Bonnie (27 page)

“I go after him, I keep after him. There’s not much time. I have to find out where Danner is taking Eve.”

“You’ll be careful?” His gaze never left the tent. “I have a … feeling about him.”

And Joe knew what he meant. He’d been fighting that same protective instinct that Father Barnabas was experiencing. It was weird as hell. Ben was … unusual, like a light shining in the darkness. You wanted to make sure that light was never dimmed. In a way, that instinct was incomprehensible. The rough life the boy had evidently lived had never managed to extinguish that inner glowing. Why did Joe feel as if he had the responsibility of taking care of Ben? Was that what Danner had felt when he decided to guard the boy in his own lethal way?

Dammit, he didn’t want to worry about this kid. He had to find a way to use him to find Eve.

“I’ll be as careful as I can be.” He followed Ben into the tent.

The boy was cutting lengths of suede and didn’t look up when Joe stopped before him. “Go away.”

“I can’t do that. But I won’t try to persuade you to do what’s right. I’ll let Eve do that.” He reached in his pocket and drew out his wallet. “It’s hard to think of people if you only have a name. I thought you should have a face, too. This is one of my favorite photos of Eve.” He thrust the photo in front of Ben’s face. “It was taken at our home on the lake. She looks a little dreamy but there’s nothing really dreamy about her. She’s always thinking, always feeling. She had the dreams blown away a long time ago. I guess that’s why I like this picture. I want to give her back those dreams.”

“Dreams? I have dreams.” His gaze was on the photo. “They used to be bad. But now it’s different.”

“Is it? Because your father went away?”

“No, I don’t think so.” He put down the strip of leather and took the photo and stared at her. “She looks … nice. I think I know her.”

“You’ve probably just seen a photo of Eve. She’s in the papers a lot. She helps find lost kids.”

He shook his head, his brow knitted with a puzzled frown. “No, that’s not right. I know her.” He gave Joe back the photo. “I’ll remember. Sometimes I forget things, but I always remember.”

“You said she looked nice. She is nice, Ben. You don’t want anything to happen to her.”

“Ted wouldn’t hurt her.”

“But he won’t let her go. What if she fights him? What if she can’t persuade him that she—”

“You said that you wouldn’t talk about it.” He reached down and turned on his portable radio, and music suddenly blared. “I’m not listening to you.”

“Then I’ll wait until you decide to do the right thing for Eve.” Joe set the photo on the bench beside the boy. He dropped down on the floor and crossed his legs. “But there’s not much time, Ben. Accidents can happen very quickly.”

“I want you to go away.”

“I can’t do that. She needs me. You have to help the people who need you. You have to do what’s right.”

“Then stay. I don’t care.”

“I believe you do, Ben,” Joe said gently.

Ben lowered his eyes and began to work on his weaving.

Would the photo of Eve do it?

It was possible that it would. That photo moved Joe every time he looked at it. But Joe loved Eve, and she was a stranger to this boy.

Yet he had said she was not a stranger. Who knew what went on in the mind of a boy like Ben? Joe could only hope and risk a little time. Far better than using force and brutalizing the boy as his father had done.

But, as he’d told Ben, time was running out.

CHAPTER

13

“TAKE THE PHOTO AWAY,” BEN SAID.

It was the first time Ben had spoken in the last two hours. He had worked steadily, not looking at Joe, but Joe had seen his eyes wander several times toward the photo beside him on the bench.

“Does it bother you?”

“It mixes me up. You mix me up.”

“Then talk to me. Ask me questions. Maybe I can straighten it out.”

The boy didn’t speak, but his expression held a kind of helpless anguish.

“Okay,” Joe said. “I’ll ask the questions and try to work it out. You want to keep your word to Ted Danner. But you know that Danner’s taking Eve was the wrong thing to do. It was the kind of thing your father would do. Isn’t that right?”

“He won’t hurt her.”

“But you’re afraid of the accidents, aren’t you?”

“I don’t like accidents. They scare me.”

“Then the best thing to do is get her away from him. Then there won’t be an accident. But he won’t let her go, we’ll have to take her. To do that, we have to know where he’s going with her.”

“I don’t know that.”

“But you know where he went when he left the camp on weekends. I think he’s probably taking her there. Don’t you, Ben?”

