He knew she'd be financially able to hire good child care providers, to afford good schools. And if she needed a bit of incentive, he would offer to set up a trust fund for Nixie's care and education.

He was willing to negotiate.

She had an attractive, soft-featured face, which she sharpened with enhancements-discreet ones. Her hair was a quiet brown worn short, with a kind of triangle at the nape.

The suit showed off a good body as she came around the desk to offer her hand and a welcoming smile. “Mr. Roarke. I hope your trip in was uneventful.”

“It was.”

“What can we offer you? Coffee?”

“Thanks, if you're having some.”

“David?” She turned away from the assistant, obviously expecting him to jump into action.

A point in her favor, in Roarke's opinion.

She gestured to a seating area, waited until he chose one of the wide, black chairs.

“I appreciate you seeing me on such short notice,” he began.

“It's my pleasure. Do you have other business inPhiladelphia?”

“Not today.”

The assistant hurried over with a tray, the coffeepot, cups and saucers, a little bowl of sugar cubes, and a small pitcher of what might have been actual cream.

“Thank you, David. Hold my calls. Now, how would you like your coffee?”

“Just black, thanks. Ms. Corday, I'm aware your time is valuable.”

Her smile was easy as she crossed her legs. “I'm happy to invest as much of it as you need.”

“Appreciated.” He accepted the coffee, and cut through the amenities. “I'm actually here on a personal matter. I'm here on behalf of your niece.”

Her eyes, as quiet a brown as her hair, met his. The brows above them lifted in puzzlement. “My niece? I don't have a niece.”

“Nixie, your stepbrother's daughter.”

“My stepbrother? I assume you're speaking of…” He could almost see her flip through her files for a name. “Grant. My father was married to his mother for a short time. I'm afraid I don't consider him my stepbrother.”

“Are you aware that he and his wife, and his son, were recently murdered?”

“No.” She set her coffee down. “No. God, that's horrible. How?”

“In a home invasion. They were killed, along with a young girl who was spending the night with their daughter, with Nixie. Nixie wasn't in her bedroom, but in another part of the house, and survived.”

“I'm very, very sorry to hear this. Tremendously sorry. I did hear something in the media about these murders. I'm afraid I didn't put it together. I haven't seen or had contact with Grant in years. This is shocking.”

“I'm sorry to tell you this way, but my concern now is for Nixie.”

“I'm a little confused.” She shook her head, touched her fingers to the seed pearls at her throat. “Did you know Grant?”

“I didn't, no. My involvement in all this happened after the murders.”

“I see.” Those quiet eyes sharpened. “Your wife is with the NYPSD, isn't she?”

“She is, yes. This is her case.” He waited a beat, but she failed to ask what the status of that case might be. “At the moment, Nixie is in an undisclosed location, in protective custody. She can't stay there indefinitely.”

“Surely Child Protection-”

“Your stepbrother and his wife named legal guardians, but circumstances prevent those guardians from fulfilling the agreement. As a result, this child has no one who knew her family, no one who had a connection with them, with her, to care for her. I'm here to ask you to consider doing so.”

“Me?” Her head snapped back as if he'd slapped her. “That's impossible. Out of the question.”

“Ms. Corday, you're the closest thing she has to family on planet.”

“Hardly family.”

“All right, then. A connection to family. And her family was murdered, all but in front of her eyes. She's a child, grieving and frightened, and innocent.”

“And I'm sorry, truly sorry for what happened. But it's not my responsibility. She's not my responsibility.”

“Then whose?”

“There's a system in place for circumstances like this for a reason. Frankly, I don't understand your involvement, or why you'd come here expecting me to take on a child I've never even met.”

He knew when a deal had gone south, and when it was best to let it go. But he couldn't quite make himself. “Your stepbrother-”

“Why do you insist on calling him that?” Irritation snapped in her voice. “My father was hooked up with his mother for less than two years. I barely knew the man. I wasn't interested in knowing him, or his family.”

“She has no one.”

“That's not my fault.”

“No. It's the fault of the men who walked into her home, slit the throats of her parents, her brother, her young friend. So now she has no home.”

“Which is a tragedy,” Corday agreed, with no emotion. “However, I'm not interested in stepping in to save the day-even for the possibility of Roarke Industries as a client, and I resent you coming here, pushing this on me.”

“So I see. You didn't even ask if she'd been hurt.”

“I don't care.” Anger, or perhaps just a hint of embarrassment colored her cheeks. “I have my life, I have my career. If I wanted children, I'd have my own. I have no intention of fostering someone else's.”

“Then I've made a mistake.” He got to his feet. “I've taken up too much of your time, and wasted my own.”

“Grant's mother booted my father out when I was ten, and she was just one of many. What possible reason would I have to take responsibility for his daughter?”

“Apparently none at all.”

He walked out, more angry with himself than with her.

Eve stepped out of the dojo, surveyed the street, eyes tracking over parked vehicles, pedestrians, street traffic.

“Odds are low they'd have been able to trail us here,”Peabody said from behind her. “Even if they had the equipment, and the man power, to keep round-the-clock surveillance on Central, they'd have to be really good or really lucky to make our unit.”

“So far they've been really good and really lucky. We don't play the odds on this one.” She drew the scanner out of her pocket. “That's not standard issue.”

“No, it's Roarke issue. Cop issue would be what they'd expect, and they could have planted any number of devices with that in mind.”

“Dallas, you make me feel all safe and snuggled. And hungry. There's a deli right next door.”

“I'm off delis for a while. I'll always wonder if somebody's getting a blow job in the back room, with the extra veggie hash.”

“Oh, well, thanks. Now I'm off delis, and I didn't have waffles this morning. Chinese place across the street. How about an egg roll?”

“Fine, just make it fast.”

She ran the scan for explosives, homing devices, whilePeabody hotfooted it. She gave a shoulder roll-the light body armor irritated her-then slid into the car asPeabody dashed back across.

“Didn't have Pepsi.”

“What?” Eve stared at the take-out bag. “Is thisAmerica? Have I crossed over into some dark continent, some alternate universe?”

“Sorry. Got you a lemon fizz.”

“It's just not right.” Eve pulled away from the curb. “It should be illegal to run a food-service operation and not offer Pepsi.”

“Speaking of food-service operations, you know what Ophelia told me she's going to do with the reward?”

“If she gets it.”

“If. Anyway, she and the deli guy talked about going in together if she ever got enough scratch. So, with the reward, she'd be solid. They want to open a sex club.”

“Oh, like New York doesn't have enough of those.”

“Yeah, but a sex club deli. It's pretty innovative. Get your salami hard, get your hard salami, all in one venue.”

“Christ, I'm never eating in a deli again.”

“I think it might be interesting. Anyway.”Peabody popped a mini eggroll. “You want me to tag Feeney, have him start trying to trace the transmissions?”

“No. I'll take that. Tag Baxter, tell him to prioritize the Brenegan case. And contact the commander, see if he's had any luck cutting through the red tape. Let him know Kirkendall is now prime, and we've got Baxter looking into a closed case that may connect. No, not the 'link,” she added. “Let's mix up the communication devices. Use your personal for this. Then do a check with the rest of the team, using your communicator.”