In Death 22 - Memory in Death

muffler deal wrapped about six times around her neckor seriously pissed.
    It only took one look at her partner’s face to opt for door number three.
    “What is that?” Eve demanded.
    “What is what?”
    “That thing that’s strangling you. Should I call pest control?”
    “It’s a scarf. My grandmother wove it, sent it to me, and told me to open it now. So I did.”
    Eve pursed her lips, studied the length of zigzagging reds and greens. “Festive.”
    “It’s warm, and it’s pretty, and it’s the fricking season, isn’t it?”
    “Last I checked. You want me to call that exterminator after all, for the bug crawling around in your
    ass, or are you getting a thrill out of it?”
    “He’s such a jerk. He’s a total and complete asshole. What am I doing cohabbing with that moron?”
    “Don’t ask me. Really,” Eve said holding up a hand. “Don’t ask me.”
    “Is it my fault we’re in a budget crunch? It is not,” Peabody announced and jabbed a finger in Eve’s
    face. “Is it my fault his stupid family lives in stupid Scotland? I don’tthinkso. And so what if we
    spent a couple of measly days with my family at Thanksgiving?” The snaking scarf flew and billowed when Peabody threw up her hands. “They have the sense to live in the United States of America, don’t they? Don’t they?”
    “I don’t know,” Eve said cautiously as Peabody’s eyes seemed to pin-wheel with passion. “There’re
    a lot of them.”
    “Well, they do! And I just mention, just casually mention, that maybe we should stick around home for Christmas. You know, seeing as it’s our first one as a coupleand maybe, considering his attitude, our last. Stupid fuckhead. What are you looking at?” she demanded of a man who glanced her way as he walked by. “Yeah, keep walking. Dumbass man.”
    “The dumbass man is an innocent bystander. One of those dumbasses we’re sworn to protect and serve.”
    “All men are dumbasses. Every mother’s son. He said I wasselfish!He said I wasn’t willing to share. Well, bullshit. Doesn’t he wear my earrings? Doesn’t he”
    “If he wears anything else of yours, I really, really don’t want to know about it. We’re on the clock, Peabody.”
    “Well, I’m not selfish, and I’m not being stupid. And if it’s so important to him to go roast his damn chestnuts in Scotland, then he can just go. Screw him. I don’t know those people.”
    Tears swam now, and had Eve’s stomach going on alert. “No, no, no. No. There’s no crying on the job. No crying on the damn sidewalk in front of a crime scene.”
    “His parents, and his family. And his cousin Sheila. You know how he’s always talking about her. I can’t just go over there. I still have five pounds to lose, and I haven’t finished doing this skin-care regimen that’s supposed to shrink my poreswhich are currently the circumference of moon craters. And by
    the time we pay for the flight, we’ll be tapped for a month. We should stay home. Why can’t we just
    stay home ?”
    “I don’t know. I don’t know. Maybe because you did the holiday thing with your half, and”
    “But heknewmy parents. Didn’t he?”
    There were still tears threatening, Eve noted, but with the heat in those brown eyes, it was a wonder
    they didn’t turn to steam.
    “Didn’t he meet my parents before that? He wasn’t going in cold. Besides, my family’s different.”
    She knew it was a mistake to ask, but the words just popped out of Eve’s mouth. “How do you know?”
    “Because they’re my family. And it’s not like I don’t want to meet his. Eventually. But I have to go to a foreign country, and eatI don’t knowhaggis or something. It’s disgusting.”
    “Yeah, I bet the tofu surprise was a big winner over Thanksgiving.”
    Peabody’s pinwheeling eyes went to lethal slits. “Whose side are you on ?”
    “Nobody’s. I’m neutral. I’mwhat is itI’m Switzerland. Can we go to work now?”
    “He slept on the couch,” Peabody said in a trembling voice. “And he was gone when I got up this morning.”
    Eve heaved a huge sigh. “What time is his tour?”
    “On at eight, same as me.”
    Eve pulled out her communicator, contacted EDD.
    “Don’t!” Now Peabody did the panic dance on the sidewalk. “I don’t want him to know I’m worried
    about him.”
    “Shut up. Lieutenant Dallas, Sergeant. Has Detective McNab clocked in?” When she got an affirmative, she nodded. “Thanks, that’s it.” She clicked off.