Текст книги "Silencing Eve"

Автор книги: Iris Johansen

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Текущая страница: 21 (всего у книги 23 страниц)

“Thanks a lot.”

He broke off another sharp piece and hefted it. “Let’s get moving.”

They slid between the rock formations. With each twist and turn, Eve saw more spires of driftwood on the beach below them, looking like a series of insane modern-art sculptures created in a fever dream.

More like a nightmare.

She tensed.

Footsteps were pounding behind them.

Doane.

Zander’s head lifted as he listened. “I believe our absence has been noticed,” he murmured.

The footsteps stopped.

“Did you think you could get away?” Doane shouted. “I can track you even in the dark. I can feel you, smell you.” More footsteps. “I can’t risk waiting for that bitch, Harriet. It’s time you paid the price. Both of you. Kevin wants his pound of flesh. Kevin’s here, Eve. Can you feel him?”

She felt that familiar, icy chill run through her.

Fight it.

Fight it with everything she had.

Doane laughed maliciously. “Just like old times, Eve. Me chasing you through the wilderness … But this won’t end as well for you. For either of you.”

“Don’t listen,” Zander whispered, perhaps sensing how Doane’s words were affecting her. “Keep moving.”

They crouched low and snaked through the rocks.

Doane’s voice called out. “You’re going to watch each other die … Just as I planned, just the way it was meant to be.”

What in hell was he doing with this taunting?

Of course. He was trying to provoke a response, any response, so that he could zero in on their location. Give him nothing.

She turned to Zander. “I can try to draw him toward me. If he’s distracted, maybe you can make your way back to him.”

Zander smiled. “You’re willing to act as bait? Not this time, Eve. I’m not letting you out of my sight.”

Her lips twisted. “Bad timing for a tender family moment.”

“I haven’t had that much experience.” He grabbed her arm and pulled her forward. “So we stick together.”

Blam!

A branch exploded next to her head.

She and Zander ducked as Doane rapidly fired four more shots in their direction.

They crouched lower and scrambled for a cluster of rocks ten feet ahead.

Shit. That was too damned close.

“The only way down is through me,” Doane yelled. “You don’t believe me?”

She and Zander continued through the rock formations, trying to stay close to the larger ones for cover.

“I promise you … it’s a dead end. Your choice is a rock wall and a fifty-foot drop that will kill you quicker than I will.”

Not likely, she thought. Doane had waited too long, and he was hungry.

She and Zander negotiated the twists and turns of the nature-built maze until she heard another sound ahead. More crashing waves, but these sounded … different. The rock formations abruptly ended, and Zander abruptly blocked her path.

They were standing on the edge of a sheer cliff. Waves crashed on the rocks below.

Doane was right. There was no place else to go.

“I told you so.”

Eve and Zander whirled around. Doane stood fifteen feet away, with his gun trained on them.

He was smiling. “We’re done now,” he said softly.

“You have no choice now, Zander,” Eve said in a low voice. “There’s a cluster of rocks over there. Get to them and take him down when you can.” She took a step forward so that she blocked Doane’s view of Zander. Think. Use what she knew about Doane. She raised her voice. “Kevin doesn’t want this, Doane. He told me. You’re making a terrible mistake.”

Doane’s smile faded, his brow furrowing in puzzlement. “What?”

“You’re right. You were right all along. He does live. He’s with us right now.”

“You’re lying. Do you think I’m a fool? You’ve never believed me.”

She’d caught him off guard. Keep his attention focused on her. She didn’t sense any action from Zander behind her, but that meant nothing. He moved like a cat.

She took another step closer. “I didn’t want to admit it. But how else was I able to reconstruct his face so well? Every blemish, every detail?”

Doane’s pistol hand was starting to tremble. “It’s what you do. His skull … and the pictures.”

