“Just saying. Not married or anything, is he?”
“He’s not,” Peabody filled in when Eve just closed her eyes. “But he’s just off a relationship. She took a job in East Washington. He’s really sweet.”
“I like sweet, especially with cute sizzles. I’m in a serious dry spell, you know? Maybe after we bust these bastards, I can— Holy shit!”
Mavis stepped in on purple sneaks, pink skin pants, and a purple shirt that clung to her little baby bump and sported a pink arrow pointing to it that read: GUESS WHO?
Her hair was a curling mass of both colors.
She would, Eve thought, have fit in very well in EDD.
Willowby actually squealed. “Mavis Freestone. Holy shit. I’m a mega fan.”
Mavis put on the high beams, but Eve knew her.
Something’s up, she thought. Something’s off.
“Thanks! Great to meet you.”
“Willowby. Zela Willowby. I hit your concert on Fire Island. Man, it was beyond. And the vid you just released, backed by Avenue A, dueting with Jake Kincade? Frosted supreme.
“I’m babbling. Sorry.”
“Hear me complaining? Juices me to hear somebody likes my music.”
“Love it. This is a moment for me. Anyway, gotta go before I drool or something. Jesus,” she said as she headed out. “Two sizzles and a Freestone. What a day.”
“Okay.” Mavis let out a breath, and the high beams dimmed. “Can I shut this door?”
“Yeah. Is Bella okay, Leonardo?”
“Yeah, yeah, all totally.”
“Then come sit down and tell me what the fuck. I can see it all over you.”
“I’m going to.”
“Want some tea or something?” Peabody asked her.
“No, I’m good. All good.” She crossed over but stood looking at the board. “So many,” she said quietly. She pressed a hand protectively over the child inside her, then sat. “I need you to hear me all the way out, and not get pissed.”
“Why would I get pissed?”
“I just need you to listen all the way. You’re looking for one of those girls, especially. Dorian Gregg.”
“That’s right. What do you know?”
“If you listen all the way, and don’t get pissed, I can get her to come to the house, where you can talk to her.”
Eve struggled not to lurch up and shout. “You know where she is?”
“No, but I can do what I said if you listen, don’t get pissed.”
“I need to know where she is, Mavis.”
The hand rubbing circles over the baby bump went into high speed. “You’re already pissed. I know what all this means to you, and you know what it all means to me. I know you want to know where she is to keep her safe, and to find a way to help all those girls.”
Her voice broke as she looked at the board again.
“Please, let me help that happen. I had to give my word to get this far. Solemn promise mode—most solemn. I’m going to have to ask you and Peabody to give yours to get more. But I can help, if you hear me all the way.”
“I’m listening.”
“Sebastian tagged me. She’s with him.”
14
She wanted to explode, to spew hot, molten, electric fury, so did the opposite. She went ice-cold.
“Where is she? Where’s he keeping her?”
“I don’t know. Dallas—”
“Don’t fuck with me, Mavis, not on this. Where’s his hole?”
“I don’t know! Even if I did, I couldn’t tell you because I had to promise. But I don’t know. It’s been a bazillion years since I ran with Sebastian and his kids, Jesus, since before I met you. You know that.”
“He’s holding a material witness to a murder, and the key to a hell of a lot more. What does he want for her?”
Mavis’s eyes went hard, went hot. Her voice matched it.
“It’s not like that. I knew I’d piss you off. I didn’t figure you’d piss me off, pulling out the hard-ass goddamn cop.”
“I am a hard-ass goddamn cop. A hard-ass goddamn murder cop with a thirteen-year-old girl in the morgue.”
“Okay.” Peabody held up both hands. “Why don’t we—”
Both Eve and Mavis rounded on her with looks that burned to the bone.
Peabody lowered her hands. “Nothing,” she muttered. “Nothing at all.”
“You need to shut up for two damn minutes and fucking listen,” Mavis snapped. “He didn’t tell me much because he wants her to tell you, get it? He didn’t want it all filtered out through me. So I know one of his kids found her, and she was hurt. The kid brought her in.”