Текст книги "Shadow Play: An Eve Duncan Novel"

Автор книги: Iris Johansen

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Текущая страница: 12 (всего у книги 17 страниц)

CHAPTER

12

“Time to get up.” Elena Delaney opened the door and stuck her head into Cara’s room. “Past time. You’re late. You overslept. If you don’t hurry, you’ll miss the bus.”

Cara raised her head. “I’ll make it.” She yawned. “And if I don’t, I can walk with Heather. She says she does it all the time.”

“No,” Elena said crisply. “We’ve discussed that. Get up and get going. You’re going to be on that bus.”

“Okay.” Cara swung her legs to the floor. “I’ll skip breakfast and be down there in front of the apartment on time. I promise, Elena.”

“You won’t skip breakfast.” She turned and started to leave. “I’ll make a grilled cheese sandwich, and you can eat on the run.” She stopped, and looked back over her shoulder, her gaze going to the dark circles beneath Cara’s eyes. “The nightmares again?”

Cara nodded. “But they’re getting better. I haven’t had one for two weeks. Maybe they’re starting to go away.”

“And maybe they’re not. When you have one, you don’t sleep for the rest of the night.”

“Honest. They’re getting better.” She started for the bathroom and then stopped. “Should I know an Eve, Elena? Do you know someone named Eve?”

“What?” Elena frowned. “No, why?”

“No reason. She was just part of my dream.” She disappeared into the bathroom.

Elena shook her head and hurried toward the kitchen. She had to get Cara on that bus and be at the restaurant where she worked as a waitress forty-five minutes later. It would be fine. She was good at multitasking. She put butter into the frying pan to melt as she turned on the TV to get the local weather. Then she opened the front door and picked up the newspaper and carried it back to the kitchen. She put the two pieces of bread in the frying pan and poured herself a cup of coffee.

“Cara,” she called. “How are you coming?”

“Almost there.”

“Five minutes, and you have to be out the door.” She flipped through the newspaper. Usual depressing stuff. North Korean threats, terrorists beheading people, politicians feathering their own nests. She didn’t know why she even paid to have a paper delivered.

Because it might be more dangerous to ignore the news than to have to put up with it.

Ignorance could be deadly.

And Elena had her own nightmares that she never told Cara about.

But maybe Cara was right, and everything was getting better … for both of them. Maybe it would be—

Dear God.

She was staring down at the face in the newspaper.

Cara’s face.

No, not Cara’s. Jenny’s face. But close enough. Those distinctive features … The two girls had always looked alike even though there was six years difference in age.

Now Jenny’s green eyes were staring out of this paper at her, and Elena was starting to shake as she remembered that last night.

Not my fault. I would have saved you if I could. You shouldn’t have run away. Then I had to choose.

Stop shaking and read the story. See how bad it was going to be for them.

She quickly scanned the article, then pushed the newspaper away.

“Something’s burning.”

Cara was standing in the doorway of the kitchen.

Elena glanced at the toast in the pan that was now smoking and blackened. She tried to gather her composure as she quickly took the pan off the burner. “Sorry, something distracted me. Grab a health bar and get out of here.” She pushed the newspaper aside. “I’ll see you this afternoon.”

“Right.” Cara grabbed her red book bag and a honey oat bar from the cabinet. “See you…”

“Wait.”

Cara stopped at the door and looked back at her.

Elena couldn’t let her go like this. She hadn’t been thinking straight. It might be okay, but having this skull out there for everyone to see could be a disaster. She couldn’t chance the connection to Cara. “We’re going to have to leave, Cara.”

Cara stiffened. “Again?”

“It’s best.” She moistened her lips. “I’ll pack up our suitcases and meet you at school. Do you have your phone in your backpack?”

“I always have it.” She stood there, stunned. “I like it here, Aunt Elena. My school … I’ve even started to make a few friends. Do we have to leave?”

Elena nodded. “Maybe we can come back someday. We just have to leave right now.”

“We won’t come back,” Cara said. “We never come back.”

No, they never went back. They’d had to go on the run several times in the past years, and they’d never returned. Elena was always afraid that they might have left some trace, some clue behind.

And there might be someone waiting for them.

“New places are good, too. You always do well.”

“You said the money had run out. How are we going to get settled again?”

“I’ll find a way.”

“I like it here.”

“Cara, go get on the bus. Don’t argue with me.”

Cara nodded and turned toward the door. “No, I won’t argue. It doesn’t do any good, does it?”

