Quicksand (29 page)

"I can see why. You went through hell for her and you've never even met."

"You're not to tell her how I helped. She wouldn't understand." She shook her head ruefully.

"None of us understand, do we? What room is she in?"

"First floor, 28B. I paid her a visit after they finished with me in the emergency room." She added curiously, "This is a hospital, very high-stress. I'd think you'd be overcome with voices."

"I've learned to block them. It's only when I lower the barriers that they can overwhelm me." They met Nina Simmons walking out of Laura Ann's hospital room. She was smiling and appeared ten years younger than the first time Eve had seen her.

"I was going to come to see you." Laura Ann's mother gave her a fierce hug. "You gave me back my baby. Any favor. All you have to do is ask."

"You don't owe me anything."

"Yes, I do." She stepped back. "I'll find a way. But now I have to go and spring Laura Ann out of this place so that we can go home." She hurried down the hall.

"Seeing her face was almost worth everything." Megan's gaze followed Nina Simmons until she disappeared.

"Yes, that's how I feel," Eve said as she opened Laura Ann's door. Laura Ann was dressed and sitting on the side of the bed when they walked into the room.

"Eve." Her face lit up with a smile. "I'm going home. Mama is downstairs signing papers so they'll let me out."

"And she let me stay and say good-bye." Miguel came out of the bathroom carrying a pink posy bouquet in a glass container. "I thought I'd put water into this vase so that she could take it home with her."

"It's very pretty," Eve said. "I'm sure your room at home will be overflowing with flowers when word gets out that you're safe."

"But none will be as wonderful as this one," Miguel said. "I gave it to her." He handed the little girl the vase. "Did I not choose well, Laura Ann?"

"I like yellow flowers better," Laura Ann said. "But I guess it's okay."

"Is that gratitude for you?" Miguel asked. "I face alligators for her and she spurns me. I hate to see what you'll be when you grow up."

"What does spurn mean?"

"Reject. Send away."

"I didn't spurn you." Laura Ann was frowning. "I just like yellow—and you said you wouldn't go away. When we were in that tree, you said you wouldn't leave me."

"And I didn't."

"And you're not going to leave me now. I won't let you."

Eve quickly stepped between them. "I'd like you to meet a friend, Laura Ann. This is Megan Blair. She was on the island searching for you too."

Megan smiled. "Hello, it's good to meet you. I'm sure you're very happy to be going home."

"Yes." Laura Ann was still frowning at Miguel. "You promised."

"You'll be going back to school. You'll have your friends. You'll never miss me," Miguel said gently. "But I promise if you ever run into a hungry alligator again I'll be there."

"I want you to— My daddy promised he'd be around too. But after he left Mama and me, he never came back." Her lips firmed determinedly. "You
have
to come and see me. And I'm not going to ever see an alligator again. I don't like them."

He smiled. "Okay, when we go to the zoo we won't visit the reptile house." He paused. "If you have time for me, I'll probably be around Atlanta for a while. I messed up my hands and I'll have to go back to have them taken care of."

"They were bleeding." Laura Ann was looking at his bandaged hands. "You did it on the tree when you pushed me up."

"May I see them?" Megan asked. "I'm a doctor."

Miguel turned so that the little girl wouldn't be able to see and held out his hands. "Sure. Though you probably can't do anything more. The doctors in the emergency room here cleaned me up and gave me a shot. They told me to go back to the specialists." Megan quickly unwrapped the bandages on one of his hands. "They were probably right. I'm not as qualified as the specialists who operated on you." She took one look at the wounds and shook her head. "Ugly. It needs very delicate surgery and even then it might take years to heal properly." She rewrapped his hand. "Who did your first surgery?"

"Smith Lowe at Emory."

"He's excellent." Megan reached into her purse and drew out a business card. "But there's a man I'd like you to see." She was scrawling on the back of the card as she spoke. "His name is Jed Harley and he may be able to help you."

"What hospital is he with?"

"He's sort of a consultant and moves around a lot. Right now he's working at St. Jude's in Memphis. I'll call him and ask him to come to Atlanta to look at your hands." She handed him the card. "You'll see him?"

