The in Death Collection Books 11-15 - J. D. Robb [638]
She spun to the desk, around it—the squishy gel on her feet making little sproinging sounds—and caught Eve in a headlock embrace that cut off all oxygen to the brain.
Eve managed to glug, slap on the arms that pressed on her windpipe.
“This is the best day! The most totally mag day ever invented. I love you, Dallas.”
“Then why are you trying to kill me?”
“Sorry, sorry.” But she squeezed again until Eve’s ears began to ring. “I’ve got to talk to you.”
“Can’t.” Freed, Eve coughed, rubbed at her throat. “Even if I were physically able I’m buried here. I’ll call you when I surface.”
“I have to. It’s important. It’s like vital. Please, please, please.” She bounced as she begged, and the virulent mix of colors on the move made Eve dizzy.
“Two minutes. Talk fast.”
“It’s private. Sorry, Peabody, but . . . please!”
“Peabody, go find Summerset, tell him to hunt up a cargo plane full of Pepsi.”
“Close the door, okay. Would you? Thanks.” Still bouncing, Mavis linked her hands, held them between her small, barely restrained breasts. Her fingers winked and glowed with rings. On her left arm some sort of coil snaked from wrist to elbow. Eve wondered if the impression of it would be permanently stamped on her throat.
“Make it fast, Mavis.” Eve scooped back her hair, gulped down coffee. “I’m really pressed. Weren’t you supposed to be somewhere?”
“FreeStar One. Olympus Resort. Did a week gig at the Apollo Casino. It rocked. I just got back this morning.”
“Good. Great.” Eve shifted her gaze to her screen, began to process the data in her head. “We’ll get together when I’m clear. You can tell me all about it.”
“I’m knocked up.”
“Fine. We’ll cover that. We can—” Her brain simply went on hold, as if someone had flicked a switch that shut down all the circuits. When it clicked back, there seemed to be some sort of blip blanking out basic reasoning functions.
“What did you say?”
“I’m knocked up.” Mavis let out a snorting laugh, then slapped her hands over her mouth. Her eyes, as purple as her shoes today, danced like a pair of chorus girls.
“You’re . . . You . . .” Stunned into stammering, Eve stared at Mavis’s bare midriff, at the trio of belly dangles that sparkled from her navel. “You got something growing in there?”
Her hands still over her mouth, Mavis nodded rapidly. “A baby.” The laugh spurted through her fingers. “I’ve got a baby in there. Is that the ult? Is that beyond the beyond? Feel!” She snagged Eve’s hand and pressed it to her belly.
“Oh, Jesus. Maybe I shouldn’t touch it.”
“It’s okay, it’s all padded and everything. What do you think?”
“I don’t know.” Cautious, Eve slid her hand away, tucked it behind her back. Logically she knew pregnancy wasn’t contagious, but all the same. “What do you think? I mean, are you . . . did you . . . Damn, I’m not processing yet. Was this, like, an accident?”
“No. We did it on purpose.” She scooted her tiny butt onto the desk, swung her pretty legs so the gel sandals bumped and squished against the wood. “We’ve been trying to procreate for a while. Me and Leonardo are really good at the process. We didn’t have any luck at first, but you know, try, try again. We tried a lot,” she said on another wild giggle.
“Are you sure you’re not just drunk?”
“No, totally pregs.” She patted her belly. “Embryo’s in and cooking.”
“Oh, God, don’t say embryo.” For some reason the word in combination with the squishy sound of the gel made Eve queasy.
“Come on, we all started out as one.”
“Maybe. But I don’t like to think about it.”
“I’m like totally focused on it now. But wait, because I’m getting ahead of myself. Anyhow, when I was at Olympus, I got this feeling maybe I was baking—I was whooshing in the mornings and—”
“Okay, skip that part, too.” Definitely queasy now, Eve realized,