At least that was a short one.
She started down the drive, engaged the dash ‘link and tagged Roarke.
“Miss me already?”
“Every second without you is a personal hell. Listen, am I supposed to have a list? Like a guest list for this deal tomorrow?”
“Do you want one?”
“No. No, I don’t want a damn list, but—”
“It’s taken care of, Eve.”
“Okay, good then. Fine.” Another thought wandered into her brain. “I probably have an entire outfit, down to the underwear, all picked out, too, don’t I?”
“Showing exquisite taste—with underwear optional.”
It made her laugh. “I never miss a trick. Later.”
* * *
Peabody was already at her desk when Eve walked into Central. It added another little pinch of guilt. She crossed over, waited until Peabody glanced up from her paperwork.
“Would you mind coming into my office for a minute?”
There was a blink of surprise. “Sure. Right behind you.”
With a nod, Eve headed into her office, programmed two coffees— one light and sweet for Peabody. That got her another blink of surprise when Peabody stepped in.
“Shut the door, will you?”
“Sure. Um, I have the report on… thanks,” she added when Eve handed her the coffee. “On Zero. The PA went in hard, Second Degree, two counts, using the illegals sale as a deadly weapon in the act of committing, with—”
“Sit down.”
“Jeez, am I being transferred to Long Island or something?”
“No.” Eve sat herself, waiting, watched Peabody warily take a seat. “I’m going to apologize for walking out on you yesterday, for not doing my job, and leaving you to deal with it.”
“We were all but wrapped, and you were sick.”
“It wasn’t wrapped, and if I was sick, it was my problem. I made it yours. You called Roarke.”
Eve waited a beat while Peabody got busy looking at the wall and drinking coffee. “I was going to slap you good for that,” she said when Peabody opened her mouth. “But it was probably the sort of thing a partner should do.”
“You were in bad shape. I didn’t know what else to do. Okay now?”
“Fine.” She studied her coffee a moment. Partnership was another thing with rules. “There was a woman in my office when we got back yesterday. Someone I knew a long time ago. It gave me a knock. A big one. She was my first foster mother—loose term on the mother. It was a rough patch, and having her come in like that, after all this time, it… I couldn’t—”
No, Eve thought, you always could.
“I didn’t handle it,” she corrected. “So I ditched. You handled the case, Peabody, and largely alone. You did a good job.”
“What did she want?”
“I don’t know, don’t care. I got her out. Door’s closed. If she wheedles her way through it again, she won’t be taking me by surprise. And I will handle it.”
Rising, she went to her window, shoved it up. Cold and wet spilled in as she leaned out and tore free the evidence bag she’d fixed to the outside wall. In it were four unopened candy bars.