“Cara … I don’t want to do this.”

“I know. I’ll be waiting.” She left the apartment.

No arguments. No questions. The first few times Cara had asked questions, but even then she had not protested. She had just accepted.

Which made Elena wonder if that doctor she’d taken Cara to had been right, that she had no real memory of that night. She hoped that was true. Cara had been a child of three, and what she’d experienced had been enough to traumatize an adult. Yet there must be subconscious memories because the nightmares remained. She would wake crying and shaking in the night, but nothing could get her to tell Elena about them.

But if even scanty memory remained somewhere in that child’s mind, it might be reason for her not to argue about fleeing at even the hint of danger.

She looked back down at the photo of Jenny. So alive, so incredibly lifelike for a child killed all those years ago. She felt a wrenching regret.

I’m sorry, Jenny. I can’t help you now, just as I couldn’t help you then. All I can do is try to keep Cara alive.

Get moving. Get packed. Hope that someone hadn’t seen this story and decided to call the cell number listed. Someone who had noticed the curious resemblance to Cara …

CALIFORNIA PACIFIC MEDICAL CENTER

“Any word?” Eve asked Terry Brandell when she answered her cell. “It’s almost noon. Have you heard anything?”

“We’ve had a few calls but nothing definitive,” the journalist answered. “A lot of curiosity seekers and one pastor who thinks that you should have left the remains to return to dust.”

“No one who recognizes her face? I can’t believe it. She’s very memorable. You even thought you recognized her.”

“But I haven’t been able to tell you from where,” she said. “Could be imagination. I’ve got to go. I’ll let you know if I get a solid lead.” She hung up.

Eve turned to Joe. “No luck yet.”

“So I heard. It’s early.”

She braced herself. “I can’t just sit here and do nothing.”

“I’ve been waiting for that.” Joe’s lips tightened. “I was hoping for that same miraculous call you did, but it isn’t happening. You know that these photos sometimes pay off and sometimes don’t. No one knows that better than you.”

“If it doesn’t happen the first day the photo is published, the chances get slimmer and slimmer.”

“And so do the chances of that little girl Walsh is targeting.” She leaned forward and took his hand. “I have to go to Carmel and see if I can find out anything more.”

“The school photographers? One of the first things we checked when we were going through those photos at Sacramento PD were the ones from that city. We didn’t come up with any photos that bore any resemblance to Jenny.”

“But maybe she didn’t pay to have her school photo taken. If her parents knew she was targeted, they might have refused to let her do it. But I was thinking, club photos, organizations, yearbooks. She might be in one of those.”

Joe was silent.

She suddenly realized why. “You thought of that, too,” Eve said. “You didn’t bring it up.”

“At the time, we had enough victims to worry about. You were practically overwhelmed.”

“No, that’s not it.” She was studying his expression. “You were going to go back on your own later and check it out. You thought that it might be a danger zone, and you didn’t want me there.”

“Guilty,” he said warily. “No reason to be upset. It was only a possibility.”

“Yes, but you were going to do it again. The same thing that happened at Tahoe. Close me out and take over.” She was shaking with anger. “Dammit, you can’t do that, Joe.”

“It was just a question of training and experience. You told me yourself that you realized where my expertise lay.”

“Of course I do. You were a SEAL. But that doesn’t mean that I’m going to let you get yourself killed trying to protect me. I brought you into this. Jenny is my reconstruction. Everything that’s happened since that day I accepted her is tied to that decision. I’m the one who is responsible. You know I feel that way.” She jumped to her feet. “I’ve been tiptoeing around trying to keep you from doing too much, trying to keep you from exploding and finding a way to get out of here before you were ready for release.” Her hands clenched at her sides. “Well, I’m through with that. You want to help? You stay in that bed and help.”

“I can’t promise that, Eve.”

“No, probably not. But I’ll pull out a couple wild cards that will slow you down. As long as you stay here, I’ll call you and tell you what’s going on. You have my word on it. But I’ll also call Nalchek and ask him to have a guard outside your door to follow you if you leave. If you lose him, he’ll call me.” She paused. “And that will be the end of my checking in with you. I’ll disappear, so that I don’t have to go through another Tahoe.”

“That wouldn’t be smart.” His eyes were glittering in his taut face. “We need to work together.”

