Текст книги "Shadow Play: An Eve Duncan Novel"

Автор книги: Iris Johansen

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Текущая страница: 15 (всего у книги 17 страниц)

CHAPTER

15

“No!” Eve lowered her gun and leaped toward the edge, where Walsh had stumbled back away from Jenny, with Cara still in his arms.

She was too late. She barely stopped herself from going over, sliding on the damp ledge. She struck her head on the rock wall.

Stars. And blood.

Stay awake. Don’t pass out.

Eve finally crawled to the edge, afraid of what she would see below on the cave floor. She froze.

Walsh was splayed on the rocks below, impaled by two of the stalagmites. He was looking up at her, struggling to free himself. Blood was bubbling from his wounds. “You.” Rage and anger and terrible pain were all reflected in his face. “You did this to me.”

“I wish it had been me.” She shook her head. “But I only helped. It was Jenny.”

“No!” He writhed in pain for a long moment. Then he fell back, dead. Blood trickled from the corners of his mouth.

But Cara, where was Cara …

Eve was praying that the child hadn’t taken that same terrible fall as Walsh.

“Help … me.”

She looked down, and her heart plunged. Cara was seven or eight feet below her, holding on for dear life. She had one foot wedged in the rock wall, but Eve could see that it was slipping even as she watched.

And Cara was dangling over the same sharp rocks that had impaled Walsh.

“Cara, hang on!”

“I’m trying,” Cara yelled. “But I’m slipping. I’m going to fall!”

“No you’re not.” Eve threw her legs over the ledge, still trying to fight that dizziness. “I’m coming down to you. Hang on just another few seconds.”

“No!” It was Joe’s voice.

Eve looked at the cave’s opening. Joe waded quickly through the water, which was now thigh deep.

Joe. What was he doing here? She was torn between joy and sheer terror.

Joe ran underneath Cara and called up to her. “I’m going to catch you.”

“I’m afraid.”

“It’ll be okay. I need you to let go.”

Okay? Eve’s hands dug into the rocks of the ledge. If Joe caught Cara from that height, he could tear those stitches and bleed to death. If he didn’t, Cara might fall on those rocks and die. Either way, there was a terrible risk.

Cara was looking down at the dead man just feet from Joe.

“Don’t look at him,” Joe said. “Just look at me. I’m going to catch you. Okay? You can trust me.”

She nodded, gazing into Joe’s eyes as he smiled up at her. “Okay.”

Who wouldn’t trust Joe, Eve thought painfully. Who wouldn’t trust a man who might be giving his life for you? But Cara didn’t know that, she only saw the strength and the warmth and the safety.

“I won’t let anything bad happen to you, Cara. That’s all over. I’m going to count to three, then I’ll need you to let go. Understand?”

Again she nodded.

“Ready? One … two … three!”

She let go, and Joe leaped to meet her. He twisted his body, cradling her in his arms as they both plummeted into the water. Seconds later, they broke the surface.

Joe whispered something to Cara, and the little girl nodded. Joe looked up at Eve with a weary smile.

“Are you both all right?” Eve shouted. “Joe, tell me!”

He gave her a thumbs-up.

And the next moment, Eve collapsed, as the darkness overcame her.

*   *   *

Swirling darkness.

Pain.

Jenny.

Jenny standing there in the darkness, her eyes shining and filled with triumph.

“Cara…” Eve said or perhaps only thought. “Safe?”

“Yes.” Jenny smiled. “We did it, Eve. You and me and your Joe. Walsh can’t hurt her any longer. He can’t hurt anyone ever again.”

“Good…” Profound relief soared through her. “It was so close … I was terrified when Walsh took Cara with him off that ledge.”

“Not that close. I knew I could keep Cara from falling for a little while. And I knew Joe was almost here.”

“You seem to have taken huge strides since I saw you last. Walsh certainly … seemed to think so.”

“I had to do it. I had to keep Walsh from hurting Cara until someone could help her.” She smiled. “You said I had to reach down into myself for strength. Instead, I reached out to you.”

