Payback in Death, page 34
“He did love me! You know nothing. Brice loved me. We were soul mates. We were going to get married, have a family. He was everything to me.”
Sitting back, Eve smiled. “That sounds like a lot more than an acquaintance.”
“Ms. Arnez—Elva—please don’t say anything else. Let me—”
Arnez smacked Congera’s hand away.
“She’s not going to get away with saying those lies. Martin Greenleaf destroyed the best man I ever knew. He destroyed my family! He killed the only one I’ll ever love. And for what? For what? For his rules, his regulations, his righteous line of right and wrong? Why should he have a life? Why should he have a happy family? Where is mine?”
“You used one of Noy’s drop weapons. Did he give it to you or did you take it?”
“I took it. Why shouldn’t I have something? His wife, his daughter, all they could do was cry. They were ashamed of Louis. Ashamed. I stood up for him. Brice and I stood up for him. I was more a daughter to him than that sniveling little brat. And his wife? Saint fucking Ella? She just forgets him, forgets him and her own son? Marries someone else. They can go to hell, just like Greenleaf.”
“You planned it all out, the timing, the method. Did Denzel help with that?”
“Denzel can’t plan his way out of a grease-soaked job in someone else’s garage. I gave my father and the man I love justice.”
It was all there, Eve thought, all there in that striking face. The fury, the hate, all the bitter years of them.
“Step one, get an apartment in the building. Step two, become friends. That leads to step three, get to know the family, earn their affection and trust, learn their routines. It really pissed you off when Ella Noy married Cal Rosen. She didn’t even invite you to the wedding.”
“As if I’d have gone. Love is forever. She disgraced herself and the memory of her husband, her son. I thought better of her. I was wrong. She tossed them aside. Well, I didn’t.”
“How did you talk Denzel into going along with murder?”
“Not murder. Justice. He understands what Martin did, how he destroyed my family. He’ll do anything for me.”
“I’m withdrawing as counsel for Ms. Arnez. Ms. Arnez, I advise you to remain silent and consult another attorney immediately.”
“Oh, fuck you. You had one job and couldn’t do it.”
“Former counsel for Ms. Arnez exiting Interview,” Eve said. “You’re entitled to legal representation.”
“And I’ll do better next time. Much better. I did what needed to be done, and I’ll find a lawyer who’ll make that clear. Louis and Brice would be proud of me.”
We’ll play that tune, Eve thought.
“I’m sure Louis Noy would be proud, proud of how well you planned it out. You chose a night you’d have an unassailable alibi,” Eve began. “You unlocked the bedroom window to give Robards, your partner, access to Captain Greenleaf’s apartment.”
“Yes, yes, yes.”
“When you sent the all clear, Robards entered by that unlocked window via the fire escape. He used the weapon you’d taken from Noy after Noy’s death, and killed Martin Greenleaf. He left the drop piece, after putting the captain’s prints on it, wrote the suicide note, and exited by the same window.”
“This is boring,” Arnez decided.
“Won’t take much longer. The glitch in the plan. Detective Webster, who arrived shortly after, and brought me into it. And we’re there when you return with the widow. You can’t get back into the bedroom and lock the window.”
“It was perfect. It should’ve been perfect. It didn’t matter about the damn lock. I wasn’t there.”
“Since the suicide plan didn’t work, you felt you needed to move on Ben quickly. Is that right?”
“Why wait? Let’s not waste time now, either. Denzel shut down the security. I got the little brat’s ’link, sent the whiny text after we got upstairs. Daddy came right along. Bang on the head—that was my pleasure. String the asshole up, go out—you figured out how. That should’ve worked, too. He should be dead, like my Brice.”
“The rope, the ’links?”
“Oversights. We weren’t suspects, should never have been looked at twice. How did you connect me to Louis and Brice?”
“We’re cops. We do our job.”
“Captain Louis Noy was a cop, and would’ve crushed you like a bug.”