“And we will, but not if you keep closing me out.” She turned toward the door. “Here’s your first report, I’m going to check on those photographers and look through current yearbooks. If I hear from that journalist, I’ll follow up. I’ll take Margaret with me, and we might be able to split up the workload.” She looked back over her shoulder. “I’ll always answer your calls, always be ready to share … as long as I know the call comes from this hospital.”

He looked at her, his expression enigmatic. “Tough. Very tough, Eve.”

“No, I’m being easy on you. Think how I felt when I was holding you, trying to stop that damn blood.”

She left the room. She was still shaking as she walked down the hall toward the elevator. She was torn by anger and regret and loneliness. She hated this. She had known for years that Joe would always be protective of her, it was his nature and the nature of the years and events that had formed their relationship. It was based on love, and how could you condemn him for loving her too much?

So she had accepted and protested but never fought it.

She had to fight it now. She couldn’t bear the thought of what could have happened at Tahoe. She had exploded when she had guessed that Joe had been going to investigate that lead without her, but it had all gone back to the basic problem. They had to come to terms.

She was punching the elevator button as she dialed Margaret. “Hi. I’m leaving the hospital now and coming to pick you up. I should be there in fifteen minutes. Meet me in the lobby.”

CARMEL, CALIFORNIA

She was being followed.

Elena felt the muscles of her stomach clench as she looked in her rearview mirror after leaving the restaurant where she worked.

She was sure it was the same tan Toyota she had noticed when she had left the apartment this morning.

But how could they have found her so soon? The photo had just come out this morning.

There were thousands of tan Toyotas. She could be wrong. There were several turns on the way from her work to Cara’s school. If she was right, she mustn’t let the driver of the Toyota know that she was aware she was being followed. That would automatically put him on the defensive. Drive a few blocks, take two turns, and see what happened.

She took the first turn and slowed.

Tan Toyota.

Her heart was beating hard.

She took the second turn.

Tan Toyota.

Oh, God, it was happening. All those years of waiting and terror, and it was happening.

Calm down. Think. How could she protect Cara?

Go by the plan. Don’t try to change anything.

She reached for her phone and dialed Cara.

“I can’t talk, Elena,” Cara whispered when she answered. “I’m in English, and they’ll—”

“Listen. Act as if you’re sick to your stomach and run out of the classroom. Do it now.”

“But I can’t—”

“Do it now.” She hung up and waited for a few minutes and called back. “Where are you?”

“In the bathroom down the hall. I thought that would be—”

“That’s fine. Look, you can’t wait until I come to get you. Something has– You can’t wait.”

“I don’t understand.”

“You don’t have to understand. You just have to get out of there and go to the cave. We have to put the plan I taught you into effect. You still have the money I told you to keep in your backpack?”

“Yes.”

“Remember that trip we took after we moved into the apartment? The bus station, where to get off, how far to hike down to the beach?”

“I remember. You had me do it by myself, so that I wouldn’t forget.”

But she was frightened, she was sensing Elena’s own fear and reflecting it. “It will be fine. You’re very smart. I’ll be there as soon as I can. But you have to go now.”

Was the Toyota closer?

Maybe.

“If I don’t get there right away, don’t leave the cave. Try to hide if someone comes. Don’t trust anyone. Don’t get in any cars that aren’t familiar to you.”

“I can tell you’re scared. I’m scared for you. What’s going on?”

“Sometimes bad things happen.” She paused. “But we can beat this, Cara.”

Cara was silent. “It’s going to happen again?” she whispered.

“Not if we can help it,” she said. “But you have to do as I say. Get out of there. You know what you have to do. We’ve talked about it. Just follow the plan. Be strong. Call me when you get to the cave.” She was about to press the disconnect, but she couldn’t leave her like this. “I love you, Cara. I’ve … always loved you.” She hung up.

She drew a deep breath. It would take another fifteen minutes to get to Cara’s school, and, hopefully, Cara would be long gone by the time she pulled up in front of the building. But she still had to give her any extra time she could. She would wait there at least another thirty minutes before she left the school.

Then she would try to lose that Toyota before she made her way down Pacific Highway.

But she doubted if the driver would allow her to do it. If it was Walsh, then he was expert at all kinds of deadly games. He would have probably only been tailing her until she picked up Cara. Then he would have had both of them in his sights.

Don’t think about what might happen next. She had a gun in her glove compartment. The two of them had survived this long. They would get through this, too.

All she had to do was stall and give Cara time to get away.