“I think we reached out to each other.”

“I guess that’s true.” She took a step closer to Eve. “I was right, I was sent to you for a reason, and it wasn’t only to save Cara. But that was the big thing, and we did it. I had to stay to say thank you.”

“That sounds like good-bye.”

“Sort of. Not really. It’s kind of confusing.”

“My entire relationship with you has been kind of confusing.” She felt a wrenching sadness. “I thought you’d be able to cross over once this was done. Is that what’s happening?”

“Maybe not yet. I’m not sure, but I think that something special is happening. I’m going to be with Elena for a while, but later…” She shrugged. “Whatever it is, it’s not over.”

“I don’t doubt that something special is going to happen to you. You’re a very special person. Wherever you’re going, I’ll miss you, Jenny.”

“You’re sad. Don’t be sad. I’ll miss you, too. But I’m not sad. I’ll always be close to you.” Her voice was soft, intense, and her expression glowing. “Remember, I feel what you feel. It’s not going to end.”

She shook her head. “Jenny … don’t hold on to me. I want you to be happy. Take that next step.”

“I am happy. Can’t you see?”

Eve could see. Jenny’s expression was serene and certain as Eve had never seen it. “Jenny, I don’t know—”

“Neither do I. But I know everything is changing, and it’s all good.” She was beginning to fade into the darkness. “I have to go. Your Joe is fighting to get closer to you. I think he’s going to bring you back to consciousness by sheer will alone. I’ll leave you now. Thank you again, my dear, Eve…”

*   *   *

“Eve!” Joe’s voice was rough and demanding. “Open your eyes. I’m not going to let you go.”

By sheer will alone, Eve thought hazily. Jenny had been right.

“Eve!”

“Okay.” Her lids slowly opened. “I heard you.”

Joe’s face close to her own, pale in the moonlight. Joe’s hand tightly holding hers. “Then pay attention. I think you probably have a concussion. The ambulance is on its way. You’re not going to black out like that again. Do you hear me?”

“I … hear you. You’re one … to talk. All … this is … very familiar. You’re sure you’re okay?”

“Thanks to the miracle of duct tape.”

“Duct tape? Never mind, I don’t want to know.”

“Then be quiet. This isn’t about me. Nothing is supposed to happen to you. Not ever.” He kissed her, hard, fast. “Or don’t be quiet if it keeps you awake.”

She suddenly realized she was lying on the sand, outside the cave. “Margaret…”

“She’s with the kid. She and Nalchek are trying to comfort her. The first thing she asked after she knew she was safe was about Elena.”

“She was … the only … family Cara knew. Elena loved her. She felt terribly guilty that she’d told Walsh where to find her.”

“Maybe she somehow knows that Cara is safe now.”

“I have to go and be with Elena for a while.”

“Oh, yes, she knows.”

“You seem certain.”

“I am.” She looked up at him. “I think it’s over. Thank God.”

“Maybe not quite. There’s still Nalchek to consider.”

“Nalchek?”

He shook his head. “Not now. You probably couldn’t comprehend anything clearly at the moment. That was quite a hit you took.”

She wasn’t going to push it. He was right, she was still bleary. It was a struggle just to keep awake and not go back to the darkness.

But she wouldn’t have to struggle long. She could hear a siren and see the flashing lights of the ambulance somewhere near the strip. “I’ll be fine. A couple aspirins, and they’ll let me go home.”

“Screw it. You were out almost thirty minutes. I’m going to have them go over you from head to toe with a fine-tooth comb. Then, if they don’t find anything wrong, I’ll let you leave the hospital.”

“You’re not doing that because I wouldn’t let them release you? Payback?”

“It’s a thought. No, I’m doing it because you scared me shitless.”

“Then I guess I’ll let you get away with it.”

“Let me? No choice. You know we both signed over medical powers of attorney years ago because we weren’t married and were always running into red tape.” His hand tightened on hers. “The minute you enter that emergency room, you’re mine.”

