Текст книги "Silencing Eve"

Автор книги: Iris Johansen

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“You’ll get it.” He pushed her inside. “This is what you might call a holding tank. I have to get everything ready before I throw you and Zander together for the finale.”

“What do you have to get ready? I thought you told me everything was set to go, that all it would take would be pressing a button. Was that a lie?”

“I don’t have to lie to you. I don’t have to tell you anything.”

“But you like to tell me all your plans. It gives you some kind of cheap thrill.” She wrinkled her nose as she looked around the small room. It was dusty and smelled of mildew. The only furniture was a wooden table and simple kitchen chairs, a faded couch, an easy chair, and coffee table in front of a stone fireplace. “Your choice of prisons isn’t improving. This isn’t any better than that motel. How long do we have to be here?”

“Until I make arrangements.” He pushed her down in a chair at the table and tied her. “And I’m going to have to leave you for a while to do it.” He chuckled. “I see your eyes light up. Don’t be too eager. You’ll still have my full attention. But now that you’ve finished the reconstruction, you’re not going to be occupied. I’ll have to take care of that problem.”

“I can’t wait to learn how.”

“You won’t have to wait long.” He put the case containing Kevin’s skull on the table beside her. “And I’ll leave Kevin here to keep you company.” He opened the case and gently pulled the reconstruction from the box. “I know how much you like him to be close to you, to watch you.”

She didn’t look at the reconstruction. She knew every line, every curve of that face she’d rebuilt from the burned horror of the skull Doane had given her to re-create. It was a handsome face, but all she could see was the twisted soul beneath it. “If I get loose, the first thing I’ll do will be to light a fire in that fireplace and throw him into it. It’s where you should have left him instead of trying to resurrect him.”

Doane’s lips tightened. “And I’d throw you into the fire after him.”

“Would you? But then your plans to make Zander suffer by killing me would be ruined. Not that he would suffer anyway.” She looked at him. Questions. Find out as much as she could. “Where are you going?”

“I have to make sure that everything is ready and in place.”

“In place? Where is this nuke?”

“It’s safe.” He looked away from her as he straightened the reconstruction on the table. “I don’t have to worry about it. It’s quite safe.”

He was being evasive. Why? “Safe from what? Where is it?” Her gaze narrowed on his face. “If you’re not afraid I’m going to escape from you, why won’t you tell me?”

“You don’t need to know. You’ll find out soon enough.”

A sudden, bizarre thought occurred to her. “Why, you don’t know, do you?” she asked softly. “Your wonderful Kevin didn’t trust you enough to tell you. All this time, you’ve been stringing Venable along and making him think he’d eventually be able to get that info from you, and you never had it.”

“That’s not true,” he said harshly. “My Kevin did trust me. He just died before he could tell me where he stashed those nuclear devices. But I’ll still be able to do it. I just have to talk to a few of Kevin’s contacts here, and we’ll be able to find it.”

She laughed. “Who? His al-Qaeda buddies evidently weren’t able to find those bombs in the last five years. Why should they be able to tell you now? Maybe no one knows where they are.”

“Someone knows,” he said curtly. “Kevin knew. And Kevin wanted me to know. He told me he put it all in his journal. But the message was so well hidden that I couldn’t understand it. I went through the journal a dozen times, but I still couldn’t see what Kevin wanted me to see. So I hid it away until I could spend more time on it.” He added harshly, “Last week, I told Blick to go back to the house to get it and bring it to me when I was afraid things weren’t going so well. But the fool had the journal taken away from him by your friend, Kendra Michaels.”

“Good for Kendra,” Eve said. “And now no journal and no nukes. You’d better take me to Vancouver and go back to plan one, Doane. Two deaths instead of millions.”

“The bombs are still where Kevin put them. Your Kendra won’t be able to figure out their location from the journal any more than I could.” He added sourly, “But there’s another way I can find out where they are.”

“How? By communing with Kevin? I don’t think so.”

“There’s another way,” he repeated.

“I think Kevin lied to you and just wanted to soothe your ego. He didn’t trust you, and he didn’t want to give up the chance to go down in demonic history if you failed him.”

