Loyalty In Death Part 42

"Ha ha. Don't let it go to your head." Absently, she rubbed at a headache brewing in her temple. "We have to find the next target. I'll have Lamont brought in tonight, let him stew in a cage, but it's not likely he knows the where and when."

"He's bound to know a few of the whos." Roarke moved around the desk, stood behind her, and began to ma.s.sage the tension from her shoulders.

"You need to put this aside for a while, Lieutenant. Give your mind a chance to clear."

"Yeah, I do." She let her head fall forward as his hands worked magic. "How long can you keep that up?" "A lot longer if we were naked."

She laughed and amused him by starting to unb.u.t.ton her blouse. "We'll just see about that. h.e.l.l." She did up the b.u.t.tons quickly when her communicator sounded.

"Dallas?"

"Jesus, Dallas. G.o.d."

"Peabody." She got to her feet quickly. "It's my brother. It's Zeke. It's my brother."

Eve clamped a hand over Roarke's, squeezed hard, and forced her voice into a command. "Tell me. Say it fast and straight." "He says he killed B. Donald Branson. He's at that address now. I'm on my way."

"I'll meet you there. Hold it together, Peabody. Don't do anything. Do you copy this? Do nothing until I arrive." "Yes, sir. Dallas -- "

"I'll be there in five minutes." She broke the connection and bolted for the door. "I'm going with you."

She started to refuse, then remembered the terrified look in Peabody's eyes.

"We'll take one of your cars. It'll be faster."

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Eve wasn't surprised to arrive on scene ahead of Peabody, but she was grateful. One look at the parlor, the blood smeared on the hearth, and the possessive and protective way Zeke kept his hand on Clarissa's shoulder had her stomach sinking.

Oh s.h.i.+t, Peabody, she thought. What a h.e.l.l of a fix. "Where's the body?"

"I got rid of it." Clarissa started to her feet on legs that were visibly shaking.

"Sit down, Clarissa." Zeke said it softly while easing her back into the chair.

"She's in shock. She should have medical attention."

Shoving sympathy aside, and for the moment doing no more than filing the bruises on Clarissa's face away, she stepped forward. "Got rid of it?" "Yes."

She drew a deep breath, locked her hands together. "After -- after it... I sent Zeke out of the room, asked him to get me some water."

She glanced toward the gla.s.s still sitting untouched on an inlaid table, the water that had sloshed out of it ruining the finish. "When he was gone, I got one of the droids to carry -- to carry it out, drive it away. I programmed the droid. I -- I know how. I instructed it to throw the body in the river. Off the bridge and into the East River."

"She was upset," Zeke began. "She wasn't thinking. It all happened so fast and I -- " "Zeke, I need you to sit down. Over there." Eve indicated the sofa. "She didn't do anything. I did. I pushed him. I didn't mean... he was hurting her."

"Sit down, Zeke. Roarke, would you take Mrs. Branson in another room? She should lie down for a few minutes." "Of course. Come on, Clarissa."

"It wasn't his fault." She began to weep again. "It was my fault. He was just trying to help me."

"It's all right," Roarke murmured. "Eve will take care of it. Come with me now." He sent his wife a long, silent look as he led Clarissa away.

"We're not on record yet, Zeke. No," she continued with a quick shake of her head. "Don't say anything until you listen to me. I have to know everything, every detail, every step. I don't want you to even think about leaving anything out."

"I killed him, Dallas."

"I said shut up." d.a.m.n it, why didn't people listen? "I'm going to read you your rights, then we're going to talk. You can call for a lawyer, but I'm telling you now -- as your sister's friend -- not to do that, not yet. You give it to me straight, then we go in and do a formal interview. That's when you lawyer up.

I'm going on record here in a minute, and when I do, you keep looking me dead in the eye. You got that? You don't evade, you don't hesitate. I'm seeing self-defense here, I'm seeing an accident, but when Clarissa ditched the body, she put both of you in jeopardy."

"She only -- "

"Quiet, G.o.dd.a.m.n it." Frustrated, she dragged her hands through her hair.

