In Death 18 - Divided in Death

didn’t know anything about internals or subdermal devices.”
    She saw the look Roarke and Eve exchanged. “What is this? What the hell is this?”
    “I didn’t tell her, Lieutenant.” Roarke inclined his head. “It wasn’t my place to.”
    Eve stepped up to Reva. “You’re going to have to toughen up, because this is going to be a punch in the face.”
    She told Reva the way she’d want to be told. Straight, clean, without emotion. She watched her sag, lose color, saw the tears swim into her eyes. But they didn’t fall, and the color came back.
    “He . . . they marked me, as a source for information.” Her voice was hoarse. “To spy, through me, on Securecomp, and possibly other areas of Roarke Industries through my mother. Also . . .” She paused, cleared her throat and spoke in stronger tones. “It makes sense to assume they were using my connection with the Secret Service, President Foster, and members of her staff I remain friendly with. They would, through this implant, have recorded any and all conversations, professional and personal.”
    She took the glass of water Peabody brought over without glancing up. “I have, in my supervisory position at Securecomp, numerous discussions every day with techs, giving directives, receiving status reports. It’s my habit to log my own reports verbally. It helps me to see the progress, or any necessity for a new direction. They’d know everything about my projects, and any I assisted on since they put this thing in me. They were sucking me dry, the two of them. Every day. Every day.”
    She looked up at Roarke. “I betrayed you after all.”
    “You did not.” Caro’s tone was harsh and impatient. “You were betrayed, and that’s a difficult thing. But feeling sorry for yourself isn’t productive. No one’s blaming you, and blaming yourself at this point is an indulgence you can’t afford.”
    “I’m entitled to a little brooding time when I’ve been technologically raped, for God’s sake.”
    “Brood later. How do we remove it?” Caro asked Roarke, then shifted her gaze to Eve. “Or do we?”
    “I thought about leaving it in. It’s an option, but I’d rather have it out. I’d rather, if anyone’s still listening, that they know we’re onto them. It could bring them to the surface faster.”
    “They killed Blair and Felicity, and set me up. Why?”
    “The setup? I’d say because you were convenient. As to the hit, I don’t know yet. Maybe it was HSO, maybe it was the other side. Either way, they knew how to get in, how to corrupt data, and how to get you where they wanted you to take the fall. All that took some time and some planning. Either Bissel or Kade, maybe both of them, were marked for termination. When I find out why, I can work from there.”
    “We can have the device removed here. I have someone in-house with medical training,” Roarke explained.
    “Get it out.” Reva rubbed a hand at the nape of her neck. “I want a look at it.”
    “Set it up,” Eve told Roarke. “Reva, you can’t discuss any of this on the outside. Not even with your lawyers. Not yet. But I want you to contact someone in the SS, or on Foster’s staff, whoever you think best. I want them to set up a meet for me with someone in the HSO with enough grease to know about Bissel and Kade. I don’t have time to waste on some office drone. I want someone with juice.”
    “I’ll reach out.”
    “Good. I’m going to leave the electronics to the people who know what the hell to do about them.” She said this, looking at Roarke. “And I’m going to go do some cop work, if you’ll open this place up again.”
    “Computer, end lockdown. Resume normal operations.”
    Acknowledged.
    “I’ll be a few moments,” Roarke told Reva and Caro, then left them alone to walk out with Eve.
    “Peabody, go see how the EDD boys are doing. I’ll catch up with you.”
    “Sure.”
    Eve turned into her own office ahead of Roarke, slipped her hands in her pockets. “I thought you’d told her about the HSO angle, about the conclusions on Bissel and Kade.”
    “I’m aware of that, and aware that you’d have reason to assume it.”
    “The assumption factored in to the speed with which I crawled up your ass.”
    “Understood.”
    “I’m still irritable and annoyed.”
    “Well, so am I, so you’ve company.”
    “I might still want to have a go at you later.”
    “I’ll pencil you in.”
    She stepped up to him, and keeping her hands in her pockets,