Norris closed his eyes as Schindler left the room.
A shitty world, he thought. He’d thought he was cynical before Nancy Jo’s death, but now he realized there had always been that streak of idealism present. He’d had dreams of changing the world. Or, at least, the corruption that was stagnating Washington.
Dreams.
They hadn’t stopped Quinn from being attacked and probably killed.
They hadn’t kept that ravening beast from murdering Nancy Jo.
Screw dreams.
He could feel the moisture sting his eyes. Dammit, it was here again; the pain, the disbelief, the loneliness.
Nancy Jo . . .
Oh, God, the loneliness.
No, not loneliness, he realized suddenly.
Comfort. Warmth. Laughter.
Nancy Jo telling him that horrible pun she’d heard at summer camp.
Nancy Jo lolling with him on the beach last summer, not talking, just sitting in silent companionship as the sun went down.
Nancy Jo standing beside him when he’d been sworn in as senator, her eyes glowing with pride.
Those memories should have been agonizing. Why weren’t they?
Comfort. Warmth. Laughter.
Remember, Daddy?
What the hell was happening? Imagination?
It didn’t matter. For the moment the pain was gone. That was all that was important. He closed his eyes and let the memories flow over him in a golden tide.
Memories?
No.
Nancy Jo . . .
“I’VE JUST TALKED TO YOUR Eve,” Jelak told Joe. “I was very upset that I couldn’t conclude my business with her immediately, Quinn. She reacted just as I thought she would when you wouldn’t speak to her.”
“So you came back to try to persuade me again,” Joe said. “Screw you.”
“There are persuasions and persuasions.” He checked the ropes binding Joe’s wrists and ankles. “I thoroughly enjoyed playing with you, but I’m too impatient to deal with your stubbornness. I’ve been waiting for Eve too long.” He smiled. “So we’re going to go to step two. I probably should have known that you’d respond to the mental, not the physical.”
“I won’t respond to you at all. You’re not worth it, Jelak.”
“You’ll change your mind,” he said softly. “I’m going to leave you for a while. Do you know where I’m going?”
“To hell, I hope.”
“If I did, I’d rule there.” Jelak smiled. “No, I was impressed by how concerned you were with my kills. Particularly Nancy Jo and Nicole. They appeared to touch you.”
Joe stiffened. “I’m a detective. Your kills aren’t any different from those of any other slimeballs I jerk off the streets.”
“I think they are. I’m willing to put it to the test.”
“What kind of a test?”
“I’m going to go and find a young girl, perhaps fifteen, or sixteen. It doesn’t matter that she’s not old enough to be interesting. I’m doing it for you, not me.”
“For me?”
“Yes, I’ll let you watch the ritual. You can decide if a young girl’s life is worth not speaking a few words on the telephone.”
“And those few words could mean that I’d be helping you get Eve here.”
“Yes, what a problem you’ll be facing. I’ll be interested to see how you handle it.” He turned toward the door. “What a responsibility. I must choose a very, very special girl for you, Quinn.”
The door closed behind him.
________
IT WAS ABOUT TIME.
Jane watched Caleb’s car pull into the driveway in front of the cottage and went down the steps to meet him. “Where have you been?”
“You missed me? I’ve only been gone a few hours.” He got out of the car. “I thought you’d call me if Eve heard from Jelak again.”
“Where have you been?” she repeated. “I didn’t miss you. But you’re the only one who knows how Jelak thinks.”
“And you need me.”
“I need to give Eve a little hope. She doesn’t have a large quantity of that commodity at the moment. Now where were you?”
“I went to talk to Megan.”
“For God’s sake, now? Is she going to look into a crystal ball and tell us where to find Joe?”
“Don’t be sarcastic. If she could, I’d ask her to do it. We don’t have many options.”
“Why did you go to see her?”
“I asked her to help me contact Nancy Jo.”
She shook her head. “You’ve lost me.”
“Eve told you about Quinn and Nancy Jo?”
“Yes.”
“What did you think about it?”
