The 6th Target

Chapter 37

THE SUN WAS GOING DOWN on Pacific Heights as we left the apartment of a handyman named Willy Evans who lived over the garage of one of the Tylers ' neighbors. Evans was a creep with unbelievably dirty fingernails and two dozen terrariums inhabited by snakes and lizards. But as slithery as Willy Evans was, he had a solid alibi for the time Madison and Paola were abducted.

Conklin and I buttoned our coats and joined the canvass of the neighborhood, showing pictures of Paola and Madison to homeowners just returning from work.

We scared the hell out of a lot of innocent people and didn't get a single lead in return.

Back at the Hall, we converted our notes and thoughts into a report, noting the interviews we'd done and that the Devines, a family living next door to the Tylers, were on vacation before, during, and after the abduction and weren't interviewed, and that Paola Ricci's friends thought she was a saint.

A deep sadness was weighing on me.

The only witness to the abduction had told Jacobi that she'd heard a pop and saw blood explode on the inside of the rear window of the van at nine this morning.

Did the blood belong to Paola?

Or had the child put up a struggle and gotten a bullet to shut her up?

I said good night to Conklin and drove to the hospital.

Claire was sleeping when I came into her room.

She opened her eyes, said, 'Hi, sugar,' and fell back asleep. I sat with her for a while, leaned back in the leatherette armchair and even dozed fitfully for a moment or two before kissing my friend's cheek and telling her good-bye.

I parked my Explorer on the uphill slope a few doors from my apartment and got out my keys, thoughts of Madison Tyler still cycling through my mind as I walked up the hill.

I had to blink a couple of times to make sure I wasn't hallucinating.

Joe was waiting outside my apartment, sitting on the steps, a leash looped around his wrist, an arm around Martha.

He stood and I walked into his big hug, swayed with him in the moon shadows.

It felt so good to be in his arms.

Chapter 38

AS FAR AS I KNEW, Joe had never found out about my misadventure in Washington, and now didn't seem like the time to tell him.

'You've fed Martha?' I asked, hugging him closer, reaching my arms up around his neck for his kiss.

'Walked her, too,' he murmured. 'And I bought a roasted chicken and some vegetables for the human folk. Wine's in the fridge.'

'Someday, I'm going to walk into my apartment and shoot you by accident.'

'You wouldn't do that, would you, Blondie?'

I pulled back, smiled up at his face, saying, 'No, I wouldn't do it, Joe.'

'You're my girl.'

Then he kissed me again, a true toe curler, and my body melted against his. We walked up the stairs to my apartment, Martha barking and herding us together, making us laugh so hard we were weak by the time we got to the top floor.

As was our habit… the food had to wait.

Joe took off my clothes and his, turned on the shower until the temperature was just right, and once we were both inside the stall, put my hands on the wall and washed me gently and slowly, working me up until I wanted to scream. He wrapped me in a bath sheet and walked me to my bed, lowered me down, turned on the small lamp by the night table, the one with the soft pink light. He unwrapped me as if this were our first time together, as if he were just now discovering my body.

And that gave me the time to admire his broad chest, the way the pattern curls led my eyes downward – and when I reached out to touch him, he was ready.

'Just lie back,' he said into my ear.

The brilliant thing about going so long without Joe was that when I was with him, there was the element of 'the unknown' along with the safety of familiarity.

I lay back on the pillows, my palms turned up, and Joe drove me crazy as he kissed me everywhere, ran teasing fingers over hot spots and pressed his hard body against mine.

I was dissolving in the heat, but as much as I was dying for him, something else was going on in my head. I was fighting my feelings for Joe, and I didn't know why.

Then the answer came: I don't want to do this.

Chapter 39

I FELT CRAZY, wanting Joe and not wanting him at the same time.

I rationalized at first that I was still swimming in worry for Madison and Paola, but what came to mind was my shame at showing up at Joe's place nearly two weeks ago, needing him so much, feeling as though I'd gone where I didn't belong.

He was lying beside me now, his hand on the plane of my belly.

'What is it, Lindsay?'

I shook my head – No, nothing's wrong – but Joe turned me toward him, made me look into his deep blue eyes.

'I had a horrible day,' I told him.

'Sure,' he said, 'that's not new. But your mood is.'

I felt tears spring from my eyes, and that embarrassed me. I didn't want to be vulnerable with Joe. Not now anyway.

'Start talking, Blondie,' he said.

I rolled toward him and put my arm over his chest, tucked my head under his jaw. 'I can't take this, Joe.'

'I know, I know how you feel. I want to move here, but it's not the right time.'

My breathing slowed as he talked about the current state of the war, next year's elections, the bombings in major cities, and the focus on Homeland Security.

At some point, I stopped listening. I got out of bed and put on a robe.

'Are you coming back?' Joe asked.

'There it is,' I said. 'I'm always asking myself that question about you.'

Joe started to protest, but I said, 'Let me talk.'

I sat on the edge of the bed, said, 'As good as this can be, that's how bad it is because I can't count on you, Joe. I'm too old for jack-in-the-box love.'

'Linds -'

'You know I'm right. I don't know when I'll be seeing you, if I'll reach you when I call. Then you're here, and then you're gone, and I'm left behind, missing you.

'We have no time to relax together, be normal, have a life. We've talked and talked about your moving here, but we both know it's impossible.'

'Lindsay, I swear -'

'I can't wait for the next administration or the war to be over. Do you