'Joe’s not like you. No one is like you.'
'Thank you. I regard that as a compliment. I believe it’s time to hang up now. I just wanted to touch base with you. It’s important that we get to know each other.
You’re not one to fear the unknown.'
'I’m not afraid of you.'
'You will be. But it’s clear I’ll have to work at it a little harder. No problem. I wouldn’t have it any other way.' He paused. 'Bonnie misses you. You should really be together.' He hung up.
Pain tore through her. Damn him. He’d had to throw that last jab. She pressed the off button and looked at Joe. 'He just wanted to touch base with me. The bastard wants me to be afraid of him.'
'Then pretend to be afraid. Don’t challenge him.”
“Screw that.'
The Killing Game – Eve Duncan 02
Page 67 of 286
Joe smiled faintly. 'I thought I’d try. Did you find out anything we can use?”
“He said his name is Dom. He’s been killing far longer than ten years and does it purely for pleasure. He’s analytical about himself and the world in general. He’s as smart as we thought he was.' She turned back to the pedestal. 'Will you write all that down and call it in to Spiro? I have to get back to work.'
'It wouldn’t hurt for you to take a break.'
'Yes, it would,' she said fiercely. 'I won’t let that bastard disturb my concentration. He wants to control me, and I’ll be damned if I let him. I won’t give him anything he wants.'
She stood before the skull. Her hands were shaking a little. Steady them. It was time to do the final sculpting. Nothing must interfere with the sculpting. She had to be cool and detached.
Haven’t you sensed me standing behind you, looking over your shoulder as you work on that skull?
She restrained the impulse to turn her head. No one was staring at her back or over her shoulder. No one was behind her but Joe.
If she let Dom influence her by sparking her imagination, then it would be a victory for him.
Close him out. Think of the little boy, not of the monster who had killed him.
Bring him home.
With slow, certain strokes she began to mold the child’s face.
She was stronger than Dom had thought.
A surge of excitement tingled through him. She was going to stretch him, make him work for every ounce of emotion he drew from her.
It was no real surprise. He had been prepared for it. He welcomed it. It would force him to dig deep to find a way to jar her.
He already had an idea how to do it.
He started the car, backed out of the convenience store parking lot, and headed back to Atlanta.
FIVE
5:40 A.M.
Finished. Except for the eyes.
The Killing Game – Eve Duncan 02
Page 68 of 286
She reached for her eye case on the worktable.
Brown was the most prevalent eye color, and she almost always used brown eyes when reconstructing. She placed the glass eye-balls in the sockets and stepped back.
Is it you, John Devon? Did I do a good enough job to bring you home? 'Do you want the photo now?' Joe asked quietly.
She’d been vaguely aware that he’d been sitting on the couch all through the night, waiting.
'Yes.'
He stood up and opened the large envelope on the coffee table. He discarded one photo and carried the other to her. 'I think this is the one you want.'
She stared at the photo without touching it. He was wrong, she didn’t want it. Take it. Bring him home.
She reached out and took the photo. She should have put in blue eyes, she realized dully.
Everything else was a match. 'It’s him. It’s John Devon.'
'Yes.' He took the photo and tossed it on the workbench. 'I’ll call Spiro right after I get you to bed.'
'I’ll call him.'
