Obsession in Death (In Death 40)

“Would you like some tea?” Roarke asked, rose.

“Oh God, I would love some. Thank you. I can get it. You should sit.”

“Not at all. I’ll leave the two of you to talk. I have a few threads to tie off. I left my downtown meeting rather abruptly.” He gave Mira the tea, then smiled, bent down, kissed the top of Eve’s head, lingered there. “Pizza in thirty, and you’ll have a slice at least before you take on your prisoner.”

“I could eat.”

Eve waited as Mira sat, gingerly, on the edge of the miserable visitor’s chair. “You’re going to tell me she’s crazy, which isn’t news! but you’re going to add she’s going to skew legally insane. I’m not going to get her locked in an off-planet cage for the rest of her crazy life.”

“No, you’re not. You will get her locked in an institution for the rest of her life.”

“I’m dealing with her first. She had my people. All of my people. She would’ve killed all my cops. Well, maybe Reineke would’ve survived the blast—then he’d never have gotten over surviving it.”

She stopped for a minute, pressed her fingers to her eyes because to her shock and unease, tears burned at them.

“But they were nothing to her, goddamn it. They were nothing to her. She’d worked with them, maybe all of them, at some point. Worked the same crime scene, and she didn’t care. And why, because she has some sort of sick crush on me?”

Mira rose, set the tea on Eve’s desk. “Drink that.” Gently, she brushed a hand over Eve’s hair. “For me.”

“I don’t— Fine.” To get it done, Eve downed the contents of the cup in one go.

And oddly felt steadier.

“It’s more than that,” Mira said. “More than a crush. She idolized you, idealized you, and that was unhealthy. Then she wanted to demonize you, but she couldn’t accept it. What planted these seeds in her will take years to really understand.”

“Sister, mother, dead.”

“Yes, I familiarized myself with some of her data while I— I want to say you handled it, handled her, with insight and intelligence, and incredible courage.”

“I couldn’t hold her.”

“No. No, she had made the last turn, and wouldn’t have come back. But you made her talk, got her to take that time, give you time. If you couldn’t have reached the switch, held it—”

“I had to. All my people, Mira. All of them. My family. Reineke said it. You do whatever you have to do for family. It’s taken me some time to figure that one.”

“It took you time to make the family, then you didn’t have to figure out anything. I’ll observe. It’s best I’m not in the room. As much as it will hurt Peabody, it would be best if she’s not in the room. Just the two of you.”

“Okay.”

“I’ll interview her myself, tomorrow.”

“First of the year.”

“It shouldn’t wait. Dennis understands. We’re lucky, you and I, in that area.”

“No snake eyes for us.”

“I’m sorry?”

“Nothing. Colorful metaphor.”

• • •

She ate pizza, grateful Whitney stayed with her people, ate with them. And got a surprise when Peabody didn’t argue about the interview.

“Mira explained it. I’m going to observe though.”

“Don’t you have a ball drop to get to?”