"You didn't go with the others."
"I didn't, no. I stayed back to help my daughter and daughter-in-law with their babies. The lot of them are sound asleep now. And I thought to myself I'd find that beautiful library Roarke showed us earlier, have a book and a little lie down. But I got lost as Gretel in the woods."
"Gretel who?"
"Hansel's sister. It's a fairy tale."
"Right. I knew that. I can show you the library."
"Don't trouble yourself, no. I'll come upon it. You're working."
"Not getting anywhere anyway."
"Could I see, do you think, just for a moment?"
"See what?"
"The police part of things. .. well, I'm not as bloodthirsty as our Sean, but I can't help wondering. And it looks more like a little flat than a cop's office."
It took Eve a moment to translate flat into apartment. "Actually, Roarke kind of replicated my old apartment. It was one of his ways of luring me in, getting me to move in here."
Sinead's smile was very warm. "Clever, and sweet. I find him to be both, though you can see the fierceness in him, the power all over him. Do you wish us all back to Clare, Eve? I won't be offended."
"I don't. Really. He's-" She wasn't sure how to put it. "He's so happy that you've come. He isn't unsure about much, but he's unsure about you-all of you. Especially you. He's still, I guess, grieving, for Siobhan, still guilty on some level about what happened to her."
"The griefs natural enough, and probably good for him. But the guilt is useless, and it's aimed wrong. He was just a baby."
"She died for him. That's how he sees it, and always will. So having you here ... Especially having you here, it means a lot. I wish I knew more how to handle it all. That's all."
"I wanted to come, so much. I'll never forget the day he came, the day he sat in my kitchen. Siobhan's boy. I wanted ... Oh, look at me, going foolish."
"What's wrong?" The sudden sheen of tears had Eve's stomach knotting. "What is it?"
"I'm here. And there's part of me can't stop thinking how much Siobhan would have loved to be. How proud she'd be of everything her son's accomplished. What he has, what he's become. I wish I could give her even an hour of my life that she could stand here and talk to his wife in their beautiful home. And I can't."
"I don't know much about it, but I'd guess she'd be glad you're here. I guess she'd be grateful you've, well, you've taken him in."
"Just the right thing to say. Thanks for that. I'm happy to stand in as his mother, and sad that my sister had so little time with her child. He has our eyes. Not the color, the shape of them. It comforts me to look in. them, and see that part of us. Of her. I hope it comforts him to see her in me. I'll let you get back to work."
"Wait. Wait." Eve held up a hand, let the thoughts circle. "Your brother, the one who's here."
"Ned."
"He went to Dublin looking for your sister and her baby."
"He did." Her mouth set. "And was nearly beaten to death for it. Patrick Roarke." She all but spat it. "The police were no help. We knew she was gone, our Siobhan. We knew but had no proof of it. We tried to find him for her, and nearly lost Ned."
"Hypothetical. If you'd known where to find Roarke when he was a kid, how to get to him, what was happening to him, when he'd been a boy, what would you have done?"
Those lovely eyes went hot and hard. "If I'd known where that bastard had my sister's child, my blood and bone, my heart that he'd murdered? That he was treating that child worse than you'd treat a stray dog, trying to train him to be what he himself was? I swear before God, I'd have moved heaven and earth to get to that boy, to get him away, to get him safe. He was mine, wasn't he? He was, is, part of me."
"Son of a bitch! Sorry," she said when Sinead's eyebrows shot up. "Son of a bitch." And she leaped to her desk 'link. "Lieutenant Dallas. Get me the lead officer on duty," she barked. "Now."
"This is Officer Otts, Lieutenant."
"Determine location of student Diana Rodriguez, age twelve. Immediately. Security check, full parameter. I'm staying linked until you report affirmation on both. Move your ass!"
Sinead's eyes were wide, and for a moment resembled her grandson's. "Well now, you're formidable, aren't you?"