Quicksand (22 page)

"I don't blame you," Montalvo said. "But Miguel has no sense of caution. It didn't make any difference to him at all. Let's get inside and see what he has for us."

"I have to go see my uncle before I join you." Megan turned to Joe Quinn. "He's not going to be happy staying here twiddling his thumbs."

"So?"

"So I love him and don't want him unhappy. There's no way I want to take him into the swamp, but I want you to find him a job that will be safe but make him feel he's helping."

"Safe? Then let him stay here."

It was the kind of cooperation she would have expected from him. "Okay, safer." He shrugged. "He can stay at the boat launch and be on hand to call in the police and direct them if we phone him. Will he be satisfied with that?"

"Probably not. But it's better than nothing." She went into the hotel to find Phillip.
THIRTEEN

MIGUEL SPREAD HIS MAP ON
the polished oak table in the coffee shop. "This is the map I purchased from my guide, Bubba Garfield, with a great deal of Montalvo's money. He made it himself and he assured me that it was the finest one I could get."

"Like BlackJack Calahan sold you the finest bottle of wine in Bloomburg?" Eve asked.

"That's a bitter blow." Miguel grimaced. "But this is different. I know about maps. And I made sure Bubba was a little intimidated by me. The swamp is approximately seven hundred square miles and is thirty-eight miles long and twenty-five miles at its widest. It's principally a wildlife refuge, but that wouldn't have bothered Kistle. He would probably have enjoyed breaking the rules. There are seventy islands that are greater than twenty acres." He pointed to the green spots in the middle of the swamp. "These are the islands they call lands. There are twenty-two that have names. But there are smaller ones that are considered too unimportant to deserve recognizing on a map. Bubba indicated those with an X." He pulled a photo out of his jacket pocket and put it in front of Eve. "This is the photo that was on the bulletin board." It was a color photo of an almost barren island, with the only vegetation being a stand of swamp oaks and pond cypresses. Floating in the tea-colored waters of the swamp surrounding it were thousands of water lilies.

"Is there anything unusual about this island?" Joe asked.

Miguel shook his head. "Except maybe the way the lilies are growing in that T shape in the water."

"Are we sure this photo is the one Kistle left?" Montalvo asked.

"Oh, yes." He reached in his pocket and drew out a yellow Post-it note. "This was taped to it." A child's blue satin hair ribbon.

Eve touched it gingerly. "Another one?" She tried to ignore the horror she felt staring at it.

"This can't belong to her. He must have bought it at Target."

"It got his message across." Megan was gazing compulsively at the ribbon. "That's all he wanted to do."

"Why don't you touch it?" Joe asked. "Maybe it will tell you something."

"Leave her alone, Joe," Eve said.

Megan deliberately reached out and touched the ribbon. "It tells me that Kistle is a son of a bitch and that you're one cynical bastard. Back off."

Joe smiled. "What a shallow observation. You'll have to do better than that."

"I'll work on it." Her gaze shifted to Miguel. "What else? Can you ask this Bubba if he can remember any island that has that kind of floating foliage surrounding it?" He nodded. "I'll get right on it." He looked at Montalvo. "This can be ugly. There are trees all over the place where a man could climb and be waiting for anyone passing in a boat below. Providing he doesn't object to cohabiting with coral snakes and other nasty, slimy creatures."

"I don't believe Kistle would care," Eve said. "He'd feel right at home with them. But where would he be able to stash Laura Ann?"

"That's the question," Joe said. "On this island? What about it, Dr. Blair? Do you have any thoughts on the subject?"

"I won't know until we get there. Maybe not then." She looked him in the eye. "No promises. When do we leave?"

"Dark. It will be safer." Joe turned to Miguel. "In the meantime, I want to go with you to see this Bubba Garfield and then go into the swamp and get the feel of it. Montalvo, you bring Eve, Megan, and Phillip Blair. I'll meet you at the dock at seven." Miguel looked at Montalvo. "Colonel?"

Montalvo thought about it and then nodded slowly. "Go ahead. I don't need to get the feel of that swamp. One swamp is pretty much like another, and I practically lived in one while I was searching for my wife."

"I'm glad to have your permission." Joe got to his feet. "You've rented the motorboats, Miguel?"

Miguel nodded. "At the dock at the north entrance."

