"Like hell." He paused his game, swiveled around. "Wanna take me on? It's better with two reals instead of playing against the comp."
"I'll trounce all over you some other time. Hit the sheets."
"Hey, hey, wait!" He scrambled up. "Aren't you going to tell me how it went down?"
"It went down."
"Well, Iknow. We got the call on it. But no deets. Spill some deets, Dallas."
"Tomorrow. We'll have a full briefing."
"One deet. You give me one, then I got one for you."
"We confiscated discs containing records of every meeting. We've got them sewn up so tight they can't hack their way out of the sack with a broadsword. Give."
"Okay, frig-o. We got some track."
"You found the source?"
"Nothing to it once we cloned. Virus was sent out from the unit confiscated from Dukes's lower level work area. He sent them staggered over a three-day period. He pushed the button on every one of them."
"They brought him in from Albany tonight. He's lawyered up. I'll take him apart tomorrow. Go to bed, kid."
"Got to smash the O's first."
She shrugged. "Whatever." She walked to the door, paused. "Jamie. I was against Roarke bringing you onto the team. I was wrong. You did a stand-up job."
His face brightened like a sun. "Thanks."
She left him to battle the Birds, and went to Roarke's office. He, too, was at his unit, but she doubted he was playing. Whatever his business was, he shut it down when she came in.
"Congratulations, Lieutenant. Where's your team?"
"They were heading to some after-hours place to wind down with a couple of drinks. I passed."
"Then you can have one here with me." He rose to top off his brandy and pour her a glass of wine. "We have your source."
"Yeah, Jamie told me. I stopped by the lab on my way."
"He's still up?"
"Yankees and O's, bottom of the sixth. He's two down, with two out and a runner on first."
"Ah, well then." He gave her the wine. "Did he tell you we also found a number of transmissions? To and from Price and Dwier. And three, so far, from Mayor Peachtree's office 'link. The last coming in the afternoon of your visit to the Dukes house. Text only. It advises Dukes to take a little holiday with his family, and gives a suggestion for the address in Albany. It's carefully worded, but under the circumstances, damning enough."
"I take Dukes and the mayor tomorrow." She sat on the arm of a chair, but didn't drink the wine. "I split up the interviews after the bust. Gave a push at suspects with various team members and combos. Everybody yelled lawyer, like it was their team cheer. I broke some pathetic housewife in under thirty minutes. Spilled her guts while her lawyer's huffing and puffing about duress. Pleaded her down a couple levels to shut him up, and she rolled over like a puppy."
"You stopped them. You shattered them."
"I took in a judge, two other cops-a retired cop who'd put thirty years in. I took in mothers who were almost as panicked about notifying their child care provider as they were about spending the night in a cage. I took in a boy barely old enough to shave, and a woman who won't see a hundred again. She spit on me." Her voice quavered just a bit on that. "She spit on me when we were putting her in the wagon."
Roarke stroked a hand over her hair, and when she turned her head, cradled her face against his side. "I'm sorry."
"Me, too," she murmured. "I just don't know what I'm sorry about. I've got to go to bed." She eased away, stood. "I'll look over the data you and Jamie extracted in the morning."
"I'll be along when I can. I have a meeting shortly."
"A meeting? It's almost three in the morning."
"It's in Tokyo. We'll do a holoconference."
She nodded, then set the untouched wine aside. "Were you supposed to be there? In Tokyo?"
"I can be where I want. And I want to be here."
"I've cut into a lot of your time just lately."
He rubbed a thumb over the shadows under her eyes. "You certainly have, and I expect to be properly recompensed." He touched his lips to her forehead. "Now go to bed. I've work here."
"I could come into midtown sometime, and... consult."
"I'd like to know what I've done to deserve a threat like that."
It helped to smile. "Or, you know, go shopping with you. Help you pick out a suit or something."
"I felt that chill right down to the bone. Go away, Lieutenant."
"Okay. See you later."
"Mmm." And as his holo unit signaled, he watched her go.
Chapter 22
She woke before dawn, and gauged the time by the quality of the dark. She calculated an hour before daybreak, and thought about trying to zone out again for the best part of that.
She'd slept like a woman in a coma, falling facedown on the bed after stripping down to the skin. She hadn't heard Roarke come to bed. But at least she hadn't dreamed.
She shifted to her side and made out the shape of him. It wasn't often she woke before he did. Because of it she rarely had the opportunity to lay in the dark, in the silence of the house and listen to him sleep.
He slept like a cat, she thought. No, quieter than a cat. The light rumble of snoring she heard was from the other side of the bed where Galahad lay sprawled on his back like roadkill.
It was kind of nice, she decided, with everyone all tucked up safe and warm.
Too nice to waste the best part of the hour she had left for bed sleeping.
