Read Online Ritual in Death by J. D. Robb - Free Book Online

reeked of Neo-Goth. The black hair, red lips, and the silver hoop through her pierced left brow projected a kind of careless defiance that merged with the tattoo that peeked out from the slope of her breast.
    Eve might have considered it all a matter of personal style, along with the snug black top and pants, the chunky black boots, but for the smug gleam in the black-lined eyes.
    Weak link, Eve thought, and smiled. “Hello, Kiki.”
    “I’m swamped.” She dumped herself in a chair. “So let’s cut to it. I left about five—Ava, the pure and wholesome—was still here, all shiny-eyed about her date with Dr. Dull. I lit out, met up with some friends downtown. We hit some clubs, got trashed, hung out, and I got home about two. Is that it?”
    “Not quite. I’ll need the names and contact information for your friends.”
    Kiki shrugged, rattled off names and ’link numbers.
    “You didn’t like Ava?”
    “Wasn’t my type, that’s all. Too bad she’s dead and all that. Saint Jack probably freaked when she wouldn’t put out, and did her.” Now those eyes glittered. “But since I wasn’t there, I don’t know. Ava and I weren’t buds, so I got no clue what she was into. You need more, you’ll have to catch me later. I’m backed up.”
    “Thanks for your time.”
    “Whatev.”
    Eve waited a few seconds, then walked to the door, stepped out. She saw Kiki at the end of the corridor in an intense conversation with Leah Burke. The moment Leah spotted Eve coming toward them, she squeezed a hand on Kiki’s arm to silence her, and started forward. “Lieutenant, can I help you?”
    “I’d like to speak to Rodney.”
    “He’s not back from his break.” She checked her wrist unit. “He should be only a few more minutes. He’s very prompt.”
    “Okay, I’ll take Dr. Pratt.”
    “He’s still with a patient. I can’t—”
    “I’ll keep it short. I’m sure we’ll all be happy when this is done. Before you interrupt him, what time did you leave last night?”
    “Me? Ah, just after five.”
    “Was Ava still here?”
    “No, she’d just left. I, ah, scooted her along, actually, so she could get ready for her date. I closed up last night.”
    “You were the last to leave?”
    “That’s right.”
    “And where did you go?”
    “I went home. I, ah, walked home, changed, had some dinner.”
    “You didn’t go out again?”
    “No.”
    “Make or receive any calls, have any visitors?”
    “No, it was a quiet night. Lieutenant, I have patients myself.”
    “Okay. I’ve only got a couple more staff members, and I’ll be out of your hair.”
    Eve stepped back into Slone’s office. Collins, Burke, and Kiki, she thought, were top of her suspect list. She scanned Silas Pratt’s data, but he didn’t keep her waiting long.
    He strode in, a sharply handsome man with an air of confidence. His eyes were a laser blast of blue, and she could admit they gave her a jolt. When he offered his hand she allowed herself to think just that: Here’s a great-looking man with killer eyes.
    He smiled at her. “Lieutenant, I’m Silas Pratt.”
    Her heart pumped a little harder as he squeezed her hand. She felt the probe of his gaze, and yes, of his power, like heat along her brain. “Have a seat, Dr. Pratt,” she said and removed her hand from his.
    “Can you tell me if you have any leads? Other than Jack. No one who knows him will believe Jack did this to our Ava.”
    “You’ve only known him a couple of weeks.”
    “That’s true. Peter recruited him, but I like to think I’m a good judge of character. What they’re saying was done to Ava, well, it’s monstrous, isn’t it? And to someone so young, so vibrant.”
    Now he did sit, and passed a hand over those potent eyes. “I thought of her almost as a daughter.”
    “You don’t have children. According to your official data.”
    “No. But it was easy to feel a paternal kind of affection for Ava.”
    “I don’t want to intrude any longer than