“I tried not to think about it. It was too bizarre when connected to Joe. I decided to file it away until Joe actually talked to me about it.” She looked at him. “Why?”
“I was there when Nancy Jo pointed Quinn to the motel where we found Jelak.”
“You see ghosts too?”
“No, but it was clear what was happening.”
“Nothing is clear about any of this.”
“Except Nancy Jo found Jelak once. She might be able to find him again. I went to Megan to see if she could help.”
“What did she say?”
“That she couldn’t hear or see Nancy Jo but that she believed Quinn when he said he could.” He grimaced. “So she’s no help to us.”
“Good God, I was hoping that you’d bring up something that was verging on reality. I’ve had enough of Jelak’s obsession that he’s a vampire. Now you’re telling me that we have to send Joe’s pet ghost after him?”
“No, I’m telling you that I’m hoping that we get lucky and can contact Nancy Jo.” He added soberly, “Because I don’t know what in hell to do if we can’t.”
Jane stared at him for a long moment. “You mean it.”
“Yes, I may think of something else. I won’t give up. But if Quinn was willing to use Nancy Jo, then that may be our best shot.”
Their best shot was a young girl who had been dead for days?
“So what do we do?”
“Quinn went to Allatoona to make contact with Nancy Jo. I thought I’d start there.”
“We’ll start there,” Eve said.
They turned to see Eve standing on the porch. She came slowly down the steps. “Let’s go.”
“It’s a long shot,” Caleb said. “My Lord, is it a long shot. It will be like talking to the wind. How do you know if she’s listening, if she’s even there? And even if she finds out what we need, how can she tell us?”
“Do we have another solution?” Eve demanded. “If you do, tell me, and we’ll go for it. If you don’t, then I’ll take your long shot. I’ll take any way I can find.”
“You could let Caleb and me go to Allatoona alone,” Jane said. “It could be frustrating as hell. You don’t need that right now.”
Eve shook her head. “I’m going. You want to help, but you don’t really believe in spirits. How could you? It hasn’t touched you. I believe in Nancy Jo. Because Joe believed in her. Who knows? That may help.” She got into the passenger seat of Caleb’s car. “Or it may not. I’ve got to try. Get me there as quickly as you can, Caleb. We don’t know what’s happening with Joe.”
Jane stared at her for a moment before she climbed in the backseat. Eve was right. She was out of her depth. She could only offer support, not understanding. Eve might need that support if Allatoona was as nonproductive as she believed it was going to be. “Tell me what I can do.”
Eve glanced at her as Caleb started the car. “Phone Gary Schindler. Tell him to meet us at the police impound yard in two hours so that we can get into Jelak’s car. Joe said she had to touch the blood on the passenger seat before she made the connection with Jelak.”
“Providing she’ll do it,” Caleb said. “And providing you can make contact with her to even ask her to do it.”
“I know all the ifs, ands, and buts,” Eve said. “
At least we can make preparations if we do get through to her.”
And how would they know if they did get through, Jane wondered. It was like blundering around in the dark. But what choice did they have? She was already dialing the precinct. “I’ll make sure Gary Schindler is there waiting for us. Needless to say, I won’t explain why we want access to the car.”
FIFTEEN
“QUINN WENT INTO THAT STAND of trees,” Caleb said, as they got out of the car at Allatoona. “He told me that I wasn’t invited to go any farther than here.”
Eve was already walking toward the woods. Joe had described his meeting with Nancy Jo to her, but how did they know that this was the place that they could reach her? Who knew where she could be found? Her Bonnie had come to her in any number of places. But then Eve had had problems thinking Bonnie was anything but a dream. Did that make a difference?
She was in the shadow of the woods now. She was vaguely aware of Jane and Caleb behind her, the sound of the cicadas, the breeze blowing through the trees.
“What do we do?” Jane asked. “It’s not as if we can go knocking on a door.”
“Wait.” Eve moved deeper into the trees. She wasn’t feeling anything, she realized in despair. And she certainly wasn’t seeing anything. Not that she had expected to be able to do that. But she’d hoped she’d be able to sense . . . something.
