New York to Dallas

face.
    She palmed her master, bopping her head and shoulders as she’d observed teenaged boys did for no good reason.
    Inside she reached a hand under the shirt for her weapon, glanced up the stairs.
    Nothing and no one moved.
    “Single elevator,” she muttered into her com, tossed the sunshades onto the single chair beside the elevator. “Both it and stairs right of entrance. Elevator’s coming up. Stand by.”
    She kept her weapon low, moved to the far side of the car, back to the wall.
    A woman and two kids got out, making enough noise to raise the dead.
    Eve stepped forward. “Please stop where you are.”
    “Oh! You startled me.” The woman’s surprised laugh cut off as she spotted Eve’s weapon. In a finger snap she had both kids shoved behind her.
    “I’m the police,” Eve said quickly. She held up her free hand, then dug under the shirt for her badge. “Do you know the residents of apartment two-oh-eight?”
    “I’m not sure. I—”
    “Big guy, good shape, late thirties. A lot of charm. Just moved in a few days ago. He’d be with a woman now and then, and she’d be in a lot. Blond, mid-fifties, attractive, a little flashy.”
    “You must mean Tony, Tony Maxwell. He’s the nicest man. Is he all right? I just saw him a little while ago when he was leaving.”
    “When?” Damn it , Eve thought as she pulled off the borrowed shirt, tossed it on the chair. “Exactly when?”
    “Ah, maybe a half-hour ago. I had to go pick up the kids, and I saw him in the garage on the way out, stowing his suitcase. He said he had to go away on business for a couple days. What’s this about?”
    “Was he alone?”
    “Yes.”
    “Did you see him leave—actually drive away?”
    “No, I left first, but he was getting in his car.” She wrapped her wide-eyed kids to her sides. “I want to know what’s going on.”
    “I want you to take your kids, go outside, turn left, and keep walking until you get to the uniformed officers down this block.”
    “But—”
    “Go now.” She heard the elevator start its rise. “Right now!”
    She swung back, lifted her weapon as the woman grabbed both kids by the hands and fled. She lowered the weapon again as Roarke stepped out.
    “His car’s not there.”
    “He’s gone. Neighbor saw him leave—alone, and with a suitcase. Fuck! He told her he’d be gone a couple days.”
    She pulled off the cap, raked a hand through her hair. “We’ve got to go up.” She reached for her ’link as it signaled.
    “Dallas, what’s your status?”
    She filled Ricchio in.
    “EDD finds no heat sources in the target location. We’ve got the building hemmed in, and SWAT’s moving into position now.”
    “We’re going up to try to verify whether the suspect is still in this location.”
    “Backup’s coming in.”
    “Can you hold them, Lieutenant? Two minutes. On the off chance he’s still here, his captives will be safer if he doesn’t see us coming.”
    “Two minutes, counting now.”
    She shoved the ’link in her pocket. “He’s gone, but we can’t take the chance. Can you jam his security long enough for a quick, quiet entry?”
    “You know I can.”
    “Stairs.”
    They went up fast. She swept the second-floor hallway.
    “Hold here,” Roarke murmured, keying codes into his jammer. “He’s got several layers. And there.”
    He moved ahead of her now, pulling a small case out of his pocket. “A number of layers here as well.” He mumbled it as he crouched and got to work. “They only look like standard locks. Very nicely done.”
    “You can compliment him when he’s in a cage. Just get us in.”
    “So I have.” He met her eyes. “Ready?”
    She nodded, held up one finger, then two. They burst in on three, her low, him high.
    She smelled the blood, smelled the death instantly. Swinging left, she saw the body, saw her mother and the pool of blood.
    “God. God. God.”
    “Eve.”
    “We have to clear.” Her voice came out thin through the narrow opening the burn of shock left in her throat. “We have to clear the area, take your side.”
    When she swung the other way she saw the keys on the high table by the door, and the memo cube with them.
    Gone, she thought. Gone, and walked over to pick up the keys.
    She could hear the backup pushing through the door downstairs. If Bree was with them, and if he’d left more death, she’d need to be prepared.
    Eve unlocked the door. She breathed deep, braced herself.
    Opened it.
    They were on the floor, the