16 Taking Eve (19 page)

“And where am I?”

He shook his head.

She hadn’t expected an answer. “I’ll get away from you, Doane. Don’t think you’re going to get away with this.”

“I will, you know.” He smiled. “Things don’t go wrong when you plan as precisely as I do.”

“Evidently, you didn’t plan on Blick’s shooting Jane. That went very wrong, Doane.” She added fiercely, “And you’ll suffer for it, you son of a bitch.”

“I’ll just have to make adjustments.” His smile faded. “And I do regret causing you this upset.”

“Upset? Massive understatement. What adjustment can you make that would make me less upset?”

“I’ve been thinking about that while I waited for you.” He frowned. “You won’t be able to be reasonable until you know that Jane MacGuire and Ben Hudson are not permanently injured. I obviously need you to be put at ease on that score.”

She tensed. “So what are you going to do?”

“It’s difficult. You wouldn’t really believe any hospital or law-enforcement unit, would you? You’d think I managed to rig it.”

“Since you’re so clever about your planning,” she said sarcastically.

“I really am clever,” he said soberly. “I have a talent. But in this case, I believe I’m going to have to risk having you talk to Joe Quinn.”

She inhaled sharply. “Is this a trick? You said it was too dangerous.”

“We can work around it. You wouldn’t trust anyone but Quinn, and I have to have your mind at ease.” His gaze went to the skull across the room. “But we have to come to an arrangement.”

“You want me to do a reconstruction,” she said flatly. “Why? You seem very sure that skull is that of your son, Kevin.”

“I’m almost sure. They lied to me, but I know that he’s my Kevin. I feel it.”

“Then check the DNA.”

“That’s difficult.”

“Why?”

“I’m not ready to share that with you yet.”

“And I’m not ready to do a reconstruction on your son, Doane.”

“But you’ll do it,” he said. “Because you want to talk to Joe Quinn, and I won’t let you do that unless I have your word.”

She was silent. “That’s a high price.”

“No, there’s something else.” His expression was troubled. “I’m having trouble with Blick. He wants to go back and finish the job he started. He said that Kevin would want him to do it. I need to tell him that you’ll cooperate.”

“The job he started,” she repeated. A ripple of pure fear went through her. Don’t let him see it. “You mean Jane.”

“It’s not my wish,” he said gently. “Blick lacks control, and he’s waited a long time. He needs hope, Eve.”

“Don’t give me that bullshit.” She was silent. “You’re saying that you’ll let him kill Jane unless I do the reconstruction.”

“I’m saying that your lack of cooperation might prevent me from stopping him,” he corrected. “I can’t control him from this distance if he gets upset. It’s up to you, Eve.”

His voice was soft, his expression kind … and regretful. It seemed impossible that those words held deadly intent.

She mustn’t pay any attention to his expression. It was those words that counted, together with the actions of the past days. “And what will happen after I do the reconstruction?”

“Why, then I’m out of your life,” he said. “That’s all I want from you. But I must have that one service from you.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“I can’t help that, but it will be easier if you do.”

She stared at him, trying to think, weigh her options. She didn’t have any options but the one he was offering her. Not now. It would buy her time, and that was a gift in itself. The only gift. “I have to talk to Joe. I have to know that what you’ve said about Jane’s being alive is true.”

“And then you’ll cooperate?”

“As long as I have to do it. I don’t promise not to try to escape if the opportunity presents itself.”

“That goes without saying. Of course, you’ll have to accept that it may be a danger to Jane MacGuire if you try and fail before you finish the reconstruction.”

Eve felt a streak of pure rage sear through her. “I accept the fact that you’re a cowardly son of a bitch for threatening an innocent woman. This Blick may not have obeyed your orders when he shot Jane, but if he hurts her now, it will lie squarely at your door, and I will never stop until I punish you for it.”

He nodded. “I understand. You’re naturally protective of your daughter.” He put down his fork and pushed his plate away. “I knew you’d be like this when I found you and started watching you. It’s natural with your background that you’d treasure and protect the family you’ve created to take the place of the one you never had. It must not have been easy to be illegitimate, with a mother who didn’t even know who your father was and on drugs all the time you were growing up.”

“I made it through. Some people had it much rougher.”

