“I don’t know. I don’t know. Maybe because you did the holiday thing with your half, and—”
“But he knew my parents. Didn’t he?”
There were still tears threatening, Eve noted, but with the heat in those brown eyes, it was a wonder they didn’t turn to steam.
“Didn’t he meet my parents before that? He wasn’t going in cold. Besides, my family’s different.”
She knew it was a mistake to ask, but the words just popped out of Eve’s mouth. “How do you know?”
“Because they’re my family. And it’s not like I don’t want to meet his. Eventually. But I have to go to a foreign country, and eat—I don’t know—haggis or something. It’s disgusting.”
“Yeah, I bet the tofu surprise was a big winner over Thanksgiving.”
Peabody’s pinwheeling eyes went to lethal slits. “Whose side are you on ?”
“Nobody’s. I’m neutral. I’m—what is it—I’m Switzerland. Can we go to work now?”
“He slept on the couch,” Peabody said in a trembling voice. “And he was gone when I got up this morning.”
Eve heaved a huge sigh. “What time is his tour?”
“On at eight, same as me.”
Eve pulled out her communicator, contacted EDD.
“Don’t!” Now Peabody did the panic dance on the sidewalk. “I don’t want him to know I’m worried about him.”
“Shut up. Lieutenant Dallas, Sergeant. Has Detective McNab clocked in?” When she got an affirmative, she nodded. “Thanks, that’s it.” She clicked off. “There, he’s on the job. Like we should be.”
“Bastard.” Tears dried up in eyes gone hard. Her mouth tightened to the width of a scalpel blade. “Just strolls right in to work.”
“Jesus. Jesus Christ. My head. My head.” Eve cradled it in her hands a moment. “Okay. I was going to do this later.” She dug into her pocket, pulled out a small wrapped box. “Take it now.”
“My Christmas present? That’s nice. But I’m not really in the mood to—”
“Open the goddamn thing or I’ll kill you where you stand.”
“Sir! Opening it.” She ripped the paper, stuffed it hurriedly in her pocket, and pulled off the lid. “It’s a key code.”
“That’s right. It’s to the ground transpo that’ll be at the airport over in that foreign country. Air transpo’s been arranged, for two, on one of Roarke’s private shuttles. Round trip. Merry fricking Christmas. Do what you want with it.”
“I—you—one of the shuttles? Free?” Peabody’s cheeks went pink as a summer rose. “And—and—and—a vehicle when we get there? It’s so… It’s so seriously mag.”
“Great. Can we go now?”
“Dallas!”
“No. No. No hugs. No hugs. No. Oh, shit,” she muttered as Peabody threw her arms around her and squeezed. “We’re on duty, we’re in public. Let me go or I swear I’ll kick your ass so hard that extra five pounds you’re whining about will end up in Trenton.”
Peabody’s response was incoherent and muffled against Eve’s shoulder. “Get snot on my coat, and I’ll strangle you with that scarf after I kick your ass.”
“I can’t believe it. I just can’t believe it.” Sniffling, Peabody drew back. “It’s the ult. Thanks. Man. Oh boy, thanks.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah.”
“I guess I’ve got to go now.” Peabody stared down at the box. “I mean, the main part of the excuse—reason. I meant reason. The main part’s flipped, so… Gosh.”
“Whatever.” She’d been feeling pretty good, Eve remembered. And now a frustration headache was circling just over the crown of her skull. “Do you think, maybe, we could go spend just a couple minutes on murder now? Will that fit into your schedule?”