CALIFORNIA PACIFIC MEDICAL CENTER

Screw those databases, Joe thought, as he watched Eve walk down the hall. There wasn’t time to go through the effort again. He had stored enough information in his head; now he needed to analyze and put it all in perspective. Then he had to lay out the pieces of the puzzle and put them all together.

Fast.

Sounded simple, he thought grimly. It wasn’t going to be simple. There were all kinds of variables and possibilities.

But it had to be done. Eve was getting close, and that meant Walsh would be targeting her. He had to be ready for him. He couldn’t do that without knowing his strengths and weaknesses.

And his objectives.

He sat up in bed and reached for his yellow pad. Start at the beginning. List everything he knew about the main principals and locations. He drew three columns. WALSH. JENNY. Then he hesitated and added one more column. NALCHEK.

*   *   *

“All I want to do is see the yearbooks,” Eve said patiently. “I’ll be glad to give you references with the Atlanta PD and several other law-enforcement organizations in California. I’ve no desire to pose a threat to any of these students.”

Josie Coultan was still not convinced. “I don’t know that.” She took the card that Eve handed her and gazed at it suspiciously. “And anyone could have cards made up.”

“Absolutely right,” Eve said. “And I applaud you for being careful.” It was the truth. This woman was completely different from that first photographer they’d run across in Sacramento, but they evidently had similar values. But she wished she wouldn’t be quite this careful. Josie Coultan’s photography studio was the third one she and Margaret had visited this afternoon, and she felt as if time was running out. “Just call Sheriff Nalchek, and we’ll wait until you’re satisfied.” She got to her feet and moved to look at the photos on the wall. “These wedding photos are amazing, Ms. Coultan.”

“Josie. My specialty. I just do the school photos to add to my income.” She frowned as she started to dial the number. “But you have to be careful with kids. I don’t know if it’s worth the trouble. You have parents thinking that I didn’t do justice to their darlings, you have divorced couples who battle who is going to pay me.”

“That’s not what we’re looking for. We’re trying to find a child who didn’t want to have her picture taken.”

“Oh, there aren’t many of those. When? How old?”

“We’re thinking ten, eleven,” Margaret said as she knelt to stroke the white Persian cat sitting on a turquoise pillow on the low table. “This boy is amazing. What do you call him?”

“Royal. I’ve had him for four years.”

“You need to change his diet. He doesn’t like that new cat food you’re giving him. He’s been losing weight.”

“What?”

“Weigh him. Your husband feeds him, doesn’t he? He’s not been paying attention, and Royal is getting very pissed.”

“What are you—”

Eve stepped in quickly. “Margaret volunteers with a local vet office.” Lord, all they needed was to have Margaret start a family feud. “She has a good eye, doesn’t she?”

“Perhaps.” Josie spoke into the phone. “Sheriff Nalchek, I have two women here who gave you as a reference. Will you confirm that it’s…”

“And he hates the name Royal,” Margaret said in a low voice to Eve. “He thinks it’s pretentious. He doesn’t need that nonsense.”

“Do me a favor and let Royal handle his own dietary needs.”

“Don’t worry, he intends to do that. I just thought I’d hurry things along. He was going to start a hunger strike to scare them tomorrow.”

“Sheriff Nalchek informs me that you’re no threat,” Josie said behind them as she hung up the phone. “I’ll get those yearbooks. I did the work at four area schools during the past five years. I always request a complimentary copy of the actual book. I’ll go get them for you.” She got to her feet and headed for a door that led to the back of the shop.

“Like pulling teeth,” Margaret murmured.

“At least she’s cooperating now,” Eve said. “We’ll split up the books to get through them faster.” She turned with a smile as the photographer returned burdened by the yearbooks. “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your help.” She took two of the books and handed two to Margaret. “But I wonder if we might hurry things along if I showed you a photo that was in the paper this morning. It could trigger your memory.” She handed her the folded newspaper. “It’s a reconstruction I worked on several days ago.”

Josie glanced at the photo. “I saw this photo this morning. I was thinking how appalling the photography was. I could have done much better.”

“But you didn’t recognize the child.”

“I didn’t pay much attention. You see one kid, you see them all.”

“Really?”

She made a face. “I suppose I shouldn’t say that? But I’m so sick of having to do those photos. Every one is the same. No grace, no glamour, like a wedding photo.”

“And no fat price to sweeten that glamour,” Margaret said.

“They’re not all the same,” Eve said quickly. “Look at her face. We believe that the girl we’re looking for might be a relative of this dead child.”