“Did they?” he asked softly. “I know all about Bonnie, the daughter you lost, and your search for her. That was very, very rough. We’re a lot alike, Eve.”

“The hell we are.”

“Oh, but it’s true. There’s no stronger bond in the world than that between a father and child. We both love our children more than life itself.” He added sadly, “And it’s the tragedy of that life that we can’t bring them back to be with us. I loved my Kevin the way you loved Bonnie. I feel your pain, Eve. I hope before this is over you can forgive me enough to feel mine.”

His voice was sincere, and so was his expression. She could almost believe him. “You deserve any pain you feel, Doane. I never tried to victimize innocent people to find my daughter’s remains. And you’ve evidently found your son. Let him go.”

“I can’t.” He cleared his throat. “It hurts me to see him like this. I want to bring him back the way he was. He had such a handsome face. Everyone who looked at him wanted to touch him, be with him.” His lips twisted. “And then they did that to him. I can’t bear it.”

“Who are ‘they,’ Doane?”

He shook his head. “You’re not ready to hear about Kevin. You’d only say you didn’t believe me. We have to become closer.”

“Closer.” She stared at him in amazement. “That’s not going to happen.”

“Yes, it will. I knew when I found it was you that it was meant to be. You’re going to give me back my Kevin the way he was, and I’m going to give you what you want most in the world.”

“I want Jane, Joe, and my friends safe.”

“Yes, you wish that, too.”

“Too?”

He smiled. “You’re much more complicated than that, Eve. I told you that you’re like me.”

“Stop saying that.”

“Of course. I’m disturbing you, and that’s the last thing I want to do.” He pushed his chair back. “It’s time to take your mind off it for a bit. Are you finished eating?”

“Yes.” She leaned back in her chair. “But I’m not doing anything about your reconstruction until I talk to Joe.”

Doane’s brows rose. “But that’s what I’m trying to help you do.” He reached in his pocket and brought out a pair of handcuffs. “But I have to ask you to wear these for a while.”

She instinctively recoiled. “The hell I will.”

“Shh. I don’t have any dire intentions. You can see I have to protect myself if I let you call Quinn. I’m going to allow you less than a minute of conversation. And you can’t call him from here. We’re going to take a little drive on the slim chance that he can trace the call even for such a limited time. I can’t let him trace it back to this place. I’m afraid I can’t trust you once we leave here, so you have to be secured. I’ll fasten the cuffs to the seat belt of the truck and as soon as I get you back here, I’ll take the cuffs off. Isn’t that reasonable?”

She was silent a moment. “Yes.”

“Then your wrists please.”

She reluctantly extended her hands.

“Excellent.” He quickly slipped the cuffs on and snapped them shut. “Now we’ll get this over so that we can clear the decks, and you can get to work. Shall we go, Eve?”

She got to her feet. “Where is my phone?”

“I’ve put it safely away with that gun I found in your jacket pocket. I have one that I made sure couldn’t be traced in the glove compartment of the truck.” He was leading her toward the door. “It’s a shame we can’t use your cell phone. I want this call over quickly, and he’d recognize your ID and pick up immediately. We can only hope he does that with my phone.” He opened the door. “You don’t mention where you are or give him any hint that he might guess. You ask your questions, tell him you’re safe, then good-bye. One minute, Eve.”

“I don’t know where I am, dammit. How could I tell him anything?” But she had to find a way to give Joe something to go on, she thought desperately as she followed Doane from the factory. Where was she? Was there anything distinctive?

Oh, yes. The mountains in the distance. Not soft, old mountains. New, sharp, craggy, reaching for the sky. Probably the Rockies. That meant she was somewhere in the West as she’d already suspected. The coin factory looked more like a large log cabin and appeared to be nestled in a hollow of some sort, no other houses were nearby. The ancient red truck was parked to the side of the factory beside a utility shed of some sort.

“Wait.” Doane stopped her as she was getting into the truck. “One other safeguard.” He pulled a scarf from his pocket and blindfolded her. “We’ll be passing a few landmarks and signs.”

“Aren’t you afraid that I’ll look a little strange to anyone who even casually glances at us?”

“Not much danger. I’ll take the back roads. I know all of them.”