“Bully.” Mine. Wonderful word that could mean so many things when spoken between them. “I’ll see about that.” She was having to force her lids to stay open. “And it might not have been that I was really blacked out. Might have been Jenny…”

COMMUNITY HOSPITAL OF THE MONTEREY

PENINSULA, CARMEL, CALIFORNIA

“Eve?”

Margaret’s voice, Eve realized drowsily as she fought to rouse herself from sleep. She slowly opened her eyes to see Margaret standing beside her bed. The hospital room was dark except for the light streaming in from the hallway. “Hi, what are you doing here?”

“Sneaking in where I’m not supposed to be.” She smiled down at her. “Joe helped me, but he’s not pleased. I wouldn’t have done it except that the doctors said that you’re not nearly as fragile as you looked right after you got that knock on the head.”

“It must be important if you’re barging in here in the middle of the night.” Eve yawned. “Is everything okay?”

“No. But I think it might be something you can fix.” She turned her head. “Cara.”

Cara Delaney moved out of the shadows in the far corner of the room. “Is it all right that I’m here? I won’t be any trouble.”

“Cara.” Eve held out her hand to her. “It’s all right as long as we don’t get caught. They seldom have middle-of-the-night visiting hours at hospitals.” She glanced at Margaret. “But she’d be better off in bed.”

“No, she wouldn’t,” Margaret said. “Nalchek pulled strings to keep her out of a child-care facility, so she could stay in my hotel room tonight. But she kept waking up with nightmares. The last time she woke up, she said she had to come here to you. She was getting upset, so I stopped arguing and decided to try to negotiate our way in here.”

“You evidently succeeded,” Eve said dryly.

“I won’t be any trouble,” Cara repeated. “Just let me stay.”

“She’s very good,” Margaret said quietly. “I wouldn’t have brought her if I’d believed she’d be a hassle for you.”

“I’ll just sit here and be with you,” Cara said. “Like Jenny would want me to do.”

Eve went still. “What?”

“She didn’t tell me that,” Margaret said.

“No?” She was gazing at Cara. She looked so much like Jenny, yet there were differences. Her features were not as delicate, and her eyes were hazel, not green. She had Jenny’s exotic cheekbones but they looked stronger, more defined. There were other differences; the years of living and being on the run had given Cara a reserve and quiet strength unusual in a girl her age.

And she was gazing steadily at Eve as if she were trying to tell her something.

Perhaps she was, and whatever it was, Eve wanted to hear it. “You can leave her with me, Margaret. We’ll be fine together.”

Margaret nodded and fetched a chair from against the wall and set it beside the bed. She turned on the lamp on the bedside table that cast a low glow in the room. “I believe you will.” She headed for the door. “But you can expect Joe to peek in shortly just to make sure.” She glanced over her shoulder at Cara. “Don’t wear her out.”

“I won’t.” The little girl settled in the chair, and added gravely, “I know I have to take care of her.”

Margaret’s brows rose. “Really?” She shrugged. “Whatever.” She left the room.

“Do you want me to turn out that light? I don’t want to keep you awake,” Cara said. “I just wanted to be here.”

“No, it won’t bother me.” She smiled. “And I’d like to see you. You’ve been the mystery in this puzzle. Joe and I have been searching for you and looking at hundreds of pictures to try to locate you. We couldn’t find one until we saw you in that choir photo.”

“Elena didn’t want me to be in that photo. But she found out too late to stop it.” Her lips were suddenly tight with pain, her eyes glittering with tears. “She always told me that we still had to be careful. Sometimes, I didn’t believe her. I should have believed her.”

“The young always believe the best,” Eve said gently. “Elena considered it her duty to protect you from the possibility that the best wouldn’t happen. She loved you very much.”

Cara nodded. “I loved her, too.” Two tears rolled down her cheeks. “Now she’s gone, Eve.”

She wanted to reach out and hold her. Instead, she took her hand. “Not really gone.”

“I know,” she whispered. “She’s with Jenny. Jenny said that she’d make sure that she was safe and happy before she left her.”