“Not like that. And I didn’t see the photos until later. You saw what I did. I brought Kevin back. And the only way I was able to do that was for him to work through me. We bonded. We became one. Kevin lives and breathes through me. If you kill me, you’ll be killing him all over again.”

Doane was sweating. “You’re lying. I was the one he wanted to join with.”

“You weren’t close enough. I was there, and he reached out and took. That’s what Kevin always did, right? Think about that skull. Think about how much I made it look like Kevin. I’m good, but not that good. Kevin is the only one who could have done that.”

Doane’s eyes moistened. “Is it true? Kevin…?”

“Yes. No one is that good.” She raised her hand and touched her chest. “Kevin is here.”

“He should have waited for me.” His hand tightened on the gun. “If you’re lying, I’ll—” Doane took a step toward her, then froze, his back arching.

His eyes widened, bulged. “No … you bitch.”

He coughed. An instant later, blood dripped from his nose and mouth.

Eve started at him in bewilderment.

What was happening?

Doane fell to his knees, then tumbled face-forward onto the ground. Only then did Eve see the large knife protruding from his back.

And twenty feet behind him she saw Joe, still in his throwing stance.

Shock. Disbelief. Joy.

“Joe…”

“Stay there. He’s not dead yet.” He rushed up the trail and kicked the gun away from Doane’s still-twitching hand. Then he turned to Eve, and his voice was shaking. “Are you okay?” He didn’t wait for an answer but crushed her in his arms. “You don’t have to answer. I heard you with Doane. You’re very much okay.” He kissed her. “And if you aren’t, I’ll make you that way. God, Eve…”

“I know…”

“It’s not good form to indulge in public demonstrations of affection.” Zander came out from behind the cluster of boulders. “Particularly in the presence of a botched assassination.”

Joe’s eyes narrowed. “Botched?”

“Well, he’s not dead yet, is he? I was making my way around to do it right when you came on the scene.”

“He’ll be dead within a few minutes.”

Zander nodded. “And it wasn’t a bad throw. You were probably better when you were in the SEALs.”

Joe muttered a curse and turned to Eve. “I’m not alone. I brought friends. Catherine and Gallo are on the other side of the house. We split up to search when we didn’t find you in the house. Jane is on the way.”

Zander was smiling at Eve. “You were truly ingenious, Eve. I’m very proud of you. I hope you had an equally inventive story ready to keep Doane from wanting to kill me. Just in case your little distraction didn’t work.”

“I would have had to be Scheherazade to block him from that obsession.” She shuddered. “From the very beginning, you were the real target.” The tension and horror of the last moments were hitting home.

No, more than that. From the time Doane had taken her from the cottage and the people she loved and started her down this nightmare path of madness and terror, she had been the victim fighting for her life. It was incredibly difficult to believe that she was not still that victim.

“Eve.” Joe’s gaze was on her face. “It’s over.”

“Is it? I don’t think so. Not quite yet.” She walked over to Doane, who was still on the ground, gasping for breath. She looked down at him. All those days of torment and captivity, of trying to hold on to sanity, of fighting being the victim.

He had to realize that she had never been that victim, that she was the one who had won.

Eve knelt beside him. “Just so you know, Doane…”

He looked up at her with bloodshot eyes.

She bent lower and whispered, “I really am that good.”

Doane looked incredulously at her, an expression that froze forever, as one last breath escaped from his body.

*   *   *

JANE COULD FEEL HER CHEST tightening with tension as she looked out at the moonlight gleaming on the sea. She had just entered the hills, and the cottage should be somewhere beyond them on this road.

Was Harriet ahead of her?

Or had she already reached the cottage?

Was Eve dead?

Jane wouldn’t think of that possibility. She would just keep going and hope.

She rounded the curve and saw the cottage in the distance. It was brightly lit, but Jane could see only one car parked on the beach in front of it.

And it wasn’t the Cadillac Escalade Harriet had been driving. Relief surged through her, taking her breath. Harriet hadn’t reached the cottage. Not yet. Eve could still be safe.

