She dressed quickly, snagged a single cup of coffee and took it with her to her office.

The door between it and Roarke's was open. She heard his voice, only his, and stepped to the doorway.

He was at his desk, using a headset 'link while he manually keyed data into his computer. His laser fax shot off a transmission, immediately signaled an incoming. Eve sipped her coffee, imagined him buying and selling small galaxies while he carried on a conversation.

"It's good to hear you, Jack. Yes, it's been awhile." Roarke turned to his fax, skimmed it, then quickly logged and sent a reply. "Married Sheila, did you? How many kids did you say? Six. Christ." He let out a rolling laugh and, turning back to his computer, made arrangements to buy the lion's share of a small, floundering publishing company. "Heard that, did you? Yes, it's true, last summer. Aye, she's a cop." A lightning grin flashed across his face. "What black past, Jack? I don't know what you're talking about. I'm as law-abiding as the parish priest. Yes, she is lovely. Quite lovely and quite remarkable."

Roarke swiveled away from his monitor, ignored the low beep of an incoming call. "I need to talk to you, Jack. You've heard about Tommy Brennen and Shawn? Aye, it's a hard thing. My cop's connected them, and the connection goes back to me – to O'Malley and the rest and what happened to Marlena."

He listened for a time, then rose and walked to the window, leaving his communication center humming and beeping. "That's exactly so. Any ideas on it? If any occur to you, if you can dig up anything, you can contact me here. Meanwhile, I can make arrangements for you and your family to get away for a time. Take your kids to the beach for a couple weeks. I've a place they'd enjoy. No, Jack, this is my doing, and I don't want another widow or fatherless child on my conscience."

He laughed again, but his eyes stayed sober. "I'm sure you could, right enough, but why don't we leave that part to my cop and you and your family get out of Dublin awhile. I'll send you what you need today. We'll talk again. My best to Sheila."

Eve waited until he'd pulled the headset off before she spoke. "Is that what you're going to do, ship off everyone you think might be a target?"

He set the headset aside, vaguely uncomfortable that she'd heard his conversation. "Yes. Do you have a problem with that?"

"No." She crossed to him, set her coffee down so that she could take his face in both hands. "I love you, Roarke."

It was still a rare thing for her to use the words. His heart tripped once, then steadied. "I love you, Eve."

Her lips curved, brushed his lightly. "Is that what I am now, 'your cop'?"

"You've always been my cop – ever since you wanted to arrest me."

She tilted her head. "Did you know that when you were talking to your Dublin friend your accent got thicker, the rhythm of your speech changed. And you said aye instead of yes at least twice."

"Did I?" He'd been totally unaware of it, and wasn't sure how that sat with him. "Odd."

"I liked it." The hands she held to his face slid around to link behind his neck. Her body bumped his. "It was… sexy."

"Was it, now?" His hands roamed down, cupped her bottom. "Well, Eve, me darling, if you're after -" His gaze flicked over her shoulder, and the amusement in them deepened. "Good morning, Peabody." Eve jerked, then swore when Roarke held her firmly in place. "Lovely day."

"Yes, it… I beg your pardon. Sir," she added lamely when Eve scorched her with a look. "You said eight sharp, and there was nobody downstairs so I just came up and… here I am. And, ah, McNab is – "

"Right behind her." Leading with a grin, McNab stepped into view. "Reporting for duty, Lieutenant, and may I say that your house is… Holy Mother of God."

His eyes went so huge, so bright, that Eve reached instinctively for her weapon as he rushed in.

"Would you look at this setup? Talk about sexy. You must be Roarke." He grabbed Roarke's hand and pumped it enthusiastically. "It's a pleasure to meet you. I work on one of your 2000MTSs in EDD. What a honey. We're crying for the 5000, but the budget, well, it sucks. I'm rebuilding an old multimedia unit at home – the Platinum 50? That baby rocks. Is that a Galactic MTS?"

"I believe it is," Roarke murmured, cocking a brow at Eve as McNab rushed over to drool on the communication system.

"McNab, get a grip on yourself," Eve ordered.

"Yes, sir, but this is ice." His voice quivered. "This is a goddamn glacier. How many simultaneous tasks will it perform?''

"It's capable of three hundred simultaneous functions." Roarke wandered over, more to prevent McNab from playing with his equipment than to give a tour. "I've had it up to nearly that without any glitches."

"What a time to be alive. Your R and D division must be paradise."

"You can put in an application," Eve said dryly. "Since if you don't get your ass in there and deal with my unit, you won't have one in EDD."

"I'm going. You really ought to talk her into upgrading her home unit," he told Roarke. "And that thing she works on at Central. It's a supreme junker."

"I'll see what I can do." He smiled as McNab sauntered out. "Interesting associates you have, Lieutenant."

"If Feeney doesn't get back soon, I'm going to shoot myself. I'm going to keep an eye on him."

"Peabody," Roarke said quietly before she could follow Eve out. "A moment." He stepped closer, satisfied when he heard Eve arguing with McNab in the adjoining room. "I'm in your debt."

She looked him straight in the eye. "I don't know what you're talking about. The lieutenant, and the department, is grateful for your assistance in our investigation."

Touched, Roarke took her hand, brought it to his lips. "Peabody, you are a jewel."

She flushed, and her stomach fluttered pleasantly. "Yeah, well, ah… you were an only child, right?"

"Yes."

"Figures. I'd better go keep Dallas from pounding on McNab. Doesn't look good on interdepartmental memos."

She'd barely turned when Eve's 'link beeped – one long, two short.

"Okay." McNab began to toy with controls on a small, portable trace unit. "That's coming into your downtown office – bypassing main control. It's him, yeah, it's him. She's jammed solid."

"Unjam it," Eve snapped. "Fast." She reached for the 'link. "Block video," she ordered. "Homicide. Dallas."

"You were quick." The voice flowed out, a hint of charm, a wealth of amusement. "Dear old Shawn wasn't even cold when you found him. I'm so impressed."

"I'll be quicker next time."

"If God wills it. I'm enjoying the competition, Lieutenant. And I'm coming to admire your strength of purpose. So much so that I've already begun the next stage. Are you up for the challenge?"

"Why don't you play with me directly. Take me on, asshole, and let's see who wins."

"I follow the plan given me by a higher power."

"It's just a sick game to you. God has nothing to do with it."

"I am the chosen." He took a long breath. "I hoped you would see, I've wanted you to see, but your eyes are blinded to that because you've accepted worldly acclaim and responsibilities over the spiritual."

She stared holes into McNab as he muttered under his breath and finessed dials. "Funny, I didn't see anything spiritual in the way you slaughtered those two men. I've got one for you. From Romans, chapter two verse three. 'Do you suppose, O man, that when you judge those who do such things and yet do them yourself, you will escape the judgment of God?"'

"You would dare use His word against me? I am the angel of His justice, and the sword of His fury. Born and bred to deliver His verdict. Why do you refuse to see, to acknowledge?"

"I see exactly what you are."

"One day you'll kneel before me and weep tears of blood. You'll know the grief and despair only a woman can know."