"Why?"
Eve stared into Peabody's eyes for a long ten seconds. "Let's seal up here."
"Dallas, I'm no good to you if you stick blinders on me."
"I know. Let's seal it up."
• • •
"I need air," Eve said when they were outside again and Peabody's recorder was tucked away. "And food. Any objections to getting both in Central Park?''
"No."
"Don't pout, Peabody," Eve warned as they climbed back into the car. "It's not attractive."
They drove in silence, squeezed into a street level parking spot, and headed off into the denuded trees. The wind had enough kick to make Eve fasten her jacket as they crunched dead leaves under their feet. At the first glide-cart Eve debated between a veggie hash pocket and a scoop of soy fries. She opted for grease while Peabody ordered a single healthy fruit kabob.
"Your Free-Ager's showing," Eve commented.
"I don't consider food a religious issue." Peabody sniffed and bit into a pineapple spear. "Though my body is a temple."
It made Eve smile. She was going to be forgiven. "I'm in possession of certain information that, as an officer of the law, I am duty bound to report to my superior. I have no intention of doing so."
Peabody studied a slice of hothouse peach, slid it off the stick. "Would this information have relevance in a case currently under investigation?"
"It would. If I share this information with you, you would also be duty bound to report it. Not doing so would make you an accessory after the fact. You'd risk your badge, your career, and very likely some portion of your freedom."
"It's my badge, my career, my freedom."
"Yes, it is." Eve stopped, turned. The wind ruffled her hair as she studied the earnest face, the sober eyes. "You're a good cop, Peabody. You're on your way to earning a detective's shield. I know that's important to you. I know what mine meant to me."
She looked away to where two uniformed nannies watched their young charges play on the grass. Nearby a jogger stopped along the path to stretch, to shift the bottle of anti-mugging spray on his hip when a licensed beggar meandered in his direction. Overhead, a park security copter cruised lazily with monotonous thudding blades.
"This information I have affects me personally, so I've made the choice. It doesn't affect you."
"With respect, Lieutenant, it does. If you're questioning my loyalty—"
"It isn't a matter of loyalty, Peabody. This is the law, this is duty, this…" Heaving a breath, she dropped down on a bench. "This is a mess."
"If you share this information with me, will it help me assist you in apprehending the killer of Thomas Brennen and Shawn Conroy?"
"Yes."
"Do you want my word that said information remains between us?"
"I have to ask for it, Peabody." She looked over as Peabody sat beside her. "With regret, I have to ask you to promise me you'll violate your duty."
"You have my word, Lieutenant. With no regret."
Eve squeezed her eyes shut for a moment. Some bonds, she realized, were formed quickly and held fast. "It started in Dublin," she began, "almost twenty years ago. Her name was Marlena."
She related it all, carefully and concisely, using the cop speak that both of them understood best. When it was done, they continued to sit. Eve's lunch lay untouched on her lap. Somewhere deeper in the park birds sang, their voices competing with the drone of traffic.
"I never thought of Summerset having a daughter," Peabody said at length. "Losing her like that. There's nothing worse, is there?"
"I suppose not. But somehow something worse always comes along. Revenge. Marlena to Summerset to Roarke. It fits like a skin suit. A shamrock on one side, the Church on the other. A game of luck, a mission from God."
"If he set Summerset up, knew he'd be in the Towers, doctored the discs, he had to know about his date with Audrey Morrell."