She crawled on top of Roarke, found his mouth just where she'd left it. And woke him with heat.
She felt his body throw off sleep. A fingersnap. Brace, assess, relax again.
"Work late?" she asked against his mouth.
"Mmm."
"Sleeping in?"
"Not anymore."
She laughed and scraped her teeth over his jaw. "Just lie back. I'll do the work."
"If you insist."
She was warm and naked and still soft from the night. In the dark before light she moved over him like a dream, all scent and touch and shadow. Her lips and fingers stroked over him, stirring needs that were never quite still.
Her hands cupped his face. Her mouth sank to his.
She sighed into him. He heard something wistful in the sound, and as she lay over him, he traced his hands up and down her back, that long, lean line, as much for comfort as seduction.
His cop, he thought. So troubled. So torn. But here, they were safe and sure. Here, they were right.
He knew, she realized, and turned her face into his throat. He always knew. And the gift of having someone who did, who could, was overwhelming.
"I love you. Roarke. I love you." Her mouth met his again, hotter now, with the first taste of urgency. "I love you. For all the times I forget to say it."
The kiss slid back to sweetness. Her heart beat thick, beat steady against his.
In a long, slow movement, he rolled her to her back. He laid his lips on her collarbone as their legs tangled, as hers parted. He could see her now, the shape of her face, the gleam of her eyes. He slid into her, a satin glide of flesh to flesh. A quick and quiet catch of breath.
Again long, again slow, and deep, with her body rising toward his, with his falling toward hers. She shuddered, and groped for his hands. Their fingers linked; their mouths met.
Overhead, dawn broke.
***
It was still shy of seven when she studied the data Roarke and Jamie had accessed the night before. She frowned over it, chewed over it. Considered.
"Dukes goes down, all the way down. He has to know it. Essentially, he was the button man. Even without a confession, I'm handing the prosecutor a case he'd have to be a baboon to lose."
"Then why do you look annoyed?"
"I just wonder if this guy knows he was the goat. All along. Whatever, whoever goes down, he takes the heaviest fall. He's the name the media will trumpet, the image of the effigies burned once the crowd turns. If he hadn't figured it
out, I might be able to use that to convince him to point the finger at anyone I don't have in the box."
"And they will turn," Roarke agree.
"Yeah they will." She frowned. "Politics," she said softly. "Hell of a game."
She glanced over at Roarke. "I'm going to check out a couple things, then head in to start picking him apart. I want a good chunk of time with him before I pass him to Feeney and move onto Peachtree."
"You're doing Peachtree at Central?"
"His house. His involvement remains Code Five until he's formally charged."
"I want to observe the interviews." He looked over from where he sat on the bedroom sofa, monitoring the stock reports on the mini-unit and the morning media report on the wall screen.
"What's the point?"
"The point is closure. I gave way on the bust last night. I want this."
"What's the matter with you, Ace? You're sprung. Job done, game over. You can spike the ball. You can go back to work and buy... Alaska or something."
"I've as much acreage and interest in Alaska as I need for the moment. But if your heart's set on a glacier just send me a memo. You can arrange it, Lieutenant. It's a reasonable enough request."
"For Dukes, yeah, but Peachtree-"
"He's had my support, financially. You're not the only one who's pissed-off by this situation. I want to be there for the end of it."
"Okay. Okay, I'll work it out. But I'm leaving in ten, so you'll have to-"
"Hold on a minute." His gaze narrowed on the wall screen as Nadine Furst came on with a flash bulletin.
"This just in. Forty-three people suspected of being part of the group known as The Purity Seekers were taken into custody last night at the Church of The Savior on Franklin Street. This NYPSD operation was headed by Lieutenant Eve Dallas. Police sources identify some of the suspects arrested as Judge Lincoln, a criminal court judge in this city, Michael and Hester Stanski..."
"Where did she get the names!" Eve exploded and barely resisted punching a fist at the screen. "We're not releasing names yet."
"Listen to the rest," Roarke told her. "This can't be it. There's no point in this kind of leak."
"Donald Dukes," Nadine continued, "a former marine sergeant and a computer scientist, was arrested at a private home in Albany and has been taken into custody. Several charges have been brought against Dukes, including conspiracy to commit murder, in regard to the Purity killings over the past week."
There was a slight pause, then Nadine continued. "But the most disturbing development in the Purity matter is the allegations levied against Mayor Steven Peachtree. Official sources confirm that the Mayor of New York is a prime suspect in the crimes attributed to The Purity Seekers and will be formally questioned this morning. Evidence linking Mayor Peachtree to Purity includes a video of alleged sexual misconduct, which was recovered from the residence of Nick Greene during the investigation of Greene's death. It is suspected that the video was used as part of a blackmail scheme. The mayor could not be reached for comment, nor has his office issued a statement regarding the allegations."
