Read Suite 606 for Free Online Page A

wrong?”
    She stepped back. Eve noted the house was dim, that the privacy screens had been boosted up to block the light. Even so, the interior was splashed with vibrant colors from rugs and art.
    “Please come in. Won’t you sit down? Can I get you some coffee? Tea?”
    “Aren’t you well, Mika?”
    “I’m just a little off. I had my husband take Aiko out for breakfast because I can’t seem to pull it together.”
    “Long night?” Eve asked, and Mika gave her a puzzled look.
    “I . . . sorry?”
    “My wife, Lieutenant Dallas, and her partner, Detective Peabody. I’ve been trying to reach you, Mika.”
    “You have?” She pushed her hands at her hair in an absent attempt to straighten it. “Nothing’s come through. Did I . . .” She pressed her fingers to her temple. “Did I turn the ’links off? Why would I do that?”
    “Sit down.” Roarke took her arm, led her to a chair in as bold a red as her robe. He sat on the glossy black coffee table to face her. “There was an incident at the hotel last night.”
    “An incident.” She repeated the words slowly, as if learning the language.
    “You were on the com, Mika. You ordered Paul to cover the main hotel, though it was already covered. And you dismissed the tech from the screen room, telling them you’d be running some maintenance on the cameras.”
    “That doesn’t sound right.” She rubbed at her temple again. “It doesn’t sound right.”
    Eve touched Roarke’s shoulder, and though impatience flashed into his eyes, he rose. Eve took his place. “Just before sixteen hundred, you shut down the cameras in the VIP lobby and the private elevator for Suite 606. They remained off until approximately twenty-three hundred.”
    “Why would I do that?”
    Not a denial, Eve noted. A sincere question. “A group checked into that suite. The Asant Group. Do you know them?”
    “No.”
    “During the time the cameras were shut down, from your com, a woman was murdered in that suite.”
    Even the sickly color faded from Mika’s cheeks. “Murdered? Oh, God. Sir—”
    “Look at me, Mika,” Eve demanded. “Who told you to turn off the cameras, to send your relief away, to dismiss the tech?”
    “Nobody.” Her breath went short as her pale face bunched with pain. “I didn’t. I wouldn’t. Murdered? Who? How?”
    Eve narrowed her eyes. “Got a headache, Mika?”
    “Yes. It’s splitting. I took a blocker, but it hasn’t touched it. I can’t think. I don’t understand any of this.”
    “Do you remember going to work yesterday?”
    “Of course. Of course I do. I . . .” Her lips trembled; her eyes filled. “No. No. I don’t remember. I don’t remember anything, it’s all blurred and blank. My head. God.” She dropped it into her hands, rocked herself, much as Jackson Pike had. “When I try to remember, it’s worse. I can’t stand the pain. Sir, something’s wrong with me. Something’s wrong.”
    “All right now, Mika.” Roarke simply nudged Eve aside, crouched, and put his arms around the weeping woman. “We’ll take care of it. We’ll get you to a doctor.”
    “Peabody, help Ms. Nakamura get dressed. We’ll have her taken down to Central.”
    “Damn it, Eve.” Roarke shoved to his feet.
    “Dr. Mira can examine her,” Eve said evenly, “and determine if the cause is physical or psychological. Or both.”
    Roarke eased back, turned to help Mika to her feet. “Go with Detective Peabody. It’s going to be all right.”
    “Someone’s dead. Did I do something? If I did—”
    “Look at me. It’s going to be all right.”
    It seemed to calm her. But as she continued to tremble, Peabody put an arm around her to lead her from the room.
    “Same symptoms as Jackson Pike,” Eve commented. “Down the line.”
    “Eve—”
    “I’m cutting you a break by not getting pissed off. Don’t push it.”
    He merely nodded. “I’ll stay until she’s ready to go. Then I’ve other things to see to.”
    “Good.” She took out her