“I haven’t failed him. Everyone else has failed him, but I’ve stood strong and steady.” He looked at the skull on the table. “Even Blick failed you, Kevin. But we took care that he didn’t get a second chance.” He reached in his pocket. “And I’m not going to give you a second chance either, Eve.” He pulled out a hypodermic. “I have to be gone a few hours, and I’m not going to have you becoming troublesome. I think you need a nice long sleep after our trip.” He rolled up her sleeve. “And there will be no opportunity of throwing my Kevin into the fire even if you managed to get free.”

“You appear to like to use drugs.” Eve felt the prick of the needle on her arm. “You must have become used to them to lure Kevin’s victims into his web.”

He shook his head. “He didn’t like them drugged. That’s why I had to use all my skill and persuasion to get them to come with me. I told you, I can be very persuasive.”

And Eve knew that to be true. At first, his kind, trustworthy face and gentle manner had made even Eve believe they mirrored an equally trustworthy soul. “I still find it hard to understand how you could do that just because Kevin—” She broke off. “You must not have any conscience at all, Doane.”

“Kevin says conscience is overrated. He needed release. I gave it to him. Everyone who knew Kevin ended up giving him whatever he wanted. He was special. That’s how it should be.” He bent to look into her eyes. “You’re getting drowsy, aren’t you? I’ll be able to leave you soon.”

She was getting drowsy. The room was swimming around her. “Leave me now. I don’t want to—have to look at you any—longer.”

“Not yet. I want to be quite sure.” He leaned back against the table. “You’ll give Kevin what he wants, too, Eve.” He reached out and touched her cheek. “Your blood, your life … your Bonnie.”

“He can have two—out of three. He’ll never have … Bonnie.”

“You say that, but it means nothing. He already has her, all that’s left is to break her connection with this world. That’s you, Eve. When you die, he takes you both.”

“Then he can’t have me either.” The darkness was weaving in and out around her. “Go away, Doane. Or if you want to stick pins … in me, use the real thing. Your words … are useless. You and Kevin … bluff … only bluff.”

“Are we?” He was suddenly snarling. He jerked her closer to the table and set Kevin’s skull directly in front of her. “Then why are you afraid to look at him? You may not be afraid of me, but you’re afraid of Kevin. And soon you’ll fear both of us.”

He meant when they merged, she thought hazily. When Kevin crossed back and became—

Blue eyes staring at her from the skull only inches away from her.

Cold.

Nausea.

And then the panic.

They were only glass eyeballs, nothing else.

No.

Kevin’s eyes, reaching out for her.

And for Bonnie.

Her chest was tight. She couldn’t breathe. She could feel the perspiration bead her face as she fought the fear.

“Yes, that’s what I wanted,” Doane said softly, his gaze on her face. “I couldn’t do it to you, but Kevin managed, didn’t he? I keep telling you he’s special.” He straightened away from the table. “And now I’ll leave you to him. He’ll be sorry I gave you the shot. He always enjoyed the delicious sharpness of the response to whatever he did.” He paused at the door. “But perhaps you’ll be so afraid that the narcotic won’t take effect, and you’ll have him with you all the time I’m gone. Or maybe he’ll follow you down and bring the nightmare with him. All kinds of interesting possibilities…”

Doane was gone.

But Kevin was here. Eve had carefully mended the ugliness of the burned and blackened skull, but the sight of it was abruptly before her.

Only a memory, she told herself. A memory heightened by the effect of the narcotic Doane had given her. For all she knew, Doane could have given her a hallucinogenic to mentally torture her.

It wasn’t the drug.

It was Kevin.

Hate you. Take you. Take her.

“The hell you will.” Her voice was slurred. “You’re only bone and clay and glass.”

Blue eyes staring …

She closed her own eyes, which were unbearably heavy. “And now I’m going to go to sleep and you … may go back to hell … where you belong.”

Take you.

“No way…”

She could no longer see him, but she could still feel him there.