Then this was Doane’s home stomping grounds. It wasn’t much, but she’d take it. She had to gather as much information as she could. She might not be able to use it in this conversation with Joe, but there might be another time, another opportunity.

“I know the blindfold probably makes you feel helpless.” He was lifting her into the truck and fastening the cuffs to the seat belt. “I’d hate it. We’ll take it off as soon as I get where we’re going.”

She did feel helpless, but she wasn’t going to admit it to Doane. He was once again pointing out how similar they were, and she wouldn’t admit that either.

Kevin? Bonnie?

Not the same. Never the same.

Or were they?

CHAPTER

9

“IT MAY BE THE RIGHT TRUCK,”
Venable said to Joe as he came out of the farmhouse. “It was an old red Ford, parked down by the barn, and Mrs. Hallet, the farmer’s wife, thought she saw a late-model blue Chevy parked in the woods. It looks like he changed vehicles, but he didn’t leave the Chevy. He must have come back for it for some reason. I got the license-plate number of Hallet’s truck from her.” He handed Joe a slip of paper. “Call your headquarters and put an APB out on it.”

“If he hasn’t already changed cars again.” Joe reached for his phone. “And why ditch a late-model car for a truck that’s much older? All he’d have to do would be to change the license plates.”

“Which he probably did.”

“It doesn’t make sense. Unless he wanted to fit into the background of the countryside at the lake house. He appears to be very careful of details. And what about Hallet, the farmer who is missing? Did his wife hear anything about him yet?”

Venable shook his head. “The neighbors and a couple deputies are searching the woods now.”

“No one saw the thief?”

“I would have told you if they had.”

“Would you?” Joe asked bitterly as he started to dial the precinct. “I’m not sure that—” His phone signaled an incoming call. He glanced impatiently down at the ID.

Unknown.

He punched the access. “Quinn.”

“Joe.”

“Eve.” He froze. “My God.”

“Yes, listen, Joe, he’s only giving me a minute.” Eve was talking softly, urgently. “And I’m having to pay for that.”

“Where are you?”

“I can’t talk about that now. Jane. He says Jane is still alive? Is it true?”

“Yes, she’s at a hospital in San Juan. The wound wasn’t serious. How are you? Did he hurt you?”

“No. Drugs. He appears to be good at drugs. Ben? He said he dropped Ben at an urgent-care clinic. How is he?”

“Concussion. He’s as good as can be expected considering that he also suffered from exposure because the clinic didn’t find him for several hours.”

“But he’ll live?”

“He’ll live. What can you tell me about that bastard? Is he going to—Tell him if he hurts you, I’ll kill him … slowly.”

“He can hear you. I’m not in immediate danger, Joe. He wants something from me.”

“What?”

“The usual. What most people want from me. He’s trying to convince me that he has a heart of gold. I’m not buying it. But he made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. I can’t talk about that right now. If you want to keep me safe, make sure that there’s no way anyone can touch Jane. Because my cozy little deal with the bastard is off if they do. I’d kill him myself.”

“No, you won’t. My privilege. I’ll hunt him down and castrate him before I cut him into small pieces. Do you hear me, you son of a bitch?”

“He hears you. And he’s not pleased,” Eve said quickly. “I have to go now.”

“Listen, Eve. Don’t let him use us to make you do anything. I’ll take care of Jane and myself. You do what you have to do to get away from him.”

“And he didn’t like that either. My time is up. I love you.”

“And I love—” But she had already hung up. He pressed the disconnect and turned to Venable. “Call up one of your whiz-kid satellite units and see if you can trace that call.”

“I’m already on it,” Venable said. “I started when you picked up the call. I’ve just gotten through to the department. I don’t know if we can do it. She didn’t give us much time.”

“She didn’t have any choice,” Joe said. “Try, dammit.” He turned and started back toward the car.

She was alive.

Relief was zinging through him with a force that was making him dizzy. Why? He had been certain she was alive. He would have somehow known, felt it, if she had been taken from him. But what if fate had played one of her macabre tricks? Life wasn’t always kind, and all he knew was that he had wanted to fall to his knees when he heard her voice.

Now the certainty was confirmed, and all he had to do was find her.

He felt a sudden explosion of hope and ferocity.