by J. D. Robb
‘You said you had an angle.’
‘Yeah, a couple of them. I have to run them by the brass. I’ve got to dodge Nadine for a while. I can’t give her the Santa suit. We’ll have people whipping up on every store and street corner Santa in the city.’
‘There’s an image,’ Roarke murmured. ‘Serial Santa Strangles Singles . . . Details at noon. Nadine would love that lead.’
‘She’s not getting it. Not until I don’t have a choice. I’m toying with leading the Personally Yours connection. It’ll keep her off my back and get the word out to anyone who’s used the service. And Rudy and Piper will scream harassment.’ Her smile spread slow and wicked. ‘It would be worth it. Couple of protocol droids - I need to shake them up.’
‘You don’t like them.’
‘They give me the creeps. I know they’re fucking each other. Sick.’
‘You don’t approve?’
‘They’re brother and sister. Twins.’
‘Oh, I see.’ However worldly he was, Roarke found himself mirroring his wife’s reaction. ‘That’s very . . . unattractive.’
‘Yeah.’ The thought of it ruined her appetite and had her pushing the plate of flaky croissants aside. ‘He’s running the show, and her. Right now, he’s top of my list. He has access to every client file, and if I can confirm the incest, we add a bent toward deviant sexual behavior. I need someone inside.’ She drew a deep breath as she heard bootsteps marching down the hallway. ‘And there she is now.’
Both Eve and Roarke turned as Peabody stepped into the doorway. She looked from one to the other, rolled her shoulders as if shrugging off something vaguely uncomfortable. ‘Something wrong?’
‘No, come in.’ Eve jerked a thumb toward a chair. ‘Let’s get started.’
‘Coffee?’ Roarke offered. He’d already figured out what Eve had in mind for her aide.
‘Yeah, thanks. McNab isn’t here yet?’
‘No. I’ll brief you first.’ Eve shot Roarke a look, waited.
‘I’ll just get out of your way.’ He passed Peabody a cup, turned and kiss his wife despite - or perhaps because of - the fact that she scowled at him, then walked into his adjoining office and shut the door.
‘Does he always look like that in the morning?’ Peabody wanted to know.
‘He always looks like that period.’
Peabody sighed deeply. ‘Are you sure he’s human?’
‘Not always.’ Eve angled a hip on the corner of her desk and studied Peabody carefully. ‘So . . . want to meet some guys?’
‘Huh?’
‘Want to broaden your social circle, meet some men who share similar interests?’
Certain Eve was joking, Peabody grinned. ‘Isn’t that why I became a cop?’
‘Cops make lousy life partners. What you need, Peabody, is a service like Personally Yours.’
Sipping coffee, Peabody shook her head. ‘Nope. I did a dating service a few years back, right after I moved into the city. Too regimented. I like picking up strange men in bars.’ When Eve only continued to stare at her, Peabody slowly lowered her cup. ‘Oh,’ she said as realization struck. ‘Oh.’
‘I’d have to clear it with Whitney. I can’t put a uniform undercover without the commander’s okay. And before you agree, I want you to know just what you’d be getting into.’
‘Undercover.’ Despite the fact that she had been a cop long enough to know better, the phrase conjured up images of excitement and glamour.
‘Get the stars out of your eyes, Peabody. Christ.’ Eve straightened, scooped both hands through her hair. ‘I’m talking about putting your ass on the line here, using you as bait, and you’re grinning like I’ve just given you a present.’
‘You think I’m good enough for it. You trust me to handle it. That’s a pretty good present.’
‘I think you’re good enough,’ Eve said, dropping her arms. ‘I think you can handle it because you know how to follow orders, exactly. And that’s what I’d expect. Following orders to the letter. No grandstanding. If I get it cleared, and if I can get the fucking budget to stretch enough for the consultant fee for that place, you’ll go in.’
‘What about Rudy and Piper? They’re not off the suspect list, and they’ve seen me.’
‘They saw a uniform. People like that don’t pay attention to who’s wearing it. We’ll get Mavis and Trina to deck you out.’
‘Cool.’
‘Get a grip, Peabody. We’ll work out a cover, an identity. I’ve gone over the victims’ videos and personal data. We’ll cull out the similarities and work them into your profile. The idea is to tailor make you.’
