Read In Death 09 - Loyalty in Death for Free Online Page A

on the mind of the serial torture killer in her computer. She'd have to get it out and bury it somewhere.
    "If I'd known you were coming, I'd've picked up a little."
    "Why? You never picked up your room at home."
    He grinned at her and headed to the tiny kitchen to set down the food sack. Actually, it relieved him to see her living space was so much like her. Steady, unpretentious, basic.
    He noted a slow drip from the faucet, a blister burn in the countertop. He could fix those for her, he thought. Though it surprised him she hadn't done so herself.
    "I'll do this." She stripped off her coat, her cap, and hurried in behind him. "Go put your things in the bedroom. I'll bunk on the couch while you're here."
    "No, you won't." Already he was poking in cabinets to put things away. If he was shocked by the stock in her pantry, particularly the bright red and yellow bag of Tasty Tater Treats, he didn't mention it. "I'll take the sofa."
    "It's a pull-out, and fairly roomy." And she thought she probably had clean sheets for it. "But it's lumpy."
    "I can sleep anywhere."
    "I know. I remember all those camping trips. Give Zeke a blanket and a rock, and he's down for the count." Laughing, she wrapped her arms around him, pressed her cheek to his back. "God, I missed you. I really missed you."
    "We -- Mom and Dad and the rest of us -- hoped you'd make it home for Christmas."
    "I couldn't." She stepped back as he turned. "Things got complicated." And she wouldn't speak of that, wouldn't tell him what had been happening, what had been done. "But I'll make time soon. I promise."
    "You look different, Dee." He touched his big hand to her cheek. "Official. Settled in. Happy."
    "I am happy. I love my work." She lifted her hand to his, pressed down on it. "I don't know how to explain it to you, to make you understand."
    "You don't have to. I can see it." He pulled out a six-pack of juice tubes and opened the tiny friggie. Understanding wasn't always the answer. He knew that. Accepting was. "I feel bad about pulling you away from your job."
    "Don't. I haven't had any personal time in..." She shook her head as she stuffed boxes and bags onto shelves. "Hell, who remembers? Dallas wouldn't have green-lighted it if we'd been jammed."
    "I liked her. She's strong, with dark places. But she's not hard."
    "You're right." Head angled, Peabody turned back to him. "And what did Mom tell you about peeking at auras without consent?"
    He flushed a little, grinned around it. "She's responsible for you. I didn't look that close, and I like to know who's looking out for my big sister."
    "Your big sister's doing a pretty good job of looking out for herself. Why don't you unpack?"
    "That'll take me about two minutes."
    "Which is about twice the time it'll take me to give you the grand tour." She took his arm and led him across the living space into the bedroom.
    "This is about it." A bed, a table, and lamp, a single window. The bed was made -- that was habit and training. There was a book on the nightstand. She'd never understood why anyone could choose to curl up with a palm unit and disc. But the fact that it was a grisly murder mystery made her wince when Zeke flipped it over.
    "Busman's holiday?"
    "I guess."
    "You always did like this kind of stuff." He set the book back down. "It comes down to good and evil, doesn't it, Dee? And good's supposed to win when it's over."
    "That's the way it works for me."
    "Yeah, but what's evil there for in the first place?"
    She might have sighed, thinking of all she'd seen, what she'd done, but she kept her gaze level on his. "Nobody's got the answer to that, but you've got to know it's there and deal with it. That's what I do, Zeke."
    He nodded, studied her face. He knew it was different from the routine she'd had when she'd moved to New York and put on a uniform. Then it had been traffic incidents, squabbles to break up, and paperwork. Now she was attached to homicide. She dealt with death every day and rubbed shoulders with