She didn’t nibble at that particular bait, but she wished she’d gone for both Sober-Ups so her mind would be absolutely clear.
She left the car at the end of the drive, led the way up the steps. He was doing his best not to gape at the house but didn’t manage to swallow the low whistle when she opened the front door.
“I’ve got a meeting,” she said, even as Summerset stepped into view and opened his mouth.
With her hands jammed in her pockets, she headed upstairs. Webster gave up, stared down at the elegant butler, scanned what he could see of the lower floor. “Some place. I’m trying to picture you in this palace. You never struck me as the princess type.”
But when he stepped into her office, one Roarke had modeled to reflect her previous apartment, he nodded. “This is more like it. Streamlined and practical.”
“Now that I have your approval, spill it. I’ve got work to do.”
“You had time to go out and knock a few back tonight.”
She angled her head, folded her arms. “Are you under the impression you have any say in what I do with my time, on or off the job?”
“Just an observation.” He prowled the room, picking up, setting back, items at random, then nearly jolted when he saw the enormous cat curled up in his sleep chair and watching him out of narrowed bicolored eyes.
“Palace guard?”
“Damn right. One word from me, and he’ll claw your eyes out and eat your tongue. Don’t make me set him off.”
He laughed, ordered himself to relax. “Got any coffee?”
“Yes.” She stood just where she was.
He laughed again, a short, resigned sound. “I was going to say you used to be friendlier, but you weren’t. Something about that mean streak of yours always did it for me. I must be sick.”
“Get to the point, or get out.”
He nodded, yet still he stalled, walking to her window, staring out. “Your current avenues of investigation are infringing on an IAB movement.”
“Aw, I feel so bad about that.”
“I warned them about you. They didn’t listen. Had this idea that you could be handled.” He turned back, met her eyes. “I’m here to order you off Ricker.”
“You have no authority to order me off anything.”
“Request,” he amended. “I’m here to request you back off your investigation of Max Ricker.”
“Request denied.”
“Dallas, you push the wrong buttons, you could screw up an investigation that’s been in the works for months.”
“An internal investigation?”
“I’m not at liberty to confirm or deny.”
“Then leave.”
“I’m trying to give you a hand here. If you just back off, we’ll both end up getting what we’re after.”
She eased a hip on the edge of her desk. “I want a cop killer. What do you want?”
“You think it doesn’t matter to me.” His voice took on heat. His eyes flashed with it. “The way those two men went down?”
“I don’t know what matters to you, Webster. Why don’t you tell me?”
“Doing the job,” he shot back. “Making sure the job gets done right, and it gets done clean.”