‘That’s bullshit.’
McNab stood in the doorway. His face was flushed with a fury that had his eyes glittering, his mouth tight, and his hands fisted at his side. ‘That’s fucking bullshit.’
‘Detective,’ Eve said mildly. ‘Your opinion is noted.’
‘You’re going to stick her like a worm on a line and drop her into the pool? Goddamn it, Dallas. She’s not trained for undercover.’
‘Mind your own business,’ Peabody snapped as she lunged to her feet. ‘I know how to handle myself.’
‘You don’t know squat about undercover.’ McNab strode forward, turning on his heel so that they were nose to nose. ‘You’re a goddamn aide, a button pusher, next up from a droid.’
Eve saw the intent flash in Peabody’s eyes and managed to shove between them before her aide’s fist plowed into McNab’s nose. ‘That’s enough. Your opinion is noted, McNab, now shut up.’
‘The son of a bitch isn’t going to stand there and call me a droid and get away with it.’
‘Suck it in, Peabody,’ Eve warned, ‘and sit down. Both of you sit the hell down and try to remember who’s in charge before I put the pair of you on report. The last thing I need on this case is a couple of hotheads. If you can’t maintain, you’re off.’
‘We don’t need Detective Data Bank,’ Peabody muttered.
‘We need what I say we need. And we need inside information and bait. Bait,’ she added, shifting her eyes from face to face, ‘of both sexes. You up for it, McNab?’
‘Wait a minute. Wait.’ Peabody was out of her chair again, as rattled as Eve had ever seen her. ‘You want him to go under, too? With me?’
‘Yeah, I’m up for it.’ McNab smiled thinly at Peabody as he agreed. It would be the perfect way to keep an eye on her - and keep her out of trouble.
‘This is going to be mag!’ Mavis Freestone danced around Eve’s home office in thigh-high boots. The material was clear and snug, molding her legs and showing them off while she balanced on their three-inch glittery red heels. The heels matched the slither dress that barely met the top of the boots.
Her hair was the exact same glittery Christmas red and fell in Medusa-like coils to her shoulders. She had a tiny heart tattoo under the peak of her left eyebrow.
‘You’re on the departmental payroll.’ Eve knew the reminder that this was official business was wasted. But she felt obliged to get it in as Mavis beamed at Peabody out of newly toned grass-green eyes.
‘Pays shit.’ This was from Trina. The beauty consultant circled Peabody as a sculpture might with a flawed piece of marble - with interest, caution, and faint derision.
Trina was wearing eyebrow rings today, a fact that made Eve wince when she looked at the tiny gold hoops pinned to the outer line. Her hair, a deep plum purple, was slicked up in a foot-high cone. Her choice of outfit was a somewhat conservative black jumpsuit with the holiday touch of naked Santas dancing over each breast.
And this, Eve thought as she pressed her fingers to her eyes, this was the pair she’d convinced Whitney to budget into the case account.
‘I want to keep it simple,’ she told them. ‘I just don’t want her to look like a cop.’
‘What do you think, Trina?’ Mavis leaned over Peabody’s shoulder, pulling at her own curls so they lay over Peabody’s cheeks. ‘This color’d rock on her. Festive, right? Holiday
time. And wait till you see the wardrobe I got Leonardo to lend us.’ She bounced back, grinning. ‘There’s this peekaboo skinsuit that’s really you, Peabody.’
‘Skinsuit.’ Peabody paled, thinking of bulges. ‘Lieutenant.’
‘Simple,’ Eve said again, ready to desert her aide.
‘What do you use on your skin?’ Trina demanded, taking a firm hold of Peabody’s chin. ‘Sandpaper?’
‘Um--’
‘You got pores like moon craters here, girlfriend. You need a full facial treatment. I’m starting with a peeler.’
‘Oh God.’ Panicked, Peabody tried to jerk her chin free. ‘Listen--’
‘Are those tits yours or enhanced?’
‘Mine.’ Instantly, Peabody crossed her arms over her chest and grabbed her own breasts before Trina could. ‘They’re mine. I’m really happy with them.’
‘They’re good tits, Okay, strip. Let’s have a look at them, and the rest of you.’