“He … likes it there sometimes. Sometimes it scares him.”

“Why would it do that?”

No answer. Skip the questions before they caused him to skitter away. “We agree that it’s best that Eve doesn’t stay with him. Now we have to find a way to find her.”

He shook his head. “I promised him.”

Blank wall.

“You’re afraid I’ll hurt him.”

Ben raised his eyes and met his gaze. Joe was once again aware of the gentle clarity that seemed to see beyond and through him. Piercing vision. Knowing vision. “You want to do it,” he said. “No matter what you say, you want to hurt him. Because of the woman. Because you’re afraid for that woman in the photo.”

Joe couldn’t lie. If he did, the boy would see right through him, and he would lose any hope of cooperation. “You’re right, I want to stop anyone who would hurt her. And I would hurt Ted Danner if I thought he was going to do it.” He paused. “If it came to that moment, I believe you would find a way of stopping him, too. If you thought there would be an … accident.”

“I wouldn’t like it. I couldn’t do it.”

“No one is making you do it.” Ben was close, but Joe had an overwhelming barrier to overcome. “Suppose I do everything I can not to hurt Ted Danner. If I can take Eve away from him without hurting him, I’ll do it.”

“You will?” Ben’s gaze searched his face. “You promise?”

“I’ll promise that if he doesn’t hurt Eve, I won’t hurt him.”

“Ever?”

All he had to do was say yes. He slowly shook his head. “I’ll probably have to go after him, but I would do it anyway. It won’t be because you broke your promise. The only result of that will be that Eve will be safe.”

Ben’s gaze was on his face. “You didn’t want to tell me that.”

“Sometimes it’s hard to do the right thing, particularly if it might hurt someone else.”

“Yes.” He looked down at the photo of Eve. “And it’s hard to know what’s right or wrong. What’s right for you may be wrong for me. It’s confusing. I don’t always understand.”

“None of us do, Ben.”

Ben lifted his gaze from the photo. “But lately things are becoming clearer. It’s like lifting a curtain, isn’t it?”

“Is it? And what’s causing that curtain to lift, Ben?”

“I’m not sure. I think it’s the dreams.…”

“Will you help me, Ben?”

He didn’t speak for a long time, then he slowly nodded. “I’ll take you to the place.”

“You don’t have to do that. Just tell me where it is.”

“No.” Ben got to his feet. “I have to go with you. I have to make sure nothing happens to Ted. That’s how it has to be.” He headed for the door of the tent. “I’ll go tell my supervisor that he needs to replace me for today.” He smiled. “Though it will be hard for him. I’m real good at my job. Everyone says so.”

“I don’t doubt it,” Joe said gently. “While you’re gone, I’ll let Father Barnabas know that you’ve changed my mind.”

He watched the boy wend his way through the tents on the way to the office. It had been difficult as hell to persuade the boy to go along with him. Even now, he wasn’t sure if he’d succeeded or if the kid’s troubled conscience had been the guiding influence. Whatever it was, he’d take it. He hadn’t expected to run into a boy like Ben here.

Like Ben? He had an idea Ben was unique. He might be slow and have to work his way through the complexity of the human condition and the world around him, but that was not really a handicap in Joe’s eyes. The world ran too fast, judgments were too quickly made, treasures too often lost.

And Ben would hold on to a treasure with all his strength as he was doing with his friendship for Danner. Even when his conscience was being tormented about the danger to Eve, he was still going to make sure no harm came to Ted Danner.

And could Joe keep his promise to Ben about not hurting Danner? He had hedged it, made conditions, but the promise had still been made. He had tied his own hands until he could get Eve free. A fine balance.

All right, accept it. Who knew what would go down when he caught up with Danner? The only thing certain was that Eve would live, Eve would be free.

“You found out what you wanted to know?” Father Barnabas had come to stand beside him at the entry of the tent.

Joe nodded. “I will soon. Ben’s going to take me to the place where Danner used to camp.” He gave the priest a sardonic look. “And I didn’t even have to use a rubber hose on him.”

“I’m a better judge of character than that,” Father Barnabas said quietly. “Under certain circumstances, I’m sure you could be brutal, but not to a boy like Ben.” He turned away. “I’m coming with you. Don’t argue.”

