She kept walking to the van, where a couple of men were still on the ground. One of the uniforms hauled one to his feet. The other, like Peabody, might need to be carried.
When she noticed the one now on his feet, hands restrained behind his back, begin to snap his fingers, she smiled.
She signaled a uniform over, gave instructions, then continued to the van just as Roarke stepped out.
“Peabody,” he said.
“Banged up some. She’s with McNab and the MTs. You had some trouble?”
Marley hopped out, held out a fist for Roarke to bump. “We gave the trouble. We are the freaking trouble. Dumb-asses thought they could jack the van? We said, Uh-uh. Dreamcake has a good pow!” Then Marley winced. “Looks like somebody got a couple pows in on you.”
“I got in more. Go ahead and call in the sweepers, and we’re going to need to coordinate confiscation of illegals, weapons, fraud equipment.”
“On top, on bottom. Frosty working with you, Dreamcake.”
“And with you, Detective Adorable.”
As Marley hopped back in, Eve gestured toward the finger-snapper. “Is he one of your pows?”
“He was, actually. McNab and Marley handled the bulk of it—with assistance from Lowenbaum. That one thought he’d bull his way behind the wheel. He went down with one punch. He can’t be more than sixteen.”
“We’ll find out. Look at his hands.” Her smile came back. His fingers continued to snap as the uniform led him away.
“Ah, well now. I suddenly regret only punching him once. You’ve made quite a haul, Lieutenant, and I expect you’ll be at this for a while. I’d like to have a look at Peabody before you start the next phase of this.”
“She got tripped up by one of the bad guys. They both went down the steps the wrong way. She’s lucid,” Eve said as they crossed to the mobile. “I don’t think she broke anything.”
“And you?”
“Most of this is from a female with arms like concrete. They call her Tank for a reason. But she looks worse.” There was, always, satisfaction in that. “Hey, that’s Louise.”
Roarke studied the woman applying ice patches to Peabody’s face. “So it is. We know our Peabody’s in good hands with Dr. Dimatto.”
When he reached her, Roarke laid a gentle kiss on Peabody’s forehead. “How’s our girl?”
“Louise gave me really nice drugs.”
“Yes, I did. And let’s sling that arm until you get another pass with a healing wand. No breaks,” Louise continued. “But a jammed shoulder, and her knee’s going to need more treatment. My clinic’s open.”
She glanced around, studied Eve’s face with cool gray eyes. “You’re next.”
“I’m fine.”
“Which one of us has the medical degree?”
It seemed wise to change the subject. “What are you even doing here?”
“Word went out there were a l
ot of injuries in this location. Sit down, and I’ll—”
But Eve’s attention moved elsewhere. “Later. McNab, get Peabody to the clinic. Go with her.” Eve was already moving.
She grabbed the arm of a woman being loaded into a wagon.
“Where’d you get the bracelet?”
“Fuck you!” The woman bared her teeth. The layers of eye makeup had bled down to smear below her eyes, costing the rage glittering in them some points.