They waited fifteen minutes.
Twenty.
“Eve,” Jane said gently.
“I know.” She straightened her shoulders. “The only thing we can do is assume she’s here and act accordingly.” She moved to the center of the trees. “I’m Eve Duncan, Nancy Jo. We came to ask you to help. Joe needs you. And we need to know where Jelak is right now.” She paused. “I know he said it hurt you, but Joe really needs you.”
No sound but the wind.
No feeling but her own desperation.
“We’re going from here to the police impound yard. You’ll be able to get in his car again, touch that blood. If you’ll do it.” She tried to keep her voice steady. “After that, it’s still up to you. I don’t know what you can do. I don’t know how you can let us know how to help. We’re going to do everything we can. It may come down to me going to Jelak. That would be okay if I could be sure that Joe would be safe. But I don’t believe he would be. We both know what a monster Jelak is.”
Still nothing.
“We’re leaving now.” One more try. “Joe liked you. He wanted to help you. I don’t see how he could feel like that if you didn’t like him too. Please help us, Nancy Jo.”
She turned on her heel and said jerkily to Jane, “That’s all we can do. It’s up to her. Let’s get down to that impound yard.”
________
“IS THAT ALL YOU WANT?” Schindler asked in bewilderment. “I thought maybe Joe had mentioned a lead or something.”
“No, I just wanted to take a look at it.” She gazed at the huge boat of a car as she gingerly opened the driver’s-side door. Jelak had opened this door, sat in that driver’s seat, she thought in repulsion. She didn’t want to touch it. “Will you make sure they leave this door open tonight?”
“Why?”
Jane stepped forward. “What difference does it make? Maybe she wants to air the stench out of it.” She took Eve’s arm and pushed her gently toward the gate. “Just do as she asks. Okay?”
Schindler nodded, his gaze fixed sympathetically on Eve’s face. “Sure. I’m sorry, Eve. There will be a break soon. We’re doing everything we can to find him.”
“I know, Gary.” Eve didn’t look at him as she headed for the gate. “Thanks for coming tonight.”
“Anything you want,” Schindler said. “Just let me know.”
“Any problems?” Caleb asked when they reached his car, parked outside the gate.
“No,” Eve said. “Other than that Schindler thinks I’m headed for a nervous breakdown. Jane was so protective when she whisked me out of there that he probably thinks she’s going to have me committed.”
“It worked,” Jane said. “And you didn’t have to make explanations. Do we wait around and see what happens?”
“No. What would we see? Caleb didn’t see anything when she was in the car before. Joe is the only one who can see her. Right, Caleb?”
He nodded. “And I only heard a one-way conversation. Which was interesting but a little frustrating.”
“Then we might as well go home and wait for Jelak’s call. We’ve done all we could. Though heaven knows we have no idea what that was.” Her lips twisted. “We don’t know if we made contact. We don’t know if she paid any attention if we did. We don’t know if she’ll be able to bear connecting with Jelak, much less being able to do anything that would help Joe.”
“Yes, we did the best we could,” Jane said. “You said all the right things, Eve. Now we have to see what happens.”
“But how do you persuade a ghost?” Eve shook her head. “This experience isn’t going to bring you any closer to understanding why I would even believe she exists.”
“You believe it. That’s all that’s important,” she said. “And if you hit a home run, then I’ll believe it too.”
“WAS I GONE TOO LONG?” Jelak asked. “I had to find just the right girl to please you, Quinn. Do you know where I found her?”
“I’m sure you’re going to tell me.”
“She was at a Girl Scout camp near Stone Mountain. Isn’t that amusing? I watched the girls around the campfire singing and telling stories and tried to decide which one would have the greatest effect on you. I chose sweet Mary Lou. I don’t know her last name. She seemed quieter than the others, but she smiled a lot. She wears glasses and she’s about twelve or thirteen.”
“Why waste your time? You said you didn’t like young girls.”
“But they seem to touch you.”
“You’re going after her?”
