The In Death Collection Books 6-10 - J. D. Robb [53]
“You have to let me try to help her now.” She gentled her tone but kept it firm, as she would with any victim. She wanted to hold him, to lay her cheek against his, and instead kept her elbow pressed lightly to his windpipe. “I can’t let you contaminate the scene. I want you to go outside now.”
He got his breath back, though it burned his lungs. Cleared his vision, though the edges of it remained dark and dull. “He left the stool there. He stood her on the stool so that she could strain just enough to reach it with her toes. She could stay alive as long as she had the strength to reach the stool. She’d have been choking, her heart overworked, the pain burning, but she could stay alive as long as she fought for balance. She’d have fought hard.”
Eve lowered her elbow, laid her hands on his shoulders. “This isn’t your fault. This isn’t your doing.”
He looked away from her, forced himself to look at an old friend. “We loved each other once,” he said quietly. “In our way. We had a careless way, but one gave the other what was needed, for a time. I won’t touch her. I’ll stay out of your way.”
When Eve stepped back, he moved to the door. He spoke now without looking at her. “I won’t let him live. Whether you find him or I do, I won’t let him live.”
“Roarke.”
He only shook his head. His eyes met hers, once, and what she read in them chilled her blood. “He’s already dead.”
She let him go, promising herself she would talk him down as soon as she could. With her eyes tightly shut, she trembled once, hard. Then she pulled out her communicator, called it in, and signaled for Peabody to bring up her field kit.
chapter nine
When Roarke stepped outside the building, he saw Peabody had the field kit gripped in one hand and the kid’s arm gripped in the other. Roarke thought she was wise to keep him in tow. From the look on his face he’d be unlikely to hang around now that he had four in credits in his pocket. At least he’d be unlikely to hang with a uniformed cop.
He forced himself to block the scene he’d just left from his mind and concentrate on this one. “Got your hands full there, Peabody.”
“Yeah.” She blew out a harassed breath that fluttered her razor-straight bangs. “The CPS isn’t known for being quick on its feet.” She glanced up at the building, longingly. If Eve had called for the field kit, that meant there was a scene to preserve and investigate. And she was stuck baby-sitting. “I assume it’s inadvisable to take the minor back in, so if you wouldn’t mind taking the lieutenant her kit . . .”
“I’ll mind the boy, Peabody.”
Her eyes simply lit with gratitude. “That works for me.” With more haste than tact, she handed him over. “Don’t lose him,” she warned and hustled inside.
Roarke and the boy eyed each other with cool calculation. “I’m faster,” Roarke said, easily reading the intent. “And I’ve got more experience.” Crouching, Roarke gave the kitten a scratch behind the ears. “What’s his name?”
“Dopey.”
Roarke felt a smile tug at his lips. “Not the brightest of the Seven Dwarfs, but the most pure of heart. And what’s yours?”
The boy studied Roarke cautiously. Most of the adults in his life only knew Snow White as an illegal happy powder. “Kevin,” he said and relaxed a little as Dopey was purring hard and loud under the man’s long scratching fingers.
“Nice to meet you, Kevin. I’m Roarke.”
The offer of the man’s hand to shake had Kevin giggling at once. “Meetcha.”
The foolish and lovely sound of a child’s quick giggle lightened his heart. “Think Dopey’s hungry?”
“Maybe.”
“There’s a cart down the block. Let’s check it out.”
“He likes soy dogs.” Kevin began to skip along beside Roarke, thrilled beyond belief with his new good fortune. The new bruise was a dark and ugly contrast under the pale gray eyes.
“The only sensible choice for the discriminating palate.”
“You talk fancy.”
“It’s a fine way to make people believe you’re saying something much more important than you are.”
He held the boy