Born In Death

12

AFTER SHE LED EVE TO TANDY’S APARTMENT door, Mavis shifted from foot to foot. “Gotta pee again. My bladder feels about the size of a chickpea lately, and what there is of it keeps getting kicked.”

“Just…think about something else.” Eve knocked. “Don’t bounce like that. It can’t possibly help, and you might shake something loose.”

“She’s not answering. I really, seriously, completely need to pee.”

Changing tactics, Eve turned and knocked on the door across the hall from Tandy’s. Moments later, the door cracked open to the security chain, and a woman peered out the crack suspiciously.

“What?”

“Hey, Ms. Pason! Remember me? I’m Tandy’s friend, Mavis.”

“Oh, yeah.” The eyes warmed fractionally. “You’re looking for Tandy?”

“Uh-huh. She missed my baby shower, and didn’t answer the ’link, so I was…Wow, Ms. Pason, I really have to pee.”

“’Course you do. Come on in and use the bathroom.” She unhooked the chain. “I don’t know you,” she said, pointing a finger at Eve.

“This is my friend, Dallas. She gave me the most magolicious baby shower today. I’ll be right back.”

Ms. Pason folded her arms as Mavis dashed off. “I don’t like letting strangers in.”

“I don’t blame you. I can wait in the hall.”

“It’s okay, this once, since you’re her friend. Tandy and Mavis are nice girls.”

“You seen Tandy lately?”

“Couple days ago, I guess. We left for work at the same time.”

“That would have been…”

“Wednesday, Thursday?” Ms. Pason shrugged. “One morning’s the same as the next. And I keep my nose out like I expect people to keep theirs out of mine.”

“Good policy.”

“Gosh, thanks, Ms. Pason.” Mavis beamed a smile when she came back in. “You’re a lifesaver. Did you maybe see Tandy today?”

“No. Couple days ago, like I told your friend here.”

“A couple days?” Mavis reached out, gripped Eve’s arm. “Dallas.”

“Stay calm. Anybody come see her since you saw her that morning?” Eve asked Ms. Pason.

“Didn’t notice. I keep – ”

“Your nose out, yeah.”

“Dallas, we need to go inside. We need to go into Tandy’s. You could use your master.”

“Master what?” Ms. Pason demanded. “You can’t just go around going into people’s homes.”

Eve pulled out her badge. “Yeah, I can.”

“You’re the police? Well, why didn’t you say so? You think something happened to that nice girl?”

“No,” Eve said quickly. “But since she’s not answering her ’links or her door, and you can’t remember seeing her today, it may be best to check her apartment. Maybe Mavis can wait here.”

“I’m going with you.” Mavis clung to Eve’s arm. “I want to go in, make sure.”

“Fine, fine.” And if Tandy objected to having her premises entered without a warrant or probable cause, it was just as well to have Mavis there to run interference.

Eve knocked again, then pulled out her master. “Tandy, if you’re in there it’s Dallas, and Mavis. We’re coming in.” She uncoded the locks, eased the door open.

The room was the same size as the one across the hall, which meant it felt claustrophobic. Tandy had it spruced up in soft colors with ruffled curtains at the single window. They were open so that a couple of live plants in white pots could soak up the winter sunlight.

On the table in front of a small sofa was a box wrapped in white paper with purple cows dancing over the surface. It was topped by a huge purple bow.

“See, that’s my gift.” Mavis pointed. “I told her how cute that paper was when I was in the baby store a few weeks ago. Tandy! Tandy! Are you all right?”

The place was empty – Eve could feel it – but she let Mavis go in.

No sign of struggle, she mused as she scanned the area. No evidence of hurried departure. The place was neat, ordered, and organized.

“I’m going to check the bedroom. She’s using it for a nursery, too.” Mavis started for a door, but Eve moved past her, checked it herself.

The bed was neatly made, and beside it was a white cradle already dressed with blue sheets. A little stuffed lamb sat in it looking, to Eve’s mind, very out of place, and just a little creepy.

Why did people put farm animals in kids’ beds?

“She’s not here. And that’s her go-to-the-hospital bag.” Mavis pointed at a little tote standing next to the door.

Saying nothing, Eve moved into the bathroom. There was a white towel hanging over the shower rod. Bone dry.

As was the living room, the bedroom, the bathroom were spotless and organized. Spare would have been another word Eve would have chosen for it. Except for the baby gear, it didn’t seem as though Tandy was one for collecting things.