Eve stiffened. “She did?”

Cara nodded. “But it’s still hard. I miss her.”

“Of course you do.” She paused. “When did Jenny tell you that?”

“In the dream tonight. I was having a nightmare, and suddenly Jenny was there, and all the bad stuff went away.”

“I … see. And do you often dream about Jenny?”

“No, only lately. The first time was when we were still at the apartment, and I didn’t know anything was wrong.” She was smiling eagerly again. “It was so good to see her. I thought she was gone, but there she was, just like before.” Her smile faded. “You think I’m crazy? I know she’s dead. I knew it before she told me in that first dream. But she was there.”

“No, I don’t think you’re crazy. I think something very special happened to you because of the bond between you and Jenny.”

“She told me that you’d understand that first time she came to me. She said, Go to Eve. You’ll begin to feel what she’s feeling, just like I do. I didn’t know what she meant. I didn’t know who she was talking about.”

A ripple of shock went through Eve. “She was probably preparing you to accept me if I tried to help you get away from Walsh.”

“I don’t know.” She frowned. “But I don’t think so. Because she said something like that again tonight. She said, Go to Eve and take care of her. She’ll need you. And you’ll need her.”

“But you said yourself that it was a dream, Cara,” Eve said gently.

“You don’t want me? That’s okay.” She was speaking quickly. “But just let me stay and take care of you for a while. I promised her. I won’t get in your way.”

“Cara…”

“It’s okay.” She released Eve’s hand and leaned back in the chair. “Now go to sleep, and I’ll be quiet and not bother you.”

“You’re not bothering me.”

“I’ll just turn out the lamp.” The room was plunged into darkness.

So that Eve wouldn’t see the hurt she had inflicted by that gentle reminder.

But she knew it was there, and she wanted to heal it. How to do it when the situation was bewildering, and promises couldn’t be given? It reminded her of that similar moment with Jenny in the early days when she had first come to her. But Cara was no spirit, she had her entire life to live, and mistakes could be made so easily.

“Cara, we’ll work this out. I only want you to be happy and safe.”

“I know. Don’t worry. I’ll be fine.”

“Yes, you will,” Eve said firmly. “I’ll make sure of it. Just hold on and give me a little time.”

“I’ll hold on as long as you let me, Eve…”

*   *   *

Joe Quinn was standing in the hall when Margaret came out of the room. “Eve’s going to let her stay?”

Margaret nodded. “She won’t be a bother to her, Joe. She’s a good kid.”

“Even good kids can cause disturbance. Eve doesn’t need it.”

“I told Eve you’d be checking in on her. Judge for yourself.”

“I will.” His gaze was fastened on her face. “You look tired. It’s the first time I’ve seen you without your usual vim and vigor.”

“I’m not tired. I’m feeling a little at a loss. Everything is winding down, and there doesn’t seem to be anything that I can do.”

“No interesting coyote discussions to instigate?” Nalchek had just gotten off the elevator and was coming toward them. “What a pity.”

“What are you doing here in the middle of the night?” she asked. “I called and told you that Eve was going to be okay.”

“I could ask you the same thing.” He smiled crookedly. “But I know the answer. You’re one of those people who have to be there twenty-four/seven for those they care about.”

“You still haven’t answered me.”

“I believe that Nalchek is here to see me,” Joe said. “And the middle of the night is an excellent time for our discussion.” He turned and headed for the waiting room. “I’ve been expecting you.”

Margaret gazed in bewilderment at Nalchek.

He shrugged. “Come along. By all means, let me satisfy your curiosity. I don’t give a damn any longer, now that Walsh is dead.”

“I don’t want to– Yes, I do.” She followed them down the hall to the waiting room. “I have to know.”

“Those were my feelings exactly.” Nalchek turned to face Joe as he entered the waiting room. “I had to know.”

Joe nodded. “Because you’re like Margaret. You had to be there twenty-four/seven for those you care about.” He paused. “Even if there was a chance that it might destroy you.”

