Devoted in Death (In Death 41)

Eve

got a good sense of Jayla Campbell. She liked popular music, nothing too cutting edge, nothing too nostalgic. She had a love affair going with shoes, and kept her wardrobe separated into the professional wear, the party wear and the hangout wear.

She leaned toward the conservative in sex, opted for the yearly birth-control implant – and was due for a recharge there in three months.

She liked her work, had hopes to climb the ladder to full partner, and struggled to keep steady on a healthy nutrition and exercise routine.

She had a younger sister, still in college, and parents who were going to celebrate their twenty-sixth anniversary in the fall.

She believed, according to the journal she kept on her bedroom comp, she was the woman to make Mattio a star, and to make him a good man.

Not in love with him, Eve deduced. Thinks she is, but it’s not the long-haul. And there was just enough about Luke Tripp – the cute neighbor – to show Jayla was paying some attention there.

She enjoyed a varied social life, much of it work-centered, kept a decent budget with occasional splurges – which included hair and skin care, an apparent priority.

By the time Eve left the apartment, she visualized a woman with a good work ethic, one who enjoyed interaction with people – friends and strangers alike. A dependable woman. Not one who would leave her closest friend and roommate hanging and worried.

She knocked on the door across the hall.

The man who opened the door had a compact body and an attractive face. His dark hair stuck up in wild tufts, as if he’d combed it with a rake. And his eyes, warmly blue, widened when she held up her badge.

“Luke Tripp?”

“Yeah. You’re the police. Did you find her?”

“No, we haven’t.”

“Ah, Jesus.” He dragged his fingers through his hair, added more tufts. “Kari just told me about an hour ago. I’ve been tagging everybody I can think of, but nobody’s seen her.”

“When did you last see or speak to her?”

“We got home from work at the same time yesterday, walked in together. Talked for a couple minutes, like you do. Later, about nine maybe, I was restless, so I decided I’d hit the gym. It’s right around the corner. I rode down in the elevator with her and Mattio.”

He said the name in a spit of contempt.

“Don’t like him much.”

“At all,” Luke corrected. “He’s an asshole, and he treats her like crap. She deserves better.”

“Like you?”

He let out a half laugh, then just sighed. “I wish.”

“How about after the gym?”

“After? I… Oh, well, God, you’re looking for where I was when she went missing.” This time he pressed his fingers to his eyes. “Okay, anything that helps. I ran into a couple gym buddies, and we went out for a brew. I’d’ve been home by midnight. Do you want to come in, do you want to look around?”

“No. I’m just crossing things off the list.”

“Kari said she was upset about Mattio – big surprise – but you’ve got to trust me. She’d never do this to Kari, never just drop off the grid. They’re family.”

No, Eve thought when she left the building, the woman she pictured had a good, solid sense of responsibility, and wouldn’t do this to a friend.

Eve pulled out her ’link to coordinate with Peabody on the next step.

9

She arranged to meet Peabody at Mattio Diaz’s building, on the west edge of Greenwich Village. She didn’t have the same happy luck with parking, and had to settle on a price-gouging underground lot three snow-packed blocks away.