She had the basics, and coordinated them in a pleasing way, but there was none of the excess most people – and most women, to Eve’s mind – surrounded themselves with.

She moved back into the bedroom where Mavis stood hugging her elbows. “Dallas, I think – ”

“Don’t think yet. There’s no sign of trouble in here, so you take that as a good.” She moved to the closet, glanced through Tandy’s wardrobe. Spare again. The basics in nice fabrics and colors, and nearly all of them clothes for the very knocked-up. No coat – and there’d been no coat on the chrome rack beside the front door.

There was a purse, a brown one, hanging in the closet. But it was empty. Eve recalled Tandy had carried a huge black one the night they’d met.

“No sign of her coat, her purse. Every appearance that she went out, and just hasn’t gotten back yet.”

“Then why doesn’t she answer her pocket ’link? Why didn’t she show at the shower?”

“Okay. Good questions. We’re not done yet.”

And the fact was there was a little twinge at the base of Eve’s spine. Something was off here, but there was no point winding up Mavis any more than she already was.

Eve walked back into the living room where the pretty box sat waiting on the table. She moved to the window and the pair of leafy green plants. When she tested the soil she found them like the towel in the bath. Bone dry.

She turned toward the kitchen, a smaller box off the box of the living room. Counters were clean and uncluttered. There was a white bowl holding three red apples, a smaller bowl, a mug, a small glass, and a spoon left to drain beside the sink.

Breakfast dishes, Eve concluded. Cereal, she decided after a glance in the cupboards, juice and herbal tea or a decaffeinated coffee substitute.

Eve took out a couple of bottles of pills.

“Those are her supplements for the baby. Like vitamins.”

“Okay. She’s got service for four – plates, flatware. She do much entertaining?”

“No. I don’t think. She had Leonardo and me over once, and we had her to our place a couple of times. She isn’t seeing anyone. Like a guy, I mean. She’s completely focused on the baby.”

Mavis shifted her own gaze as she saw Eve studying the wall. “Oh, that’s her calendar. Isn’t it cute, with the baby dressed up like a tulip?”

While Eve thought the idea of dressing a human, even a new one, like a flower was just plain silly, Mavis bubbled on. “There’s a different baby for each month, and…She didn’t cross off the last two days.”

Eve had seen that already. There were red x’s in each boxed date, through the past Thursday. Mavis’s fingers shook as she curled them around Eve’s arm.

“She marked off each day, heading for B-Day. Baby Day. See, see? January thirty-first. She’s got it circled in a heart. She crossed them off every morning for the countdown. But not yesterday.”

Full of fear, Mavis’s eyes latched onto Eve’s. “Not today. And she’s got today marked with little raindrops and my name. Mavis’s shower. Oh.” Mavis pressed a hand to her side. “Oh.”

“You’re not going to do that. You’re not doing that now. Breathe or something.”

“Baby’s kicking, that’s all. And I guess I feel a little shaky in the knees. Maybe a little bit sick.”

Moving as fast as she dared, Eve hooked an arm around Mavis’s waist, moved her into the living area and a chair. “Just sit, close your eyes. Breathe. I’d suggest putting your head between your knees, but I think that’s physically impossible for you at the moment.”

It brought a half-laugh out of Mavis as she obeyed. “I’m okay, really. Just scared and worried. Something happened to Tandy, Dallas. You have to find her.”

“That’s what I’m going to do. She had ‘Max’ and ‘eight’ written on the Friday box. Who’s Max?”

“I don’t know. She wasn’t seeing anybody. She’d have told me.”

“Listen.” Eve crouched down in front of the chair. “First thing, I’ll check the health centers, birthing places. I’ll get the name of her boss at the store, give her a call, see if Tandy was at work on Thursday.”

“That’s good. Maybe she went into labor at work, and they took her to the closest birthing place. That could be.”

“Sure. Simple is usually true.”

“But if that happened on Thursday, why haven’t I heard from her? Oh, God, what if she lost the baby!” Mavis reached out, gripped Eve’s hands with fingers that were like little vices. “Or she had an accident, and – ”

“Or she had one of those sixteen-hour deals and is too whipped to talk to you, or anyone. Chill it out, Mavis.”

“You’ll find her.”

“I’m going to make the calls, and if that doesn’t ring the bell, I’ll tag Missing Persons. Just as a precaution.”