Frustrated? Good. She was tired of dealing with monsters and filthy perverts who were incomprehensible to ordinary human beings. She just wanted to go away …

*   *   *

“YOU HAVE GONE AWAY. No one can touch you now, Mama.”

Bonnie?

She opened her eyes, but Kevin’s skull was no longer on the table before her.

Bonnie was sitting in the chair at the end of the table, her right leg tucked beneath her. Same Bugs Bunny T-shirt and jeans, same curly red hair, same beloved, radiant smile.

Oh, God, how Eve had missed that smile.

“And just where have I gone, baby?” she asked shakily.

“You’re still in the cottage, but the drug Doane gave you took you deep enough so that I could break through the barriers Kevin put up. I was able to reach you. I told you that was the only way I’d found to come to you.”

“I’m surprised you were able to get through. This was Kevin’s place, and it’s full of him. It’s as if he’s still here.” She grimaced. “Even that hideous graveyard of driftwood out front. It’s kind of fitting that Doane gave me a drug to knock me out. It’s like that sleeping-beauty tale, only instead of a garden of thorns keeping everyone out, there’s that graveyard of driftwood.”

“I had to work hard on it. This is a bad place.” She suddenly grinned impishly. “But I was even able to get rid of that nasty Kevin’s skull from your mind. I knew you’d be happier if he was gone. And Kevin was perfectly furious at both of us. Isn’t that wonderful?”

“Wonderful. But he’s still there?”

“Not as long as you’re asleep. Everything is fine as long as you’re deep under the influence of that narcotic. Doane did us a favor when he gave it to you.”

“I don’t believe that was how it was meant.” Her gaze was running hungrily over her daughter. “But I don’t care. May I say how glad I am to see you. It’s been too long, Bonnie.”

“I did the best I could. Kevin is very strong. But you know that, Mama, he makes you afraid.” She tilted her head. “I didn’t think I’d ever see you afraid.”

“Only for you, Bonnie.”

She nodded gravely. “I know that. Everything for me. That’s how it’s been since I came into your life.”

“That’s how all parents feel, baby. It goes with the territory.”

“But now you should think about yourself, Mama. Let me fight for myself.”

Eve went still. “And is it a fight with Kevin? Not some kind of spiritual suppression or—”

“Of course, it’s a fight,” Bonnie said bluntly. “Forget all those big, fancy religious or psychological ideas. There’s nothing but evil about Kevin. He’s … full of silences. I don’t know what a demon is like, but he may show us if he’s allowed to survive. He somehow managed to slip over the line, and now he won’t go back.” She paused. “He wants to cross another line.”

“I know,” Eve whispered.

Bonnie nodded. “I thought you did. So you have to fight him, too.” She added, “But we can beat him. We have to do it.”

She remembered something Bonnie had said. “Full of silences,” Eve repeated slowly. “What do you mean?”

“He … smothers … everything. I don’t know how he does it. Maybe it’s something he brought with him.” She bit down on her lower lip. “But it’s … bad. Terrible. Final.”

“Final … I don’t understand.”

“The soul goes on. Most of the time there’s a chance for redemption, a new start. But with Kevin, I sense only silence from his victims. Nothing beyond. No second chance.”

“Those children he killed?”

“Silence.”

“Dear God.”

“But if Kevin is destroyed, perhaps the silence would be lifted.” She shook her head. “I don’t know. We can only hope and pray. But we can’t let him silence anyone else. He mustn’t kill again. For him, silence is the ultimate power, far above the act of murder.”

Millions dead in a nuclear holocaust.

“We have to stop it.” Bonnie’s gaze was on her face, reading her thoughts. “Not only the deaths but what might come after.”

“You worry about the afterward. Saving lives is enough for me to be concerned about at the moment.”

Bonnie smiled. “You’ll worry about everything. Present, future, afterward. I know you, Mama.”

“One crisis at a time. Doane is my primary crisis.” She made a face. “Or maybe it’s Kevin. I get confused when I think about them these days.”

“It will get clearer,” Bonnie said soberly. “Because they’re getting closer to each other all the time. Can’t you feel that?”

“Yes.”

