“Met them, don’t know them. One of the ‘dos’ I got dragged to. Roarke knows them. I didn’t place the name, who the hell can remember all those people? But her face clicked.”
She turned as Mrs. Vanderlea hurried back into the room. “She’s not there. I don’t understand. She’s not in her room, or anywhere in her suite. Vonnie’s sleeping. Her daughter, her little girl. I don’t understand.”
“Does she often go out at night?”
“No, of course she—Mignon!” With this, she dashed back into Elisa’s suite.
“Who the hell is Mignon?” Eve muttered.
“Maybe Maplewood switched to girls. Might have a lover.”
“Mignon’s not here.” Deann was sheet-white now, and her fingers trembled as she held them to her throat.
“Who is—”
“Our dog.” She spoke quickly, the words jumping out of her mouth. “Really Elisa’s dog, emotionally. A little teacup poodle I bought a few months ago—for company, for the girls, but Mignon bonded with Elisa. She—she probably took her for a walk. She often does that the last thing at night. She took the dog for a walk. Oh, God. Oh, my God.”
“Mrs. Vanderlea, why don’t you sit down? Peabody, some water.”
“Was there an accident? Oh God, was there an accident?” There weren’t tears, not yet, but Eve knew there would be.
“No, I’m sorry, it wasn’t an accident. Ms. Maplewood was attacked, in the park.”
“Attacked?” She said it slowly, as if the word were foreign. “Attacked?”
“She was murdered.”
“No. No.”
“Drink a little water, ma’am.” Peabody pressed the glass she’d poured into Deann’s hands. “Sip a little water.”
“I can’t. I can’t. How can this be? We were just talking, a few hours ago. We were sitting right here. She told me to take a blocker and go to bed. And I did. We . . . the girls were tucked in for the night, and she made me tea and told me to go to bed. How did this happen? What happened?”
No, Eve thought. It wasn’t the time to make it worse with details. “Drink some water.” She noticed Peabody going over to close the pocket doors.
The kid, Eve remembered. This wasn’t a conversation a child should hear, if she should wake.
When she did wake, Eve thought, her world would be changed, irrevocably.
Chapter 2
“How long has she worked for you?” Eve knew the answer, but it would be easier to guide Deann over smooth ground before they moved to the rocks.
“Two years. Two years. I—we—my husband travels a great deal, and I decided I wanted live-in help rather than just the day staff and droids. More for company, I suppose. I hired Elisa because I liked her.”
She ran a hand over her face and made an obvious effort to settle. “She was qualified, of course, but we just hit it off right away. If I were to hire someone who’d live in my house, be a part of my household, I wanted it to be someone I was comfortable with, on a personal level. The other deciding factor was Vonnie. Yvonne, her daughter. I have a little girl, I have Zanna. They’re the same age, and I thought they’d be playmates. They are. They’re like family. They are family. Oh God, Vonn
ie.”
She pressed her hands to her mouth, and now the tears came. “She’s only four. She’s just a baby. How will I tell her that her mother’s . . . How will I tell her?”
“We can do that, Mrs. Vanderlea.” Peabody sat. “We’ll talk to her, and have a counselor from Child Protection available for her.”
“She doesn’t know you.” Deann pushed to her feet, walked across the room to a drawer, took out tissues. “She’d only be more frightened and confused if she heard . . . from a stranger. I have to tell her. I have to find the way to tell her.”
She dabbed her cheeks with a tissue. “I need a second.”
“Take your time,” Eve told her.