He turned his head to smile at her. "I was tempted to add an edge, just to rub their faces in it. But I had brought David in for the entertainment, and he got more pleasure out of beating them without it." He paused a moment, nipped through an intersection. "And the truth of it, so did I ."

"How'd they react to losing?"

"Oh, they were well and truly p.i.s.sed, masked under hearty laughter and gracious congratulations. Even bought us a round at the nineteenth hole.

Dudley's hands shook, and that was rage. He had to keep them in his pockets until he'd controlled it. And I believe he controlled it with whatever he snorted or swallowed on a trip to the loo."

"Yeah, I 'm betting he snorts, swallows, or smokes a lot. But I meant losing to you in particular."

Nothing got by his cop, he thought. "I 'd say they've gone from disdain to loathing, which is also satisfying. I f I were the sensitive type, I 'd have sc.r.a.ped off their loathing with a putty knife, as it was thick and sticky, but the fact is I enjoyed it quite a lot."

"That's because by drinking on their dime and joining their hearty laughter you were actually giving them the finger."

"And with a modest, just-had-a-run-of-luck smile."

"You milked it," Eve concluded.

"Like they were a couple of cows with engorged utters."

"Eeww."

"Maybe you had to be there. You'd be interested, I think, to know that Dudley had a bit of a rage in the locker room when we weren't around and ordered his clubs destroyed."

"How do you know?"

"I bribed the butler, naturally."

"Naturally, and naturally locker rooms in your world include butlers.""He also smashed his transmitter. I found pieces of it on the floor of the dressing room he used."

"Temper, temper. That's good. I can use that."

"I thought so. He mentioned you. Made a point of telling me he'd met you, and tried to find out how involved I am in your investigation. I made it seem as if this case wasn't of any particular interest, just a driver and an LC, hardly worth my notice, and not all that important to you from my perspective. That didn't please him either."

She said nothing for a moment as he maneuvered through the sluggish river of vehicles. "That was good. That was a pretty good play. I t gives him an emotional investment, makes him want to create more importance, more notice. I t can't be ordinary, that's the whole point. I f you were right, and they wanted me in particular, and likely you, it's no good if you aren't interested, and it's just another day of work for me."

"The Icove case was huge-investigatively, in the media, in the public's attention. You said he mentioned the case, the book to you when you interviewed him. He did the same with me."

"f.u.c.k." Now she scrubbed her hands over her face. "I t could've been part of the inspiration."

"They'd have come to this sooner or later. What I do think is the case, the book, the upcoming vid made him, or them, consider how exciting it might be to become a book or vid. To have their compet.i.tion, then generate all the interest, the notoriety of a major case."

"The thrill would last a long time. Might be able to play that, too," she mused. "Just maybe."

He pulled into a private underground lot, the sort she, on principle, refused to pay the price for.

"You could've found a street spot."

"Live a little, darling. There's a place a few blocks from here. I t's a nice evening for a bit of a walk, and I can guarantee the pizza's excellent."

He took her hand as they walked outside.

"You own the place."

"Since my wife tends to live on pizza half the time, it seemed a good idea to have a spot close to home that serves exceptional pie."

"Hard to argue."

The bright evening sun brought people out in droves. Strolling tourists hauling shopping bags and gawking up at the buildings and sky traffic. And getting in the way, Eve thought, so the people with somewhere to go weaved, dodged, and kept moving. I t was a kind of weird and chaotic ballet, she decided, punctuated by the blare of horns, the chatter of the sidewalk hawkers, the pips and pings of 'links and headsets.

A couple of kids surfed by on airboards, laughing like hyenas. And on the corner, the glide cart vendor broke out in song.

"I guess this was a pretty good idea," Eve decided.

"I t's cleared your headache-sorry, eye ache." And he paused, selected a sleeve of flowers in bold red and blue from a sidewalk display. He pa.s.sed the price to the merchant, handed the flowers to Eve while the cart operator's voice soared in some I talian aria.

I t was a d.a.m.n nice moment, Eve thought. A d.a.m.n nice New York moment.

"I guess this makes it a date."

Roarke laughed, circled her waist, and tugged her in for a showy kiss that had the flower vendor applauding. "Now it's a date."

A half block down he showed her to a little sidewalk table outside a bustling pizzeria. She tapped the Reserved sign. "You booked ahead."

