Read In Death 23 - Born in Death for Free Online Page B

and looked longingly at a corner glide-cart. “Baby shower’s coming right up. You set?”
    “Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Or she hoped she was.
    “I made her this sweet baby blanket while I was in the weaving mode over the holidays. It’s all rainbow colors. I’m doing these cute little booties and a hat, too. What’d you get her?”
    “I don’t know.”
    “You haven’t gotten her shower gift yet? Cutting it close.”
    “I got a few days.” Considering, Eve glanced over. “You could go buy something to cover it. I’ll pay you.”
    “Uh-uh. It’s not right.” Peabody folded her arms. “She’s your oldest friend, your best pal, having her first baby. You have to buy it yourself.”
    “Damn it. Damn it, damn it.”
    “I’ll go with you, though. We can swing by this baby place she’s been haunting after we hit the offices. Grab some lunch, too, maybe.”
    Eve imagined the process of shopping in a baby boutique, and had to fight off a shudder. “I’ll give you a hundred dollars to go on your own.”
    “That’s hitting below the belt,” Peabody replied. “But I’m too strong to be bribed. You have to do the thing, Dallas. It’s Mavis.”
    “Coaching classes, baby showers, now shopping. Is there no end to the price of friendship?”
    Eve put it aside—buried it—and made her way to the main reception area of Sloan, Myers, and Kraus.
    In keeping with their service of high-end clients, the area was plush, glass-walled, and full of green, leafy plants. The wide stone-gray counter served as a work area for three receptionists, all of whom wore headsets and worked busily on keyboards. A trio of waiting areas fanned out like sunbeams, boasting deep chairs, media screens, and a selection of entertainment discs.
    Eve laid her badge on the counter in front of a three-piece-suited man with streaked blond hair worn in short, tight curls. “I want to see someone in charge.”
    He gave her a cheerful smile. “That certainly wouldn’t be me. In charge of a specific department, or altogether in charge?”
    “Let’s start small. I want Natalie Copperfield’s and Bick Byson’s supervisors.”
    “Let’s see. Copperfield’s Senior Account Exec, Corporate, Foreign and International. That’s this floor. You’ll want Cara Greene. And ah, Byson, Byson. Byson, Bick,” he all but sang as he read his screen. “Vice President, Personal Finance, Domestic. That’s up a level, and it would be Myra Lovitz.”
    “We’ll take Greene first.”
    “She’s in a meeting.”
    Eve tapped her badge. “Not anymore, she’s not.”
    “Okay by me. I’ll call through. You want to have a seat?”
    “No, just Greene.”
    Swank place, Eve thought as she waited. A lot of money came through these doors. And nothing tempted murder so much as lots of money.
    Cara Greene wore a dark red suit, and though it buttoned to the throat, it was cut in such a way that showed she had a nice, perky rack. She also had an impatient expression on a smooth, caramel-toned face, and clipped out into reception on ice-pick heels.
    “You’re the police?” she demanded and shot an accusing finger at Eve.
    “Lieutenant Dallas, Detective Peabody. You’re Greene?”
    “That’s right, and you’ve just pulled me out of an important meeting. If my son’s hooked school again, I’ll deal with him. I don’t appreciate the cops coming to my office.”
    “We’re not here about your son. We’re here about Natalie Copperfield, and if you’d prefer, you can come to my office. Now.”
    The irritation shifted immediately to wariness. “What about Natalie? You’re not going to tell me she’s in any trouble. She’d never break the law.”
    “Can we take this into your office, Ms. Greene?”
    The expression changed again, and this time there were hints of fear in bottle-green eyes. “Something happened to her? Was there an accident? Is she all right?”
    “Your office would be best.”
    “Come with me.” Moving fast, Cara skirted around the reception