“No relying on luck there.”
She thought of herself at eight, and how terrified she’d have been if she’d ended up with federal agents surrounding her. But it was coming down to the wire on no choice there.
She pulled out her communicator, contacted Officer Carmichael, gave him the assignment, sent him the necessary data.
That, at least, felt like action, however weak.
She looked over as Willowby came in.
“Hey, thought I’d bop down from EDD and fill you in.”
She’d dressed for EDD, Eve thought, in a rainbow shirt and neon-green bibbed baggies. And bopped over on pink low-top air kicks.
“That pizza is not Vending crap.”
Eve waved a hand at it. “Go ahead.”
“Either one,” Peabody told her. “Or both.”
“Veggie pizza’s the only way veggies go down easy. I’ll take a slice of both.” She sat on the table, laid one slice over the other, and bit in. “So, your man’s up there now,” she told Eve. “Sizzle.” She gave a little shiver. “If you don’t mind me saying.”
“You already did.”
“I got a weakness for the sizzle, and the smarts. I don’t care what chromosomes somebody’s got, I just go for sizzle or smarts. Somebody’s got both? I’m a goner. He sure has both. Anyway.”
She paused to take another bite.
“He’s working with the e-geeks on this op, and I’m going to say, it could work. It’ll take some doing, and some damn good cover. It’s pretty late in the game for this auction, but you do get some buyers who don’t move in until late in the game.”
She looked at the board, at the faces as she ate. “If we do it right, pull it off, it could work for some of them.”
“Did you get any sleep, Willowby?”
“Zonked a few z’s. Pizza’s better than the z’s. We’re down to two days and change. I’ll sleep after.” Then she gestured to the board. “Some of the girls you’ve got up there are starting to pop up in more previews. If it goes the way I think, full sales kits go online by this time tomorrow. You’ve added some of the Kiddies.”
“Yeah, they fit the abduction pattern.”
“Fuckers. I want to take them down as much as you. The thing is, however slick, however major this organization is, there are others. The op up in EDD? Maybe, just maybe, we take down a few more.”
“How many you figure?” Eve asked her.
“On this scale?” Willowby shook her head. “Not many, but you’ll have smaller organizations, maybe holding three or four to put up for an auction like this. A few more that specialize, and likely import rather than snatch. The Brutes—just my term for it—the ones who use and abuse, then sell off—more of those, but they’d need good financing to participate in this level of auction. The entry fee’s half a mil, and that’s just to get in to sell. Then twenty percent of the sale price goes to the auction.”
“Seems like busting that wide would be a good move.”
“Doesn’t it just? Maybe this’ll give us a shot at it. It’d be a hell of a thing, wouldn’t it, if these two kids blow it all down.
“No trace of her yet? Dorian Gregg?”
“No. We’re hitting on the kooks and the overeagers, but nothing that’s panned out. I’m calling in the feds, tomorrow latest.”
“Shit, figured that was coming.” She ate more pizza. “I hate to see them horn in on what we’re starting up in EDD. We’re going to do it clean,” she added. “No way we’re going to let any of these bastards slide out on technicalities. But feds can be harsh on a little wiggle.”
“I can’t hold it off longer than that. Right now, I’m not sure I should.”
“I hear you. Whatever it takes. I’m going back to the circus. Thanks for the pizza. Most mag-o.”
As she pushed off the table, Trueheart, the earnest, tapped on the doorjamb.
“Sorry, Lieutenant.”
Even as he spoke, Willowby turned back to Eve, widened her eyes, tapped her hand on her heart.
“Detective?”
“Mavis is here. I didn’t want to send her back without getting your go.”
“She got the kid with her?”
“No, sir.”
“You can send her back.”
“He’s so cute!” Willowby said when he went out again. “Got the cute sizzles. Got brains?”
“He’s a solid cop, a good detective. Tamp it down some, Willowby.”