But where was Harriet? She’d expected her to be delayed but not—

Her phone rang. Catherine.

“Eve’s safe, Jane.” Catherine’s voice was shaking. “We got to her in time.”

“Thank God. I can’t believe—” Jane had to stop as emotion overcame her. “How is she? He didn’t hurt her?”

“Not physically. We’ll have to see how much of the stuff he threw at her had any mental effect.” She paused. “Joe killed Doane.”

“Good,” Jane said fiercely. “Harriet?”

“No, she’s not here yet. Doane got a call from her that she’d had trouble halting the bleeding in her wound. She was supposedly approaching the hills at that time.”

“I’m coming out of the hills now. I can see the cottage.” She said slowly, “The only answer is that she’s behind me.”

“Stay where you are. We’ll come up to—”

“No.” She pulled off the road into the trees. “There’s probably not time. And the last thing we want is for her to see you all coming after her and panic. She still has that detonator.”

“All the more reason for—”

“No, Catherine.” She hung up.

No, Catherine. I have to be the one to do it. She has to be mine.

She got out of the car and pulled out the revolver Caleb had given her at the sand dune. That seemed such a long time ago.

A lifetime ago. Trevor’s life.

She moved away from the car, so she would have a clear view of the road.

Come on, Harriet. I’m waiting for you.

She listened.

No sound.

It would come.

She would come.

One minute.

Two minutes.

Three.

A sleek, powerful roar in the distance.

The Cadillac.

Closer. Closer.

Right around the bend.

She prepared herself and raised the gun.

Make it count, Joe had always said.

The Cadillac came around the bend.

Blam! Blam!

She blew out the two front tires.

The Cadillac went skittering across the road, and it was so close she could see Harriet’s strained, angry face behind the steering wheel. Then the car was down in the ditch, and Harriet was scrambling out of it.

“You took a long time to get here,” Jane called out. “That was Trevor’s fault. When he shot you, he already had three bullets in him, but he still managed to pull that trigger.” She heard Harriet cursing. “I hope he hurt you. Because I intend to hurt you, Harriet.”

A bullet struck the metal fender of the car a foot from Jane’s head.

“I told you that it was only a postponement,” Harriet said viciously. “I’m glad that you showed up so that I can put an end to you. Then I’ll go to that cottage and kill your precious Eve.” She pulled out the cell-phone detonator. “And then I’ll tend to Kevin’s last bit of business.”

Kevin’s business. A million deaths …

Death.

Trevor …

Don’t think of Trevor now. Her hand had to be steady.

She moved carefully into position.

Another bullet shattered the driver’s mirror a few feet away.

“That was close, wasn’t it? I told you I was a good shot.”

“Yes, you did, didn’t you?” Jane said. “And you are. But it won’t do you any good. You won’t kill me, and all your other plans are going to go down the tube. Doane screwed up, and Zander and Eve are free.”

Silence. “You’re lying. I talked to James not fifteen minutes ago.”

“Doane is dead.” She aimed carefully. “And so are you, Harriet.”

“What are you talking about? You’re the one who—” She screamed as her right hand exploded. The detonator dropped to the ground.

Jane quickly aimed again. She fired four shots in quick succession.

Harriet screamed again and bent double in the dirt.

Enough. It was done.

Jane got to her feet and slowly walked over to where Harriet lay on the ground.

Harriet was gazing dazedly up at her. “I’m going to get up in a minute. You … couldn’t have hurt … me. Not you…”

“Oh, I hurt you. You were boasting how well Kevin taught you to shoot.” She stared fiercely down at Harriet. “He taught you to kill. Joe taught me to shoot, too. I got pretty damn good. But it was to protect myself. Everyone thought that in the end I would never have the killer instinct. I didn’t think so either until I met you.”

“I’m not going to die,” Harriet said as she struggled desperately to sit up. “You’re not strong enough to kill me. I’ll find a way to survive. I always have, and I always will.”

