She held him in turn. “Me, too.”
“But since closet sex is off the agenda, let’s use the closet for its more traditional purpose.” Drawing away, he chose another shirt. “White to add crispness.”
“I had on a white shirt.”
With the demeanor of a patient teacher instructing a baffled student, he held up the first shirt. “This is cream. This?” He held up the second shirt. “Is white. And this belt?” He tossed her the white shirt, selected a belt. “Is indigo, as are your trousers. It’s a pity you’d balk at celadon boots for a workday, as they’d complement that outfit perfectly. But …” He moved over to the wall of shelves that held the ridiculous, to her mind, number of boots she’d acquired.
“This will finish off the look and fall within your version of appropriate.”
She took them. “Indigo?”
“There you have it.”
He gave her a kiss that met the equivalent of a pat on the head, then left her to dress.
She hadn’t done it on purpose, Eve thought as she put on the white shirt, the indigo belt. But fiddling with her clothes had lightened his mood a little.
She put on the boots—a new addition from the closet fairy—grabbed the jacket.
He stood at the AC again, ordering breakfast. She had to hope a fine day meant no oatmeal. Taking up her weapon harness, she shrugged into it. And thinking of international assassins, got out her clutch piece and ankle holster.
Since he’d already set the pot of coffee on the table of the sitting area, she poured for both of them.
He brought two plates under warmers to the table—and the cat eyed them greedily while he washed.
No oatmeal, Eve thought with an inner cheer. Some nice fat berries, some sort of omelet, and best of all, bacon.
“You’d have thought out some of your strategy for the day in the shower. Tell me.”
Eve cut into the omelet. Green stuff inside. She should’ve known. “Morgue first. I want to consult with both Whitney and Mira—Whitney can help with the alphabets, and Mira with a clear-sighted view of both Cobbe and Tween.”
“Alphabets?”
“FBI, CIA, NCA, CSB, blah blah blah. Like I told you last night after I made the notification, her family’s coming to New York. Unless they push for otherwise, I want to talk to them in my house.”
The green stuff turned out to be asparagus and … “Peas?”
“It’s spring,” he said as if that explained it.
It didn’t, but it worked somehow.
“You didn’t tell me how her family took the notification.”
“A lot worse than Tween.” She could still hear the pain, the shock, the grief. “I only spoke to the father. When he recovered enough, he said they would all come—including his son and his son’s family. They all needed to come, to see her, to arrange for her, to talk to me.”
“Did he say anything about Tween?”
“He asked if he should contact Tween, asked about his grandson. I suggested maybe they should wait until they got to New York before contacting Tween, and that I hoped they would agree to come in and speak with me, that I would tell them all I could at that time.”
Roarke nodded. “I believe they’re a close family. As I said, I know the brother a little—Stefano. He’s a canny businessman, knowledgeable. Tennis, as I recall, is his sport, and he’s fairly fierce about it. That’s how he met his wife. She was a pro, and retired when she had their second child. She’s a coach now.”
Details, all details, helped.
“Anything I should know about the parents I can’t find on a standard?”
“Nothing I can think of, but I can, and will, ask around.”
“Meanwhile, I want to talk to the housekeeper—alone. She didn’t come back down after going up to get Tween. That tells me he sent her back to her quarters rather than letting me see her reaction to the notification.”
She ate some bacon and waited while Roarke gave the covertly advancing Galahad a cool, warning stare.
Galahad decided he needed to wash again.
“What about you?”
“Besides what I couldn’t reasonably postpone or reschedule, I have some sources of my own to mine. I want to talk to Brian as well.”
Brian Kelly, Eve thought, Roarke’s old friend and the proprietor of the Penny Pig, a Dublin pub.
“Brian must have known Cobbe.”
“And sure he did. They didn’t care for each other, but neither did they have any dealings to speak of. Still, having Brian’s ear to the ground won’t hurt. And I’ve put some men in Clare to keep an eye on the family.”
“Your family?” She set down her fork with a clatter. “Jesus Christ, Roarke, you think he’d go after your family?”
“I won’t risk it, so I’ve people looking out. Odds are he hasn’t kept close tabs on me the last years. For what point? He likely doesn’t know I have family, as I didn’t myself for years. But I promise you he will know of them right quick, as he’ll look into such matters or try.”
“I can talk to the locals,” Eve began.
“Not as yet. I’d rather the family not have this worry, or take the chance of one of the local cops letting out I’ve got a concern. That’s all he’d need, trust me.”
“I do.” But she didn’t like it. She added doing some quiet research into the locals to her agenda. She’d already consulted with them once, already had opinions.
“Then there’s the school. We’re about to open An Didean, and I want no trouble in that quarter.”
“I’ll have some cops keep an eye out there, and on Dochas,” she added, thinking of the women’s shelter. “I know who I can trust,” she said before he could object.
“You do, of course. I’d appreciate it, as he might find it a lark to make trouble in those areas, or hurt someone just for the bloody hell of it.”
“Then it’s done. I don’t care who your sources are, or however far they fall over my particular line, I need to know whatever you find out.”
“And you will. There’s no question of it. And I know who you are, Lieutenant, and how good you are at what you do.” Looking at her, he trailed a finger down the shallow dent in her chin. “But I’m asking you to take more care, to watch out more closely for the woman I love. It would give him great joy to take you from me.”
“He’s not going to be happy when we’re done with him. I promise you.”
She rose to gather her ’link, her communicator, and all the rest. Then considered, dug into a drawer for a stiletto, a wrist sheath. After she put it on, she turned to Roarke, hit the switch that released the lethal blade.
He smiled at her. “Thanks for that.”
“As an officer in the New York Police and Security Department, I can’t advise you to arm yourself in a similar fashion. As the woman who loves you right back, I’m telling you to.”
“You’ve no worry on that score.”
She put on the jacket, walked back to kiss him goodbye. “Celadon and indigo?”
He pulled her back for a second kiss. “It looks well on you. You take care of my cop.”