Odd to feel nothing, Eve realized as she automatically pulled her recorder from her coat pocket. Odd to feel nothing at all.
She fixed it to her lapel, engaged. “Dallas, Lieutenant Eve,” she began, then Zana was wiggling around her.
“What is it? What’s…”
The words became a gurgle, and the first screech erupted before Eve could push her aside. By the second, the maid had joined in with a kind of hysterical harmony.
“Quiet. Shut up! Roarke.”
“Wonderful. Ladies…”
He caught Zana before she hit the floor. And the maid ran like a gazelle toward the stairs. Doors began to open here and there along the hall.
“Police.” She turned, held her badge in clear view. “Go back in your rooms, please.” She pinched the bridge of her nose. “I don’t have my field kit.”
“I have one in the car,” Roarke told her, and laid Zana down on the hall carpet. “It seemed wise to store a few in various vehicles, as this sort of thing happens entirely too often.”
“I’m going to need you to go get it. I’m sorry. Just leave her there.” She drew out her communicator to call it in.
“What’s going on? What’s happening?”
“Sir, I need you to go back to your room. This is…”
She wouldn’t have recognized him. Why should she? He’d been a blip in her life more than twenty years before. But she knew by the way he paled when he saw the woman passed out cold in the hallway, it was Bobby Lombard who had rushed out of the room at the end of the hall.
She eased the door to four-fifteen closed, and waited.
“Zana! My God, Zana!”
“She fainted. That’s all. She’ll be fine.”
He was on his knees, clutching Zana’s hand, patting it the way people do when they feel helpless.
He looked hefty, but in the way a ballplayer does, she thought. Strong and solid. His hair was the color of straw, cut short and neat. Water was beaded on it, and she could smell hotel soap. He hadn’t finished buttoning his shirt, and the tail was out.
She had another flash of memory. He’d snuck her food, she remembered. She’d forgotten that, as she’d forgotten him. But sometimes he’d snuck a sandwich or crackers into her room when she was being punished.
He’d been his mother’s pride and joy, and had gotten away with a great deal.
They hadn’t been friends. No, they hadn’t been friends. But he hadn’t been unkind.
So she crouched down, laid a hand on his shoulder. “Bobby.”
“What? Who…” His face was a sturdy kind of square, and his eyes were the blue of jeans that had faded from countless washings. She saw recognition layer over confusion.
“My God, it’s Eve, isn’t it? Mama’s going to get a thrill. Zana, come on, honey. We had an awful lot to drink last night. Maybe she’s… Zana, honey?”
“Bobby—”
The elevator opened, and the droid clerk came rushing out. “What happened? Who’s—”
“Quiet,” Eve snapped. “Not a word. Bobby, look at me. Your mother’s inside. She’s dead.”
“What? No, she’s not. God, almighty, she’s just feeling off. Sorry for herself, mostly. Sulking in there since Friday night.”
“Bobby, your mother’s dead. I need you to take your wife and go back to your room until I come to talk to you.”
“No.” His wife moaned, but he was staring at Eve now, and his breath began to hitch. “No. No. I know you’re upset with her. I know you’re probably not happy she came, and I tried to tell her so. But that’s no reason to say something like that.”