"I t pays to be prepared. I also ordered ahead, so they'll know what to bring us. Now that I 've told you about my day, you can tell me about yours."

"I t was a little rough."

"I don't see any bruises."

"Not that kind of rough."

She started with the interview in Greenwich. Before she was done, a waiter brought a bottle of red, another of sparkling water, and an artful tray of antipasto.

"I 'd say she made a wise decision, and had a lucky escape."

"She had this little pocket of fear tucked away, away deep enough I expect she forgot about it for long stretches of time. Then something reminded her, or she just had a bad day and it opened up. But there was something about him, once she got close enough to see it-and I think she's wired with that shrink circuit-to create that fear."

"Well, he's a monster, isn't he?"

"Why do you say that?"

"Your man who abducted women and tortured them to death was a monster. The Icoves with their twisted egos and science were as well. He's no less of one. He uses his position, which he's never earned, to intimidate or humiliate or frighten because it makes him feel more important. And now he's escalated that and kills for sport, for amus.e.m.e.nt. He's been handed his wealth and position, and rather than do something with it, or simply coast on it for that matter, he uses it as a weapon and considers the weapon his due, and the killing his right."

"And again, hard to argue." She studied the pizza the waiter set between them. "That looks pretty d.a.m.n great. The second interview was rougher than the first. Are you sure you want to hear about it over dinner?"

"That's our way, isn't it?" But he saw something in her eyes. "I t can wait if you'd rather."

"I guess I 'd rather not. Wait, I mean."

So she told him, over pizza, of betrayal and cruelty and rape. I t was better, really, to get it out, say it all with the city buzzing around them, with the comfort of food, with his hand reaching over to cover hers in a gesture of absolute understanding.

"You feel a connection to them, especially Patrice Delaughter."

"Maybe more than I should."

"No." He covered her hand again. "Not more than you should."

"They didn't have to tell me, neither of them. They chose to. Like Ava chose to tell Patrice what had been done to her when she could've just walked away from the whole deal. They did the right thing, and it couldn't have been easy."

"For the two who are alive and well and with their families, I think it will be easier now. I think when you're done, those pockets of fear you spoke of will be empty."

She drank some wine, and thought: No, fear pockets are never really empty. But she didn't say it.

"They're both monsters. Killers aren't always," she added. "Some kill, and for terrible and selfish reasons, but they aren't monsters. The idiot in I reland was stupid and selfish and ended Holly Curlow's life because what, she hurt his feelings? Because he was drunk and p.i.s.sed off? But he'll never really get over what he did. He'll replay those moments in his head the rest of his life, because he's not a monster."

And you' ll remember her name, Roarke thought, and her face.

"Some kill because they're misdirected, bent, scared, greedy. But these two kill because, I think in some way, they feel ent.i.tled. More, under the polish is the monster, but under the monster is a kind of spoiled, ugly child."

"You know them better now.""Know them," she agreed with her eyes cop-flat. "Know some of their weaknesses, the flaws in the polish. Their next target. . . there'll be a connection somewhere, sometime-Peabody was right about that, and we'll find it. I don't know if it'll help us stop them, but it'll help me lock the cage door after we do."

"I 'll help you when we get home. We'll divvy up those searches and see what we can make of them." He poured her a little more wine. "I think you're right. They've had practice."

"I can't do anything about the ones they've done, except use them to stop them from killing more. But, Roarke, I don't have enough to stop them before the next. I know in my gut I 'm already too late. Someone's clock is ticking down right now."

She looked around at the bustle, at the tourists, at the others sitting at pretty outdoor tables drinking wine.

"Maybe they're having dinner, too, maybe some nice wine. Or they're working late, or getting ready to go out for the evening. They're probably doing something ordinary, just what they do on a summer evening in New York. They don't know how little time they have left. They don't know the monsters are at the door, and I 'm going to be too late."

"Maybe that's true, and I know you'll suffer for it if it is. But, Eve, the monsters don't know you're even now breathing down their necks. They don't know their clock is ticking down as well. That's for you to remember now, for you to know."

He lifted her hand, kissed it. "We'll go home, and maybe, just maybe, we'll get to the door first."

CHAPTER 16

LUC DELAFLOTE ARRIVED AT THE ELEGANT HOME on the Upper East Side at precisely eight P.M. He was, after all, a man who prided himself on precision. The dignified droid met him at the door, escorted him and the driver, who carried carefully packed ingredients, to the s.p.a.cious kitchen with its views of the patio, little koi pond, and gardens.

