period.'
'I didn’t know Spiro had authorized one,' Joe said.
'Oh, he did, and we’ve been giving VICAP the reports on the bodies to narrow their search.
They’ve been waiting for the last report, but it got lost in the damn paper shuffle. I found it only right before I left Talladega, so I took it myself to Quantico.'
'And what given period did you tell the computer?' Eve asked. 'Thirty years. Just to be safe.'
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She stared at him, stunned. Thirty years?
Charlie turned to Joe. 'I told them to call me here with the results. I’ll be outside in my car. Will you tell me when it comes?'
'Why not wait here?' Eve asked.
He shook his head. 'Spiro told me to be on guard duty outside. He wouldn’t appreciate having me warming my tush inside.' He grinned. 'I could have told them to call me on my digital, but I thought it wouldn’t hurt to use the phone call to get me inside to defrost.' He walked over to the pedestal. 'You’ve made a lot of progress, haven’t you? How much longer?'
She shrugged. 'It depends on how it goes.'
'They do a lot of computer imaging and stuff at Quantico, but this is kind of… personal.'
'Yes.'
'He looks so fragile. Poor little kid. God, it makes me sad. I don’t know how you take it.'
'The same way you stand what you do. It’s my job.'
'It makes you scared to bring a kid into this world, doesn’t it? You know, some of the guys at the unit won’t let their kids out of their sight. They’ve seen too much of what goes on to ever feel safe. I’ll probably feel the same way after my baby is—'
'I’ll let you know when you get your call,' Joe interrupted. 'Eve has to get back to work now.'
The dismissal was pointed. Charlie’s words had been thoughtless and Joe was stepping between her and possible hurt, Eve realized.
'Yeah, sure.' Charlie headed out the door. 'I’d appreciate it. See you later.”
“You didn’t have to toss him out,' Eve told Joe. 'He didn’t mean any harm.”
“He talks too much.'
'He’s just young. I like him.' She turned back to the pedestal. 'They probably won’t find anything through the VICAP search. They haven’t caught the bastard in over ten years.'
'Then it’s time they did.'
Joe sat on the couch and picked up his book. 'I’ll give you another hour and then you stop to eat. No arguments.'
'We’ll see.'
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'No arguments.'
She glanced at him. He was giving off the aura of the quintessential immovable object.
What the hell. An immovable object could be very comforting in this volatile world. 'Okay. No arguments.'
called while Eve was at dinner. 'I got your two messages. I was running around the island, closing up shop. I’m flying out to Monterey tomorrow.'
'You didn’t tell me you were leaving the island.'
“It’s not the same now. Time to get back to the real world.' He paused. 'Are you working on the skull?'
'Not the little girl. A boy we found.'
'You said you were going to work on— Why the hell are you there?”
“Things happened.'
'You’re not telling me everything. Hell, you’re not telling me anything.' She knew darn well if she told him what had been happening he would be on his way immediately. 'I’m going to get the little girl’s skull. I have to work on this one first.'
Silence.
'I don’t like it. There’s too much you’re not saying. I’m going to fly out to Monterey tonight instead of tomorrow. I’ll call you as soon as I arrive.'
'Logan, it’s wonderful of you to want to help, but you can’t do anything this time.'
'We’ll see.' He hung up. 'He’s coming here?' Joe asked.
'Not if I can help it. I don’t want him near that killer.' He frowned. 'You’re being a little more protective than I’d
