“No, actually, I’m leaving shortly.”
“I’m going to have you escorted. You’d open the door if she threatened your daughter?”
“Yes, I would.” Berkle’s breath inhaled, exhaled—and shook. “Yes, I certainly would. You do exactly what Lieutenant Dallas says, Dru.”
“We’ll have you escorted home. Engage your security, and keep your family inside. I’m going to have all of you escorted to your transportation in the morning if this isn’t resolved.”
“I’m grateful,” Berkle said as Eve rose.
“You don’t seem shaken or surprised.”
“Truthfully, I’m a little of both. If you’d told me Ann had drowned herself in her own bathtub, I’d have been sorry, but unsurprised. This is just another way to destroy her own life.”
“Natalia.” Roarke rose, took her hand and kissed it. “You’re a wonder.”
“I’m a survivor,” she said. “And, Dru, we’re going to leave tonight. How much time do you need?”
“I can get Renaldo and the kids up and running in an hour.”
“Earnestine, change of plans.”
“I’ll take care of it.”
“Good thinking,” Eve commented. “I’ll arrange for the escorts. One more thing,” she said as a switch flicked in her head. “You said Smith is a genius—and you shopped at Dobb’s with your sister-in-law. Did she also use Smith?”
“Occasionally, yes. But Sal’s married—three girls, no sons. And currently is in St. Kitts.”
“I imagine both you and she might have recommended Smith to others.”
“I can’t speak for Sal, but I certainly have.”
“Can you think of anyone who fits the profile?”
“I haven’t really thought …” She lurched to her feet, all the color in her face leaching away. “Oh my God. Oh my God, Dru!”
“Aunt Felicity! Not my actual aunt, but—”
“My oldest friend, godmother to my baby girl. Felicity Lomare. She’s a widow. She lost her husband six years ago. She has a son and a daughter, the same as I do. She uses Ann. I praised her to the skies and introduced them. Oh my God.”
“The address.”
“It’s—” Berkle pressed a hand to her temple. “I can’t think—”
Stepping in, Earnestine rattled off an address a few blocks away. “It’s a private home, not a building,” she added. “It’s gated.”
“I have to call her, call her right away. If anything happened to Felicity—”
“Tell her we’re on our way,” Eve told Berkle as she walked to the elevator. “If she’s not at home, she should stay where she is until we get there. We’ll contact her.”
Eve ordered the lobby.
“She won’t be on the Dobb’s list. Smarter, smarter to go for somebody she didn’t work with while at Dobb’s. Berkle was more likely the contingency, and Lomare the prime target.”
Her comm signaled. “Dallas.”
“We found
her hole,” Santiago told her. “A flop in Brownsville a few blocks from that sighting. Fourth-floor unit. We’re outside it now, but we don’t think she’s in there. Nosy guy on the first floor saw her leave about an hour ago. LT? He says he almost didn’t recognize her because she’d changed her hair, gone all curly, and was wearing a man’s coat and hat. But she was carrying her big sewing kit. He recognized that.”