In Death 17 - Imitation in Death

it hurt to look at him.
     
     
"Can't you ever wear anything that doesn't glow?" she demanded.
     
     
"Summertime, Dallas. Guy's gotta glow. Got some news should put a glow, back in your cheeks. Fortney booked a first-class seat on a shuttle to New L.A. He's en route."
     
     
"Quick work, McNab."
     
     
He shot out his index finger, blew on it. "Fastest EDD man in the east. Lieutenant, you look well and truly beat."
     
     
"Nothing wrong with your vision, either.. Take Peabody home. Make sure she gets a good night's sleep, which is my delicate way of saying restrain yourself from rabbiting together half the night. She needs a clear and alert mind tomorrow."
     
     
"You got it. You might try that good night's sleep yourself."
     
     
"Eventually," she mumbled, then started the process of extraditing Fortney and arranging for local authorities to meet him when he stepped off the shuttle.
     
     
Peabody bounced in. "Lieutenant, McNab said you said-"
     
     
"I should just put in a revolving door because everybody just walks in and out as they damn well please anyway."
     
     
"The door was open. It's almost always open. McNab said I was relieved, but I haven't yet contacted authorities in New L.A. re Fortney, or transmitted the warrant."
     
     
"It's done. They'll pick him up, ship him back, and have promised to take just enough time to ensure he'll spend the night in a cell. He won't wrangle a bail hearing until morning."
     
     
"It's my job to "
     
     
"Shut up, Peabody. Go home, get a meal, get some sleep. The exam starts oh eight hundred, sharp."
     
     
"Sir,. I believe it might be necessary to postpone the exam as this case is at a crucial point. Fortney-and I see that my initial instincts there were right-will have to be interviewed, and you'll want to interview Breeh and try to arrange an interview with Renquist to tie the matter up. I feel it's inappropriate for me to take a half day, minimum, for personal business during this stage of the investigation."
     
     
"Got the jitters?"
     
     
"Well, yeah, that, too, but-"
     
     
"You'll take the exam, Peabody. If you have to wait another three months to take it, one of us will jump off the nearest building, or, more likely, I'll just pitch you off. I think, somehow, I can muddle through the day without you."
     
     
"But I think-"
     
     
"Report at Exam Room One, oh eight hundred, Officer. That's an order."
     
     
"I don't believe you can actually order me to take..." She trailed off, swallowed hard when Eve lifted her gaze. "But, ah, I understand the spirit of the statement, sir. I'm going to try not to let you down."
     
     
"Jesus, Peabody, you're not going to let me down whatever you do on the exam. And you'll be "
     
     
"Stop." Peabody squeezed her eyes closed. "Don't say anything that'll jinx it. Don't say it, or any sentence with the word luck in it."
     
     
"You'd better go take a pill."
     
     
"I might." She gave a shaky smile. "Don't wish me the `L' word, okay, but maybe you could do like a signal or a sign. You could do this." Peabody showed her teeth in a grin, widened her eyes to show enthusiasm, and punched out her fist with her thumb sticking up.
     
     
Leaning back, Eve cocked her head. "What is that? I'm supposed to signal you to stick your thumb up your ass?"
     
     
"No! It's thumbs-up. Jeez, Dallas. Thumbs-up. Never mind."
     
     
"Peabody." Eve rose, halting her aide before she could stalk out of the office. "Commencing at oh eight hundred hours, I expect you to kick exam butt."
     
     
"Yes, sir. Thanks."
     
     
Chapter 20
     
     
When Eve dragged herself home, there was one thought uppermost in her mind. To get herself horizontal on a flat surface for one blessed hour.
     
     
Fortney was on his way back to New York, under wraps, and by God he could stew in a cage for a few hours. She'd deal with Breen in the morning, and Renquist. Though Smith was down on her list, he'd be watched for the next little while. But she couldn't watch anyone with eyes that felt like a couple of burnt cinders stuck in her face.
     
     
She just needed to stretch out, she told herself, give her head a chance to clear. She walked through a fog of fatigue into the cool and gorgeous quiet of the house.
     
     
The fog shimmered and tore apart. And Summerset stepped through it.
     
     
"You are, as usual, late."
     
     
She stared for a moment while her numbed brain struggled to process. Tall, bony, ugly, annoying. Oh yeah, he was back.
     
     
She