“No. No. You have to find her.” Mavis gripped harder. “You can’t give her to someone else. If you look for her, you’ll find her. I know you will.”

“Mavis, I’m Homicide, and up to my ears in a double murder. Missing Persons is set up to handle this kind of thing. I’ll start the legwork, and we’re probably going to find her fast and fine. But if I don’t find her by tomorrow – ”

“Please.” Tears shimmered in her eyes, swam in them. The fact that they didn’t fall, that she didn’t simply collapse into a jag, was more wrenching. “I need you to do this, Dallas. I don’t know anybody in Missing Persons. I know you. I know you’ll find Tandy. She doesn’t have anyone to look out for her. But if she has you, she’ll be okay.”

“Mavis – ”

“I’m scared for her.” She pressed their joined hands to her own belly. “And her baby. If I know you’re looking for them, I won’t be so scared.”

“Okay, I’ll fix it. But you have to go home now and lie down.”

“But I want to help you – ”

“That’s the deal, Mavis. I’ll do this, but you go home. I’m going to contact Leonardo, have him come get you.”

“But you’ll tell me as soon as you know anything?”

“The minute.”

It wasn’t just Leonardo who showed, but Roarke, Peabody, and McNab as well.

“We’d just finished loading up the gifts,” Peabody explained. “No sign of Tandy?”

“Not yet. You go ahead, give Leonardo a hand. I’m just going to make a few inquiries.”

“Dallas is going to find her,” Mavis said.

“Of course she is.” Leonardo’s voice was easy and confident as he draped his arm around Mavis, but his eyes, meeting Eve’s, were full of concern. “I’m just going to get you home, baby doll. You’ve had a long day.”

“Dallas?” McNab held up a hand. “How about if I go along, give Leonardo a hand with the loot. I can tag you when we’re done, and swing on back if you need more hands on this.”

“That’ll work.” As long as they got Mavis home and horizontal. The rosy glow she’d had all day had changed into a strained pallor.

“Find her quick, okay?”

“Sure,” Eve said to Mavis. “Don’t worry.”

“It’ll be all right now.” She stepped over, wrapped her arms around Eve, sighed. “It’ll be all right since you’re taking care of it.”

“You’re tired, sweetie-pie.” Leonardo drew her away. “Let Dallas get started. You and the belly need a nice nap.”

The minute the door was closed behind them, Eve dragged her hands through her hair. “Shit.”

“Want me to do the knock-on-doors or take the ’link?” Peabody asked her.

“Take the ’link, thanks. All health and birthing centers. Contact her boss, find out what went down Thursday, anything out of routine.”

“You think something happened to her,” Roarke said.

“Yeah, I do. Maybe Mavis’s nerves are contagious, but something’s wrong here. Look at this place.” She spread her arms. “Neat and tidy, everything in its place.”

“Nesting,” Peabody put in. “Making everything nice for the baby.”

“Whatever. She’s organized, and I’d say habitual.” She told them about the kitchen calendar. “Going by that, the plants, bath towel – all dry – I don’t think she’s been back here since she left for work Thursday morning.”

She took a breath. “I don’t know much about it, but if she went and had the baby unexpectedly, why didn’t she contact someone – Mavis or her boss – and have them come get her hospital bag?”

“Something could’ve gone wrong with the baby.”

Eve nodded at Peabody. “Let’s find out.”

“What can I do?” Roarke asked, and Eve blew out a breath.

“Well, since we’re already stomping all over Tandy’s civil rights by just being in here, you could take a look at her ’links, her comp unit. See if you find anything unusual.”

“Do you want me to contact Missing Persons?” Peabody asked.

“Not yet. I have to figure out – if we don’t find her in the next few hours – how to convince them to let me handle it. Otherwise, Mavis is going to wig out on me again.”

Eve started with Ms. Pason across the hall, but got nothing more there than had already been told.

She worked her way, floor by floor. Most of the tenants who answered knew Tandy by name – which was a small surprise – the rest knew her by sight. None of them recalled seeing her in the last couple of days.

She was on the ground floor about to knock on the last door when a woman gripping the hand of a kid – so bundled in outdoor gear Eve could only see the huge dark eyes – came up behind her.

“You looking for someone?” As she spoke, the woman shifted just a little so the kid was behind her.

“As a matter of fact. You live here?”

“That’s my door you’re standing in front of. What do you want?”

