The In Death Collection Books 16-20 - J. D. Robb [609]
“Lift the head, expose the throat. Slice, drop, head out. No chatter. They’re out and heading for the two other bedrooms as the kid’s coming up the stairs. They’ve already designated who takes which room. Split off. One takes the boy—going in as Nixie crawls across the hall behind them.”
Eve walked out as she spoke, and into Coyle’s room. “Boy’s a sprawler, flat on the back, covers kicked off. Don’t have to touch this one to do the job. Take him out while he’s flat.”
She saw it in her head, the cold horror of it as she walked across the hall to the other bedroom. “Girl’s room, girl in bed. Too sure of yourself to think twice. Too steeped in the routine to deviate. Just cross over. Why would you notice the shoes, the extra backpack? You’re not looking at anything but the target. She’s mostly buried under the covers—stomach sleeper. Yank her up, by the hair probably. A lot of blonde hair, as advertised. Slice her throat, dump her back, walk away.”
“Not as much spatter here,” Peabody commented. “He probably took most of it on his person, and the rest went on the bed and covers.”
“Steps out into the hall, coordinating with his partner. See the blood in this spot. From their gear, dripping off the gear as they strip it off. Shove it in the bags with the knives. Go downstairs and out, clean. Walk away. Mission accomplished.”
“Except it wasn’t.”
Eve nodded. “Except it wasn’t. And if they’d taken a few more minutes, just a few, if they’d taken time to pick up a few goodies on the way out, or linger over the job, the black-and-white would have pulled up before they walked out. As it was, it was close. The kid acted fast, but they acted faster.”
“Why kill the kids?” Peabody asked. “What threat were they?”
“For all we know at this point, one or both of the kids was the main target. Saw something, heard something, knew something—was into something. We can’t assume the adults were the primary. The point is they all had to go, the entire household. That’s where we start.”
She was late for Mira, but it couldn’t be helped. Eve found her sitting in the parlor, drinking tea and working on her PPC.
“Sorry. I got hung up.”
“It’s all right.” Mira set the PPC aside. She wore a simply cut suit in a smokey color that wasn’t quite blue, wasn’t quite gray. Somehow her shoes managed to be the exact same in-between tone. There were twists of silver at her ears and a trio of hair-thin chains around her neck.
Eve wondered if she had to strategize to put herself together with such elegant perfection, or if it came naturally.
“She’s sleeping. The child,” Mira said. “Summerset has her on monitor.”
“Oh, good. Okay. Listen, I’ve got to get some real coffee or my brain’s going to melt. You good?”
“Fine, thanks.”
Eve walked over to a wall panel and, opening it, revealed a mini AutoChef. “You got the report.”
“Yes, it’s what I was going over when you got here.”
“It’s sketchy yet, but I haven’t had time to fill in the fine points. Peabody’s getting the clearance for the minor victims’ data—heading to their schools, see what we can find there.”
“Do you expect to find anything there? Do you think the children were the targets?”
Eve lifted a shoulder, then closed her eyes and let the jolt of coffee do its work. “The boy was old enough, certainly, to be involved in illegals, gangs, and all sorts of bad behavior. Can’t discount that. Or the possibility he and/or his sister witnessed something or were told something that required their termination. Odds are higher it was one of the adults, but it’s not a certainty, especially this early on.”
“There was no additional violence, no destruction of property.”
“None, and if anything was taken from the premises, we don’t know about it yet. The timing was quick and slick. Teamwork, timetable. Damn good job.”
“From anyone else, I’d say that was a cold and heartless remark.”
Eve’s eyes flattened. “From their point of view,