"I said, with heroic calm, that, yes, sir, I would be very interested in applying for the position. That I'd be happy to sit for an interview and any tests required. He said we'd just had the interview and I'd already passed the tests, so I might as well start now."
"He'd had his eye on you before."
"Apparently so. And because of it, I was able to finish raising my daughter in comfort, in security. And to discover myself. So I owe him a great deal. You've settled me down," Caro said with a sigh. "Just by taking me through all that. You've reminded me that you get through a crisis by doing what needs to be done next. So I'll leave you to do what you have to do next." She rose. "Thank you for taking the time."
"I figure Reva's got some of your spine. So she'll get through this and out the other side."
"I'm counting on that." Caro walked to the door, then turned. "This is a small thing, but I think it might please you, that it might be just a little something I can give back. A lot of busy people have their assistants or admins select gifts for their spouses. Birthdays, anniversaries, tokens to make up for an argument. He never does. Whatever he gives you comes from him. Perhaps that's not such a small thing after all."
15
Peabody hustled in on lime-green high-tops. She no longer clopped, Eve noted, but sort of... boinged. It was just something else to get used to. She also had a big, toothy grin and a line of colorful little beads worked into her hair from crown to chin.
"Hey, Dallas. I gotta say, Jamaica rocks."
"You have beads in your hair."
"Yeah, I got this little braid." She tugged on it. "I can do that now. I'm not in uniform."
"But why would you? Never mind. Where are the units?"
"Detective McNab and I transported the units, personally, through customs and security and accompanied them directly here to the off-site lab for analysis and study. They were never out of our control. McNab is with the EDD team at this location now. I left him there to come report to you. Sir."
"No point in getting sulky because I ragged on your beads."
"Maybe I just won't give you your present."
"Why would you get me a present?"
"To commemorate my first out-of-town as detective." She dragged it out of her bag. "But you don't deserve it."
Eve stared at the little plastic palm tree with the little plastic naked man lounging under it. He held a tiny bowl-shaped glass filled with shimmering green liquid. Alcoholic in nature, no doubt, Eve concluded, from the goofy grin on his face.
"You're right. I don't deserve this."
"It's kitschy." Miffed, Peabody set it on Eve's desk. "And amusing. So there."
"Uh-huh. I'm going to bring you and the rest of the team up to speed momentarily. We'll have a short briefing that includes the civilians, then... Hold on," she said when her 'link beeped. "Dallas."
"We've got trouble."
From the tone of Morris's voice, and the grim look on his face, Eve knew the trouble was serious. "You at the morgue?"
"I'm at the morgue," he confirmed. "Bissel isn't."
"You lost the body?"
"Bodies aren't lost," he snapped, though he'd spent the last thirty-five minutes doing both a computerized and a personal search and scan. "And our guests rarely get up and take a walk to the corner deli for a bagel and schmear. Which means someone came in here and helped themselves to him."
"Okay." He sounded more insulted than angry. She was about to change that. "Lock the place down."
"Excuse me?"
"Lock it down, Morris. Nobody in, nobody out-living or dead-until I get there. And it's going to take me close to an hour."
"An hour to-"
"Seal off the room where the body was stored. Retrieve all security discs for the last twenty-four, and have any and all records of your work on Bissel copied for me. And I want to know everyone who had work or business in the dead zone since the last time you, personally, saw the body. Kade still there?"
"Yes, Kade's still here, damn it, Dallas."
"I'll be there as soon as I can." She cut him off. "Get the rest of the team," she told Peabody, then let out a curse of her own when her 'link beeped again. "Move." She snapped out the order and had Peabody hot-footing it to the door. "Dallas."
"Lieutenant." Whitney's face filled the screen and looked no cheerier than Morris's. "Report to the Tower for a meeting with the chief and Assistant Director Sparrow of the HSO. Nine hundred."
"It'll have to wait."
He blinked once, and his voice went to ice. "Lieutenant?"
"Sir, I'm about to brief my team. I'll keep it to the bones, but it has to be done. My presence is then required at the morgue. I've just spoken to Chief Medical Examiner Morris. Bissel's body is missing."
"Misplaced or gone?"
"I assume gone, sir. I've ordered a lockdown, seal, and retrieval. Detective Peabody and I will meet with Morris and evaluate within the hour. I believe this takes precedence over the Tower meeting. Homeland and Sparrow will just have to wait their turn to dance with me."
"I want the details, every last one of them, ASAP. The meeting will be rescheduled for eleven hundred. Be there, Lieutenant."
She didn't bother to respond as he'd cut her off as neatly as she'd cut off Morris. So she just scowled at the 'link and said, "Fuck."
Then she rose, turned the murder board face to the wall.
She got her first look at Tokimoto when he walked in beside Reva, and had to remind herself to trust Feeney and Roarke to pick their own people, even when she didn't know who the hell they were. She decided Reva looked sturdy enough, if a bit gaunt in the face, and that Roarke was off on the love vibes as Tokimoto didn't touch her, or so much as glance at her as they took seats.