Delaflote carried his own tools, as he believed it demonstrated their import and his own eccentricity.

Fifty-two years before, he'd been born Marvin Clink in T opeka. Through talent, study, work, and towering ambition young Marvin had formed himself into Delaflote de Paris, mai tre cuisinier. He'd designed and prepared meals for kings and presidents, sauteed and flambeed for emirs and sultans. He'd bedded d.u.c.h.esses and kitchen maids.

I t was said-he knew, as he'd said it himself-that those fortunate enough to taste his pate de canard en croute knew how the G.o.ds dined.

"You may go." He dismissed the driver with a single turn of his wrist. "You." He pointed at the droid. "You will show me now the pots."

"One moment, please," the droid said to the driver. The droid opened several deep drawers holding a variety of pots, pans, and skillets. "I will show the driver out, then come back to a.s.sist you."

"a.s.sistance I don't want from you. Keep out of my kitchen. Shoo."

Alone, Delaflote opened his case of knives, spoons, and other tools. He took out a corkscrew, and opened the bottles of wine he'd personally selected. After opening, he searched the polished steel cabinets for a worthy winegla.s.s.

Sipping, he studied his temporary realm, the stove, ovens, sinks, prep counters, and deemed it would do.

For the client who had paid him handsomely for the trip to New York to prepare a romantic, late-night supper for two, he would create a selection of appetizers highlighted by the caviar he'd chosen and served on a bed of clear, crushed ice. When the appet.i.te was whetted, the fortunate pair would enjoy an entree of salmon mousse along with his signature baguettes and thin slices of avocado. His main, poulet poele de Delaflote, would be served with glazed baby vegetables and garnished with generous sprigs of fresh rosemary from his own herb garden.

Ah, the fragrance.

This he would follow with a salad of field greens harvested only an hour before he'd boarded his private shuttle, then his selection of well-aged cheeses. For the finale he would prepare his far-famed souffle au chocolat.

Satisfied, he set up his music-romantic ballads-in French, bien sur, for a romantic meal. Donning his ap.r.o.n, he got down to business.

As he sometimes did, he acted as his own sous-chef, chopping, slicing, peeling. The shapes, the textures, the scents pleased and excited him.

For Delaflote, peeling a potato could be as sensuous and pleasurable as peeling the clothes from a lover.

He was a man of small stature and trim build. His hair, a dramatic and carefully styled mane of glossy chestnut, flowed back from a face dominated by large, heavily lidded brown eyes. They gave him the look of a romantic, a dreamer, and were often the first element in the seduction of women.

He adored women, treated them like queens, and enjoyed having several lovers revolving through his life at the same time.

He lived life fully, wringing every drop of flavor from it and savoring every morsel.

With the chicken in the oven, the mousse chilling, he poured another gla.s.s of wine. Enjoying it, he sampled one of his own stuffed mushrooms, approved.

He cleaned his area, washed the greens, vegetables, and herbs for the salad, then set that to chill. This he would lightly toss with a tarragon dressing while his client and the fortunate husband dined on the main course. Pleased with the scents perfuming the air, he basted the chicken with sauce-the recipe a secret guarded as fiercely as the Crown Jewels-added the pretty little vegetables.

Only then did he step out into the walled garden where, according to the client's wishes, the meal would be served. Again he approved. Lush roses, big-headed hydrangeas, arching trees, starry lilies rose and spread and speared around the paved courtyard. The night held clear and warm, and he would see that dozens of candles were arranged and lit to add the sparkle of romance.

He checked the time. The servers would be arriving any moment, but in the meanwhile he would call the droid, have it set out the table, show him the selection of linens and dinnerware.

He took out one of his herbal cigarettes to smoke while he set the scene.

The table just there, little tealights glittering in clear holders. Roses from the garden in a shallow bowl. More candles ringing the courtyard-all white. He would send one of the servers out to get more if there weren't enough on hand.

Ah, there, nasturtium. He'd toss some of the flowers with the salad for color and interest.

Crystal stemware, mais oui.

The sounds of the city, of traffic crept over the garden walls, but he would mask that with music. The droid would have to show him where the system was kept so he could make the appropriate selections.