Now Eve smiled. “You’re welcome to think so. Maybe it’ll get you through the first few decades in an off-planet cage.”
“I levied justice for two good men. My father and my lover. No one who’s ever loved would convict me.”
“Here’s a media bulletin,” Eve said as she rose. “Noy was neither a good man nor your father. The subject has confessed on record, all charges. Have her taken down, Peabody. She’s entitled to other legal representation if she chooses. Interview End.”
As she walked to the door, Eve glanced back.
Yeah, she thought. She could be petty.
“I bet Brice Noy never banged you. Not even a pity bang.”
Arnez looked at her with dead eyes. “I’ll kill you one day.”
“You go right ahead and believe that. Maybe it’ll get you through the decades after the first few.”
Epilogue
After stepping out, Eve walked down to Observation. Whitney came out first.
“Good work, Lieutenant.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“Damn good work,” he said as he walked away.
Reo just shook her head. “You sure made it easy for me.”
“She made it easy for both of us. She’s got some ego.”
“Malignant narcissists usually do,” Mira commented. “‘He didn’t love you.’ You turned the key in that lock, and she couldn’t let those words stand.”
Darcia stepped up, offered a hand. “Thank you.”
“It’s the job. You know that as well as I do.”
“I do, and thank you anyway.”
“Can I have a minute?” Webster asked Eve, then looked at Roarke. “Can I have a minute, private, in her office?”
“That would be up to the lieutenant.”
“Sure.”
“I don’t know how Martin missed it,” he began as they walked. “How he missed what was inside Arnez. Except—I didn’t see it when I met her. I didn’t see it in Observation, not until you were well into it. But you did.”
“Her guard was down when you opened the door that night. I saw something. I’m getting coffee. You want?”
“No, I’m not going to keep you. I’d like to tell the family, if that’s good for you.”
“No problem. Webster, if you hadn’t been there, I wouldn’t have been there. I wouldn’t have seen. If you hadn’t been there, Ben would be dead. Remember that.”
“Yeah. Well. I’m going to go tell the family. And I wanted to … I wanted to tell you goodbye. With this done, I’m going to go back to Olympus with Darcia next week. Start my life with her.”
“I’m going to say good luck. And not in a snotty way. I mean it.”
“I know it. Don’t kick my ass for this,” he said, and hugged her. “Thanks,” he murmured, then pulled away. “And I mean that. New York’s in good hands, Lieutenant.”
When he walked out, she went to her window, took a long breath. And turned when Roarke came in.
“Webster and Angelo are going to go for it on Olympus, starting next week.”
“Darcia told me. I think they’ll be very happy together.”
“Looks that way.”
He brushed a hand over her hair. “And you?”
“I went into Interview pissed, had a headache starting to bang from the pissed. But in there? I could see how to … turn the key in the lock, like Mira said. And I stopped being pissed, and just did the job.”
She glanced back at the board. “Almost done now. Just have to deal with the paperwork. That’s the job, too.”
“I’ll wait while you write this up. Then we’ll go home, have some wine. Shake this week off.”
Shake it off, she thought. That’d been her plan.
“You know what I think?”
“I’m always interested.”
“I’m thinking, and I’m wondering about that pub you’ve got—the one with the snug thing we all went to during the Dawber case, with the burgers. Feeney’s all about their fish and chips.”
“I remember, yes.”
“I’m wondering if we could do that, go there, in the snug part like we did. Whoever’s up for it in the bullpen, Feeney, McNab, Reo maybe—I think I still owe her some drinks. The Miras if they wanted. Maybe tag up Morris. I think I’d like a couple hours and a couple beers with good cops and the people who work with them. I think I could really use that.”
“It’s a wonder to me that I find I’d enjoy a couple hours with good cops as well. I’ll arrange it.”
“Thanks.” She slid her arms around him, rested her head on his shoulder. “I know what love is,” she murmured, then drew back to cup his face. “And it’s not what drove her to kill. This is love,” she said, and kissed him.
