“I found it.”
“And you were able to locate Jelak from it.”
“Yes. Much good it did me.”
“But you almost had him.”
Joe tilted his head and gazed curiously at him. “Almost isn’t good enough. I thought you’d be ranting and raving.”
“You have a right to that opinion. I’ve given you a hard time.”
“Are you apologizing?”
“Maybe.” He looked Joe in the eye. “I felt like I was being crucified, and everyone was taking their turn with the hammer and nails. I’ve dealt with red tape and bureaucracy, and I couldn’t stand the thought of Nancy Jo’s death being buried in it. You were a prime target, and I let loose.”
“I noticed,” Joe said dryly.
“And I’ll still be after you. I just wanted you to know that you’re the only one I’ve seen who’s brought in results. You found Jelak once; I think you’ll find him again. You don’t have to worry about one of my employees tailing you any longer. If you see a car behind you, it will be me. When you find him, I want to be there.” He paused. “If I didn’t have to keep on your ass, I think I’d like you, Quinn.” He added, “And I believe my Nancy Jo would have liked you too.”
“I know I would have liked her, Senator.” He turned away from him. “And now I’m going to go home and soothe my wounds and prepare for the next foray. I wanted to get Jelak. I’ve got to get him.”
“Because of your Eve Duncan.”
“Because of Eve and your daughter and Margaret Selkirk and all the other women who Jelak is victimizing. They’re all important.” Nancy Jo had said something like that, he remembered. He strode toward his car. “They all matter.”
“YOU COULD TALK ABOUT IT.” Eve turned over in bed and laid her head on his shoulder. “You’re lying there stiff as a board and staring into the darkness.”
“I should have caught him,” Joe said. “Caleb said I blew it, and he was right.”
“He was wrong. Caleb is a fanatic, and you shouldn’t listen to him.”
“It’s hard not to listen to him. He insists on making himself heard.”
“You almost got Jelak. That’s more than he did.”
“Almost, again. If you finished one of your reconstructions and stepped back and realized that you’d almost got it right, what would you do? You know the answer. You’d smash the clay and start again.”
She chuckled. “Okay, no more comforting bullshit.” She paused. “But you never told me how you found him in the first place.”
He was silent. “Nancy Jo. She can connect with him.”
“How?”
“Blood. Her own blood that he took from her.”
She shuddered. “I’m sorry I asked.”
“No, you’re stronger than that. As strong as she was when she was trying to find him for me.” He pulled her closer. “She’s desperate. She wants to protect her father, but it’s more than that. It’s something to do with the blood he took from her. It’s like an obscene bond that links them together even though she’s no longer alive.”
“Blood.” She had a sudden memory of that suffocating moment when she had been working on the reconstruction. “I can understand how she feels.”
“I felt . . . sorry for her. She was touching the blood on that seat and trying to help me, but she was hurting. I didn’t know how to help her, so I just kept asking her questions, hammering at her.” He added in frustration, “I don’t know how to handle any of this. At first, I was afraid of her. Then I just wanted to get rid of her because she was disturbing my life. But gradually I began to change. I can’t look upon her as anything but the person she was when she was alive. She’s still that person.”
“Is she?”
“Except that she’s learning, changing. I never thought much about life after death. I never expected to have to—I don’t know the rules any more than Nancy Jo does. Was I right to go to her and ask her to help? It hurt her. Shouldn’t I have left her in peace? They always talk a lot about rest and peace.”
“If you didn’t force her, then it was her choice.”
“Yeah, some choice. She’s scared that Jelak is going to kill her father. She’d do anything to keep that from happening.”
Eve got up on one elbow and shook her head as she looked down at him. “Only you, Joe.”
“What?”
“For a man who was mad as hell that this thing had happened to him, you’ve taken a giant leap. Now you want to protect her rights even from yourself. I suppose I should have expected it. It’s how you are, what you do.” She kissed him gently. “You’ve tried to protect me from the moment you met me.”
“I had no other option. I knew from the beginning that protecting you was protecting myself.” He pulled her back down and cuddled her close. “And you can’t tell me that if you were faced with this craziness that you wouldn’t try to figure it out and make it better for everyone.”
Bonnie.
