"Sure."

"Really?"

"It is, as you've often pointed out, a big house. I'm fond of Mavis."

"I know." She gave him one of her quick, rare smiles. "Thanks. So, how was your day?"

"I bought a small planet. I'm joking," he said when her mouth fell open. "I did, however, complete negotiations for a farming commune on Taurus Five."

"Farming?"

"People have to eat. With a bit of restructuring, the commune should be able to provide grain to the manufacturing colonies of Mars, where I have a sizable investment. So, one hand washes the other."

"I guess. Now about Pandora…"

He rolled her over and tugged the shirt he'd already unbuttoned off her shoulders.

"You're not distracting me," she told him. "Just how brief is brief in this case?''

He gave what passed for a shrug and nibbled his way from her mouth to her throat.

"Is it like a night, a week…" Her body flashed hot when he closed his mouth over her breast. "A month – Okay, now you're distracting me."

"I can do better," he promised. And did.

Visiting the morgue was a lousy way to start the day. Eve strode down the silent, white tiled halls trying not to be annoyed that she'd been called in to view a body at six A. M.

Worse, it was a floater.

She paused at a doorway, holding her badge up for the security camera, and waited for her ID number to be accessed and approved.

Inside, a single technician waited near a wall of refrigerated holding drawers. Most would be occupied, she thought. Summer was always a hot time for dying.

"Lieutenant Dallas."

"Right. You got one for me."

"Just came in." With the careless cheer of his profession, he moved to a drawer, coded for view. Locks and refrigeration blipped off, and the drawer, with its occupant, slid out with a small burst of icy fog. "Uniform on scene thought she recognized him as one of yours."

"Yep." In defense, Eve drew breath in and out of her mouth. Seeing death, violent death, was nothing new. She wasn't sure she could have explained that it was easier, less personal somehow, to study a body where it had fallen. Here, in the pristine, almost virginal surroundings of the morgue, it was all more obscene.