In Death 13 - Seduction in Death

compartment, programmed time and temperature. "I go ahead. We can increase the stakes with some double booking."
    "Two in one day?" The horror, and the thrill, of the idea struck Kevin simultaneously.
    "If you're man enough."
    "We haven't prepared. The schedule calls for three nights off after this evening's round. None of the targets are in line until next week."
    "Schedules are for amateurs and drones." Lucias prepared them both a little cocktail. Unblended scotch with a dash of Zoner. "Let's rack them up, Kev. We'll both have impressive American scores before we move the game to France."
    "A picnic in the park," Kevin considered. "An afternoon rendezvous. Yes, that might be fun. And, it would be best to start mixing up our methods. Toss the police a sudden curve to screw up their probabilities and profiles."
    "Day games. They have their own special panache, don't you think?"

CHAPTER THIRTEEN
    "No pops on the rings," Eve told her team.
    She'd had to pull rank, step on toes, and bribe the scheduling clerk with a block of Swiss chocolate, but she'd managed to hook a conference room.
    Roarke was good for the chocolate and would only smirk a little at the bribery angle.
    "Best we've got is they're not heirlooms. The jewelers Peabody tapped agree that they're not antiques. If the stones and settings are genuine, the value's estimated at two hundred fifty k each."
    "Any guy wears a quarter mil on his finger's a putz" was Feeney's opinion. "And a showoff."
    "Agreed. Putz and showoff percentages are high. I want to take the search on them global, so I'm passing that ball to EDD." And she'd tap her own personal source on showoff items. Roarke might not wear baubles himself, but he was sure an expert at buying them and draping them all over her.
    "Imaging's working with the waiter, but it's slow. He's a lot clearer on the rings than the guys wearing them. We can access security discs for the last week or two weeks from the Palace, but it'll take time to pick through them, and luck to home in on our men. I'll be doing that run personally, but meanwhile, if nothing jumps by morning, I'm going to request our witness agrees to hypnotherapy."
    "There's no guarantee they weren't wearing enhancements when they met for drinks," McNab pointed out and earned a rare nod of approval from Eve.
    "That's right, but we detail the image anyway. We keep building the box until we lock them inside. Progress on the rental unit?" She glanced at Feeney. "And don't crawl up my ass."
    "Funny you should ask. We cleaned out most of the chatter. You wouldn't believe the shit people send through rentals. Porn sites win ten to one."
    "It's so good to have my view of the general citizenship reinforced."
    "After that you got your entertainment and amusement sites, then your financials. Personal e-mail comes after. Most promising user name is Wordsworth. All his transmissions are cloaked. You get through one layer of the cloak and the sucker bounces you to another locale. He shot the goods from the cyber-joint to Madrid. Start picking there and it bounces to Delta Colony. Then -- "
    "I get the picture. What did you find?"
    Feeney sulked a little, crunched on nuts. "I uncloaked one transmission so far. Looks like he did three, maybe four more. The one I stripped down went to an account registered to Stefanie Finch. A lot of mushy stuff."
    "Shoot the mushy stuff and her address to my units. You're a cyber-wizard, Feeney."
    That soothed his ruffles. "Yeah, don't I know it. I gotta take a couple hour's medical, get a quick eye fix. Detective Cyber-Wiz here'll keep on it."
    "I'm in the field. Peabody, with me. Peel off," she ordered as she strode out and toward a glide. "Snag me an energy bar or something, meet me in the garage in ten. I need to stop by my office first."
    "There's vending right outside the bullpen."
    "The vending machines around here hate me. They steal my credits and laugh in my face."
    "You've had your vending privileges suspended again for kicking the equipment, haven't you?"
    "I didn't kick it, I punched it. And just get me the damn bar." Without waiting for a response, Eve hopped the glide and flipped out her communicator to check in with the imaging tech.
    Peabody merely sighed and backtracked to the closest food vender. She was perusing the choices, debating between energy or chemical sweetener for herself when McNab came up behind her.
    Since their session the night before, she expected him to go for a little pinch or grab. But he