Eve pulled out her badge, and the woman frowned at it.

“Look, if the disaster that is my ex is in trouble again, it’s nothing to me. I haven’t seen him in over a year and that’s the way I like it.”

“It’s about Tandy Willowby. Apartment 4B.”

“If Tandy’s done something to earn a visit from a badge, I’ll fly on the first pig that wings by.”

“When’s the last time you saw her?”

“Look, no offense, but cops’ve been a pain in my ass. You’re looking to hassle Tandy, you won’t get anything from me.”

“I’m not looking to hassle her, just find her. Apparently nobody’s seen her for a couple of days. I’m a friend of a friend of hers.”

“Who’s the friend you’re a friend of?”

“Mavis Freestone.”

“You’re a friend of Mavis’s.” The woman narrowed her eyes.

“That’s right. Mavis had a baby shower today. Tandy didn’t show, and Mavis is worried. We came by to see if she was here. She’s not. Looks like she hasn’t been since Thursday. Have you seen her since?”

“Well, hell. Come on inside. Me and Max are roasting in these coats.”

“Max?” Eve looked down at the dark eyes framed in a puffy red hood.

“Yeah, Max is my son, and the only thing worth spit I got out of the ex. Come on, pal of mine,” she said to the boy. “Let’s go inside. Zeela,” she added to Eve. “I’m Zeela Patrone.”

“Dallas. Lieutenant Dallas.”

Zeela unlocked the door, led the boy inside. Then she crouched down, grinned into his face. “You in there, Maximum Force? Let’s see. Hey, there you are!”

He giggled as she stripped off the coat, unwound the scarf, pulled off mittens. Under it all, he was sturdy and dressed in some sort of overalls with a bright plaid shirt.

“You go play in your room for a few minutes, okay?”

“Can I have juice?”

“Soon as I’m done.”

Then he tugged her hand, whispered in her ear. “I don’t think so, handsome. Get your trucks, why don’t you, and we’ll have a race with them when Mommy’s done talking to the lady. That’s my boy.”

When he toddled off, Zeela smiled, rose. “Kid’s a fricking miracle. Not a chromosome of his old man’s, far as I can tell. Sweet and fun and smart. Somebody decided to cut me one huge break. He asked me if maybe the tall lady could stay for a tea party.”

“Appreciate it, but I have to pass. Tandy Willowby.”

“Yeah. No, I haven’t seen her. That’s the thing. She was supposed to baby-sit Max Friday night.” Absently, Zeela tunneled her fingers through the hair that had been flattened by her cap. “I was going out on a limb and taking in a vid with this guy I keep running into at the deli down the block. I’ve been off dating since Max came along, so this was like a maiden voyage. Tandy was supposed to come down, watch Max for the evening.”

“She didn’t show.”

“No. I called up there, then I went up. No answer. I gotta say, I was pretty steamed.” As she spoke, she hung up the outdoor gear on little pegs by the door. “Figured she forgot or was too tired. Max was bummed because he likes her a lot. We were both looking forward to Friday night, and she let us down. I decided to be pissed. Now I’m trying to decide if I should be worried.”

“How well do you know her?”

“We got to be friendly over the last few months. I’ve been there, done that – the having a kid on my own deal. Have you checked with her midwife? She could’ve gone into labor. She’s close to due.”

“My partner’s up in Tandy’s apartment, making inquiries about that. Did she tell you anything about the baby’s father?”

“Not much. Just he was back in England, and wasn’t part of the picture. No rancor, so I figure they’d just split amicably like.”

“She ever mention his name?”

“I don’t think so. Don’t remember anyway. Most she told me was that somebody’s bc didn’t do the job – happens – and she got pregnant. He wasn’t looking for permanent or family, she wasn’t sure she was ready to take it on by herself. Then she decided she was – the family thing. She decided to come to New York. Fresh start, new scene. That’s about it.”

“How about other friends, men she was seeing?”

“She was friendly. Mavis came by off and on. I met one of the women she works with, and sometimes she’d walk out with Ms. Pason from across her hall. They went to work about the same time most days. But as for men, she wasn’t into it. Not now.”

“Did you get the sense she was worried about anything, anyone?”

“No, just the opposite. She was revved up and ready to be a mother. But now I’m starting to worry. This city can eat you up. I don’t like thinking it could’ve taken a bite out of Tandy.”