“It is. Yesterday, today, tomorrow. It is.”
“I’m going to write this up, close it down, put it away. Maybe you could round up whoever wants in on burgers, beer, and whatever.”
“I’ll do that. And echo your commander. Good work, Lieutenant.”
“I didn’t do it alone,” she said as he left. She’d had good cops and the people who work with them.
Now she sat to finish the job, and put it away.
Author’s Note
Suicide rates in the United States continue to rise. It’s a tragedy that not only cuts a life short, but leaves behind grieving loved ones, friends, and neighbors.
The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline offers free, confidential help all day, every day. If you or someone you know is at risk, please call or text 988 and reach out to someone who wants to help.
Titles by J. D. Robb
Naked in Death
Glory in Death
Immortal in Death
Rapture in Death
Ceremony in Death
Vengeance in Death
Holiday in Death
Conspiracy in Death
Loyalty in Death
Witness in Death
Judgment in Death
Betrayal in Death
Seduction in Death
Reunion in Death
Purity in Death
Portrait in Death
Imitation in Death
Divided in Death
Visions in Death
Survivor in Death
Origin in Death
Memory in Death
Born in Death
Innocent in Death
Creation in Death
Strangers in Death
Salvation in Death
Promises in Death
Kindred in Death
Fantasy in Death
Indulgence in Death
Treachery in Death
New York to Dallas
Celebrity in Death
Delusion in Death
Calculated in Death
Thankless in Death
Concealed in Death
Festive in Death
Obsession in Death
Devoted in Death
Brotherhood in Death
Apprentice in Death
Echoes in Death
Secrets in Death
Dark in Death
Leverage in Death
Connections in Death
Vendetta in Death
Golden in Death
Shadows in Death
Faithless in Death
Forgotten in Death
Abandoned in Death
Desperation in Death
Encore in Death
Payback in Death
Anthologies
Silent Night
(with Susan Plunkett, Dee Holmes, and Claire Cross)
Out of This World
(with Laurell K. Hamilton, Susan Krinard, and Maggie Shayne)
Remember When
(with Nora Roberts)
Bump in the Night
(with Mary Blayney, Ruth Ryan Langan, and Mary Kay McComas)
Dead of Night
(with Mary Blayney, Ruth Ryan Langan, and Mary Kay McComas)
Three in Death
Suite 606
(with Mary Blayney, Ruth Ryan Langan, and Mary Kay McComas)
In Death
The Lost
(with Patricia Gaffney, Mary Blayney, and Ruth Ryan Langan)
The Other Side
(with Mary Blayney, Patricia Gaffney, Ruth Ryan Langan, and Mary Kay McComas)
Time of Death
The Unquiet
(with Mary Blayney, Patricia Gaffney, Ruth Ryan Langan, and Mary Kay McComas)
Mirror, Mirror
(with Mary Blayney, Elaine Fox, Mary Kay McComas, and R. C. Ryan)
Down the Rabbit Hole
(with Mary Blayney, Elaine Fox, Mary Kay McComas, and R. C. Ryan)
About the Author
J. D. Robb is the pseudonym for the New York Times bestselling author of more than 230 novels, including the futuristic suspense In Death series. There are more than 500 million copies of the author’s books in print. You can sign up for email updates here.
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Contents
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Epigraphs
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-one
Chapter Twenty-two
Chapter Twenty-three
Epilogue
Author’s Note
Titles by J. D. Robb
About the Author
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
First published in the United States by St. Martin’s Press, an imprint of St. Martin’s Publishing Group
PAYBACK IN DEATH. Copyright © 2023 by Nora Roberts. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Publishing Group, 120 Broadway, New York, NY 10271.
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The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.
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ISBN 978-1-250-28410-5 (ebook)
eISBN 9781250284105
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First Edition: 2023
J. D. Robb, Payback in Death
