Authorized personnel wore encoded badges, and passed through three staging areas each time they entered or exited the lab. Access required voice, retinal, and palmprint verification.
The scanners, alarm, and preventatives made it impossible—so Roarke had believed—to remove any data from the lab without his knowledge and authorization. Planting a bug inside would require sorcery.
He’d have bet his reputation on it. And, essentially, had.
He signalled to the acting lab chief, Tokimoto, and walked into what the techs called “the vault.”
It was an office—spartan, almost military—with a single streamlined desk, two chairs, and a wall of sealed drawers. The desk held a muscular data and communications system with a ’link that could only send or receive outside the lab with Roarke’s personal voiceprint and passcode.
“Close the door,” he ordered Tokimoto. “Have a seat.”
Tokimoto did both, then folded his long, neat hands in his lap. “If you’ve brought me in here to ask me about Ewing, you’re wasting our time. And we both value our time. She didn’t kill anyone, however much he deserved it.”
Roarke sat, adjusted his thinking and approach as he studied Tokimoto.
The man was forty, trim and long-limbed. He wore his black hair short and close to the scalp. His skin was very white, his eyes tawny beneath long, straight brows. His nose was narrow, his mouth pressed now into a thin line of annoyance.
It was, Roarke estimated, one of the very few times he’d seen Tokimoto annoyed in the six years of their association.
“This is interesting,” Roarke commented.
“I’m pleased my opinion is of interest,” Tokimoto responded in his clipped, precise voice.
“I didn’t realize you were in love with Reva. Obviously, I haven’t been paying attention.”
Tokimoto remained still, face and body. “Ewing is—was—a married woman. I respect the institution. We are associates and colleagues, nothing more.”
“So you haven’t told her, or moved on her. Well, that’s your business. Your personal business, and none of mine unless it pertains to what goes on inside this lab. But I will say that, at the moment, she could use a friend.”
“I don’t want to intrude.”
“Again, your business.” Roarke took a disc out of his pocket, inserted it in his computer. “Have a look at this. I’d like your opinion.”
Tokimoto rose, walked lightly around the desk to study the screen. He pursed his lips over the grid, the complex lines and boxes. He scratched his chin.
“Will you enhance? This area.” Tokimoto gestured to a section of the grid.
Without speaking, Roarke keystroked to enlarge and enhance the requested area. “There’s a shadow, just here in Quadrant B, section five through ten. A bug was there, but is not there now. I think . . . wait. Does it move?”
The question, Roarke knew, wasn’t directed at him. But to answer he magnified again and let the disc play forward.
“Yes, yes, it moves. Barely a shadow when it moves. More detectable when it rests.”
“And your conclusion?”
“The device is planted on a movable object. A person or droid. It’s highly sophisticated. Minute and very well shielded. Ours?”
“I don’t think so, but we’ll work on that. This is a security print of the lab, Tokimoto. And this . . .” He tapped a finger on the screen where the shadow was darkest. “This is Reva’s station.”
“There is a mistake.”
“It’s not a mistake.”
“She would never betray you or her associates. She’s honorable.”
“No, I don’t think she’d betray me, or you. I’m going to ask you this once. Have you been approached by any outside party regarding the Code Red?”
“I have not.” It was said simply, with no hints of insult, annoyance, or fear. “Had I been, I would have reported to you.”
“Yes, I believe that. Because you’re honorable, Tokimoto. I’m showing you this because you are. Because in this very delicate matter, I’m trusting you.”
“You have my loyalty, but I won’t believe this of Reva.”
“Neither will I. How, in your opinion, could this bug have infected the lab?”
“On a person, as I said.”
“On her person.”
Tokimoto’s brow creased as he studied the screen again. “This is contradictory to me. She would know if she carried a device, and she would not enter the lab. Therefore, she could not have carried a device. In addition, lab security is meticulous and multilayered and would have detected a device. Therefore, a device could not have penetrated the lab. Yet it did.”
“That’s very logical, Tokimoto, but expand your thinking. How might Reva have brought a device into the lab, unknowingly, that penetrated lab security?”
“She’s an expert, and your scanners are the most powerful available. It’s impossible that a device was planted on her person and escaped her detection, and the scanners. It is . . .”
He stopped, straightened, and Roarke watched the idea bloom on his face.
“Internally,” Roarke supplied.
“Such things are possible, in theory. Some have been tested. Those in development, including those worked on here, haven’t proven effective.”
“The device can be injected, under the skin.”
“In theory.”
“All right, thank you.” Roarke rose.
“Is she . . . Is Ewing in some sort of danger?”
“She’s protected. It would do her good to hear from a friend who sympathized and believed in her. Meanwhile, I want work on the Code Red to move around the clock. Four shifts. If she’s up to it, Reva will be back tomorrow.”
“It will be good to have her. She should know of this, but I won’t speak of it if that’s your wish.”
“I’m on my way to tell her myself. If you discuss it with her, do it in the vault.” He started for the door, stopped. “Yoshi, life is never as long as we want it to be, and wasted time can never be recovered.”
A ghost of a smile curved Tokimoto’s lips. “A proverb.”