“You’re already a dead woman. I aimed very carefully. One shot to blow your right hand off so that you wouldn’t be able to press those buttons. One shot to the other hand to get rid of your gun.” She added with cruel malice, “And three shots in your abdomen and chest, just like Trevor’s wounds. He died very quickly. Since that stump of a hand is bleeding even heavier than his wounds, you should die even sooner. No one can save you. Not your Kevin. Not Doane.”

“I’ll save myself.” A trickle of blood was running from the corner of her mouth. “Bitch. A weakling like you will never—” She trailed off as pain overcame her. “Why do you think you could ever—destroy me? You’re like those silly children Kevin had to have. Weak. Worthless…”

“I have destroyed you.”

“Liar.” Her eyes were glazing over. “James told me he thinks Kevin … is becoming part of him. I … laughed at him. Kevin wouldn’t want him. He’s not strong enough. Not like me. I’m the one Kevin always…” Her eyes were closing. “Kevin, help—me. I always—helped you. Sweet, sweet, beloved … Now you have to—help me.” She roused herself, and her words came strong and biting with venom. “Kill her!”

For an instant, Jane felt an icy chill. And then it was gone.

And so was Harriet.

Her eyes were wide-open, staring blindly up at the night sky.

Jane stood there looking down at her for another moment. No regret. No guilt. She only wished Harriet were still alive so that she could do it again.

The true killer instinct.

Eve.

Jane picked up the detonator, turned, and slowly headed down the beach road toward the cottage on the hill. She could see the lights in the cottage casting a glare over the driftwood graveyard. Then the shadowy figures that she thought were Catherine and Gallo.

And standing on the hill beside the cottage she saw Eve, with Joe beside her.

She kept her gaze fixed on Eve as she started to climb the hill. The agony and numbness were still present, but the love and warmth of all their years together was suddenly there before her, within her. All the death and sorrow surrounded her, but Eve was alive, and that was enough for right now.

Eve stepped away from Joe and held out her arms. “Jane?”

And Jane went into her arms and laid her head on her shoulder.

Are you watching, Trevor? It’s what you’d want for me.

Yesterday … Today … Tomorrow …

*   *   *

THE SUN WAS RISING IN A GLORIOUS, blinding burst of orange over the ocean, and Eve stood on the beach, lifting her face to the morning breeze.

Freedom.

It seemed so long since she had felt this sense of freedom from threat and ugliness. She had held that smothering fear at bay, but it had always been there in the background, waiting to pounce and take her down. Now she was almost afraid to lower her guard.

But if she didn’t embrace freedom, then Doane would win.

She would not let him win.

She glanced back at the hillside, which was crawling with police and forensic teams digging up those driftwood graves. They had already found one poor little victim from the directions she’d given them. They were still searching for the other child.

“You don’t have to stay here.” Joe was walking down the beach toward her. “Let the police do their work.” He slipped his arm about her waist. “I want to take you home.”

“And I want to go home.” She leaned back against him. “But I need to finish it, Joe. I can’t walk away.” She looked at Jane, who was sitting on a craggy rock down the beach. “But she shouldn’t be here. She’s hurting, Joe.” She shook her head. “And she’s changed.”

“Yes.” He brushed his lips against her temple. “And so have you.”

“What? No, I haven’t.” She frowned. “How?”

“You’re stronger. I can see it, feel it.”

She was silent. “I thought maybe I was just getting harder. I hated Doane for having the power to do that to me.”

“Not harder. It’s just that everything that’s not essentially you has been peeled away. What’s left is strong … and beautiful.”

She tried to laugh. “You’re prejudiced, Joe.”

“I’ve studied every nuance and quality that makes you who you are. No one is a better judge.” He suddenly whirled her around in his arms and buried his face in her hair. “And I love every single bit of who you are.” His voice was hoarse with feeling. “God, I’m glad to have you back. I was going crazy.”

