She stopped, stunned.
“SHIT, WHERE’S HE TAKING HER?” Joe said between set teeth, as his gaze flew down the path and the dark crevices on either side. “This part of the canyon looks like a rabbit warren. It will be a nightmare trying to follow him into any of those crevices.”
“And no footprints,” Gallo said. The trail had become rock and stone once they left the lower part of the trail. “If we had shale, I could at least tell if it had been disturbed.” He stopped and gazed down one of the twisting passageways between the walls. “I’ll check out this one. You take the next path over there.”
Joe nodded. Taking the openings one by one was the only thing they could do, but it was a waste of time. Dammit, they had no time to do an extensive search.
“No.” Ben was suddenly beside Joe. “Not there. Not this one. Straight ahead.”
“We have to eliminate every possibility, kid,” Gallo said.
“No, straight ahead.” He put his hand on Joe’s arm. “She’s not there.”
Joe looked at him.
“I have to be with you. But not here.” He added urgently, “Tell him. We have to hurry, Joe.”
Joe hesitated, gazing at the boy’s pleading expression. Then he said slowly, “We’ll split up, Gallo, we can cover more area. You search here, and I’ll go straight ahead.” He whirled and started running up the path. He could hear Gallo cursing behind him, but when he glanced behind him, Gallo had disappeared down one of the crevices.
Ben caught up with Joe and passed him.
And God knows Joe had no idea.
EVE WAS FROZEN WITH SHOCK. She couldn’t believe her eyes.
Greenery where there had been only rocks, grass so well tended it looked like velvet. A flowering magnolia tree, shiny-leafed shrubs, plum leaf azaleas, small, exquisite pink roses, delicate lantana, and golden sunflowers… She was on the edge of the rose-hued canyon wall on a cliff that was perhaps thirty feet in diameter. It was sheltered by a network of vines on all sides that made it into a secret garden.
“What is this, Danner?”
“It’s the place.” He gazed at the garden. “It took me years to make it for her. I had to bring in lots of soil, and the vines to shelter it from the weather. And the flowers had to be hardy and not take much care. I couldn’t bear to come here too often after I gave it to her. She frightened me.”
Her gaze was wandering around the garden and stopped at a twisting path that led upward along the edge of the canyon. “What is that?”
“It’s a path that goes to the top of the canyon. It took me a year to hack it out of the wall.”
“Why?”
“I couldn’t be sure that the demons wouldn’t find her. I had to have a route to take her out of here.”
“An escape hatch?” she asked softly. “Good heavens, you thought of everything.”
“Are you laughing at me?”
“No, there’s nothing funny about this.”
It was sad, tragic.
“No.” His gaze went to the far west corner of the garden, then glanced quickly away. “There she is.”
Bonnie.
It was a raised plot of earth that was surrounded by the same gorgeous blossoms that were everywhere in the garden. A simple carved cross marked the grave.
Eve slowly moved to stand before it.
No special sense of presence. She had not believed Bonnie when she had told her that it would not matter whether she found her body. That she was always with her, that it was memories and love that made the difference. She could almost see Bonnie standing in front of her with an impish I-told-you-so smile.
And maybe she would have felt something more special if Danner had not been here.
Danner, who was standing looking at her from a few yards away.
He was getting ready. She could see the tension in the set of his shoulders… and his eyes…
“It’s a beautiful place,” Eve told him quietly. “I’m glad that you gave Bonnie such a wonderful garden. She loved flowers.”
“She was John’s daughter. I had to take care of her after the demon killed her. I had to find a place to hide her so that the demons wouldn’t steal her soul as well as her body.”
“And you brought her here.”
“I thought she’d be safe. I took care of her. I made a beautiful place for her. I kept the demons from finding her.” His expression clouded. “At least, I thought I had. But they started coming at me. I heard that Queen and Jacobs had lied to me and were trying to destroy John. I had to stop them. But even after they were dead, it didn’t stop. There are so many demons… Everywhere I turned, I saw them there in the shadows, waiting.”
“But not here, not in this place.”
“No, the little girl was safe here.” His lips were twisted. “But she wouldn’t stay. I’d see her in the canyon. Sometimes I’d even see her in the camp or in the city. She’d look at me with those big eyes, and I knew she wanted something from me, but I didn’t know what it was.”
“And you were too afraid of her to stick around and ask.” She was putting together the pieces of the tragic puzzle that had haunted all their lives. “Because you thought she’d want revenge because you’d killed her.”
“She didn’t understand. It wasn’t me. I saved her.”
“I think she understood more than you could believe.” Eve was gazing at the cross. “You should have tried to listen to her.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.” His voice was rough. “I tried to hear her, but all I could see were her eyes looking up at me that day at the car. ‘I’m not afraid, Ted,’ she said. Did I tell you that?”
“Yes.”
“And then I let the demon kill her.” His hands clenched at his sides. “But she’s safe here, the demons can’t reach her. But she has to stay. You see that, don’t you?” He took a step closer. “She won’t leave if you’re here with her.”
“Another lovely cross for me, Danner?” Eve asked, her gaze on the grave.
“You love her. You want to be together. Don’t you want to keep her safe?”
“With all my heart.”
He was only a few feet away, and his hand was grasping the hilt of his dagger. “It will be quick. I know how to do it. No pain, Eve. Don’t fight me. I know you want it.”
She did want it. The thought of being with Bonnie was almost irresistibly alluring.