“No. It’s my way of telling you to make a goddamn move.”
9 EVE DIDN’T SEE how she could be concerned about total security at this point, but she took the cryptic transmission from Roarke on the odd little ’link he’d presented to her that morning.
It strapped on the wrist, but she didn’t care for the weight of it, or the absurdity of talking to her sleeve. So she’d stuck it in her jacket pocket, and when it vibrated against her hip, she jolted as if she’d been struck with a laser blast.
“Jesus. Technology is a pain in the—haha—ass.” She yanked it out. “What?”
“That’s hardly a professional greeting, Lieutenant.”
“I’m stalled in traffic. Why don’t these people have jobs? Why don’t they have homes?”
“And some nerve they have being out and about on your streets. I’m on them myself, and about to pick up a package. I need to take it home. I very much want you to see it, so you’ll want to meet me there.”
“What? Why? Goddamn asshole maxibus! I’m driving here. I’m heading to the East Side, if I don’t indulge in a major vehicular accident just to clear the goddamn roads!”
“I’m running that errand for you myself. Come home, Eve.”
“But I—” She snarled at the ’link when the transmission ended, then in disgust tossed it at Peabody. “It’s gone wonky.”
“No, sir. He cut you off. He wants you to go back to the residence, where he’s bringing Reva Ewing.”
“How do you get that?”
“I watch a lot of spy vids. He must have found something, and he wants to discuss it with you in the most secure location. This is really chilled, you’ve got to admit.”
“Yeah, so chilled, I’ve yet to talk to Morris, or have another look at the bodies. I haven’t booted Dickhead around the lab to see if there’s any forensics that might be useful. And, much as I hate it, I
haven’t talked to the media liaison about a spin when we drop charges on Ewing.”
“Those usual routines don’t apply as much when you’re Bonding.”
“Bonding? How am I bonding? I’m not interested in bonding, in fact I dislike bonding intensely.”
“No, no, Bonding. Like Bond, James Bond. You know, ult spy guy.”
“God.” Eve shot down a cross-street, and made it a block before she stalled again. “Why me?”
“I really dig the spy vids, even the old ones. Gadgets and sex and sophisticated quips. You know, Dallas, if Roarke was an actor he could completely play Bond on vid. He’s a total Bond.”
Eve plowed through the light, cast her eyes to heaven. “God, I repeat. Why me?”
She slammed into the house, bared her teeth at Summerset.
“Your associates have arrived. Suitable quarters have been prepared for them. Going by previous experience, I am about to have food supplies completely restocked, with an emphasis on items without any nutritional value whatsoever.”
“And you’re telling me this because, somehow, I look like I give a shit?”
“You are mistress of this house, and responsible for the comfort of your guests.”
“They’re not guests. They’re cops.”
Peabody loitered as Eve charged upstairs. “Is it okay if McNab and I have the room we took last time?”
Summerset’s stony countenance softened with a smile. “Of course, Detective. I’ve arranged it.”
“Mag. Thanks.”
“Peabody!” Eve’s aggrieved voice shot down the stairs. “With me, goddamn it.”
“Bad traffic,” Peabody grumbled. “Terrible mood.”
She had to bolt up the stairs, then streak down the hall to catch up with Eve.
“If you’re going to brown-nose the resident cadaver, do it on your own time.”
“I wasn’t brown-nosing.” But the comment had Peabody’s nose twitching. “I was merely inquiring about my quarters during this operation. Besides, I don’t have to brown-nose Summerset. He likes me.”
“That ascribes to him the capacity for human emotions.” She swung into Roarke’s office, and frowned when she saw him serving coffee to both Reva and Caro. “You might’ve told me you were bringing them here,” she complained, “before I fought my way to the Upper East Side.”
“Sorry for the inconvenience, but here is where we need to be.”
“This is my case, my investigation, my op. I decide where we need to be.”
“This isn’t about authority, Lieutenant. And when your knowledge of electronics meets or exceeds mine, we’ll re-evaluate.” His tone was entirely too pleasant. “In the meantime . . . coffee?”
“I don’t have time for coffee.”
“Help yourself, Peabody,” he invited, then took Eve’s arm. “If I could have a moment, Lieutenant.”
She let him lead her into her office. She didn’t like it, but she allowed it. Then she blasted him when he’d closed the door. “We need to set some parameters. You’re working in conjunction with EDD. You do not have the authority to transport my suspect, and her mother, whenever and wherever you choose. Your personal feelings for them take a backseat, and if they can’t, you’re out.”
“It was necessary. You’re irritable and annoyed,” he snapped as she started to steam. “Well, so am I. So we can stand here and piss on each other for the next ten minutes, or get on with it.”
She had to take a breath, then two, before she managed to control her temper. He looked ready to brawl. Not that she minded that so much, but she was more interested in why.
“Okay, you are irritable and annoyed. What set you off?”
“If you’d give me a few minutes without crawling up my ass, I’ll show you.”
“I don’t like what I see, ace, I’m crawling right back.”