‘Strip?’ Peabody swiveled her head until her terrified eyes latched onto Eve’s. ‘Dallas, Lieutenant. Sir?’
‘You said you could handle undercover, Peabody.’ After one sympathetic shudder, Eve turned and started out. ‘You’ve got two hours with her.’
‘I need three,’ Trina called out. ‘I don’t rush my art.’
‘You got two.’ Firmly Eve shut the door on Peabody’s shocked squeak.
It seemed best all around, Eve thought, if she stayed as far away from what was happening to her aide as possible. She decided to pay a visit to an old friend.
Charles Monroe was a licensed companion, as slick and attractive a prostitute as Eve had encountered, on or off the force. He’d once helped her with a case - and then offered her his services for free.
She’d taken the help, and politely refused the offer.
Now she pressed the buzzer outside his elegant apartment in a high-priced midtown building. A building Roarke owned, she thought with a roll of her eyes.
When the security beam blinked green, she lifted a brow, aiming a look at the peephole and holding up her badge in case Charles had forgotten her.
When he opened the door, he proved she needn’t have worried about his memory. ‘Lieutenant Sugar.’ He caught her off guard with a strong hug and a quick, slightly too intimate kiss.
‘Hands off, pal.’
‘I never got to kiss the bride.’ He winked at her, a sleepy-eyed, handsome man with an elegant face. ‘So how do you like being married to the richest man in the universe?’
‘He keeps me in coffee.’
Charles cocked his head, studied her. ‘You’re in love with him, all the way. Well, good for you. I see the two of you on screen now and then. At some glitzy do. I wondered how it was with you. Now I see, and I have to assume you’re not here to take me up on that offer I made some months back.’
‘I need to talk to you.’
‘Okay, come on in.’ He stepped back, gesturing. He wore a black unisuit that showed off a very well-disciplined body. ‘Want a drink? I doubt my blend of coffee compares to what Roarke can supply. How about a tube of Pepsi?’
‘Yeah, fine.’
She remembered his kitchen. Neat, spartan, clean lined. A great deal like its tenant. She took a seat while he took two tubes out of the cold box and poured each into a tall clear glass. He rolled the tubes, slipped them into the recycle slot, then sat down across from her.
‘I’d drink to old times, Dallas, but . . . they sucked.’
‘Yeah. Well, I’ve got some new times for you, Charles. They suck, too. Why is a successful LC using a dating service? Before you answer,’ she continued, lifting her glass, ‘I’ll inform you that using such services for professional solicitations is illegal.’
He blushed. She wouldn’t have believed it possible, but his strong, handsome face colored painfully and his gaze dropped to his glass. ‘Jesus, do you know everything?’
‘If I knew everything, I’d know the answer. Why don’t you give it to me?’
‘It’s private,’ he muttered.
‘I wouldn’t be here if it was. Why have you gone to Personally Yours for consults?’
‘Because I want a woman in my life,’ he snapped. His head came up, and now his eyes were dark and angry. ‘A real woman, not one who buys me, all right? I want a goddamn relationship, what’s wrong with that? In my line of work, they don’t happen. You do what you’re paid to do, and you do it well. I like my job, but I want a personal life. There’s nothing illegal about wanting a personal life.’
‘No,’ she said slowly, ‘there’s not.’
‘So I lied about what I do on the form.’ He moved his shoulders restlessly. ‘I didn’t want to match up with the kind of woman who’d get some purient thrill out of dating an LC. You going to arrest me for lying on a fucking dating video?’
‘No.’ And she was sorry, sincerely, to have embarrassed him. ‘You matched up with a woman. Marianna Hawley. Do you remember her?’
‘Marianna.’ He struggled to regain his composure, drank deeply of the iced drink. ‘I remember her video. Pretty woman, sweet. I contacted her, but she’d already met someone.’ Now he smiled, shrugged again. ‘Just my luck. She was exactly the type I was looking for.’
‘You never met her?’
‘No. I went out with the other four from my first match list. Hit it off with one of them. We saw each other off and on for a few weeks.’ He blew out a breath. ‘I decided if it was going to go anywhere, I had to tell her what I really did. And that,’ he finished, toasting Eve with his glass, ‘was the end of that.’
