“Camera.” Eve held up a finger. “There was a recording on the entire time we’ve been out here?” She flicked a narrow-eyed stare at the lagoon. “The entire time.”
“Which is why I generally prefer people to automations.”
“We’re on there? All on there?”
“I’ll take care of it.”
She started to speak again, then got a good look at his face. The devil took over. “I’ll be damned, Roarke. You’re embarrassed.”
“Certainly not.” If he’d been wearing anything but skin, he would have pushed his hands into his pockets. “It was simply an oversight. I said I’d take care of it.”
“Let’s play it back.”
He stopped short, and gave Eve the rare pleasure of seeing him goggle. “I beg your pardon?”
“You are embarrassed.” She leaned over to kiss him, and while he was distracted, snatched the disc. “That’s cute. Really cute.”
“Shut up. Give me that.”
“I don’t think so.” Delighted, she danced back a step and held the disc out of reach. “I bet this is very hot. Aren’t you curious?”
“No.” He made a grab, but she was very quick. “Eve, give me the damn thing.”
“This is fascinating.” She edged back toward the open patio doors. “The sophisticated, seen-it-all Roarke is blushing.”
“I am not.” He hoped to Christ he wasn’t. That would top it. “I simply see no reason to document lovemaking. It’s private.”
“I’m not
going to pass it on to Nadine Furst for broadcast. I’m just going to review it. Right now.” She dashed inside while he swore and ran after her.
She walked into her office at nine A.M. sharp with a spring to her step. Her eyes were clear and unshadowed, her system toned and her shoulders free of tension. She was all but humming.
“Somebody got lucky,” Feeney said mournfully and kept his feet planted on her desk. “Roarke’s back on planet, I take it.”
“I got a good night’s sleep,” she retorted and shoved his feet aside.
He grunted. “Be grateful, ’cause you’re not going to find much peace today. Lab report’s in. The fucking knife doesn’t match.”
Her sunny mood vanished. “What do you mean, the knife doesn’t match?”
“The blade’s too thick. A centimeter. Might as well be a meter, goddamn it.”
“That could be the angle of the wounds, the thrust of the blow.” Mexico vanished like a bubble of air. Thinking fast, she began to pace. “What about the blood?”
“They managed to scrape off enough to get type, DNA.” His already gloomy face sagged. “It matches our boy. It’s David Angelini’s blood, Dallas. Lab says it’s old, six months minimum. From the fibers they got, it looks like he used it to open packages, probably nicked himself somewhere along the line. It’s not our weapon.”
“Screw it.” She heaved a breath, refused to be discouraged. “If he had one knife, he could have had two. We’ll wait to hear from the other sweepers.” Taking a moment, she scrubbed her face with her hands. “Listen to me, Feeney, if we go with Marco’s confession as bogus, we have to ask why. He’s not a crank or a loony calling in trying to take credit. He’s saving his son’s ass is what he’s doing. So we work on him, and we work hard. I’ll bring him in to interview, try to crack him.”
“I’m with you there.”
“I’ve got a session with Mira in a couple hours. We’ll just let our main boy stew for awhile.”
“While we pray one of the teams turns up something.”
“Praying can’t hurt. Here’s the big one, Feeney, our boy’s lawyers get a hold of Marco’s confession, it’s going to corrupt the hearing on the minor charges. We’ll whistle for an indictment.”
“With that, and without physical evidence, he’s going back out, Dallas.”