Page 138 of Delusion in Death

“We’ve just given her a reason to use it.”

“For him?” Teasdale shook her head. “I don’t believe she has that much sentiment in her.”

“Menzini’s dead. The daughter’s useless to her. Nothing to her. But the grandson? He’s her legacy. He’s shown her, twice, he has Menzini in him. She can’t get to him, so she’s going to want payback. Shit, shit!” Eve yanked out her ’link. “Weaver and Vann. Maybe she’ll want to finish what he started.”

She got Weaver’s voice mail, left an urgent message, but managed to reach Vann.

“Lieutenant. We heard about Lew. I can’t believe—”

“Where are you?” she demanded.

“At home. We closed the offices, and—”

“Stay there. Don’t answer the door until my officers get there.”

“I don’t understand.”

“You don’t need to. Stay inside, door secure. Where’s Weaver?”

“I’m not sure. She was upset, naturally. I assume she went home.”

“Stay inside,” she repeated, then tagged Jenkinson. “Get over to Stevenson Vann’s apartment. Keep it in lockdown until I say different. Nobody in, nobody out. Send Sanchez and Carmichael over to Nancy Weaver’s. If she’s home, keep her there. If she’s not, I need to know. Go now.”

She went straight to Whitney when he came inside. “I need Mira and Reo secured. As well as Chief Tibble and yourself, sir. Gina MacMillon may target the people who took down her grandson.”

“I’ll take care of it.”

“What do we know about her?” Eve demanded. “Attractive woman in her late seventies, early eighties. Wealthy. Patient. Jesus, she’s like a spider. A trained soldier. More, a kind of operative. Could she have made contact with Menzini while he was alive?”

“I can’t say.” Again, Teasdale looked mildly distressed. “I would doubt it.”

“Why wasn’t he executed? They still did that back then. He was a war criminal, a mass murderer, a child abductor, a rapist. Name it.”

“My guess? He was useful.”

“Making chemical and bio weapons?”

“It’s possible. His mind was twisted, but he had brilliance in certain areas.”

“Enough he’d have found a way to get word to her. To keep the fire going. The world didn’t end, but that doesn’t mean you stop trying. Or shift focus. He made his living selling chem weapons. Maybe that’s how she makes hers.”

Teasdale’s face lit. “I’ll start a search for known dealers in her age span.”

“Bugger that.” Roarke sat back, pulled the tie out of his hair. “I’ve got her.”

“How? Jesus.” Eve all but leaped on him. “Let me see.”

“There was a painting in Callaway’s office. The only piece of any taste or style in the whole place. It struck me at the time, but I didn’t think much of it. It took me some time, but I found it. On screen.”

Eve frowned at the image of long, flower-decked steps, a fountain at their feet. They led to an old building, looked European to her.

“I don’t get it.”

“It’s the Spanish Steps, in Rome.”

“Menzini hit Rome, and was taken there.”

“So I recalled, a bit belatedly. This painting was done just prior to the war, by an Italian artist who died in Menzini’s attack.”

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