‘I’m sorry.’
‘Hey, there are more where she came from.’ But his cocky smile didn’t reach his eyes. ‘Too bad Roarke took you out of the running.’
‘Charles, Marianna is dead.’
‘What?’
‘Haven’t you caught the news lately?’
‘No. I haven’t been watching any screen. Dead?’ Then his eyes sharpened, focused in on Eve. ‘Murdered. You wouldn’t be here if she’d died quietly in her sleep. She was murdered. Am I a suspect?’
‘Yeah, you are,’ she said because she liked him enough to be straight with him. ‘I’m going to want to do a formal interview, just to keep it all official. But tell me now, can you clear yourself for last Tuesday night, for Wednesday, and for last night?’
He stared at her for a long time, just stared with eyes dull with horror. ‘How do you do what you do?’ he demanded. ‘Day in and day out?’
She met those eyes levelly. ‘I could ask you the same thing, Charles. So let’s not get into career choices. Can you alibi?’
He broke the stare, pushed away from the table. ‘I’ll get my book.’
She let him go, knowing she could trust her gut on this one. He wasn’t a man who had murder inside him.
He came back carrying a small, elegant date book. Opening it, he plugged in the dates she’d asked for. ‘Tuesday, I had an overnight. Regular client. It can be verified. Last night I had a theater, late supper, and seduction here. The client left at two-thirty A.M. Got thirty minutes overtime out of it. And a handsome tip. Wednesday I was home, alone.’
He slid the book across the table to her. ‘Take the names, check it out.’
She said nothing, merely copied the names and addresses into her own book. ‘Sarabeth Greenbalm, Donnie Ray Michael,’ she said at length. ‘Either ring for you?’
‘No.’
She looked at him then, steadily. ‘I’ve never seen you use enhancements. Why did you purchase lip dye and eye smudger from the Natural Perfection line at All Things Beautiful?’
‘Lip dye?’ He looked blank for a moment, then shook his head. ‘Oh, I picked them up for the woman I was seeing. She asked me to get her a couple of things since I was going into the salon for the styling that came with my package.’
Obviously confused, he smiled a little. ‘And why, Lieutenant Sugar, should you care if I buy lip dye?’
‘Just another detail, Charles. You did me a favo
r once, so I’m doing you one. Three people who used the services of Personally Yours are dead, killed in the same manner and by the same hand.’
‘Three? God.’
‘In less than a week. I’m not going to give you many details, and what I do give can’t be passed on to anyone. It’s my opinion that he’s using the data from Personally Yours to select his victims.’
‘He’s killed three women in less than a week.’
‘No.’ Eve leveled her gaze. ‘The last victim was a man. You’re going to want to watch your step, Charles.’
When he understood, the edge of resentment faded. ‘You think I could be a target?’
‘I think anyone in the Personally Yours data bank could be a target. At this point I’m concentrating on the victims’ match list. I’m telling you not to let anyone in your apartment you don’t know. Anyone.’ She drew another breath. ‘He dresses up like Santa Claus and carries a large gift-wrapped box.’
‘What?’ He set down the glass he’d just lifted. ‘Is this a joke?’
‘Three people are dead. It’s not very funny. He gets them to let him inside, he drugs them, restrains them, and he kills them.’
‘Jesus.’ He rubbed his hands over his face. ‘This is bizarre.’
‘If this guy comes to your door, keep it secured and call me. Stall him if you can, let him go if you can’t. Don’t, under any circumstances, open your door. He’s smart, and he’s deadly.’
‘I won’t be opening the door. The woman I was seeing - from the service - I need to tell her.’
‘I’ve got your match list. I’ll tell her. I need to keep this out of the media as long as I can.’
‘I’d rather the press didn’t get ahold of the story of the lonely-hearts LC, thanks very much.’ He grimaced. ‘Can you get to her right away, to Darla McMullen? She lives alone, and she’s . . . naive. If Santa came knocking, she’d open the door and offer him milk and cookies.’
‘She sounds like a nice woman.’
‘Yeah.’ Now his eyes were bleak. ‘She is.’
‘I’ll go see her.’ Eve rose. ‘Maybe you ought to call her again.’