"Captain Feeney will have briefed you on the electronics area," she began, "so I'm not going there except to say that I need data, any data, and I need it fast. Retrieval is first priority. The Code Red is now secondary."
"Lieutenant." Tokimoto spoke in his modulated voice, with his interesting face carefully bland. "May I say that by its very nature a Code Red cannot be secondary. In order to retrieve the data, we have to know how it was corrupted. Learning how it was corrupted will lead us to prevention. It is all of a piece, you see."
"No, I don't, which is why I'm not EDD. You were brought in to assist in a homicide investigation. Since the units were corrupted, there was data on said units that concerned person or persons unknown who have killed at least three people. When I see the data, I'll know why this was of concern, therefore the data is my priority. Understood?"
"Yes. Of course."
"Good. The units that Detectives McNab and Peabody transported from Carter Bissel's residence are now in-house. Carter Bissel is missing. It must be assumed he is or was part of this. The extent of his involvement is yet to be determined."
"Blair rarely mentioned him, but if he did he talked about him as a screwup. I don't know if that helps at all," Reva said to Eve. "But he gave me the impression that Carter was an embarrassment to him more than anything else."
"As far as you know, when was the last time they communicated with each other?"
"I think about a year ago Carter might've contacted Blair and asked for money. I walked in while he was setting up an e-transfer and he said something about pissing away money on the monkey on his back named Carter. He was upset, and didn't want to talk about it, so I let it go. Looking back, I can see I let a lot of things go."
"Is that the term he used? Monkey on his back?"
"Yeah. He was upset, and pissed off. I remember being surprised he'd lend Carter money, and said so. He shut down the machine and yelled at me that it was his money, his business, and slammed out. Since it was, and I didn't see the point in having a fight about some jerk I'd never met, I let it pass."
"Interesting. Roarke, squeeze out some time and find me whatever private and secret accounts Blair Bissel may have had. I'd like to see how often he fed the monkey." She paused, scanned the room. "It will have be
en explained to the civilian members of this team that any and all information learned or imparted during this investigation is not to be discussed with anyone on the outside. Friends, neighbors, lovers, media, or the family pets. I'm going to reiterate that and add that if any information is passed, it will be considered an obstruction of justice. If there's a leak, the leak will be plugged, prosecuted, and will spend some quality time in a cage. I don't have time to play nice," she added, reading Roarke's mind. "These may be your people, but they're not mine."
"I don't believe anyone in this room could mistake your stand on that," he said. "Lieutenant."
"If anyone's offended by that," she said evenly, "that's the breaks. I don't think Chloe McCoy's too concerned about sensibilities and tender feelings just now. On another level, Bissel, working on his own or in conjunction with the HSO, inserted spy devices into his artwork. We know these devices were in place in various locations in the home he shared with Reva Ewing, and must assume the purpose was to gather intel on projects she was involved in for Securecomp."
She watched Reva as she spoke, saw her jaw tremble, then firm.
"We'll need the records of sales so we can track the locations of his other sculptures. They'll have to be scanned. When that happens, this is going to blow out of the water. You're going to get wet, Reva, by association."
"I can handle it."
"Surely as someone who was victimized, and so intimately, by this very plot, Ewing can't be blamed for the actions of a man who used and deceived her."
Reva offered the irate Tokimoto a weak smile. "Sure I can. It's the way of the world."
"Some of that backlash may come sooner than later," Eve continued. "Bissel's body is missing."
She watched, watched carefully. Reva's face went blank as if she'd just heard a phrase in an unknown language. Beside her, Tokimoto jerked in his chair, then reached out without looking and closed his hand directly over Reva's.
So, Eve surmised, Roarke was right again. She should never bet against the house.
"I don't understand what you mean." Reva spoke carefully. "I don't think I understand."
"I've spoken with the ME, who informed me that Bissel's body is no longer in the morgue. We'll proceed on the assumption that it was removed."
"But... why would anyone take..." Reva's hand came up, rubbed at her throat as if pushing the words out of a clog. "I just can't follow this."
"It's my job to follow it. Can you verify your whereabouts last night?"
"You're cruel," Tokimoto said softly.
"I'm thorough. Reva?"
"Yes. Yes. Um. We had dinner in. My mother and I. We watched screen. Her idea, all comedies. We ate popcorn, drank wine. I had a lot of wine." She sighed. "We sat up until about one. I fell asleep on the couch. I woke up about four. She'd covered me up. I just rolled over and went back to sleep. Best sleep I've had in days."
"All right. I need the civilians to go back to the lab." She looked directly at Roarke. "I'd like a complete progress report by fourteen hundred."
"Yes, I'm sure you would." He walked to Reva, offered her a hand to bring her to her feet. "Would you like some air first, or a moment to yourself?"
