The Killing Game – Eve Duncan 02
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Well, wasn’t Eve equally uneasy? The past few minutes had been as awkward for her as for Jane. They were quite a pair, she thought ruefully. 'I thought you said Monty didn’t need you.'
'Well, he needs to eat. Sarah would have to leave him to get food, and that would make him sad.' She added just before leaving the room, 'He can’t help it if he doesn’t love me best.'
Adjustments and compromises and acceptance. Jane’s life had never been anything else, and she was afraid to ask for anything more, Eve thought as she rose to her feet. But there had been a breakthrough tonight. She was beginning to admit that she did need someone, and Eve had been chosen to fill the void.
Eve smiled in amusement as she started up the steps. Jane wasn’t the only one who had to make compromises. Eve was playing second fiddle to a golden retriever.
It wasn’t until she was in bed and had turned out the light that the significance of what had happened hit home. Dom had gotten what he wanted.
Jane had crept beneath Eve’s defenses and was becoming important to her. Calm down. It’s fine. Jane had not become Bonnie to Eve. What Eve felt for Jane was entirely different; Jane was more like a friend than a daughter.
But that might be close enough for Dom to make his move. The thought sent a bolt of panic through her. It wasn’t too late. She could push Jane away. She could pretend they’d never shared those moments in the office. The hell she could. She could never hurt Jane that way.
Dom didn’t know anything had changed. She could keep it from him. She’d just be careful to be distant with Jane whenever they were out of the house.
She could keep the truth from Dom.
'Hi.' Joe came into the kitchen and dropped down into a chair. 'I could use some coffee.'
'It’s made. On the counter.' Eve lifted her own cup to her lips. 'You didn’t come home last night.'
'How do you know?' He got up and poured himself a cup. 'Are you checking up on me? Good.'
'I just knocked on your bedroom door and looked in when you didn’t answer. You could have called.'
'I hoped you were asleep.' He grinned. 'We sound like an old married couple.”
“Why didn’t you come back last night?'
'I went with Charlie to his hotel and had a few drinks.' He made a face. 'Well, more than a few.'
The Killing Game – Eve Duncan 02
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'You tried to get him drunk?'
'Just mellow. Charlie’s being very cagey. Spiro has him on a short leash since he went over Spiro’s head about the VICAP report.'
'I don’t want to get him in trouble. You should have tried the Phoenix PD first.”
“I did, but I ran into a stone wall. The local police are royally pissed at Spiro for not giving them the name of the informant who supposedly told him where Debby Jordan was buried.'
'What’s that got to do with you?'
'They think I’m a little too friendly with Charlie and Spiro. So I’m out in the cold unless I can find out information from either one of them.'
'And did you?'
'It took me a long time before I could persuade him to tell me what he’d found out from the Phoenix police about the murders.'
'Candles?'
'There were wax traces that turned out to be candles, but that’s not it. The bodies had been buried much longer than the ones at Talladega.'
'How long?'
'Between twenty-five and thirty years.'
'My God.' The time span staggered her. How many deaths, how many graves, Dom? 'And no one’s ever caught him. It seems impossible.'
'As Spiro said, he was probably lucky in the beginning and then got smart.' He paused. 'But we may have gotten lucky ourselves. These two killings may have been a couple of the first he committed.'
'What difference does that make? There can’t be any evidence left after all this time.'
“The bodies have been identified.”
“How? The teeth had been pulled.'
'DNA. Remember, the bodies were found almost three months ago. The lab reports came back two weeks ago.' He lifted his cup to take a sip. 'The police went through old records and came up with four possible missing persons cases. They visited surviving relatives and finally narrowed it down to Jason and Eliza Harding. Age fifteen and sixteen, brother and sister.
Disappeared on September 4, 1970. Nice kids. Maybe a little wild. Jason played the guitar and The Killing Game – Eve Duncan 02