Nothing,” Peabody reported when Eve returned to Tandy’s apartment. “I know she has the same midwife as Mavis, so I contacted her. Randa Tillas. She states she hasn’t seen or heard from Tandy since her appointment on Monday. She was fine, right on schedule. Checked with her boss. She had Friday off. She’s slated to work tomorrow, noon to six. They’ve lightened her hours.”

“She show for work Thursday?”

“Right on time. Worked a full eight, last full day for her. She got in at just after nine, left at six. Nothing out of the ordinary during the day. She had three breaks. A full hour for lunch – maternity benny. She took them in their back room, with her feet up. Didn’t leave the shop all day, until six. No contact via the store ’link for her. Can’t say on her personal.”

“How did she get to and from work, as a rule?”

“Boss said she takes the bus. I got the route. The Thursday driver’s off today. We can track him down at home, or talk to him tomorrow. He’s on.”

“We’ll take him at home.”

“I’ve contacted the health and birthing centers nearest her work and her residence. Nobody by her name has checked in.”

Eve rubbed her eyes. “Okay, we’ll spread out from that. And we’ll check if any MTs did a run with a pregnant woman matching her description.”

She glanced over as Roarke came out of the bedroom. “I’ve checked her ’links and her comp,” he told her. “No outgoing on the ’links since Wednesday evening when she talked to a Zeela Patrone, this building.”

“Yeah, I’ve gotten her statement. Tandy was supposed to run herd on Patrone’s kid Friday night. Didn’t show, didn’t contact her to cancel. Incomings?”

“Nothing Thursday. Friday evening, from the same neighbor’s little boy. Came in at about seven in the evening, obviously coached by his mother. ‘Are you coming down to play with me’ sort of thing. Another transmission from the mother just after eight, faintly irritated. Asking where Tandy was, did she forget. Transmissions from Mavis today, from our house. Nothing else.”

“And the comp?”

“Nothing that seemed useful. She surfs baby boards, pregnancy and childhood sites. E-mails Mavis. She has Mavis’s e-address in her book, along with the addresses of her midwife, the downstairs neighbor, her work, her coworkers. Precious little, really,” he replied. “There’s nothing on there, Eve.”

“And nothing that shows that indicates she’d rabbit,” Eve added. “If there was an accident, they’d have contacted her medical group. A woman this organized would have that data in her bag. Listed in her memo book, on her pocket ’link. Why does someone snatch a woman that close to giving birth?”

“For the baby,” Peabody finished.

“Yeah, for the baby.” A grim and nasty thought, Eve decided. But there was more grim, more nasty. “Or because they’re some sicko who rapes and/or kills pregnant women. We’ll do a run through IRCCA, see if we have any like crimes. And I want a full background run on Tandy. Things look this quiet, this normal, this settled, there’s often something shaky underneath.”

“Does Mavis know who the father is?” Roarke asked.

“No. But we’re going to find out.”

“I’ll contact McNab,” Peabody began. “He can meet us at Central.”

“No. I need to do that, work this out with MPU. We’re stepping on toes here.”

She stopped a moment, lined up the steps in her mind. “Go back to your place, go ahead and do the search for like crimes. If Mavis is up to it, go there and ask her if she knows anything about what Tandy did back in England, what she might have said about the baby’s father, her family, that kind of thing. We’ll do the data run on Tandy, but Mavis may know more than she thinks. Keep her calm, you’re good at that. Let her know I’m talking to the people I need to talk to.”

“We can help Leonardo set up some of the baby stuff. That’ll do the trick.”

“If you say so. Roarke? With me?”

“Always.”

When they were in her vehicle, Roarke turned to her. “You think she was taken.”

She thought of the pretty, cheerful blonde, the way she’d talked about looking forward to Mavis’s shower. “I see no reason for her to walk. I can’t jump to abduction or foul play from there, but yeah, that’s the way it feels.”

“If you give Mavis a little time to calm down, I think she’d be satisfied if Missing Persons took this over, and you simply stayed in the loop.”

“You didn’t see her, you didn’t hear her.” Resigned to it now, Eve shook her head. “And besides that – which is plenty – I told her I’d do it. All I have to do is convince MPU to leave it with me, then convince Whitney I can take this on without it infringing on the investigation I’ve already got going.”

He brushed a hand over her hair. “You might want to convince yourself of that first.”

She smiled thinly. “Working on it.”