The pain and passion in his voice was thick with intensity, and it shook her to her core. “Me, too.” Her arms tightened around him. “Doane and Harriet caused so much pain … and maybe the worst thing they did was giving birth to Kevin. All the evil in both of them seemed to be embodied in him. Even after he was killed, the evil seemed to grow. It reached out to me and you … and Jane. Oh, God, Jane.”

“Give her time. She’ll survive.”

“No choice.” She paused. “Trevor has no family. I offered to have him buried at the lake on that hill beyond the woods. Is that okay with you?”

“Of course it is. Is it okay with her?”

“I think so. She’s hurting too much to make many decisions. I’ll broach it to her again after we get home.”

“That’s a good idea.” He didn’t speak for a moment. “Zander wants to speak to you. He asked me to tell you.”

“He’s still here? I thought he’d gone. He disappeared after all the police and CIA agents got here.”

“That shouldn’t surprise you. He’s uncomfortable with law enforcement.” His lips twisted. “And they’re uncomfortable with him. Most of them would prefer he not be around for them to worry about.”

“You included?” she asked quietly.

“I would have said yes several hours ago. The arrogant bastard runs his own show, and he took a big chance with you.”

“And now?”

“He saved you. We might not have gotten here in time, and he saved you. What the hell am I supposed to say? I’m still pissed off at the way he did it, but he did do it. So that means I have to be in his corner.” He pushed her back away from him. “So go up and talk to him. He said to take the path that goes behind the cottage.”

She nodded and turned away. “Why don’t you go up to those rocks and sit with Jane? She won’t want to talk, but she’ll like it that you’re there.” She didn’t wait for an answer but started across the beach toward the hills.

The path wound behind that driftwood graveyard down the hill and around to the next hill. It was only as she turned the last bend that she saw the smoke curling from a small fire.

Zander was sitting cross-legged in front of the fire, and he looked up as he saw her. “Does this remind you of that campfire we shared in Colorado?” He smiled. “That seems a long time ago, doesn’t it?”

“Not really. Not to me.” She sat down opposite him. “And I don’t think you asked me to come here to reminisce. That’s not your style, Zander.”

“And why do you think I did want to see you?”

“I don’t know. But I know why I wanted to see you.” She paused. “You saved my life. I wanted to thank you.”

“Don’t be maudlin.”

“Gratitude is not maudlin. And you’re not accepting it at all graciously. But, then, I didn’t expect anything else. It’s too human and probably makes you feel uncomfortable.”

“Very perceptive. You’ve gotten to know me entirely too well. It’s time we parted company.”

She stiffened. “By all means, don’t stay around anyone who might make you feel something besides curiosity and boredom.”

“My thought exactly. That could be very dangerous for me. Look what happened with you. I got a busted arm and almost ended up dead.”

“I never asked anything of you.”

“I know,” he said softly. “That’s the problem.” He looked across the fire at her. “You make me ask it of myself. How much more dangerous that is, Eve.”

She couldn’t look away from him. He had become so close to her. How could that be when she still didn’t understand him? He was an enigma that she wasn’t sure she could ever solve. But she wanted to solve it, she realized with sudden desperation. She wanted to understand him. “So you’re telling me that you’re leaving? I didn’t expect anything else. It’s not as if you have anything to keep you here.”

He nodded. “That’s right. Nothing at all. Nothing has changed.” He smiled. “And I didn’t bring you here to bid you a fatherly farewell. As you said, not my style.”

“Why did you bring me?”

“I have a good-bye gift for you.”

“What? Now that’s truly maudlin, Zander.”

“No one would ever describe this gift as maudlin.” He reached behind him into the tall grass and brought out a leather case. “I don’t think you would either.”

She stiffened. She knew that case too well. “Is this your idea of humor?”