He stepped back to the door, then turned to her again. “I realize that I have, on occasion, acted in a way that failed to show the proper respect for your authority and your position. That was wrong. Not that it might not happen again, but it was wrong. This isn’t one of those times.”
“It feels like it.”
“That can’t be helped. On the other side, those two women are my employees. Spanking me in front of them demeans my authority and position, Eve.”
“That can’t be helped either. They know you’ve got balls.” She offered a razor-thin smile. “Now they know I’ve got them, too.”
“This isn’t about—” He cut himself off, offered a prayer for patience. “Christ, there’s no point to this. We’ll have a go at each other later.”
“Count on it.” She reached around him and opened the door herself.
Thinking of authority and position, she made sure that she strode through the door first. “You’ve got five minutes,” she told him.
“It shouldn’t take longer. Computer, lock down this room only, for silent running.”
Acknowledged. Commencing silent running.
“What the hell is—” Eve whirled, hand on her weapon, as titanium shields lowered on the windows behind her. Others slid into place over the doors. The lights took on a red cast, and every machine in the room sent out a series of beeps and hums.
“Totally Bond,” Peabody murmured with a big, dazzled grin on her face.
Lockdown complete. Silent running fully engaged.
“In your home office.” Reva got to her feet, walked over to examine the window shields. “A little paranoid, but excellent. Have you equipped the whole house with SR capability? I’d really like to see the—”
“You kids can play with the toys later,” Eve interrupted. “Now I’d like to know why we need them.”
“I ran some tests at Securecomp. Very detailed and exacting tests. They showed traces of a mobile bug.”
“Mobile?” Reva shook her head. “Someone got through security, all the scanners, with a device on their person? That shouldn’t be possible. In fact, it isn’t possible.”
“So I believed, but the device is also very sophisticated. It wasn’t on someone’s person, Reva, but in yours.”
“In? Internal? That’s out of the question. Completely bogus.”
“Then you won’t object to a body scan?”
Her face went hard, her stance combative. “I submit to one every time I go in or out of the damn lab, Roarke.”
“I’ve something a little more sensitive, a little more specific.”
“Go ahead.” Reva threw out her arms. “I’ve got nothing to hide.”
“Computer, open Panel A.”
Acknowledged.
A section of the wall opened. Inside was a small room, hardly bigger than a closet. It held what looked like a high-end drying tube, with clear, rounded sides and a door with no apparent lock. There were no visible controls.
“Something I’ve been working on, on my own,” Roarke said when Reva lifted her eyebrows. “An individual security scanner, higher intensity than what’s on the market currently. It’ll also read vital signs, which will come in handy for evaluating a subject’s state of mind during scan.”
“Is it safe?” Caro had risen, walked over quietly. “I’m sorry, but if it hasn’t been approved, there may be some risk.”
“I’ve used it myself,” he assured her. “It’s quite safe. It’ll feel warm on the skin as it scans,” he told Reva. “Not uncomfortably so, but you’ll notice the change in temperature as it moves from area to area.”
“Let’s just get it done. I’ve got the Truth Testing scheduled today. I’d like a little time between scans and probes if it’s all the same to you.”
“Computer, open scanner.”
Acknowledged.
A door opened on the tube with a little puff of air. At Roarke’s gesture, Reva stepped inside, turned to face the room.
“Begin process on Ewing, Reva, full body, full power on my command. It needs to read and record your height,” he said. “Your weight, your body mass, and so on.”
“Fine.”
/>
“When the door closes, the process should only take a few moments. There’ll be an audio and video readout, if you don’t object.”
“Just do it.”
“Computer, begin.”
The door of the tube closed. The lights inside it turned to a cool blue. Eve listened as Reva’s body statistics were noted. A horizontal red beam rose up from the floor of the tube, slowly traveling up the body, down again. Her various injuries were listed, and the evaluation of healing.
“Excellent.” Reva’s voice sounded hollow through the tube, but she was beginning to grin. Eve could see that most of the temper had drowned in professional fascination. “And thorough. You’re going to need to get this on the market.”
“A few more tweaks,” Roarke said.
Then came a series of red and blue beams, crisscrossing her body, pulsing as they scanned her, section by section from feet to head.
Electronic device located, subdermal, sector two.
“What the hell is it talking about?” Her tone a quick jerk of panic, Reva pressed her hands against the tube. “Where’s section two? This is bullshit.”
Roarke noted the increase in her pulse rate, her blood pressure.
“Let it finish out, Reva.”
“Hurry up. Just hurry up. I want to get out of here.”
“It’s all right, Reva.” Caro spoke softly. “Only a little more, and it’ll be done. Everything’s going to be all right.”
“Nothing’s all right. Nothing’s going to be all right again.”
No secondary device detected. Single electronic device, operable, subdermal, section two. Request command to mark location.
“Do so,” Roarke ordered.
There was a quick hum, a flash. Reva slapped a hand at the back of her neck, as though she’d been stung by a bee.
Eval and scan complete.
“Save and display all data. Release seal, end program.”
The lights in the tube winked off, and the door opened.
“Inside me? Under my skin.” She held her hand cupped over the back of her neck. “How could I not know? I swear to God, I swear I didn’t know.”