Devoted in Death (In Death 41)

“Yeah, West Broadway, right off Prince. I got this little buzz when we passed it, like you do. So we went in, and hit. James has been in, twice. Counter guy remembers – the accent stuck. James paid cash, and that helped the stick. Duct tape, cord, a roll of plastic. Friendly guy, apparently, talkative enough. Said how he and his wife just moved to the city. She really loves New York.”

“Was he on foot or in the van?”

“Counter guy didn’t notice, but figured the van because he bought a jumbo roll of the plastic. Said he had other errands to run. So we hit a couple delis, nothing, but hit again at a 24/7. Got all the feed we could, but the hardware was four days ago. Everybody got the usual warning. Don’t let on, don’t confront, call nine-one-one.”

“Write it up, exact addresses of the hits.”

“We got her in a couple shops in SoHo.”

“Is that so?”

“We took a gander at the feed. She bought a couple pair of sexy panties, lifted a dress and the matching bras. Clerk’s pretty pissed they missed catching her.”

“Sloppy, on both sides. They can’t help but steal, and they’ll get caught sooner or later trying to cop fancy underwear or something shiny. We don’t have later, so we close in on the area. They walk, they drive, they eat, they shop.”

She shifted back to her map. “We’ve got twenty-four, Baxter, I figure twenty-four at the outside before Campbell’s finished. Same amount before the feds release the names and faces, and that’ll finish Campbell and Mulligan for sure, and send those two fuckers running.”

“I can take Banner back out. The boy, too. He’s on his way back in from the exam. But we covered all the ground, Dallas. The best we could do is cruise and hoof it, hope to spot them on the street.”

It was something she’d considered, but… “I’ve got uniforms doing that. We’ve got other DBs who need attention. Peabody’s working one, and she’s got another set up for you. Work it with Trueheart.”

“It’ll keep his mi

nd off the exam results. He thinks he did okay, but said he got nervous a couple times. They’re backed up – surprise. Told him results in about forty-eight.”

He slid her a look. “Maybe you can speed that up.”

“Dead bodies, Baxter, and two I’d like to keep breathing. Let’s keep focused here.”

“Right, yeah, right. He’s okay with the forty-eight. It’s me sweating it. I’ll get moving on it.”

She wanted to get moving herself – and stop talking to every-damn-body.

She grabbed her coat again, and got the hell out before someone else interrupted her.

She’d cruise the target area. Maybe do a walk-around.

These two had murdered their way east and gotten away with it not because they were criminal geniuses, but because they’d kept moving, because it had taken time for locals to call in the feds, time to put the murders together.

But now they were… nesting, she thought as she wedged herself into the cop can of an elevator. Making themselves a home of sorts, getting to know the neighborhood, the city.

Out and about.

And, for now, they still felt free and clear.

Not hiding, not running, not moving on.

Yet.

She elbowed off on her level of the garage, and pulled out her signaling ’link on the way to her car.

“A big howdy from the Rope ’N Ride,” Carmichael said. “Yee-haw.”

“You’ve gotta get the hell out of there soon.”

“Oh, fucking A, Dallas. Somebody just called me little lady. I’m not little, I’m not a lady. I wanted to punch him, and he was seriously cute. But I digress. Ella-Loo Parsens did her waitress thing here, and offered sexual services, for a fee, on the side. Unlicensed. But it’s not the kind of place that sets much store in licenses. The seriously cute bartender told Santiago – as he wouldn’t discuss such matters in front of the little lady – that bjs were her specialty.”

“Keeps her in control.”