Page 73 of Fury In Death
“Do you have siblings?”
“No.”
“I do,” Peabody said. “Two brothers, a sister.”
“Then you know how it is. We were close. Not in each other’s pockets every day, but close. It’s hard for me to believe Steve could be alive and in six years, not let me know. Not let our parents know.”
“But not impossible to believe,” Eve prompted.
“You think the explosion was deliberate?”
“I intend to look into that possibility.”
“If he believes it, I don’t know what he’d do. If he’s alive and he believes that . . . He died with them. He died with his family. If he’s alive, I don’t know what’s left in him, of him.”
She let out a sigh. “If someone took everything that mattered from you, what would be left? If this is true, you have to find him. He needs help. He needs us. If this is true?”
Her eyes went hard, hot, fierce. “You’d better see that Banner, Wyst, all of them, all of it goddamn pays.”
“Give us that list of friends, the name of the investigator you hired.”
When they stepped outside, it was Peabody’s turn to take a long breath. “I believe her. She doesn’t know—didn’t. He hasn’t contacted her.”
“No, but I’ll bet he knows where she is. He knows where she works, he knows who she married, he knows she has two children. He’s in New York, Peabody, and he’s had six years to plan out how to avenge his pregnant wife and his son.”
Peabody nodded as they walked. “I believe that, too. We talk to the investigator, work the friend list.”
“Feeney and the arson investigator signed it off as an accident. That means it looked like one.”
“Banner-Wyst would’ve had the resources to pull that off. Or, it could’ve been one. It’s about what Redman believes.”
“It is,” Eve agreed. “But it wasn’t an accident, which takes us back to what did Redman know or find out that was so important they’d kill not just him but his family and an apartment building of others.”
Eve stopped at the car. “I’ll drive you back across town.”
“Are you going back to Central?”
“No, I’ll work from home.” And make a few stops on the way. “If Roarke’s there, I want to get him on those financials.”
“I’ll start running the friends.”
“No, put it away for tonight.”
“You won’t.”
“I don’t have a crapload of Peabodys coming to my house. Meet me at the morgue tomorrow. Eight.”
“Always a bright way to start the day.”
“Where would murder cops be without dead bodies?”
“Getting a solid eight hours of sleep, eating regular meals, finishing craft projects. Hell, who wants that? Anyway, I can catch the subway around the corner and probably get home quicker than you could drive me there.”
“Morgue. Eight.”
“And the fun never ends.”
As she slid into the car, Eve decided murder cops had a twisted sense of fun. Hers meant she’d try for a couple of the friends on the route home, then hit the uptown investigator.
