'Every time. When I brought him back from Tegucigalpa, he wouldn’t leave the cabin for a month. He lost seven pounds. I had to coax him to eat.'
'Will it be like that this time?'
'I hope not.' She stroked Monty’s head. 'You shouldn’t have taken him there.'
'He saved many, many lives. Was I to stop him from doing that?'
Jane frowned. 'I guess not. But I don’t like it.'
'Neither do I.'
'Are all dogs like him?'
'Golden retrievers are wonderful family and handicap dogs because of their gentleness. They’re full of love, and Monty seems to have gotten a double dose.'
Jane’s hands knotted into fists at her sides. 'I hate that he’s hurting like this. Tell me what to do to help him.'
Sarah knew from past experience that there was no quick fix. But the child was hurting almost as much as the dog, so she had to do something. 'Climb in and sit with us. Pet him. Let him know you’re here.'
'He’d like that?'
'He likes children, and he particularly likes you, Jane. It could help.' Jane scrambled into the backseat and started stroking Monty. 'He’s still whimpering. You’re sure this is helping?'
Sarah wasn’t sure of anything but that love and a child’s life force were miracles in themselves.
She could use a little of that life force herself. 'It couldn’t hurt. Just stick with it.'
There was silence in the car for several minutes. 'Why do you do this?' Jane whispered. 'You love Monty. You have to hate it.'
'Not many other people are able to do what we do.' She cleared her throat. 'But I have to be The Killing Game – Eve Duncan 02
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careful how I use Monty. I’m responsible. I have to be the one who protects us.'
'Why?'
'Because Monty is what he is and he loves me.' Her hand moved caressingly on the dog’s head.
Come on, boy. Please don’t hurt anymore. It’s killing me. We have to get you over this. She whispered, 'And he’ll never, never tell me no.'
Debby Jordan was lying beneath this ground. Eve stared down at the area Sarah had indicated.
It didn’t look like a grave.
'Here?' Joe was standing beside her, carrying a red emergency flag he must have taken from the trunk of the car.
She gestured to the spot. 'I can’t believe Monty found her. I’d almost given up hope.'
'Not you.' He anchored the flag and stood up. 'That should do it. Have you thought about what we should do now?'
“We can’t excavate ourselves. We’d disturb any evidence. The local police?”
“We could go that route.' He paused. 'Or we could call Spiro.”
“I’m wanted for kidnapping. I won’t let him take Jane away from me.”
“Then we’ll have to work a deal, won’t we?' His lips tightened. 'One that won’t make you a bait.'
'We don’t even know for sure it’s Debby Jordan who’s buried here.”
“But you have a hunch it is, don’t you?'
'Yes, I think it’s her. He wanted me to find her, and we found her. But he wanted to stretch it out. This was probably too soon for him. We’ll have to see what he does next.'
THIRTEEN
'How’s Monty?' Joe asked as Eve came down the stairs later that evening. 'Sarah’s worried. He wouldn’t eat his supper. Jane’s hanging over him.' She shook her head. 'I thought he was going to be good for her, but I didn’t foresee this.”
“He probably is good for her. Caring never hurt anyone. There’s not enough of it in this world.'
Joe had cared. She remembered how tenderly he’d lifted the retriever and carried him back to the car. Strange how moving the gentleness of a tough man could be. 'Did you reach Spiro?'
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'Yes, he’s on his way. He said he would have come anyway. Charlie’s come across something pretty interesting about the other two cases.'
'What?'
