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“A likely story. You probably spend all your free time hanging at poetry bars and performance art clubs.”
“Actually, I prefer the mating lounges. Better food.”
“You’d probably get more sex if you didn’t think about it so much.”
“No, I tried that, too.” She yawned, abruptly and hugely. “Sorry.”
“You’re entitled. When you report in, check on the status of the autopsy. I want to be sure there’s nothing weird in the tox report. And make sure to change out of that silly dress.”
Peabody shifted on her seat. “It’s not that silly. A couple guys at the Aquarian seemed to like it. So did Roarke.”
“Yeah, he mentioned it.”
Jaw dropped, Peabody swiveled her head. “He did? Really?”
Foolishness, Eve thought, helped soothe. “He said something about you looking appealing. So I hit him. Just in case.”
“Appealing. Jesus.” Peabody patted her heart. “I’m going to have to dig through some of the other stuff my mother’s made for me. Appealing.” She sighed. “Roarke doesn’t have any brothers, cousins, uncles, does he?”
“As far as I know, Peabody, he’s one of a kind.”
She found him dozing. Not in bed, but on the sofa in the sitting area of the master suite. The moment she stepped into the room, his eyes opened.
“You’ve had a long, rough one, Lieutenant.” He reached out a hand. “Come here.”
“I’m going to grab a shower, some coffee. I’ve got some calls to make.”
He’d tagged onto the police scanner and knew exactly what she’d been dealing with. “Come here,” he repeated, and closed his hand over hers when she reluctantly obliged. “Are the calls going to make any difference if you make them an hour from now?”
“No, but—”
So he tugged until she tumbled onto the sofa with him. Because her struggle was only halfhearted, he managed to snuggle her down beside him quickly. And wrapping an arm around her, he kissed her hair. “Sleep a little,” he said quietly. “There’s no need to exhaust yourself.”
“She was so young, Roarke.”
“I know. Close it off, just for a little while.”
“The
data? Frank’s log. Did you find anything?”
“We’ll talk about it after you sleep.”
“An hour. Just an hour.” Linking her fingers with his, she let herself go under.
chapter five
Sleep helped. So did the hot shower and the food Roarke ordered up. Eve shoveled eggs into her mouth as she studied the data he’d unearthed on-screen.
“More like a diary than an investigative log,” she decided. “Lots of personal comments, and obviously he was worried about Alice. ‘I’m not sure how deeply they’ve influenced her mind, or hurt her heart.’ He was thinking like a grandfather, not like a cop. You got this off his home unit?”
“Yes. He had it coded and passkeyed. I suspect he didn’t want his wife stumbling across it.”
“If he had it coded, how did you access?”
Roarke took a cigarette from a carved box, studied it. “You don’t really want me to explain that, do you? Lieutenant?”
“No.” Eve forked up more eggs. “Guess not. Still, his personal thoughts and worries aren’t going to be a lot of help. I need to know what he found out, and how far his private investigation went before he died.”
