The In Death Collection Books 21-25 - J. D. Robb [323]
“My understanding of my responsibility to the victim, to the people of New York, and to this department is and always has been crystal.” It wasn’t a ball in her belly now, but a flood. Like lava. “If you have any doubts of my understanding of that responsibility or my ability to fulfill it, you’re not only obliged to remove me from this investigation, but you should be asking for my badge.”
“You want to be pissed, be pissed. Now, Lieutenant, go back to work.”
She turned on her heel, struggling to keep that fury down, hold it in. But she didn’t quite block all of it. She looked back as she yanked open the door. “I’m not Roarke’s goddamn stooge,” she snapped, and shut the door behind her.
She hauled the temper with her back down to Homicide and into the conference room. One look at Eve’s face made whatever bright comment Peabody was about to utter wither and die.
“Sir,” she said instead, “Baxter’s taking Byson’s data. So far we’ve found nothing transferred to his data records from Copperfield’s.”
“We keep looking.”
“On the e-front, McNab reports that files have been deleted from Copperfield’s office unit.”
“Is Detective McNab now reporting to you? Was there a change in command during the last twenty minutes?”
Knowing that tone, Peabody kept her own very even. “Detective McNab believed we were together, sir, either here or in the field. As I understood you were with the commander, I took his report, and am now reporting same.”
“I’m in EDD.”
Baxter and Peabody exchanged eye rolls behind her back. And fortunately for their welfare, had instincts quick enough to have those eyes focused on the work when she spun around.
“Nobody enters this room or approaches these files without my authority. Clear?”
“Yes, sir!”
When the door was slammed, Peabody let out a long, whistling breath. “Whitney put a really nasty bug up her butt.”
Eve stormed into EDD and through to the comp lab to find McNab. He was hunkered over Copperfield’s office unit. A handful of other detectives or techs worked on various comps in the same area.
“You’re to use a privacy cube at all times when working on this case.”
“Huh? What?” He dragged off a headset.
“This case is now flagged Blue. Privacy cube, verbal reports. Need-to-know basis.”
“Oooo-kay.” He stepped back, just a little, as if he felt the heat pumping off her and was afraid he’d get burned. “I’ve got some deletions. They were—”
“Privacy cube,” she snapped. “Now.”
“Yes, sir. It’s going to take me a few minutes to set it up.”
“Then get started.” She stormed out, veered off, and swung into Feeney’s office. He was sitting at his desk, machine-gunning on his keyboard while he hummed a tune.
Every so often he’d mutter, “Almost got you, you little bastard.”
“Your detectives have trouble understanding direct orders, or the chain of command?” she demanded.
He cursed, glanced up. He saw what Peabody had seen on her face. Easing back, he jerked his chin at the door. “Wanna shut that?”
She slammed it. “When I’m primary, the men assigned to the team, whether they’re EDD or Homicide, report to me.”
“You got a complaint about one of my boys?” They were all his boys to Feeney, regardless of their chromosomes.
It caught her just before she spewed. What was she doing? Playing tattletale over nothing just because she was pissed. “I’ve got a sensitive case,” she began.
“Yeah, I know about it. My boys report to me, and I logged in the electronics as you requested. So?”
“Big money sensitive. You figure Roarke would climb over my two vics, use that big money sensitive data to edge out a competitor? You figure he’d use my investigation or any information I might share with him therein for personal gain?”
“What the fuck you talking about? McNab make some idiot comment?”
“No. Whitney made a direct statement.”
Feeney pursed his lips, then blew out a breath. Then dragged his fingers