"And that would be the judge who tried his case."
"Yeah." Absently, she put her mug down, reached into her bag for a copy of the sealed note she'd already sent to the lab. "He left a calling card – another signature. All these names are connected to his case and his sentencing. Part of his work this time around would be, at my guess, letting his intended victims stew about what he has in store for them. They're being contacted and protected. He'll have a tough time getting to any of them."
"And you?" Roarke spoke with studied calm after a glance at the list, and his wife's name. "Where's your protection?"
"I'm a cop. I'm the one who does the protecting."
"He'll want you most, Eve."
She turned. However controlled his voice was, she heard the anger under it. "Maybe, but not as much as I want him."
"You stopped him," Roarke continued. "Whatever was done after – the tests, the trial, the sentence – was all a result of your work. You'll matter most."
"Let's leave those conclusions to the profiler." Though she agreed with them. "I'm going to contact Mira as soon as I look through the case files again. You can access those for me while I start my prelim report. I'll give you the codes for my office unit and the Palmer files."
Now he lifted a brow, smiled smugly. "Please. I can't work if you insult me."
"Sorry." She picked up her coffee again. "I don't know why I pretend you need codes to access any damn thing."
"Neither do I."
He sat down to retrieve the data she wanted, moving smoothly through the task. It was pitifully simple for him, and his mind was left free to consider. To decide.
She'd said he wasn't connected to this, and that she expected him to back away when Peabody was on duty again. But she was wrong. Her name on the list meant he was more involved than he'd ever been before. And no power on earth, not even that of the woman he loved, would cause him to back away.
Close by, Eve worked on the auxiliary unit, recording the stark facts into the report. She wanted the autopsy results, the crime scene team and sweeper data. But she had little hope that she would get anything from the spotty holiday staff before the end of the next day.
Struggling not to let her irritation with Christmas resurface, she answered her beeping 'link. " Dallas."
"Lieutenant, Officer Miller here."
"What is it, Miller?"
"Sir, my partner and I were assigned to contact and guard APA Ring. We arrived at her residence shortly after seven-thirty. There was no response to our knock."
"This is a priority situation, Miller. You're authorized to enter the premises."
"Yes, sir. Understood. We did so. The subject is not in residence. My partner questioned the across-the-hall neighbor. The subject left early yesterday morning to spend the holiday with her family in Philadelphia. Lieutenant, she never arrived. Her father reported her missing this morning."
Eve's stomach tightened. Too late, she thought. Already too late. "What was her method of transpo, Miller?"
"She had her own car. We're en route to the garage where she stored it."
"Keep me posted, Miller." Eve broke transmission, looked over, and met Roarke's eyes. "He's got her. I'd like to think she ran into some road hazard or hired a licensed companion for a quick holiday fling before heading on to her family, but he's got her. I need the 'link codes for the other names on the list."
"You'll have them. One minute."
She didn't need the code for one of the names. With her heart beating painfully, she put the call through to Mira's home. A small boy answered with a grin and a giggle. "Merry Christmas! This is Grandmom's house."
For a moment Eve just blinked, wondering how she'd gotten the wrong code. Then she heard the familiar soft voice in the background, saw Mira come on screen with a smile on her face and strain in her eyes.
"Eve. Good morning. Would you hold for a moment, please? I'd like to take this upstairs. No, sweetie," she said to the boy who tugged on her sleeve. "Run play with your new toys. I'll be back. Just a moment, Eve."
The screen went to a calm, cool blue, and Eve exhaled gratefully. Relief at finding Mira home, alive, well, safe – and the oddity of thinking of the composed psychiatrist as Grandmom played through her mind.
"I'm sorry." Mira came back on. "I didn't want to take this downstairs with my family."
"No problem. Are the uniforms there?"
"Yes." In a rare show of nerves, Mira pushed a hand through her sable-toned hair. "Miserable duty for them, sitting out in a car on Christmas. I haven't figured out how to have them inside and keep my family from knowing. My children are here, Eve, my grandchildren. I need to know if you believe there's any chance they're in danger."
"No." She said it quick and firm. "That's not his style. Dr. Mira, you're not to leave the house without your guards. You're to go nowhere, not the office, not the corner deli, without both of them. Tomorrow you'll be fitted for a tracer bracelet."
"I'll take all the precautions, Eve."
"Good, because one of those precautions is to cancel all patient appointments until Palmer is in custody."
"That's ridiculous."
"You're to be alone with no one, at any time. So unless your patients agree to let you walk around in their heads while a couple of cops are looking on, you're taking a vacation."
Mira eyed Eve steadily. "And are you about to take a vacation?"
"I'm about to do my job. Part of that job is you. Stephanie Ring is missing." She waited, one beat only, for the implication to register. "Do what you're told, Dr. Mira, or you'll be in protective custody within the hour. I'll need a consult tomorrow, nine o'clock. I'll come to you."
She broke transmission, turned to get the 'link codes from Roarke, and found him watching her steadily. "What?"
"She means a great deal to you. If she meant less, you'd have handled that with more finesse."
"I don't have much finesse at the best of times. Let's have the codes." When he hesitated, she sighed and replied, "Okay, okay, fine. She means a lot, and I'll be damned if he'll get within a mile of her. Now give me the goddamn codes."
"Already transferred to your unit, Lieutenant. Logged in, on memory. You've only to state the name of the party for transmission."
"Show-off." She muttered it, knowing it would make him grin, and turned back to contact the rest of the names on Palmer's list.
When she was satisfied that the other targets were where they were supposed to be, and under guard, Eve turned to the case files Roarke had accessed.
She spent an hour going over data and reports, another reviewing her interview discs with Palmer.
Okay, Dave, tell me about Michelle Hammel. What made her special?
David Palmer, a well-built man of twenty-two with the golden good looks of the wealthy New England family he'd sprung from, smiled and leaned forward earnestly. His clear blue eyes were bright with enthusiasm. His caramel-cream complexion glowed with health and vitality.
Somebody's finally listening, Eve remembered thinking as she saw herself as she'd been three years before. He's finally got the chance to share his genius.
Her hair was badly cut – she'd still been hacking at it herself in those days. The boots crossed at her ankles had been new then and almost unscarred. There was no wedding ring on her finger.
Otherwise, she thought, she was the same.
She was young, fit. An athlete,Palmer told her.Very disciplined, mind and body. A long-distance runner – Olympic hopeful. She knew how to block pain, how to focus on a goal. She'd be at the top end of the scale, you see. Just as Leroy Greene was at the bottom. He'd fogged his mind with illegals for years. No tolerance for disruptive stimuli. He lost all control even before the application of pain. His mind broke as soon as he regained consciousness and found himself strapped to the table. But Michelle…