Joe headed for the door. "I'll see you at seven, Eve. Come on, Miguel." Eve checked her watch after Joe and Miguel had left the coffee shop. "It's two thirty-five." It seemed a long time until seven. She turned to Megan. "What are you going to do?"

"Go have late lunch with Phillip. Then go to his room and try to rest." She finished her coffee and stood up. "And then try to keep myself from getting back in my car and heading back to Atlanta."

"You won't do that," Eve said.

"No, I probably won't." She moved toward the door. "Though your Joe Quinn is making it seem like Mecca right now." She glanced over her shoulder. "If you need a place to crash for a few hours, come up to Phillip's room."

"Thank you." Eve watched her leave before saying to Montalvo, "She's being more tolerant than I would. After all, I invited her and Joe is giving her a hard time."

"So did you. Quinn had to stand by and watch those other psychic publicity-seekers tear you apart. It must have been rough on him too. He's only trying to protect you by poking holes in her so-called powers."

"You're defending him. Does that mean you think he's right? You were there, Montalvo. You helped dig up that little boy."

"Is he right? I don't know. It was a weird thing that seemed to be happening to her. I don't know how she knew the boy was buried there." He shrugged. "And I've seen some strange things happen in the jungle. Did I really see them or did I only dream them?" She looked away from him. "Dream? About what?"

"Comrades who had died beside me. My wife, Nalia. As a sane realist, I prefer to think they were dreams." He took a drink of his coffee. "The dreams of Nalia ended when I put her to rest. Maybe that's all she wanted. I miss those dreams."

"I can see how you would."

She could feel his gaze on her face. "Look at me, Eve."

She forced herself to meet his gaze.

"You too?" he asked softly.

She wouldn't talk to him about dreams of Bonnie if she couldn't talk about them to Joe. "I'm glad if you think your wife is at peace now."

He nodded. "But I'm not at peace. I'm alive and I have to find a life again."

"Well, you can't take mine. I have Joe."

He was silent a moment. "And does your Joe have 'dreams' of Bonnie?"

"How could he? He never knew her."

"Yet he's lived with you for a long time. It must seem as if he does." She shook her head. "Someone told me once that's not the way it works. Your mind has to be totally open to be able to accept anything that . . . unusual."

"Really? Now who told you that?"

Bonnie.

She shrugged. "I don't remember."

"Megan? It would seem the kind of thing with which she'd be familiar."

"I don't remember."

"And what would trigger that openness? Sorrow? Desperation? Or maybe a psychic sensitivity like Megan's?"

"I don't want to talk about this any longer, Montalvo."

"I know. But it's interesting to find another bridge that we've gone over together. We seem to find new ones all the time, don't we?"

Yes, they did, and it was the last thing she wanted. "The only sensitivity we have to be concerned with is Megan's ability as a Listener." She finished her coffee and set down the cup. "And you're not even sure that she has that talent."

"I'm willing to be convinced. Quinn is not." He smiled. "Can't you see how compatible we are?"

"No. And I won't talk about it any longer."

"You should talk about it. Oh, not to give me any advantage. But I believe you've allowed yourself to feel a little guilty about feeling something for me." His smile faded. "We're trained to believe we should cling to one person only. Yet there are so many people who pass in and out of our lives. Good people, worthy people, interesting people. Most of them stay for a little while and then move on. Some of them find a place with us and, if we let them, they enrich us. Don't close yourself off from the rest of the world, Eve. If you find someone who can make you understand a little more, laugh every now and then, give you a new experience, then never feel guilty. You'll just have more to give back to those who are closest to you." She didn't speak for a moment. "Good heavens, a philosopher. I wouldn't have thought it of you, Montalvo."

"I do think occasionally." He was smiling again. "I truly believe what I said, but I understand why Quinn is trying to keep you to himself. I'd do the same. Philosophy is all very well, but men tend to lean closer to the Neanderthal than Aristotle."

"And your philosophy also leans closer to polygamy than monogamy," she said dryly.

"Not really. I wasn't talking about sex. But it would be a miracle if you went through life and didn't find someone besides Quinn who attracted you. Maybe for only a moment or an hour. It's a natural chemical reaction and nothing to be ashamed of. Life is all a matter of choice. You have your code and you decide what to take and what to give. And the only way to lose is to close yourself away and ignore."