"Son of a bitch." Even as Eve swore, her communicator beeped, as did the bedside 'link, her pocket 'link. She imagined the communication centers in her office, here and at Central, were lit up like Christmas.
"You're in the media storm now, Lieutenant," Roarke told her. "You're going to have to ride it."
Ignoring the 'links, she yanked out her communicator.
"Lieutenant," was all Whitney had to say.
"Yes, sir. I saw it. I don't know where she got it, but I'll find out what I can."
"Fast. Peachtree's lawyers are already out for blood."
"Leak or no leak, Commander, I'm making an arrest today. And it'll stick."
"No media statements," he ordered. "Neither confirm nor deny until I clear it. Take Dukes first, and break him, Dallas. I'll let you know when and where for Peachtree."
"Don't answer the 'links," she told Roarke as she jammed the communicator back in her pocket. "Tell Summerset to screen all transmissions, and to keep Jamie here and under wraps. I don't want him talking to anyone about anything. Not even his mother."
"You think the boy leaked this? Eve-"
"No, he didn't leak it. He's too good a cop already. I know where the leak came from." She snagged a jacket. "This may not be my game, but I know how to play it when I have to. I know how to win it. If you're with me," she added. "You've got five minutes."
***
She let him drive and spent the entire time on the 'link, covering the situation with her team, coordinating them and arranging for extra bodies at Central to hold back the media who would certainly be swarming into a pack outside the doors.
Then she tagged Nadine.
"Listen, before you jump on me, I was given that bulletin thirty seconds before air. There wasn't even time to polish the copy. I couldn't have flipped it to you if I'd wanted to."
"Who gave it to you?"
"You're asking me to reveal a source, and you know I won't. But as it happens it was given to me by my producer. I don't know his source. Sources," she amended. "He's never gotten this hot with less than two. All I know is someone high up leaked to him with the stipulation I read the story-he confirmed, and we aired."
"You specifically?"
"That's right."
"Smart," Eve decided.
"Things are popping around here, Dallas. You're going to want to give me a statement ASAP. What evidence do you have linking Mayor Peachtree to the activities of The Purity Seekers?"
"No comment, Nadine."
"The shit hitting the fan isn't all going to land on Peachtree's face. A lot of it's going to fly into yours." As she spoke, Nadine angled her chair, brought up data manually on her computer screen. "He had a fifty-three percent popularity rating before this. And many of the voters included in that percentage are very vocal, very staunch, and very monied supporters. On the other side's the faction who'll want to lynch him politically, and will use you as the rope."
"No comment. Curious. Which side do you bet on? Supporters or lynching party?"
It was a good angle, she mused, and one it wouldn't hurt her to get a jump on. "He'll resign. No way out of it. Without the dirty details of this sexual misconduct, I can't project. He'll take hits for cheating on his wife, and for any connection with Greene."
"Off the record, Nadine?"
Eve could see Nadine strain against the bonds. "Okay, damn it, off the record."
"If it's a little juicier than cheating? If it involved some sexual kinks?"
"Oh God, you're killing me. If it's good and juicy, he's probably cooked, at least short term. Convicting him of murder, unless you've got him with fresh blood on his hands, is another matter. Public support will swing both ways, which puts him center ring. People have short memories, and selective ones. They won't necessarily remember if he's guilty or innocent, but they'll remember he did something big. If he doesn't do hard time, if he can slither on the sex, he could run again in a few years. And he'd probably win."
"That's politics," Eve stated. "Later."
"Dallas-"
But Eve cut her off.
"You're pulling on a string, Lieutenant," Roarke said. "I'm beginning to see the shape of the ball it comes from."
"Yeah, let's see how it unravels. Head straight to garage level. Oh, and if you run over any reporters, I give you extra points."
Inside she moved fast. She had Dukes and his team of lawyers in Interview within fifteen minutes. She teamed with Peabody, deliberately choosing to piss Dukes off by having two females go at him.
She turned on the recorder, input the salient data, then sat back. "Let's get started."
"Lieutenant Dallas." The head of the legal team, a broad-shouldered, square-jawed man named Snyder, interrupted. "Mr. Dukes has opted to have all questions and comments directed through and answered by me or one of my associates. As is his right. He prefers not to speak to or be spoken to by you directly."
&
nbsp; "No problem. You're going to want to inform your client that with duly executed warrants his data and communication centers were confiscated from his residence in this city, and from the portable registered to him found in the Albany location. Said units were then officially logged. Technicians attached to NYPSD extracted data and transmissions from said units. This data, these transmissions, lock your client in a cage, away from his family, away from his friends, away from whatever has previously passed for his world for the rest of his natural life."
J D Robb - Dallas 15 - Purity in Death Page 34
