her, the foolish snow people she and Roarke had built were losing weight
rapidly.

She considered various options, including Roarke’s casual suggestion that they implement the
electric current on the gate. In her mind she visualized dozens of drooling reporters jittering with the shock and dropping helplessly to
the ground with their eyes rolling back white.

But she preferred, as always, a more direct approach.

She turned on the megaphone and started forward at a slow but steady speed.

“This is private property, and I am off duty at this time. Move back from the gate. Anyone coming
through the gate will be arrested, charged, and detained for trespassing.”

They didn’t budge an inch. She could see mouths opening and closing, as questions were shot at
her like arrows. Cameras were held up, pushed forward with the lenses like eager mouths waiting to swallow her.

“Your choice,” she muttered. She engaged the mechanism for the gate, letting it swing open
slowly as she approached.

Reporters hung onto the rungs or stampeded toward the opening. She just kept driving, kept mechanically
repeating her warning.

It gave her some satisfaction to watch some of them scramble for cover when they realized she
wasn’t going to stop. She glanced balefully at those ballsy enough to grab the handle on the sides of her vehicle and pace her
while shouting through the closed window.

The minute she cleared the gate, she slammed it shut, hoping to catch a few fingers in the process. Then,
with a thin smile, she punched the accelerator and sent a pair of idiots tumbling clear.

The echoes of their curses were like music that kept her mood elevated all the way downtown.

She headed straight to the conference room when she arrived at Central and, grumbling when she found it
empty, sat down to man the computer herself.

She had, by her calculations, an hour to work before she had to head to Drake and keep her first interview
appointments.

Peabody had her doctors lined up like arcade ducks. Eve intended to knock them off one at a time before
the end of the day. With any luck, she mused, any luck at all, she’d ring a few bells.

She brought up data:

Drake Center, New York
Nordick Clinic, Chicago
Sainte Joan d’Arc, France
Melcount Center,
London

Four cities,
she thought.
Six bodies known.

After hammering her way through the data McNab had accessed, she narrowed her search down to these
health and research centers. All had one interesting thing in common: Westley Friend had worked at, lectured at, or endorsed each of
them.