Page 130 of Random in Death
Formality and business ended when the hall opened up to where, Eve deduced, the family really lived.
A similar layout to what Mavis would have, on a smaller scale, the space spread out with a serious kitchen. It lacked Mavis’s wildly happy colors and settled on white, gleaming stainless steel, and a lot of black hardware. Kiki and her two friends sprawled in the lounge area on a big L-shaped sofa in the same red as the front door. The enormous wall screen currently presented a family photo with the moms and teens mugging for the camera on a beach.
Shoes littered the floor. No one seemed to notice or mind that a dog disguised as a mop held one clamped between his paws.
Connie, a white bib apron over the clothes she’d worn the night before, slid a pizza out of what looked like an actual pizza oven. Andrea filled tall glasses with lemonade.
“Kiki’s hungry,” she said with tears sparkling in her eyes.
“Starving!” Kiki corrected. “Hospital food is totally ugh. Plus, Mom’s the best cook on- or off-planet.”
“It’s what I do.”
It was, as Connie Rosenburg made her living as head chef at a restaurant far too upscale and snooty for pizza. Andrea made hers as a hardscape designer. For, Eve had learned on her run of both of them, one of Roarke’s many business tentacles.
“I hope you’re hungry.” Andrea beamed at Eve and Peabody as she sliced the pie.
“I appreciate that, but we need to…” She trailed off, mildly astonished when Connie began to toss dough in the air.
The trio on the couch came out of their slump to applaud, then rose as a unit to descend on the table at the left of the kitchen.
“Please sit.” Connie gave the dough another stylish toss. “We know you have to ask more questions, but the kids need to eat.”
“Rough night,” Presley added.
“And this is my I Almost Got Murdered reward.”
“Kiki.”
“Well, I did.” Kiki shrugged at Andrea’s head shake. “They were all really nice at the hospital,” she added for Eve. “But I don’t ever want to go back.”
“I know the feeling.”
“Have you ever almost got murdered?”
“It comes with the job.”
“Then I don’t ever want to be a cop, either. How come you are?”
“It’s what I do.”
“Eat,” Andrea ordered as she set the pizza on the table.
Nobody had to tell the teenagers twice. Resilience, Eve thought as they snagged slices.
“Please,” Andrea added, using a server to more delicately slide slices onto the plates already in front of Eve and Peabody.
It smelled like glory wrapped in heaven.
“Thanks.” As she turned to Kiki, the girl pointed at her with one hand, shoved pizza in her mouth with the other.
“You’re like married to the richest guy on- or off-planet, right? We saw the vid and all. I was kind of out of it before.”
“The almost-getting-murdered thing.”
“That.” She grinned. “Now I’m eating pizza. Anyway, we all saw the vid.”
“It was totally mag, but I thought mostly made-up.” David gulped down lemonade. “Now I guess maybe not.”