She couldn't look away from him. The moment was too intimate, dammit. She had thought she knew him well, but she was learning more every moment. He said they were alike, but he was a thousand times more open and accepting than she was. Perhaps she would not have withdrawn if Bonnie had lived, but her life was closed and she did ignore almost everything but her work. What would it be like to open her world and reach out to touch and feel and experience?

She stood up. "I've already made my choice. It's Joe. And I'm an old-fashioned monogamist. Therefore, any reaching out would have to include him. I'll see you later, Montalvo."

"Don't run away." He stood up and threw some bills on the table. "If you're uncomfortable, I'll talk about anything you like. It's a long time until we have to go into that swamp. You don't want to be alone and neither do I." He took her elbow. "Let's go for a walk and see if we can find a souvenir store."

He had turned off that charismatic intimacy as if it had never existed. Relief surged through her. He was right. She wanted the time to pass like lightning, and company would help. "Why a souvenir store?"

"I want to buy a T-shirt with an alligator on it for Miguel. It may remind him to keep his hands out of that swamp water tonight."

THE SUN WAS GOING DOWN
and casting a weird golden light over the swamp as Montalvo, Eve, Megan, and Phillip walked from their car down to the dock.

Megan shivered. "It looks like something from a macabre fantasy movie."

"Swamps can be beautiful," Montalvo said. "But, yes, they're always eerie."

"Dammit, I don't want to stay on this blasted dock," Phillip said. "I want to be in that boat with you, Megan. You might need me."

"I always need you," Megan said gently. "But I can't let you go, Phillip."

"It will be safer if I'm the one closest to you. You know that's true." Eve frowned, puzzled. "What are you talking about?"

Megan didn't answer her. "No, Phillip, it will be okay. I've told them how it has to be." Megan smiled. "Now stay here and hold down the fort. Will you do that for me?"

"I seem to have no choice," Phillip said. "It's a mistake, Megan."

"I know. The whole thing is a mistake. None of us have a choice." She looked at Eve. "When is Kistle going to call you?"

"I don't know. It could be anytime now." She saw Joe and Miguel standing beside two motorboats near the end of the dock. Joe was looking down at a map and she could sense the intensity that radiated from him. "Let's hope Bubba was able to supply some information about that island."

Then Joe looked up and she unconsciously stiffened. Intensity? Oh, yes. She had thought she had seen his reckless intensity at Clayborne Forest, but this was even a cut above. He was in warrior mode.

"Did you find out anything?" she asked.

"Not much." Joe pointed to an area in the south. "Miguel's guide said that he vaguely remembers a water lily bed resembling that kind of T-shape near an island about here. But there's an island to the north that had a grove of cypresses that resembles the one in the photo. So we might as well flip a coin." He shrugged. "But the clue is probably bogus anyway. We all know he's leading us into a trap. It's just pointing us in the direction where he's waiting." He glanced at Megan. "So finding a grave where she might hear her voices isn't that important. He may not even be near there."

"And then he might," Eve said. "And if he's planning on killing Laura Ann, then he might take her to the same place where he took other kills. He's very careful, very thorough. Look at all the preparations he made for disposing of Bobby Joe. He's familiar with that particular area and he probably hasn't had time to scope out any other places in this godforsaken place. He's been moving fast since he left Clayborne Forest."

He shrugged. "I was just trying to eliminate a useless member of our little party."

"Thank you," Megan said sarcastically. "I appreciate your concern."

"And I'm probably more useless than Megan will be," Eve said. "Except I'm the bait and that may have value." She looked out over the tea-colored water at the trees that were wreathed now in a bloodred glow from the setting sun. He was in there somewhere. He was waiting. She could
feel
him.

Call me, bastard.

Let me know that little girl is alive.

"ARE YOU ENJOYING THE BOAT
ride, Laura Ann?" Kistle asked as he dipped his oar into the water. "It's beginning to get dark. See all the shadows. That cypress tree looks like a monster, doesn't it? With its roots spreading like an octopus beneath the water." He felt the excitement building as he looked around him. It had been a long time since he'd been to this swamp. What pleasure he had experienced here. The fear, the blood, the power . . . "There are all kinds of monsters here. There's an alligator hiding near that island waiting to be fed. Perhaps I'll decide to feed you to him."