She could forget everything but what was important. It would just take will and determination.
She tossed aside the towel and began to dress.
Joe was sitting in the chair beside the bed when she came out of the bathroom. His gaze searched her face and he slowly nodded. 'I was expecting that reaction. No problem.' He got to his feet. 'Let’s go down and get you some breakfast.'
She had been girded for battle, and it was frustrating to have him sidestep before she could even say a word. 'I’m not hungry.'
'Okay, then you can watch me eat.' He held out his hand and she realized he was holding her digital phone. 'But first turn your phone back on. Dom may call and you’ll need to talk to him.'
Her gaze flew to his face.
'It’s time to face him again,' he said quietly. 'Yes, I want to protect you, but I can’t protect you from someone I can’t see. We have to bring him out into the open.'
'That’s what I’ve been telling you all along.'
'I was too scared for you to listen. Now I’m too scared not to listen. You’re not going to stop, so The Killing Game – Eve Duncan 02
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I can’t stop. We have to finish it. Turn on the phone.' She took the phone and pressed the on button.
It was silent.
Joe smiled. 'Now, how’s that for anticlimax? I think we both expected an ominous clash of cymbals.' He gently pushed her toward the door. 'Come on, let’s get this show on the road.'
Spiro was waiting in the living room when they came downstairs. 'Where’s the doll?'
'I put it in a box and slid it behind some books on a shelf.' Joe crossed the room to the built-in bookcases. 'I didn’t want Jane to run across it.'
'I can’t see her flinching,' Spiro said dryly. 'Your Jane let me in when I rang the doorbell and she gave me the third degree. She even called security to make sure I hadn’t leapt over the electric fence.'
'Where is she?'
'After grudgingly allowing me to sit down, she said she was going to the kitchen to fix you something to eat.' He took the box and glanced at the doll. 'Ugly. It must have scared you.'
'No. It made me mad.'
'Did he make a follow-up call?”
“Yes, I hung up on him.'
Spiro looked up. 'That might not have been smart.'
'I’m tired of being smart and cautious. What about the photograph? Can I see it?”
“Not before it’s logged in.'
'Can I get a duplicate?”
“Not before it’s logged in.'
Eve had very little patience left. 'What about this Kevin Baldridge?' Spiro smiled. 'According to Charlie, Mrs. Harding remembers Kevin Baldridge and his brothers very well. Kevin was close-mouthed about where they were from, but one of his brothers mentioned Dillard.'
'Where is that?'
'A small town in northern Arizona.”
“Small enough to trace Kevin Baldridge?'
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'Maybe. We have to hope the town folk have long memories.”
“What about his brothers? Even if Kevin Baldridge has moved on, perhaps they might have gone back home.'
'It’s possible.' Spiro stood up. 'We’ll soon find out. Charlie will call and check on birth and school records after he gets back with the photograph. And I’m heading up to Dillard today.'
'Could we come along?'
He shrugged. 'I suppose it wouldn’t hurt. And if Dom is Kevin Baldridge, seeing you invade his turf might trigger him to act.' He glanced at Joe. 'I’m surprised that didn’t arouse a reaction from you. No objections? No condemnations that I’m using her?'
Joe ignored the mockery in Spiro’s voice. 'How soon can we leave?”
“Later this afternoon. I have to go back to the precinct, wait for Charlie, and make sure the photograph is logged in.' He paused. 'Mark Grunard came to see me at my hotel this morning.
He said you were still cooperating with him.' His lips tightened. 'I told him that doesn’t mean I’m cooperating. I’ve never approved of your involving him.'
