Page 113 of Fury In Death

Mae smiled, weakly. “I don’t want to be a policewoman, but thank you.”

“Not that. If you like what you’re doing now, just not there, I can help you get a job doing what you’re doing, and not there. If you want to discuss that, you have my contact.”

Mae closed her eyes. “I really want to discuss that. But I have to get back to my desk. Good-bye, Lieutenant.”

Eve sat back, digested it. Then sat up, wrote it out.

It wouldn’t be the more she needed, but she copied it to Reo before she rose and went out to the bullpen.

“I’ve found two more—both images,” Peabody told her. “One just two years ago where Delgato got an award. In the photo Cruz is listed as Mr. Carlos Cruz, Dr. Delgato’s escort for the evening. And the other—”

“Tell me on the move. With me.”

“Did we get something? Did we?”

“O’Brian took off, or told his coordinator he was taking three weeks leave, to cancel everything.”

“Running scared.”

“Bet your ass. Mae, the coordinator, had me wait a few minutes, contact her again so she could talk. She went into a bathroom stall because she’s been told not to talk to me.”

“She did though.”

“Yeah, she did. Shit’s going down, Peabody, and it’s going down fast. Wyst didn’t know O’Brian was taking off, and he’s pissed. The acting director, Chu’s replacement.”

“Ah, Dolbey.”

“Right, she came up because her swipe’s not cleared for the restricted area. She doesn’t have access to it or to any of the reports or files pertaining to it.”

“They’re not letting her in. She’s not part of whatever, and they’ll need to pull in someone who is. Or who they know will go along.”

“Which tells us they don’t think she will. Mae also said the admin lied to Wyst and said she didn’t know O’Brian’s location. Mae’s convinced Reynolds knows everything, so she’s covering for O’Brian.”

“O’Brian won’t be back, will he?”

“I think he’s cashing in, decided to retire to an undisclosed location. Maybe he’s still packing up—doubtful. But we might be able to find out where he’s gone. Get your shovel out on that and dig there.”

“He’s married, right? Grown kids, grandkids.”

“Correct.”

“If I don’t find his transpo, we can try the adult kids.”

“His place first.” Eve hopped in the car, plugged in the address.

Peabody yanked out her PPC. “I’ll start with private shuttles. O’Brian must think he’s next, or certainly in the running. He wasn’t on the list for the restricted area.”

“Doesn’t mean he wasn’t read in, or taken in when and if necessary. He comes off more administration than lab guy.”

“Yeah, he does. I’m not finding him on anything private out of New York yesterday or today. A quick exit like this, maybe he took what he could get.”

“Keep digging.”

She pushed through to Tribeca, cursed the evil parking gods. She found a loading zone, snagged it.

“Down the block, on the corner.”

“Oh, shiny, and with a really nice side courtyard, all stone and brick and elegant. I’m going to bet your ass it’s Roarke’s. It’s got that smooth blend of old-world and contemporary he’s maximum good at.”