In Death 11 - Judgment in Death

possibly ten minutes. They should be breaking for the lunch portion very shortly. Perhaps I can get you some coffee. A pastry."
    Eve gave her a considering look. "What's your name?"
    "I'm Loreen, Lieutenant."
    "Well, Loreen, I don't want coffee or a pastry, but thanks. And I'll be sure to tell Roarke you tried. Now move."
    "But I -- "
    "Tried really hard," Eve added, then simply shouldered Loreen aside and yanked open the door.
    Roarke was in front of his desk, leaning back against it, looking cool, casual, and completely in control with the staggering view of the city behind him. He was listening with polite interest to something one of the six people, all sober-suited and seated, said to him. But his gaze shifted to the door as it burst open, and Eve had the pleasure of seeing surprise flash into his eyes.
    He recovered instantly. "Ladies, gentlemen." With lazy grace, he straightened. "My wife, Lieutenant Dallas. Eve, the representatives, attorneys, and financial advisers of Green Space Agricultural Port. You know Caro, my admin."
    "Yeah, hi. How's it going? We have to talk."
    "Excuse me a moment." He walked to the door, took her arm firmly, and pulled her through.
    "I'm sorry, sir," Loreen began, nearly stuttering. "I couldn't stop her."
    "Don't worry about it, Loreen. No one can. It's all right. Go back to your desk."
    "Yes, sir. Thank you." With obvious relief, Loreen fled, with the single-minded intensity of a woman fleeing a burning building.
    "This isn't a convenient time, Eve."
    "Then you'll have to settle for an inconvenient time, because I have things to say, and I'm saying them now." She peered past him. "Want me to say them in front of the representatives, attorneys, and financial backers of Green Space Agriculture Port and your trusty admin, Caro?"
    He didn't care for her mood or the position she put him in. And his hand stayed, a not particularly subtle warning, on her arm. "We'll talk at home."
    "We haven't been doing a lot of that lately. I say we talk now." She lifted her chin. A not particularly subtle challenge. "And if you think you can call security and have them change my mind, I'll haul you downtown on some trumped-up charge. In fact, I like the idea of that. I'm making time," she said, quietly now. "You make it."
    He studied her face. If he'd seen only temper, he'd had met it with his own or dismissed it. But he saw something more. "Give me ten minutes. Caro?" When his hand ran down Eve's arm like a caress, she felt the clutch in the gut that came with relief. "Would you show my wife to Conference Room C, please?"
    "Of course. This way, Lieutenant. Shall I get you some coffee?"
    "I got an offer of a pastry with that before, when I scared Loreen."
    Caro's smile remained polite as she steered Eve through the corridors, but her eyes twinkled with humor. "I'll make good on that offer. I'm sure you'll be quite comfortable in here." She opened one of a pair of double doors and escorted Eve into a pretty, almost homey room with two cozy seating areas, a gleaming wood bar, and a spectacular and lofty view of the city.
    "Doesn't look like any conference room I've ever seen."
    "Amazing, really, how much business can be done in comfortable surroundings. What kind of pastry would you like, Lieutenant?"
    "Hmm? Oh, I don't know. Whatever. Are you allowed to tell me what that meeting was about?"
    "Certainly." Placidly, Caro programmed the AutoChef behind the bar. "Green Space is floundering, though they claim otherwise. Their costs of maintaining the space port have steadily overrun their profits for the past three years. Their production level is down, though the quality of their produce remains very high. Transportation costs, in particular, are taking an enormous bite and causing their overhead to soar."
    She removed a china cup and saucer steaming with coffee and a pretty matching plate with a selection of flaky pastries.
    "So, is he making them a deal on transpo?"
    "Quite possibly. I imagine he'll have done so, and have a controlling interest in the port, with his hand-selected team assigned to restructure Green Space from the ground up, so to speak, before he joins you."
    "Caro, do they want to sell him controlling interest?"
    "They didn't." She set the tray on a table. "They will before it's done. Is there anything else I can get you, Lieutenant?"
    "No. Thanks. Does he always win?"
    Caro's smile didn't shift by a single degree. She didn't even blink. "Of course. Just ring Loreen if you need