Josie studied the photo. “Nice bone structure. Very photogenic. I’d probably remember if I took her photo.”

“But you don’t remember her?”

She shook her head. “It’s like an assembly line. There’s no way I can make any of them stand out. No grace. No drama. I’d probably try with this one, but if she didn’t pay to have her photo taken, I wouldn’t bother. But what a bride she would have made someday. Pity that she—” She stopped. “Maybe I do remember…” She snatched last year’s yearbook from Eve. “A bride…”

“Not old enough,” Margaret said. “Except maybe in India or—”

“No, of course not,” she said impatiently. “But it was the gown…” She was rifling through the pages. “I arranged the folds, and it turned out—” She found the page she was looking for and turned it around. “The girl at the end of the second row. You see how beautifully I draped that collar around her neck?”

It was a photo of a girls’ choir. All the girls looked to be between the ages of ten and fifteen, and all were dressed in flowing white robes.

The girl at the end of the second row …

Small, dark hair, high cheekbones, winged brows, delicate features.

“Bingo,” Margaret said softly.

Not Jenny, naturally. But so close …

Eve couldn’t take her eyes from that picture. “What school?”

“Ronald Reagan Middle School,” Josie said. Her finger was going down the name list. “Second row … Cara Delaney.”

She was flipping through pages again. “That appears to be the only organization to which she belongs … No, here she is again in the band photo. Violin.”

Choir. Violin.

I got to keep the music.

And Cara had also been permitted to keep her music.

Eve closed the yearbook. “May I borrow this? I promise to return it.”

Josie nodded. “See that you do.” She was smiling. “I really made that robe look good, didn’t I? You should see what I can do with an entire wedding party. Magnificent.”

“I’m sure that’s true. Thank you.” She headed for the door. “Is that school near here?”

“About twenty minutes north.” She was frowning down at her Persian gazing balefully up at her. “Do you know, I think he has lost weight.”

*   *   *

“You set the GPS while I call Joe,” Eve said when they reached the car. She wasn’t sure that what she had promised him would be enough, but she’d keep her word. “I think we’ve found her,” she said as soon as Joe answered. “Cara Delaney. She looks so much like Jenny that they have to be related. We’re going to the school now and try to find out more about her.”

“We always thought that it might be a family resemblance we were looking at,” Joe said.

“No might about it now,” Eve said. “She has hazel eyes, not green, but everything else is right on.”

“Jenny’s sister?”

“I don’t know. It would be my guess. But she would have had to be only about three when Jenny was killed. What were two children doing out there in those woods? And why was Jenny murdered, and Cara—” She stopped. “Too many questions and not enough answers. But Cara Delaney has to have parents or guardians. At least I’ll have someone to ask. I’ll call you again after I get to the school and find out more.” She paused. “How are you?”

“Healing as fast as I can. And I haven’t jumped that guard Nalchek put outside my door. Though don’t count on my holding out past tomorrow.”

“I had to do it, Joe.”

“No, you didn’t. But you thought you did. What you really want to know is am I angry with you. Yes, I’m no saint, and I hate being thwarted.” He added, “Keep safe, and you may get your way … for a little while.” He was silent for a moment. “But those two girls pose interesting questions. Why? Where? What? I’m keeping myself occupied trying to work up some scenarios. I believe I’m getting there. Good-bye, Eve.” He hung up.

He was angry, Eve thought. He had been absentminded, almost cool, and that was something Joe had seldom been with her.

Too bad.

She had done what she had thought necessary and would have done it again.

“Trouble?” Margaret asked.

“Some.” Eve started the car. “Nothing we can’t work out. At any rate, I can’t think of it now. Do me a favor and call Nalchek and have him pave the way with the school administration before we get there.” She looked down at the GPS. “We should get there before school is out. I’ll go to the administration office and see what information I can gather before I speak to Cara.”

“That sounds like a plan,” Margaret said. “Not a bad start for a day. I’m excited.” She smiled. “We thought that we were going to find out so much from the reconstruction article but it turned out differently. You can never tell, can you?”

“No, you can’t,” Eve said. “But I’ll take it.”

She could still see that little girl in the photo. Jenny, but alive and well and not threatened by monsters. No, not Jenny. She kept thinking of that little girl who had exploded into her mind and life, but this was another child.

Cara, who was almost certainly Jenny’s kin.

Cara, who loved music as much as Jenny.

Cara, who was also threatened by monsters.