The In Death Collection Books 21-25 - J. D. Robb [600]
“On it.”
“Callendar, take the sheet, cross-reference purchases with McNab’s data. Roarke.”
“Lieutenant.”
“Employee lists. Find and pull out individuals who fit the pattern and work or live in the city. He takes them from the city. He will, in all likelihood, move on number three within a matter of days. We need names.”
“You’ll have them.”
“Jenkinson, I want a full and detailed report from you and Powell by nineteen hundred. Baxter, the same from you and Trueheart. I’ll be available twenty-four/seven, and expect to be notified immediately should any new data come to light. We’ll brief again at oh-eight-hundred. That’s it.”
She pulled off her headset. “Peabody.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Log and copy, then go home and get some sleep. Feeney, can you look over the e-work to date, send me a basic rundown?”
“Can and will,” Feeney confirmed.
“Roarke, go ahead and log and copy what you’ve got so far, then shoot additionals to my unit here and at home. When you’re done, I need you in my office.”
Eve walked out, contacting Mira’s office on the way. “Put me through to her,” she ordered Mira’s overprotective admin. “Don’t give me any crap.”
“Right away.”
“Eve.” Mira’s face swam on, and instantly her eyes registered concern. “You look exhausted.”
“Second wind blew out, I’m waiting for the third to blow in. I need a sit-down with you.”
“Yes, I know. I’ll clear any time that works for you.”
“I want to say now, but I need that wind before I start digging through the psychology of this. And there’s more data that needs to be factored in from your end. Peabody’s sending you a copy of the update right about now.”
“Tomorrow, then.”
“After the eight-o’clock briefing.”
“I’ll come to you. Get some sleep, Eve.”
“I’m going to factor that in, somewhere.”
She went into her office, programmed more coffee, and considered popping one of the departmentally approved energy pills. But they always made her jittery.
She drank, standing at her narrow office window, looking out at her slice of the city. Commuter trams were crisscrossing the sky, lights beaming against the growing dark.
Time to go home, time to have dinner and kick back, watch a little screen.
Below, the street was thick with traffic, with people thinking just the same as those who chugged along above their heads.
And somewhere out there was a man who really enjoyed his work. He wasn’t thinking about kicking back.
Did he take a dinner break? she wondered. Have a nice, hearty meal before he went back to the business at hand? When had he started on Gia Rossi? When did he start the clock?
Forty-seven hours missing, Eve thought. But he wouldn’t start it ticking until he got down to it. Number two always started after number one was finished.
She didn’t hear Roarke come in, he had a skill for silence. But she sensed him. “Maybe we’ll get lucky,” she said. “Maybe he won’t start on her until tomorrow. We’ve got another angle to work this time, so we could get lucky.”
“She’s gone. You know it.”
Eve turned. He looked angry, she thought, which was probably a good thing, and just a little worn around the edges, which was a rare one. “I don’t know it until I’m standing over her body. That’s the way I’m dealing with it. We’re going home. We can work from home.”
He closed the door behind him. “I looked her up. She’s worked for me for nearly four years. Her parents are divorced. She has a younger brother, a half brother, a stepsister. She went to college in Baltimore, where her mother and younger brother still live. Her employee evaluations have been, consistently, excellent. She was given a raise three weeks ago.”
“You know this isn’t your fault.”
“Fault?” He could be faulted for a great deal, he knew and accepted that. But not for this. “No. But somewhere in it, I may very well