In Death 08 - Conspiracy in Death

you walk away from it, I'll be there."
    Emotions swirled inside her, filling her to bursting. "I don't know how I managed to get through a day before you."
    It was his turn to look surprised. He drew her to her feet. "Ah, every once in a while you manage to say the perfect thing. Steady now?"
    "Yeah, and I'm staying that way."
    Because power clears paths and money waxes them smooth, they were through the jammed shuttle terminal in minutes and out to the private valet area where he had a car waiting.
    She took one look at the sleek silver torpedo shape with its elaborate and streamlined two-seater cockpit and scowled. "Couldn't you have booked something a little less conspicuous?"
    "I don't see why we should be inconvenienced. Besides," he added as they climbed in, "this thing drives like a fucking rocket." So saying, he engaged the engine, hit the accelerator, and blasted out of the lot.
    "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, slow down! You maniac." She struggled into her harness as he laughed. "The airport cops will tag your ass before we clear the first gate."
    "Have to catch me first," he said cheerfully. He punched a control, sent them into a screaming vertical lift that had her mixing curses and prayers. "You can open your eyes now, darling, we're clear of airport traffic."
    Her stomach was still somewhere around her ankles. "Why do you do things like that?"
    "Because it's fun. Now, why don't you program in the address of this retired cop you want to talk to, and we'll see which is the best route."
    She opened one eye, saw they were horizontal again and zipping smoothly along a six-lane thruway. Still scowling, she started to search the glossy dash for the destination and map feature.
    "It's voice controlled, Eve. Just engage the computer and give it your destination of choice."
    "I knew that," she snapped. "I was just looking. I want to have a clear picture of the place where we're going to die when you crash this toy and kill us dead."
    "The Stargrazer 5000X is loaded with safety and life support systems," he said mildly. "As I helped design it, I'm fully aware of all of them."
    "Yeah, that just figures. Engage computer."
    Computer engaged. How may I assist you?
    As it was the same husky female voice he'd installed in her home unit, Eve felt obliged to give him a baleful stare. "Who the hell is this?"
    "You don't recognize it, do you?"
    "Should I?"
    "It's you, darling. After sex."
    "Get out."
    He laughed again, a quick rumble of amusement. "Get the directions, Lieutenant, before we end up in Michigan."
    "That isn't my voice," she muttered, but began to worry about it as she read off the address.
    A holographic map shimmered into place on the windscreen, the most direct route blinking in red.
    "Isn't that handy?" Roarke commented. "This is our exit."
    The sudden sharp turn at ninety miles an hour had Eve jerking back in the seat. She would hurt him later, she promised herself as he careened down the ramp. Hurt him really, really bad.
    If they lived long enough.
    Wilson McRae lived in a tidy white house in a line of other tidy white houses, all centered on thumb-sized lawns. Each driveway was a glossy black, and though the grass was winter withered, it was trimmed neatly and uncluttered.
    The road ran straight as a ruler with young maple trees planted every twelve feet.
    "It's like something out of a horror video," Eve commented.
    "Darling, you're such an urbanite."
    "No, really. There was this one where aliens invade, you know, undercover and all, and they'd -- what do you call it -- zombiedized the people. So they all dressed alike and walked alike. Ate the same stuff at the same time of day."
    Her gaze shifted from house to house suspiciously while Roarke looked on in amusement. "They're kind of like...hives, you know? Don't you expect to see all these doors open at exactly the same moment and have people who look exactly the same way walk out of these exactly the same houses?"
    He sat back in the snazzy car and studied her. "Eve, you're scaring me."
    "See?" She laughed as she climbed out her side. "Creepy place, if you ask me. I bet you don't even know you're being zombiedized when it's happening."
    "Probably not. You go first."
    She snickered and didn't feel the least foolish to have her hand linked with his as they started up the perfectly straight walkway to the white door. "I got the personal background on him. Nothing jars. Eight years married, one kid and another on the way. House is mortgaged and well within their