Page 41 of Random in Death

“Please come in.”

“Dr. Harbough, my partner, Detective Peabody.”

“I’m very sorry for your loss, Dr. Harbough.”

“Thank you.”

Like her color, the words were dull. “We’re in here.”

Shane sat with his son tucked under his arm. While Jenna had her father’s coloring, it looked to Eve as if the DNA chefs had mixed up the parents’ codes to make a near-perfect blend of both in one boy.

His mother’s coloring, his father’s eyes, his mother’s mouth, his father’s hair.

While his sister had been pretty, the boy was striking.

Charles and Louise sat nearby, and Charles stood as they entered.

“Louise… Louise is going with us,” Julia began. “I asked Charles to stay while you… I’d like to have someone we know in the house while we’re gone and you’re here. I don’t mean to imply—”

“It’s no problem,” Eve assured her.

“I’d like Reed to stay—”

“I’m going.” Teary eyes diluted the impact of the mutinous tone.

“Dr. Morris said it’s allowed, but…”

“You need to see her, to say goodbye.” Peabody stepped toward him. “You know it’ll be hard, but you have to see her, for yourself.”

“She was supposed to come back. When she left, I said she looked okay, for a wheeze.”

Though a tear slipped down Shane’s cheek, Peabody focused on the boy. “Then you did your job. I’ve got brothers, and they always do their job.”

“She laughed.”

“You’ll remember that. It’s important to remember she laughed.”

“When you catch who killed my sister, will you hurt him?” Reed shifted his gaze, intense now, to Eve. “Hurt him bad.”

“It hurts bad to spend the rest of your life in prison.”

“It’s not enough.”

“Come on now, Reed.” Shane pressed a kiss to his hair. “We need to go now.”

Reed stood. “I saw the vid about you,” he said to Peabody. “So I know you’re the nice one. You can be mean,” he said to Eve. “You have to be mean to the bastard who killed my sister. Check it?”

“I’ve arrested a lot of people. None of them thought I was the nice one.”

“Reed, you and Dad go on out. I just need another minute.”

“You just want to talk about stuff you don’t want me to hear, and I—”

“Please, Reed.” Tears filled Julia’s voice now. “Not today. Please.”

The anger on his face dropped away. He just nodded and went with his father.

“It’s so hard for him,” she murmured. “They could bicker until I thought my head would explode, but they loved each other. I wish he’d stay here, but that’s selfish. What you said, Detective, and what Louise already had, is right.”

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