“Kevin hates you. He wants to silence you.”

“Silence.” Eve had never realized how chilling that word could be. The ultimate power, Bonnie had said. “I’m sure he has a similar desire where you’re concerned.”

“It’s different with me. He blames you. You’re standing in his way. You have to be very careful.”

Eve suddenly chuckled. “Bonnie, I’m tied up, captive of a homicidal maniac who’s threatening to blow me up along with half of Seattle. And you’re telling me to be careful?”

“Sorry.” Bonnie giggled. “Sometimes I forget the present when I get absorbed in what’s going to happen.” A smile was still lingering. “But I’m glad that I made you laugh. I love to hear you laugh, and you don’t do enough of it. I wish you were always smiling.”

“I’m not the type. The people who know me would think I was having a breakdown if I went around grinning.” Eve’s smile faded. “But you make me smile. You always did. From the moment you were born, you filled every day with love and laughter. When you were gone, I couldn’t find it again. I just like you to be here near me.”

“I’m always near you,” Bonnie said gently.

“I know, but I want to see you, dammit.” She shook her head. “It’s okay. I swore I wouldn’t complain. You’re busy saving the afterworld.” She grimaced. “That makes you sound like a superhero. Now that is funny when I look at you in that Bugs Bunny T-shirt.”

“You like me in this T-shirt. It makes you remember me the way I was before I left you.”

“Yes, it does.” Bonnie had told Eve that after she had passed over that she could not remain the child she had been. The way she spoke, the wisdom, the maturity, had at first shocked Eve. No longer. Bonnie’s soul was the same, and that was all that was important to her. She asked curiously, “Could you change how you look to me?”

“I don’t know. I think so. But it’s not important if you’re happy with me like this.” Her smile was loving. “It’s all about you, Mama.”

“No, it’s not. You just want to keep me from joining you too soon. I’m trying, Bonnie. I know that Joe would feel as lost as I did when you were taken. I don’t want him to hurt like that.” She added wearily, “But I’m so tired of being without you, baby. Sometimes I think I’d be forgiven if I just let it happen.”

“I know you do. That’s why Doane is so dangerous to you. You wouldn’t take your own life, you’d just not fight and let him strike you down.” She shook her head. “You can’t do that. The circle around you is widening all the time. Everyone you touch would feel the loss. All your friends, Zander…”

“Zander.” She stiffened. “That’s the first time you mentioned him. What do you know about—” She broke off. “He’s not one of the people touched by me. Zander wouldn’t be affected one way or the other.”

“He would feel the loss,” she said. “Doane is right about your death hurting him.” She frowned. “You don’t want me talking about him. You don’t want Zander that near me. He can’t hurt me, Mama.”

“You’re right, I don’t want to talk about him.”

“Then we won’t do it. There are enough people who care about you without mentioning Zander.”

She was silent a moment. “Is he … your grandfather, Bonnie?”

“Ask him. You don’t want to hear about him from me.”

Eve didn’t know why she had asked that question. It had come tumbling out with irresistible force. “There are a number of questions I have to ask him when Doane brings us together.” She added wryly, “Providing he allows us enough time before he presses the magic button.” She held up her hand as Bonnie opened her lips to speak. “I know. I know. That sounded much too resigned. I’ll work on it. I just didn’t understand why you mentioned Zander instead of someone who does care whether I live or die.”

“Like Jane?”

“Yes.”

“I didn’t mention Jane because you didn’t, Mama. You talked about Joe’s being hurt, but you didn’t say anything about Jane.”

“Of course I meant Jane, too.”

“But you didn’t say her name. Only Joe’s.”

Eve stiffened. “What are you saying? I love Jane, and I know she loves me. I wasn’t trying to leave her out in any way.”

“You do love her, but not in the same way you love me. It may even be a better way because she’s your best friend. We never got the chance to become friends. That comes later between a mother and daughter.”

“Then what difference does it make that I—Are you saying that I made some Freudian slip?“

“Maybe. I believe that I was always in the way of your relationship with Jane. You were searching for me, thinking about me for years and years.”