"No. No, I'm fine. Let's get to work. Let's just get to work."
Eve waited until Roarke shut the door, after one last cool look at her.
"Wow." McNab gave a mock shudder. "Chilled down in here."
"Button it, moron," Peabody said under her breath. "Sorry, Lieutenant, the five hundred tiny little braids have cut off the circulation to his brain."
"Hey."
"Let's move on. I've run numerous probabilities, none of which has been satisfactory or particularly enlightening. It all depends on how I input the data. But what it comes down to is we don't yet know what we're dealing with. Covert operations, a rogue agent, family violence. What we do know is we have three murders, one missing body, a connection in Jamaica.
"Chloe McCoy was killed for what she knew or had in her possession. The autopsy confirmed that she had inserted birth control. She was expecting a lover. The only lover who has come to light is Blair Bissel."
"Who's dead, and among the missing," Feeney put in.
"There's little doubt she believed she was expecting Blair Bissel. This was a naive, theatrical, and gullible young woman. Play it right and she would've believed her lover had risen from the dead and was coming over to play-to tell her all, to seek her help, to ride off into the sunset with her. The killer had only to gain access to her apartment, keep her calm, induce her to drink the drugged wine. I'm Blair's friend, associate, brother. He asked me to explain everything to you. He'll be here as soon as it's safe."
"She'd have let him in," Peabody agreed. "She'd have loved the excitement of it."
"She certainly would have let him in if it was Blair Bissel."
McNab stifled a snort. "Risen from the dead."
"He wouldn't have to, if he'd never died at all. If he'd set it up."
"The body was identified, Dallas," Peabody said. "Prints, DNA, the whole shot."
"He was HSO, so I'm not ruling out falsified identification. But McCoy throws it off for me. If she had something, knew something, why not take care of it before you perform the main act? Then there's motive. Why die-taking your lover, setting up your wife? There's nothing in his files to indicate he was in any trouble with Homeland. From all appearances, he had it locked. Sexy secret job, loving wife who unknowingly feeds you regular intel, a couple of lovers to add variety, a successful career, financial security. Life's pretty damn good, so why die?"
She sat on the side of her desk. "We could move to the brother. Jealousy, resentment. We know Kade went to see him in Jamaica, and have reason to believe she took him as a lover. Was this HSO sanctioned? Or was she working on her own, or in league with Blair Bissel? And why? Maybe it was a setup that went wrong. Maybe it was a Cain and Abel, and Carter upped the stakes, took out his brother-too bad about the woman-and set Reva up. It's a nice nest egg, the estate. If Reva's tried and convicted of the murders, she won't inherit. He'd get a chunk of it."
"Maybe he was blackmailing Blair," Peabody suggested. "The monkey on his back."
"Good, that's what Roarke's going to help us find out. Carter has something on Blair-the HSO connection, the extramarital, something else-and taps him regularly. Blair's had about enough of that and decides to shake off the monkey. But killing three people seems a little over the top. Why not just slip down to the islands, do the brother, and go back to your life? Some of these answers have to be on those units. Feeney, I need some answers."
"Got one for you. Top-drawer face sculptor out of Sweden was killed in what appears to be a botched burglary at his office. Two weeks ago. His patient records have not been retrieved as his data unit was damaged."
"Damaged?"
"According to the report. Jorgannsen, that was his name, had his throat cut. His drug supply was taken, and his data unit damaged. I'm figuring infected, but there's no way to verify without seeing the unit."
"See if you can play nice with your counterpart in Sweden, maybe they'll transport it to us."
"Give it a shot."
"Shoot fast." She pushed to her feet. "I've been called to the Tower at the request of the fucking HSO. I'm taking steps to cover all of our asses because this isn't going to be neat and pretty. The shit's going to hit the fan, and if it blows the way I'm hoping, the spooks are going to be up to their knees in it. But there's bound to be some backdraft. For the duration of this area of investigation, we bunker down here."
"God." McNab grinned like an idiot. "How will we stand it?"
"And work twenty-four/seven," Eve added and watched the grin turn to a wince. "In shifts. Let's get started. Peabody."
"Yes, sir. I'm with you."
"Communication by secured lines only," she added as she walked out the door and nearly into Roarke.
"Lieutenant, a moment of your time."
"Walk and talk. I don't have any moments to spare."
/> "I'm just going to ah..." Be somewhere else, Peabody thought, and hurried past them.
"If you've got a beef about the way I handled your people, you'll have to save it. I'm in a hurry."
"It would take more than a moment to discuss the areas of your sensitivity and people skills. I realize you're not looking at Reva and were, in your way, establishing her alibi."
"So?"
"I won't work in the dark, Eve. If you want my help you can't give me tasks to perform one moment, then close me out the next. I expect you to trust me with the details."
"You know all you need to know. When you need to know more, I'll tell you more."
J D Robb - Dallas 19 - Divided In Death Page 25