“What are you talking about?” Margaret asked.

“Bryland Medical Center,” Joe said. “When Margaret raised a red flag where you were concerned, I started investigating you, Nalchek, and that included everything about you.”

“I would have done the same thing.”

Joe nodded. “I couldn’t find anything in your past or public career. You were everything your voters thought you were. So I dug a little deeper. Family. You had a very close and affectionate family relationship.”

“Yes, I do.”

“And that includes your grandfather, Marcus Nalchek, who owned the vineyard and several valuable farms to the south. You grew up on his lands, and he was like a second father to you. Your own father was the sheriff and very busy. You bonded with Marcus, and he considered you his son and heir.”

“My father didn’t cheat me of affection. He was great,” Nalchek said. “Stop trying to make me into a martyr. We were all family.”

“But you were close enough to Marcus to go to work for him when you got out of the service.”

“I wanted a break. I loved those vineyards.”

“But you found out that things weren’t the same as when you went to Afghanistan.”

Nalchek didn’t answer.

“I checked with your grandfather’s financial consultants and creditors and found out that around the time of Jenny’s death, he was having a good deal of money trouble because of the drought that was devastating the state. He was close to going bankrupt.”

“So were half the other farmers in the state.”

“But Marcus Nalchek felt it as a personal failure. The vineyards had been in the family for generations. He was the head of your family, and he couldn’t stand the thought of you all knowing that he’d failed you.”

“He didn’t fail us. It was the drought. Even if we’d lost everything, we’d still have been able to make a living. We still had each other.”

“But he didn’t look at it like that, did he? However, he didn’t have to face your father or you with how bad the situation actually was.” He paused. “Because suddenly everything was all right, he’d managed to save all those properties in jeopardy. Even his financial advisors didn’t know how he did it. But you found out, didn’t you, Nalchek?”

Silence.

“I’m on the track,” Joe said quietly. “I won’t stop. I’ve talked to the personnel at Bryland, and they gave me a few hints about your grandfather’s meanderings after his stroke. And the financial stuff will just take time.”

“I could make you do the work.”

“You could, but I don’t think you will.”

Another silence. Then Nalchek finally answered, “I didn’t suspect anything. Not right away. It wasn’t until after my grandfather’s accident that I put it all together. Before that, I only thought that my grandfather had aged enormously since I had last been with him.” He grimaced. “But after Afghanistan, I thought the whole world had aged and was going to hell.”

“Your grandfather had this accident a year after you went to work for him,” Joe said. “Would you like to continue?”

“No.” Nalchek’s lips twisted. “But I’m sure that you have an idea where this is going and are planning a follow-up.”

Joe nodded.

Nalchek shrugged. “We found my grandfather in the wine cellars one morning with his head split open. I had reason to believe that it was no accident. He kept holding my hand and telling me that it was a warning. He kept saying the word over and over. Warning. On the way to the hospital, he had a massive stroke that affected both his body and mental capacity. My entire family was devastated. He was taken to Bryland for rehab, but we knew he’d probably never come out of it. So did he. We were right, he died six months later. It was a bad six months. Whenever I visited him, he tried to talk to me. He appeared wracked with guilt. I could make out a few words and those words were … chilling.”

“He told you that he was the one who had arranged with the Castino cartel to bring in those forced laborers to work his properties,” Joe said.

“What?” Margaret said.

Both of them ignored her. Nalchek nodded. “I found out that he’d had to salvage the harvest any way he could. He kept the vineyards out of the deal. It was his home territory, and any change would have been noticed. But he made a deal for forced labor for his farms to the south. He didn’t realize the horror of the human trafficking … until he experienced it. He said … slavery.”

“Did he mention anything about Walsh?”