“The hell I won’t argue. This is the end of the line for you. I don’t trust you. If we’re getting close to Danner, I’m not going to have to risk looking over my shoulder every minute.”

“That’s your problem. I’m either going with you or following behind. Make up your mind.”

“I could put you out and there wouldn’t be a decision.”

“But you’d hesitate to do that. Because there’s a part of you that believes that I’m what I seem on the surface and not one of Danner’s demons.”

The priest was right, Joe realized in frustration. His time with Father Barnabas had allowed a strange, complex relationship to develop between them. He alternated between liking and believing him and a distrust that was probably what he should be feeling.

Father Barnabas’s gaze was on Joe’s face. He nodded. “I’ll get my sleeping bag from the car.”

“Sleeping bag? You came prepared.”

He smiled. “I’m the urban type. I don’t like sleeping on the cold ground. I might even let you and Ben take a turn using it.”

“I’m sure you’d consider that your duty,” Joe said dryly.

“Not necessarily. It might be my duty to strengthen your physical stamina or to strip you of all creature comforts to give you both time to contemplate your sins.” He grinned. “I have choices.”

*   *   *

STOP. REST. SLEEP

Those words had been repeating in Gallo’s mind for the last two hours. He had to ignore them. He had to keep going.

Stop. Rest. Sleep.

Crazy.

Perhaps it was just his body telling him that it was best to take a break.

“We can stop for a while and get our breath.” Gallo looked up at Catherine from where he was kneeling by the side of the path. “Danner stopped here and took another break. That’s the third in the last seven hours. He’s letting Eve rest.”

“Maybe he’s letting himself rest,” Catherine said. “He’s not a young man any longer, Gallo.”

“He hasn’t changed that much. You saw him at the bayou. He’s still very tough.” He leaned back against a pine tree. “We’re making good time, and he’s losing it with every stop. I figure we’ll be almost on top of him in about five hours.”

“Then we should keep on going. I don’t need to rest.”

No, Catherine would never admit to a lack of strength and endurance, he thought. Hell, maybe it wasn’t a matter of pride. She did have amazing staying power. Everything about her was amazing.

Stop. Rest. Sleep.

“It’s been over twenty-four hours. We have to be at the top of our game when we overtake them. Rest,” he said. “Forty-five minutes. If you can nap, do it.”

She shook her head. “I can’t sleep. I’m wired.” She sank down beside him before taking out her iPhone and checking the apps. “These last hours we’ve traveled right in line with the coordinates Joe gave us for that camp. That’s got to be where he’s heading.” She frowned. “No, not exactly in line. We’re a little east. But he might veer back.”

“Or he might not. Stop worrying. We’ll find out when we reach him.”

She was silent. “No, I can see you’re not worrying.”

He opened his eyes. “I’m not stalling so that we’ll lose him, Catherine. We can afford this rest.”

She studied his expression, then settled back against the tree beside him. “I know we can. I know all the rules about conserving strength and all that bull. It’s not a code-red situation. Danner has a destination, and he’s not mistreating Eve yet.” She added through her teeth, “But we’re not there, dammit. And this is Eve.” She drew a deep breath. “Okay, forty-five minutes. Though I’d be a hell of a lot more relaxed going full tilt after Danner. I don’t understand why you don’t feel the same way.”

“I do. I can’t tell you how much I need this to be over.” He closed his eyes again. “But this is the right thing to do, Catherine. I
feel
it.” And that feeling was tugging, nagging at him with increasing intensity.

Stop. Rest. Sleep.

“Well, I don’t feel it.”

“And you’re so damn tense that you’re about to break apart.”

“I’m not. I wouldn’t—” She suddenly broke off as he pulled her into his arms so that her cheek lay against his shoulder. “What are you doing, Gallo?”

He wasn’t sure. It had been an impulse. “Nothing carnal … I don’t think.” Though his body had responded the minute he had touched her. Block it. This wasn’t the moment.

Something else was coming that was far more important.

And where the hell had that last thought come from?

Stop. Rest. Sleep.

“Relax. I just want to hold you.”

She was still taut and resisting. Then she was suddenly relaxing, her body flowing into his.

That heat and hardening again.

Block it. Not now.

“Why, Gallo?” she muttered.

“I don’t know. I just want to hold you. I want you to be calm and … with me.” His hand was gently stroking her hair. “Your hair smells good.”