“Would I be that cruel? Well, I would, but not to you, Eve.” He unfastened the case. “No, this is a true gift. You’re never going to forget these days with Doane, but you have a chance of its gradually blurring. But not if you know this is somewhere in the world.” He drew out the reconstruction of Kevin and studied it. “You did a magnificent job on him. He’s been with you every minute, in your mind, under your fingers. The stuff of nightmares…”

“Yes.” She forced herself to look at the reconstruction. Is it over, Kevin? Has your power to silence vanished? Have you faded back to the hell from where you came?

No smothering sense of evil.

No reaching out to grasp and take.

Has he gone, Bonnie?

“He frightened you?” Zander’s gaze was narrowed on her face. “Why?”

“You wouldn’t understand.” But the fear was gone, she realized. Bonnie’s answer?

“No, I probably wouldn’t. But I do understand about nightmares.” He smiled. “I believe I’ll take this one away from you.”

“What do you mean?”

“If this skull exists somewhere, it will always haunt you. So it will no longer exist.” He held out the reconstruction to her. “Do you wish to make sure of that? Or would you like me to do it? I thought I’d offer you the opportunity.”

“What opportunity?”

“Can’t you guess? Why do you think I built this fine fire? Five years ago, I sent Kevin’s body to a crematorium to be burned. If Doane hadn’t snatched his head from the blaze, you wouldn’t have had to deal with putting his skull back together.” He added mockingly, “Now I can correct that little error.”

Her eyes widened. “You’re going to burn this reconstruction?”

“I regret burning your wonderful work, but I prefer to think of it only as Kevin’s skull. And I’m going to burn Kevin’s skull to ashes. Then I’m going to toss those ashes into the most disgusting mire I can find. I thought about the ocean, but that would be too clean for him.”

“Yes, it would.”

“I won’t ask if you approve. Your work is to save, not destroy. I just wanted you to know it was being done and that you could trust me to do it right.”

She gazed at Kevin’s handsome features, which reflected none of the evil that had corroded his soul. All the murders, all the innocent children … She felt suddenly sick. No one should ever look at him again and not know what he was. And she would not let Zander be responsible for doing what she thought was right. “I trust you.” She took the reconstruction from him. “But I won’t let you do it alone.” She took a deep breath and threw the skull into the flames.

The fire leaped high and hungry as if in blazing welcome.

She stared at the skull as the fire began to consume it.

“It’s time for you to go,” Zander said quietly. “You’ve made your decision and acted on it. You don’t need to see it happen. It will take a long time for it to burn down to ashes. In a furnace, the heat is more intense, but this fire will do what’s necessary. I’ll tend it all day and all night, longer if need be. Then I’ll dispose of the ashes.”

She got to her feet and moved toward the path. No, not like this. She wouldn’t leave him like this. She turned and looked at him. “Thank you for my gift, Zander.”

He grimaced. “I’m happy you’re pleased. I thought you’d think it was a suitable good-bye present for a man of my profession and character.”

“You never do anything that’s suitable. But it’s a gift that I’ll remember you thought about, then gave to bring me peace. That’s a very precious gift, Zander.”

He looked a little taken aback. “Are you getting maudlin again?”

“No. I’m being sincere. I know it’s hard for you to recognize the difference. I think I may have to teach it to you.” She met his eyes. “Because if this is a good-bye present, you’ve wasted it. I’m not saying good-bye to you.”

“You’re not? You may not have a choice.”

“Bullshit. I’m not intruding into your life, but I’m in it now, and I won’t be thrown out. You did that when I was ten years old. It’s not going to happen again.”

He smiled faintly. “You’re intimidating me, Eve. And your judgment is very, very faulty. Do you really want to have anything to do with a lost soul like me?”

“I don’t know. It depends on you … and me. But it’s not good-bye.” She started up the path. “So we’ll see how it goes.”

He chuckled. “Because your Bonnie believes in second chances?”

“Because your granddaughter believes in second chances.” She didn’t look back. “And so do I, Zander.”