He shook his head. “Do you think I wouldn’t have gone after him, if he had? I think my grandfather tried to get out of the deal once he realized what he’d gotten into. Too late. I knew that someone had tried to keep him from confessing what he’d done when he was struck in that wine cellar. It must have been Walsh. But I had no names then. Not Walsh, not Castino. I even put out some feelers with the Mexican government, but nothing came of them. My grandfather was a powerful and influential man, and Walsh didn’t dare kill him outright. The second-best deterrent was a warning. I’m sure it would have been followed by a deathblow if the warning hadn’t worked.” He added bitterly, “It turned out not to be necessary after that stroke.”

“What else did he tell you at the medical center?”

“Not much. The three words I remember most clearly. Forest. Child. Grave.”

Margaret felt a chill run through her.

“Anything else?” Joe asked.

“He mentioned a name. Elena Pasquez … Help her.”

“He wanted you to help her?”

“Or he wanted to tell me that he had helped her. After he died, I went to his office at the vineyard and went through his books. He always kept meticulous records. Yet he’d destroyed all paperwork connected to his deal with the cartel. Not one name or contact. But I found an entry for Elena Pasquez for $75,000 deposited in a bank in San Francisco. No reason given for the disbursement. I checked, and all the money had been removed the day after he’d deposited it. Enough funds to keep Elena and Cara hidden and safe for quite a while.”

“Elena must have come to him to ask for help when she was taking Cara on the run,” Margaret said. “And told him about Jenny.”

“Then she had to have been desperate,” Joe said. “Marcus Nalchek could have been in league with Walsh.”

Nalchek shook his head. “People trusted my grandfather. Any of the workers would have told Elena that she’d be safe with him. He wasn’t like that scum. He made a terrible mistake. He tried to correct it.”

“The grave,” Margaret said. “Your grandfather must have been looking for Jenny’s grave when he was in the forest.” She met his gaze. “And so were you after he told you about it. You were Sajan’s ‘other one.’ Both you and your grandfather, full of violence and rage.”

“What?” He shook his head impatiently. “Will you keep that coyote out of this, Margaret? I don’t want to deal with him at the moment. Yes, I was definitely filled with both of those emotions. But I didn’t even know what I was looking for. There was no sign of the grave. Walsh did his job well,” Nalchek said. “Every now and then, I would go and look again. But I never found it.” His lips twisted. “Until that freak series of heavy rains that washed away the dirt.”

“And you found Jenny,” Margaret said softly. “No wonder you were so determined to find her identity. You thought it would lead you to the man who was responsible for your grandfather’s death.”

“Partly. I didn’t lie to Eve. Seeing that little girl made me sick, and I felt the same guilt my grandfather had felt.”

“It wasn’t your crime,” Margaret said.

“I suppressed information. Even though I didn’t know for sure that there was a body buried in that forest, and I still kept searching. I set up my grandfather’s estate so that there would never be a possibility of any other human trafficking. And I tried to relocate the remaining laborers who hadn’t already been moved to other areas by the cartel.” He grimaced. “But for years, I protected my grandfather’s memory so that it wouldn’t hurt my family. That was all that was important to me.” He looked at Joe. “You know as well as I do that’s not acceptable.”

Joe nodded. “Absolutely. Not that I wouldn’t feel the same way under similar circumstances. It’s a basic primitive drive to protect the tribe.” He smiled faintly. “And I’m very primitive.”

Nalchek went still. “And that means?”

“You discovered a crime that had happened in the past and assured that it would not happen again. The man who perpetrated it is now dead and cannot be prosecuted. You bent every effort toward finding the killer of one child and protecting another child.” He turned toward the door. “It’s not my case. This isn’t my jurisdiction. And I need to go and make sure Eve is having a good night. You’ll have to take care of it yourself.”

Nalchek and Margaret watched as he walked down the hall.

“Does that mean you’re off the hook?” Margaret asked.

“No, it means that he handed the hook to me,” Nalchek said. “Not safe, considering my past record.”

“So what are you going to do?”

“Well, I’m not going to hurt my family after all I’ve done to protect them.” He left the waiting room and started down the hall. “I’ll turn in my resignation as sheriff and say that I intend to go back to the university and work toward an advanced degree. Everyone will understand, considering the fact that they’ve all been thinking I’ve been behaving a little weird about this case anyway.”