He shrugged. "Why not? Montalvo has had me seeing every specialist in the Southeast. What's one more? Thank you."

Megan shook her head. "No. Thank
you
, Miguel." She went to the bed and brushed her hand caressingly on Laura Ann's cheek. "I have to go now," she said softly. "I know I'm not as important as Miguel, but I live in Atlanta too. I have a friend, Davy, who is younger than you, but maybe you could put up with him if we all went to the aquarium. He wants to see the penguins."

"So do I." Laura Ann's eyes shone with excitement. "They take your picture with them, you know."

"I didn't know. Suppose I call your mother next week and we'll see if we can get together." She shot Miguel a glance. "We may even let Miguel come along. I don't think the penguins can hurt his hands."

"Hands aren't that important. I saw that movie
Happy Feet
," Miguel said. "Maybe they can teach me to dance."

"That was only pretend," Laura Ann said in disgust. "Don't you know anything?"

"I guess not. You'll have to teach me." He sat down in the chair. "I learn quickly. Ask Montalvo."

"The ugly ape." She was smiling again. "He didn't like me saying that, did he?"

"I'm afraid you have a streak of mischief," Miguel said. "I must speak to your mother about it."

"And you don't?" Eve said dryly. She gave Laura Ann a hug. "Good-bye, Laura Ann, I'll see you in Atlanta. Maybe you could come out to the lake and meet my daughter, Jane's, dog, Toby." She moved toward the door. "Good-bye, Miguel. Take care of those hands." Megan waved and joined Eve as she walked down the hall. "I can see how Laura Ann survived Kistle. She's a tough little kid. Miguel may have his hands full. She seems to have forcibly adopted him."

"He can take care of himself," Eve said. "And he obviously likes her or he wouldn't put up with it. Miguel is only as soft as he wants to be." She glanced at Megan as they went out the exit into the parking lot. "Do you really think your consultant can help him?"

"We'll have to see. I think Harley's success rates are exceptionally high." She got into the passenger seat of Eve's SUV. "It's starting to rain. Dammit, that's all the police need to cope with on the island."

Eve backed out of the parking space. After a few minutes she asked, "Can you still hear the voices?"

"No." Megan gazed at the fat raindrops falling against the windshield. "I'm too far away. Maybe if I didn't block them, I might be able to do it. Ordinarily I'd say that I was free, but this was different."

"You said that before. How?"

"I brought them with me," she said. "That's why I couldn't wake up. They were inside me, tearing me apart with their sadness. The other times when I was unconscious, I didn't feel anything. This time they were still there." She shook her head. "As I said, I empathize with you and all the other parents who lost those children, because now I feel as if I've lost them too."

They drove in silence for a while before Eve finally said, "If you can empathize, then you know what I want to ask you. May I ask it now?"

"You want to know if one of the voices was Bonnie's." She paused. "I've been thinking about it ever since I woke up. It could have been. There was such a cacophony of sound, of voices." She shook her head. "But I don't recall and I believe I would have recognized Bonnie. I knew how much it meant to you to find her."

Eve felt a wild surge of disappointment. "Kistle told me that she wasn't buried on the island."

"I'm sure that isn't all the son of a bitch said."

"He said . . . alligators."

"What a monster. He chose the most horrible scenario he could dream up and handed it to you." Megan shook her head. "Even if she wasn't buried there, if that's where he took her life, I'd hear her voice."

"You don't think she's there." Eve pulled into the motel parking lot. "I told him that I thought he was claiming credit for a kill he never made. It made him furious." She moistened her lips.

"I killed him, Megan. I was afraid that somehow he'd wriggle away and go on slaughtering. I pulled the trigger four times to make sure he was dead."

"Good. I don't know if he killed your Bonnie. You'll have to wait until they finish searching. I know he killed those other poor kids on that island," Megan said. "And if I'd been able to do it, I would have sent the bastard to hell myself."

Eve parked as close to the motel as she could get. "You're going to get wet." She tried to smile. "And Phillip told me to take care of you."

"A little rain won't hurt me." Megan didn't move to get out of the car. The rain was pounding, enveloping them in a cocoon. "Don't ask me to do it again, Eve." Eve's eyes widened in shock. "I wouldn't do that."