“Jane always said that she never resented it.”

“And that proves that she loves you. She wanted whatever would make you happy.” She paused. “Just as I do. I feel very close to Jane, Mama. But she shuts me out. I can’t … reach her. It didn’t bother me before … well, a little. I understood that she’d put up barriers to keep from being hurt. But I can’t let her be alone when she—you may have to do it for me.”

“You’re scaring me. What are you talking about?”

“I just want you to know that she’s willing to do anything for you. Would she miss you as Joe would?” She hesitated, then said quietly, “She’d die for you, Mama.”

She inhaled sharply. “Bonnie.”

“I just want you to know that it’s not only your life you’re fighting for. Fight for Jane. She’s going to need you.”

“Don’t you dare be all mysterious and enigmatic, young lady. Explain.”

Bonnie shook her head. “Just love her and try to take care of her.” She smiled with an obvious effort. “When you manage to get out of those ropes and start moving in the right direction. Did it occur to you that you wouldn’t be in this situation if you’d taken your chance to get away instead of saving Zander? That makes it even stranger that you still resent him.”

“Of course it occurred to me. It also occurred to me that you’re trying to change the subject.” And, knowing Bonnie, she realized that she was not going to yield any more information no matter how frustrated it was going to make Eve. Frustrated and scared. “If you’re so worried about Jane, you take care of her. Ghosts should have some kind of special powers, shouldn’t they? Well, if you do, don’t use them for me. Use them for Jane.”

“It doesn’t work that way, Mama.”

“I’m tired of hearing that. If I were there with you, then maybe I’d understand about—” She stopped. “I don’t want to argue. These moments with you are too precious. I’ll do my job. I’ll help my Jane.”

“I know you will,” Bonnie said. “And we aren’t arguing. I had to warn you, and I made you worry. If I could make it stop, I would. But now it’s out of the way and I can just be with you.”

“The last time you were able to come to me was when I inhaled that gas at the cabin. You disappeared when I started to come out of it. How much time do we have?”

“A long time,” she said gravely. “A few hours, I think.”

“What?”

“He gave you a very strong dose.” She looked her in the eye. “A little more, and we would have been together.”

Together. Death. “That potent?”

“He’s angry with you all the time now. You hurl those barbed remarks at him, and they sting. He’s beginning to get reckless.”

Eve was feeling a little reckless herself. “At least it brought you to me.”

“Mama…” She shook her head. “Yes, it brought me to you. Now, we’ll sit here and take what’s been given.”

“And you’ll tell me how you erased Kevin’s reconstruction from my mind. I know he’s right in front of me. Why can’t I see him?”

“He doesn’t exist right now. I can hold him at bay as long as we’re joined together. I can feel his anger, but he can’t do anything.”

“You said you were getting stronger fighting him.”

“I am. Because of you,” she said. “And these hours with you are going to make me even stronger. As I said, Doane may have done us a favor.”

“And Kevin will be angry with him. What a pity.”

Bonnie threw back her head and laughed. Her red curls were gleaming, and her face glowed with vitality that seemed to light up the room.

Eve gazed at her and felt a surge of pure love. Spirit or not, this was her little girl, who had been born with a very special soul. She had been able to reach out and touch, gather, and inspire love in everyone who met her. Eve had been lucky to have been able to keep her for those seven years, and she had given up bitterness long ago.

“I love you, Bonnie.” She was suddenly afraid. “And don’t let that bastard get too close to you. I like you just fine unsilenced.”

“Is that a correct word? You always used to correct me if I didn’t use correct English.”

“That was then, this is now. I don’t care. You know what I mean.”

“I’ll keep Kevin away. You go after Doane.” She smiled. “Don’t be afraid, can’t you feel the strength flowing between us? It will get stronger and stronger all the time we’re together. It’s like a deep river, and it will keep everything afloat. Can’t you feel it?”

“No.” Was love strength? If it was, then she knew the river Bonnie was talking about. “It doesn’t matter. We’ll get through it.” She gazed at Bonnie, and the warmth filled the world. “And I’m not afraid any longer.”