“Oh, I’ve already got her. I waited until she went to her pup tent and took her then.”
Joe tried to keep his face expressionless. “I won’t let you blackmail me like this, Jelak.”
“I think you will. Though I can understand why you’d choose Eve over that adolescent. She’s a bounty of riches, and Mary Lou isn’t even approaching the ability to compete. However, there’s a possibility that even if Eve decides to trade, you might still have a chance to save her. With Mary Lou there will be no possibility. She was brought here for one purpose and one purpose only.”
“Then why would you think I’d believe you’d let her live no matter what I did?”
Jelak smiled. “I’m sure you’ll think of a way to make sure I do.”
Joe shook his head.
Jelak’s smile faded. “You’re beginning to annoy me again. But really, actions are better than words. I believe I’ll let you get to know our Mary Lou. I’ll bring her in, and you can see what you’re destroying. She’ll probably be unconscious for another fifteen minutes or so. Sedatives have a stronger effect on those closer to childhood. But you can look at her and think about what’s going to happen.” He headed for the door. “I’ll be right back.”
He was true to his word. In two minutes he returned carrying a thin, gangly girl in blue plaid pajamas. He dumped her against the wall and pushed the red-brown hair away from her face. “Vulnerable, innocent, more child than woman. But the hair color reminded me a little of Eve Duncan’s hair.” He turned toward the door. “I’ll let you be alone with her. There’s something about a sleeping child that’s very appealing.”
Diabolical, Joe thought, as he stared at the young girl. She was as vulnerable as Jelak had said. Just a kid. Her skin still had the glow of childhood. The son of a bitch had hit him hard and blown his defenses. What the hell could he do?
There had to be something, and he’d better think of it quick.
“WOULD YOU LIKE SOME COFFEE, Eve?” Jane asked. “I know you’re not going to sleep, so you might as well have the caffeine.”
“Why not?” Eve went to the window a
nd gazed out into the darkness. “Jelak’s not in any hurry to call, is he?”
“He said he wasn’t going to hurt Joe,” Jane said as she scooped coffee into the coffeemaker.
“But we don’t know how much he’s hurt him already. Where’s Caleb?”
“He decided to drive around and see if he could sense anything. He said it was a needle in a haystack, but he couldn’t stand not doing something.”
“I know how he feels.”
“You did what you could.”
“No, there’s something else I can do. If Jelak would just call.”
“I don’t like the sound of that.” Jane looked up after she turned on the coffeemaker. “Don’t even think that I’d let you make a trade.”
“You’d have nothing to do with it.” She smiled wearily. “This is between me and Joe.”
“And Jelak.”
“Maybe Jelak is right. I’m not afraid, Jane. Not for myself.”
“Well, I’m scared enough for both of us.”
“Joe has been by my side all these years. He’s given me everything. I won’t let him die.”
“No, we won’t. We’ll find a way. Not Jelak’s way, Eve.”
“I think I’ll go out on the porch and get some air.”
“Eve, I won’t let you do it.”
“There’s no use discussing it yet. Stop worrying, Jane.” She went out on the porch and sat down on the swing. She’d stay here for a while and give Jane time to calm down. She should have kept her thoughts to herself, but she was dead tired and too accustomed to sharing with Jane.
“So you told her the truth. You scared her, Mama.”
Bonnie.
She was sitting on the floor by the door, with her legs crossed and her head leaning back against the wall. “You scared me too.”
Eve shook her head. “You’re never frightened.”
“Sometimes I am. I just never let you see.”
“What are you frightened about, baby?” She moistened her lips. “About . . . where you are?”
“No, I’m fine here. I keep telling you that. You scare me. I want to be with you, too, but it can’t happen.”
“I was almost on my way to you that first night that you came to me.”
“That’s why I came. I could see that you were letting go. But look what you’ve done in all these years. All the parents you’ve helped, all the children you’ve brought home. All the love Jane gives you. All the love you and Joe have had together. Now Jelak comes, and you think you have a reason to stop. I’m not going to let you, Mama.”
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