"Yes, you would. If you come up empty. If they don't find Bonnie on that island. You couldn't help yourself." She gazed out the windshield. "And I'll turn you down, Eve. Not because of what I went through. I could take that, I think. But you couldn't take it. It would kill you."

"No, it's what I want most in the world."

"When we started out, I told you that I wouldn't do it except for Laura Ann. I told you not to try to find her through me. I could see what would happen."

"I'd have my Bonnie back."

"You'd have a horror to live with for the rest of your life," Megan said. "Because if I found her, you wouldn't be able to leave it alone. You'd want me to share exactly how she died and you wouldn't leave me alone until I told you."

"No."

"Yes. You love her, you'd want to share her death as well as her life. If someone else finds her, then you'll probably never know. But I'm the one who could destroy you. I won't do that."

"You're wrong, Megan," Eve said unsteadily. "I'm not that weak."

"No, you're strong. I admire you more than anyone I've ever met. But you've had your share of nightmares and I'm not going to give you any more."

"I wouldn't ask you to—" She closed her eyes and tears rolled down her cheeks. "God help me, I would. I'd find a way to make you help me. Don't do it. Don't let me hurt you." Megan's arms were suddenly around her. "I won't." She rocked her gently. "It's going to be okay, Eve. You'll find her. I know you'll find her."

Eve lifted her head and drew a shaky breath. "I know it too. Maybe I already have." She straightened away from Megan and smiled with an effort. "But it would be nice if that was a psychic prediction."

Megan shook her head. "No." Her hand reached for the door handle. "It's a prediction based on the fact that you're smart and strong and life can deal from the bottom of the deck for only so long. If you need me, call me." She opened the door. "Except for that one thing, Eve."

"Megan."

Megan looked back at her.

"There aren't words to thank you."

"Then don't try to find any." She jumped out of the SUV and ran through the rain toward the entrance.

Eve watched until she disappeared inside. She suddenly felt lonely. Megan's warmth and vitality still lingered with her. She was the most caring individual Eve had ever met and she didn't want to see her walk out of her life.

But she would try to let her keep her distance. She had begun by thinking Megan was the ruthless intruder, but it wasn't Megan who was the danger, it was Eve herself. It was really Eve who Bonnie had been warning her against. Megan was only the instrument.
The lady with the box. Don't let her hurt you, Mama. Don't let her hurt me.
THE RAIN WAS COMING DOWN
in sheets and the police had covered the entire glade under makeshift tarp canopies that allowed them to move freely from area to area. Grave to grave.

Joe was wet, his boots muddy, in spite of the yellow ponchos the police were issuing to the team who were exhuming the bodies.

Small bodies. Pitiful bodies. The sight wrenched him to the core.

And made him want to kill Kistle all over again.

"It's incredible."

Joe turned to see Montalvo standing behind him. Montalvo was soaked to the skin, raindrops running down his cheeks, but he didn't seem to be aware of it. His gaze was fixed on the rows of remains that had been exhumed. "So much pain . . . I envy Eve. I would have been proud to rid the world of Kistle."

"So would I." It was what Joe had been feeling. "What are you doing here?"

"The same as you. It's not finished. How many bodies have they found?"

"Twenty-two. They think there may be six more buried in this glade."

"Bonnie?"

"I don't know. Kistle told Eve she wasn't here." He turned away. "I've got to get back to work. They want to get this site clean before they let the media anywhere near it."

"I can see why. Where are they giving out the shovels and rain gear?" Joe looked back at him. "I told you, Bonnie may not be here."

"But there are six other children who are buried here." He met Joe's eyes as he added quietly,

"It's not finished for them either. Let's bring them home, Quinn." Joe didn't speak for a moment and then he turned away. "You can get a poncho and shovel from the officer on the other side of the glade."

JOE CALLED EVE'S CELL
three hours later.

She braced herself and then pressed the button. "Good news?"

"Bonnie isn't buried in the glade," he said baldly. "He had all the corpses labeled with their first names just as he told you. We found a body to correspond with every trophy in his damn memory box. It will take time to go over the entire island but she's not in the burial ground." Disappointment tore through her. "No."