“Well, good.”

“Yeah, great.” He yanked at the door, cursed because he’d forgotten to unlock it and had spoiled his exit. He sent her one last fulminating look and got out, closing the door smartly behind him.

She snarled, hastily buttoned her uniform jacket, smoothed it. Sniffled. Heard herself. Oh no, she thought, straightening her shoulders. She was not going to cry in the maintenance closet. And she was certainly not going to waste perfectly good tears over a moron like Ian McNab.

Eve was adding the results of her probability scans to her updated report when Nadine Furst walked into her office.

The first thing Eve did was swear. The second was to save and dump on-screen data before the slick reporter could get a look at it over her shoulder.

“What?” was Eve’s greeting.

“Nice to see you, too. Looking good. Why, yes, I’d love some coffee.” At home, Nadine strolled to the AutoChef, programmed for two cups.

She was a lovely woman, with perfectly styled dark blonde hair that flattered her somewhat foxy face. Her suit was poppy red and tailored to flatter a curvy figure and really good legs.

All of that was part of the requirement for being one of the top on-air reporters in the city. Added to it, Nadine had a few more advantages. A sharp and clever brain, and a sensitive nose that could sniff out a story even when it was buried under two tons of bullshit.

“Busy here, Nadine. See you later.”

“Yes, I imagine so.” Unmoved, unoffended, Nadine set a fresh cup of coffee on Eve’s desk and settled down in the creaky and uncomfortable chair beside it. “Media conference in about an hour with the FBI on that botched bust uptown.”

“So why aren’t you prepping for it?”

“Oh.” With a feline smile, Nadine sipped her coffee. “I am. I get word about the conference, then get a whiff that you’re to be involved. Even as I begin to ponder on that, I get word you’re out. And, the previously scheduled media conference with the NYPSD is now washed. So . . . comments, Lieutenant Dallas?”

“None.” She’d spent twenty minutes strategizing with Whitney over just that. “It was a federal operation, not mine or my department’s.”

“But you were there, after the fact. I got a whiff of that, too. Why were you there?”

“I was in the neighborhood.”

“Come on, Dallas.” Nadine leaned forward. “It’s just you and me. No camera, no recorder. Give me an edge.”

“You’re edgy enough all by yourself. I’m swamped here, Nadine.”

“Yeah, swamped in homicides. Two. Same method, which points to one killer. If you’re so swamped with them and the social obligation of the upcoming Magda Lane auction, why are you poking into a failed federal bust?”

“I don’t poke.”

“That’s right, Dallas, you don’t.” Pleased, Nadine sat back again. “What’s the connection between your homicides and the FBI operation?”

Now Eve smiled, kicked back, sipped coffee. “Why don’t you ask Special Agent Jacoby that question? Why don’t you ask him, and/or Special Agent Stowe why they took an entire team, at taxpayers’ expense, into a privately owned building without first assuring that their target was in residence? And you might ask how they feel about the fact that tromping their FBI asses into that building without first pinpointing their target has now alerted that target, who remains at large.”

“Well, well. I might not be getting answers, but I’m getting some very nice questions. Did they screw with you?”

“Off the record? They undermined my investigation, jumped over my bust, then mucked it up.”

“And yet they live. You disappoint me.”

Eve merely showed her teeth. “I think they’ll be bleeding after the media conference. I doubt you’ll disappoint me.”

“Ah, I’m being used. I feel so satisfied.” Nadine finished off her coffee, toyed with the empty cup. “Since I’m being so nice and cooperative, how about a favor?”

“I’ve given you all you’re going to get.”

“On another topic. On the auction. My media pass will get me in, but if I use it, I’m not allowed to bid. I really want to bid. Dallas, I’m a huge fan. How about finding me an extra ticket?”

“That’s it?” Eve shrugged. “Sure, I should be able to lay my hands on one.”

Tags: J.D. Robb In Death Mystery
Source: readsnovelonline.net