She smiled faintly. “I think you’re lying. I believe it makes you uneasy to see me like this.”
“Believe what you like.” He was silent a moment. “Why aren’t you afraid? I did kill Jacobs, you know.”
“I know. And you would have killed my friend, Catherine. Why?”
“Demon. The moment I saw her, I knew she was a Delilah.”
“I don’t know about Jacobs, but Catherine is no demon. I’m not sure there are demons.”
“Then you’re a fool,” he said harshly. “They’re all around us. Look away from them, and they’ll have you.” He tore his gaze away from her. “You have to fight them all the time.”
“And what would they do if they caught you?”
“They’d devour my soul,” he said simply.
“And is my Bonnie a demon?”
He stiffened. “I don’t want to talk about the little girl.”
“Father Barnabas said you’ve never spoken of her by name, that you only talk about a little girl. That little girl is Bonnie, isn’t she?”
“I won’t talk about the little girl.”
“Why not?”
“Be quiet.”
She was disturbing him. His hands were clenched on the steering wheel, and there was a flush burnishing his cheeks. The mere mention of “the little girl” had done this to him.
“I’ll be quiet for now.” She looked away from him. “But you’ll have to answer me sometime, Danner.”
“No, I won’t. I’ll shut you up.”
“By killing me?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
Change the subject. “Where are you taking me, Danner?”
“To the place.”
“What place?”
“Her place.”
She inhaled sharply. Dear God, was he speaking of the place where he’d hidden Bonnie’s body? Her heart was starting to pound. After all the years of searching, was she this close? “I don’t understand. Explain. Please.”
He shook his head. “You’ll know later. She’ll tell you.”
She was so frustrated she wanted to shout at him. So damn close.
Control. Patience. She drew a steadying breath. “Okay, I’ll let it go. But I have to come back to it. I have to know everything, Danner. If I make it easy for you. If I go with you, if I don’t fight you, will you tell me what I need to know?”
He didn’t speak for a moment. “You won’t fight me?”
“No.”
“I don’t want you to fight me. I’d hurt you, and John wouldn’t like it.”
Danner’s reasoning was complex and bewildering. She was almost sure he intended to end her life. Evidently, killing her was all right, but not inflicting pain. “No, John does care about me. He would be angry if you hurt me.”
“I don’t know why it should matter to me,” he said jerkily. “It’s just a drop in the ocean. He’ll never feel the way he did about me before. But I have to do the best I can. I know it would matter to me. I’ve never wanted to cause anyone pain.” His eyes were glittering with moisture. “You make it easy for me and I’ll tell you anything you want to know.” He added hoarsely, “And I’ll promise to make… it easy for you.”
He meant her death, she realized. She had been almost sure that was to be the final act, but it still gave her a tiny shock.
“Now you’re afraid?” His gaze was narrowed on her face.
“No.” Shock, not fear. He was taking her to Bonnie. What was there to fear? One way or the other they’d be together. “I’m… eager.”
“You think you’re going to get out of it, that you’ll be able to get what you want, then get away from me.”
She didn’t answer.
“You won’t be able to do it.” He suddenly turned the wheel, and the truck was bouncing along a rutted dirt road into the forest that bordered the highway. “But I still think you’ll keep your promise. From the moment I met you I knew you were a straight shooter. I thought that John was lucky to have met you, before he went into basic training. I never had much luck with women. I got so I couldn’t trust them. But you were different. Honest…”
She was being jounced from side to side on the seat, and tree branches were striking the windshield. “Does this road lead somewhere?”
“Yes.” They suddenly came out of the trees into a small clearing. “Here.” He braked and stopped the truck. “Time to ditch the truck and start out on foot.” He jumped out of the truck and came around to the passenger seat. He jerked her out and quickly ran his hands over her body. He pulled her phone out of the pocket of her slacks. He muttered a curse. “Dammit, I should have searched you before you got in the truck.” He threw the phone on the ground and smashed it under his foot. “That damn GPS signal.”
And there went her only way of being tracked. “The curse of modern technology.” She added sarcastically, “You mustn’t blame yourself. You were in a bit of a hurry kidnapping me at the time. You were so concerned about roping me like a calf to be branded.”
“Shut up.” He turned toward a tarp canvas structure stretched between two pine trees. He grabbed a backpack and slipped it on. “We have to get out of here. They’ll be able to trace that phone.”
“Probably.” She was looking at the tarp. “This is a surprise. A home away from home. Maybe I should have expected it. Father Barnabas mentioned that you lived off the land on occasion. Why, Danner?”
“It keeps me away from the demons. There are animals here, but the demons don’t take over their souls. I’m safe here.” He picked up a Magnum pistol and gestured to her to go ahead of him. “Stop asking questions and start out. We’ve got a long way to go.”
“But you said you’d answer my questions.” She moved forward in the direction he’d indicated. “How far, Danner?”
“It should take us maybe two days if you don’t hold me up. We have to travel through the woods and avoid the roads. It’s rough country.”
“I won’t hold you up, Danner.”
“I’m not so sure. You’re not the tough sixteen-year-old kid you were when we met all those years ago. I would have bet on her. These days, I hear you spend your life messing around with clay and stuff.”
“You evidently have kept track of me.” She glanced at him over her shoulder. “Then you must know my purpose in ‘messing around’ with that clay.”
“Yeah.” His glance shifted away from her. “Skulls. But I don’t like to think about it. You shouldn’t mess with the dead.”
“I don’t agree.” And Danner’s statement had put her on edge. It didn’t bode well for his telling the truth about taking her to Bonnie. “And neither would the parents of those children I managed to identify.”
“I don’t like to think about it,” he repeated.
Don’t argue. She had to balance very precariously on this fragile thread that bound them together. The priest had said that Danner could shift from sanity to madness in the space of moments. Right now, he appeared to be almost normal, but she didn’t want to throw him into that other sphere. She had to analyze every word, every thought that he expressed, sift it for truth or fantasy, and perhaps go back to it later. She had to keep herself from going on the attack so that the words would flow and tell her what she needed to know.
Not an easy task.
There were moments when the possibility that this man had killed her Bonnie stabbed into her, and she wanted to turn and rend him.
But she had to be sure.
And nothing must stop him from leading her to Bonnie.
“No, I’m not sixteen any longer.” She turned and started down the path. “But you’ll find those years haven’t made me less tough. Strength comes from inside. I don’t quit, Danner. I won’t hold you up.”