"There are ways to get around that. That's what the lawyer's going to be for.

And the psych tests I'm going to order. But right now, on record, you're going to tell me everything, leaving nothing out. Don't think by smoking any details you're protecting Clarissa. You won't. It'll only make it worse."

"I'll tell you what happened. All of it. But do you have to take her in? She's afraid of the police. She's so fragile. He hurt her. If you could just take me."

She moved forward, sat on the edge of the coffee table to face him. Jesus, she thought. Sweet Jesus, he was little more than a boy. "Do you trust your sister, Zeke?"

"Yes."

"And she trusts me." Eve heard the commotion in the foyer and rose. "That'll be her now. Are you going to be able to hold it together?"

He nodded, got to his feet as Peabody burst in. "Zeke. G.o.d, Zeke, are you all right?" She nearly leaped into his arms, then yanked back to run her hands over him, face, shoulders, chest. "Are you hurt?"

"No. Dee." He pressed his brow to hers. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"It's all right, it's okay. We'll take care of everything. We'll take care of it all.

We need to call a lawyer." "No. Not yet."

Peabody whirled to Eve, eyes damp and terrified. "He needs representation.

Jesus, Dallas, he's not going in a cage, he's not going into holding."

"Suck it in, Peabody," Eve snapped. "That's an order." The tears were already rolling, causing Eve to feel a slick sense of panic. Oh G.o.d, oh G.o.d, don't fall apart on me. Don't do it. "That's an order, Officer. Sit down."

She'd seen McNab out of the corner of her eye and didn't stop to think why he was there. "McNab, take Peabody's recorder. You'll be acting as temporary aide in this matter."

"Dallas -- "

"This one isn't for you," Eve interrupted. "It can't be. McNab?"

"Yes, sir." He came over, leaned down to Peabody. "Hold on, okay? Just hang. It'll be all right." He took the recorder still pinned to her uniform collar, fixed it on the lapel of his wrinkled pink s.h.i.+rt. "When you're ready, Lieutenant."

"Record on. Dallas, Lieutenant Eve, on scene at residence of B. Donald Branson, conducting interview with Zeke Peabody in regards to the suspected death of B. Donald Branson." She sat on the coffee table again, kept her eyes directly on his, and read him his rights. Both of them ignored Peabody's m.u.f.fled moan.

"Zeke, tell me what happened."

He drew a breath. "I better start at the beginning. Is that all right?" "That's fine." He did as Eve had told him, kept his eyes on hers, never wavered. He spoke of the first day he'd worked in the house, what he'd heard, his conversation with Clarissa afterward.

His voice trembled now and then, but Eve simply nodded and let him continue on. She wanted the emotion in his voice, the obvious distress in his eyes. She wanted it all on record while it was fresh.

"When I started back downstairs with her suitcase, I heard her scream. She was on the floor, crying, holding her face. He was yelling at her, drunk and yelling at her. He'd knocked her down. I had to stop him."

Blindly, he reached out for his sister's hand, gripped it tight. "I just wanted to get her out, away from him. No, that's not true."

He closed his eyes briefly. Leave nothing out, Eve had told him. "I wanted him to be punished. I wanted him to pay for what he was doing to her, but I knew I had to get her away where she'd be safe. He yanked her up, yanked her up by her hair. Hurting her, just to hurt her. I grabbed for her, shoved him back. And that's when... that's when he fell."

"You stepped up to stop him." It was the first time Eve had spoken since he started. And she kept her voice quiet, even, expressionless. "To get Clarissa away when he hurt her again. You shoved him and he fell? Is that correct?"

"Yes, he fell, fell backwards. I watched. It was like I'd frozen, couldn't move, couldn't think. His feet went out from under him and he stumbled back, went down hard. I heard -- oh G.o.d -- I heard his head hit the stone. And then there was blood. I checked his pulse, and there was nothing. His eyes were open, fixed and open and his aura was gone."

"His what?"

"His aura. His life force. I couldn't see it."