"Okay, but they're only going to be here a few more days. I'll keep them occupied as much as I can. I guess Dad was just sensing some of your stress over the case. He picks up on stuff like that, even when he's blocking. About the only thing that shakes him up is getting something from somebody without their permission. Anyway." She brightened up again. "I can catch the subway to the clinic. Maybe we'll get lucky with Louise."
"Yeah." It was time, Eve thought, they got lucky with something.
* * *
Eve marched toward her office five minutes before the scheduled interview with Nadine. It didn't surprise her in the least to find Nadine already there. The reporter's silky legs were crossed as she meticulously applied fresh lip dye and checked her camera-ready face in her compact mirror.
Her camera operator stood slouched in a corner munching on a candy bar.
"Where'd you get that candy?" Eve demanded and moved in so quickly the operator's eyes popped wide.
"V-v-v-vending. Just down the hall." She offered what remained of the candy like a shield. "You want a hit?"
Eve scowled at her just long enough to see sweat bead on her brow, and concluded that the camera wasn't her dastardly candy thief.
"No." Eve dropped down at her desk, stretched out her legs.
"I was hoping you'd be late," Nadine began. "Then I was going to lord it over you."
"One of these days someone out there's going to do his job and keep you in the media area instead of letting you back here when I'm not in my office."
Nadine only smirked, clicked her compact closed. "You don't really believe that, do you? Now if you've finished intimidating my camera and your usual bitching, what's this about?"
"Murder."
"With you, it always is. Pettibone and Mouton. Obviously connected. Before we start I can tell you there's nothing in my searches that connects them personally and professionally. I'm sure you already know that. I've got nothing that puts any of their family on the same page, no particular links between colleagues. Pettibone used his own, in-house lawyers for WOF."
Watching Eve, Nadine used her perfectly manicured fingers to click off points. "They may very well have known each other vaguely on some thin social level, but didn't run in the same circles. The current wives used different salons, different health clubs, and tended to shop at different boutiques." Nadine paused. "But I imagine you know that, too."
"We do manage to cover some ground here at Central."
"Which is why I'm wondering how I got a one-on-one with you without begging for it."
"You don't beg, you wheedle."
"Yes, and quite well. Why the offer, Dallas?"
"I want to stop her, and I'll use all available tools. The more media exposure on this one, the better chance someone might recognize her. She'll be working toward her next target. Now this is off the record, Nadine, and I won't answer any questions pertaining to it on record. There's a better than fifty-fifty chance Roarke's a target."
"Roarke? Jesus, Dallas. That doesn't play. He's not her type. Hell, he's every woman's type, but you know what I mean. He's too young, he's too married."
"Married to me," Eve said. "That may be enough for her."
Nadine sat back again, let it settle in. She valued friendship as much as she valued ratings. "Okay. What can I do?"
"The interview. Give the story as much play as you can manage. Keep it and her on everyone's mind. She counts on being able to blend in. I want to take that advantage away from her."
"You want to piss her off."
"If she's pissed off, she'll make a mistake. She's got ice for blood, that's why she's good at what she does. It's time to heat it up."
"Okay." Nadine nodded and signaled her camera. "Let's start the fire."
CHAPTER ELEVEN
"Julianna Dunne is a failure of the system to identify an active threat and separate that threat from society." Eve's voice was calm and clear. The camera crept in until her face filled the screen. "It was a failure of the system to properly incarcerate and punish Julianna Dunne as suited her crimes against society."
"And yet—" The camera cut to Nadine. Earnest. Interested. "You're part of that system. You purport to believe in that system."