“You’re really going back to school?”

He shook his head. “Not right now. I just need to keep away from my family for a while. They know me too well, they see too deep. I don’t know where I’m going. Someplace far away from everywhere to clear my head and see where the wind takes me.”

“I know a place like that.”

He turned to look at her. “You do?”

“Summer Island. It’s an island in the Caribbean where I spent a little time. It’s perfectly beautiful, and they do wonderful experimental work on animals. They have a good security force, but I know that a man like you would be a welcome addition.”

“Interesting idea.”

“I thought you might think so.” She went past him toward Eve’s room. “I used it as a haven when I needed it. I’ve been tempted to do it again.”

His eyes narrowed on her face. “How tempted?”

“That would be telling.” Her eyes were twinkling as she looked over her shoulder. “But you should be relieved to know that there’s not one coyote on Summer Island.”

*   *   *

“Cara Delaney is out in the waiting room,” Joe said when he entered Eve’s hospital room the next morning. “I got her a breakfast at McDonald’s and sat her down with her iPad. She wanted to come back to you, but I told her that there will be doctors and nurses bustling in and out all morning.” He sat down in the chair beside her bed. “We have to talk about her, and we don’t have much time. I figure they’ll release you by early afternoon, and something’s got to be settled before they do.”

“I’ll second that.” She took his hand. “What’s going to happen if we don’t step in?”

“It depends on whether ICE finds out that Cara Delaney is Marnie Castino. So far, no one of us has made a statement to that effect. If they do find out, she’ll be deported straight to the loving arms of that cartel scumbag of a father.”

“If she lives that long. She could be torn between those damn warring cartels. Walsh’s employer was a member of the Salazar family. If he hears Walsh is dead, what’s to stop him from hiring someone else to kill Cara before her family is even notified.”

Joe nodded. “All that is true. So what do you want to do?”

“Keep Cara safe. Keep her as far away from Mexico and Castino and Salazar as possible.”

He smiled. “That was my first guess. Ways and means?”

She hesitated. “Play it by ear?”

“Send her to a private school?”

“No,” she said sharply.

He threw back his head and laughed. “I didn’t think so. I was just testing you. You want to take her home with us.”

“It may only be for a little while. Just until we can get her happily settled.”

“And it may be for a long, long time.” He leaned forward and kissed her. “Another Jane, Eve? Our Jane was only a little younger than Cara when we took her in.”

“There will never be another Jane. Just as there will never be another Cara. We know where Jane is in our lives, and it’s all love. Cara is a clean slate, and we don’t know what will be eventually written in the relationship.” She frowned. “But how do you feel about it, Joe? She’s had a troubled life, it could be … difficult. Even if it’s for only a short time.”

“I’ve only spent the morning with her. She’s quiet and withdrawn and polite. She appeared very grateful I didn’t drop her when she threw herself into my arms. The rest I’ll have to learn with experience. But I didn’t know much more when we adopted Jane.” He smiled. “But she’ll be a challenge. Just keeping her alive will be a task in itself.”

She shuddered. “I wish you hadn’t said that.”

“Face it. You haven’t chosen an easy way. But we can make it work and keep her safe.”

She nodded. “She said that Jenny told her I’d need her. And that she’d need me.”

“It might be true. You’ve been feeling a little lonely since Jane left home. And Cara certainly is going to need you.”

“Us,” she corrected.

He nodded. “Us.” He got to his feet. “And now I’ll go and talk to Nalchek and Margaret and make sure that they don’t disclose anything to local law enforcement. Then I’ll arrange to whisk Cara away from here as if she’d never been. Preferably before Salazar finds out that Walsh is dead.”

“I guess I’d better talk to Cara. Would you send her to me?” She made a face. “Though I should really get up and go to her. It’s ridiculous that I’m still lolling in this bed. I shouldn’t have given in and let you talk me into a full exam. You know those idiotic tests aren’t going to find anything, Joe.”