The bellman started to smile and then blinked and rushed forward.
'Good.' Miguel turned back to Eve. 'Now you go up and tell your Jane that I'm here and that I'll be in the hall if either of you need me.'
'How did you know I was with Jane? For that matter, how did you know I was at this hotel?'
'I followed you from the airport. I decided that I would not approach you when you were with Quinn. He does not have good feelings for me. I could see that he was not in the best of moods.'
'He has reason.'
Miguel nodded. 'Montalvo is very tense also. Am I invited for dinner and to meet Jane MacGuire? I feel almost as though I know her already and I'm sure she would find me interesting.'
'You can join us for dinner. I don't need you to stand guard over me. This isn't Colombia.'
'No, I like it better here, but I prefer the discipline Montalvo enforces. It's much easier to stay alive if everyone knows the rules and the consequences. In your country the rules keep changing and there are always exceptions.' He inclined his head. 'I will see you at six for dinner. Okay?'
She nodded. 'But no lurking in the halls.'
He smiled cheerfully. 'As you like. I'll go to the forest and see what's happening. I think Montalvo may have only told me to guard you to keep me away from the bog. He keeps talking about gangrene.'
She sighed. Manipulation? Probably. But it was working, dammit. 'Okay, Miguel.' She headed for the desk. 'Lurk to your heart's content.'
'You haven't asked where Montalvo is,' he said behind her.
'No, I haven't.' She glanced over her shoulder. 'And you're invited to dinner. Montalvo is not.'
'I WAS WONDERING IF I should come down and run interference,' Jane said when Eve walked into the room. 'My tactfulness can only last so long. You know I tend to dive in and try to straighten out a tangle when I see it.'
'It's not a tangle.' What was she saying? Of course it was. 'Or maybe it is. Anyway, it's up to me to untangle it.'
'Good luck. I've never seen Joe this way,' Jane said. 'He was almost combustible.'
That had been Eve's thought too. She was once more aware of how much alike she and Jane were. 'It's a difficult time for him.' She was suddenly impatient. 'But it's difficult for me too. We have to deal with it. He can't just drive away and let-'
'Shh.' Jane shook her head. 'Deal with it later. You haven't slept all night and you're on edge. Get some sleep and then we'll have dinner and talk about it.' She nodded toward the adjoining door. 'That's your bedroom. Take a shower and get at least a couple hours' rest.'
'After I set Carrie up.'
'I already cleared the desk over there.' Jane smiled. 'I knew you wouldn't let Carrie stay in that case any longer than you had to. But I think you should cover her when we have room service. It might be a little disconcerting to the waiter.'
'Particularly since this entire town is probably edgy about the sheriff's death.' She opened Carrie's case and carefully took out the skull and placed it on the desk. It wouldn't be ideal work conditions, but she could manage. She draped the cloth over the reconstruction and headed for the bedroom. 'We're going to have dinner with Miguel Vicente at six.'
'Vicente?' Jane frowned, processing the name. 'Montalvo's friend?'
'Friend, second in command, thorn in his side. It's hard to describe Miguel's relationship with Montalvo. At any rate, he showed up downstairs and informed me he was on guard duty and wanted to meet you.'
'Interesting. Does that mean I'm going to meet Montalvo too?'
'No. You probably will eventually, but I'm going to put it off as long as possible. Montalvo is an element I don't need to deal with right now.' She shut the door behind her and headed for the bathroom. She didn't want to deal with Miguel either, but refusing his help might bring Montalvo in his place. Besides, though she didn't believe she needed a guard, she'd never refuse protection for Jane. She should have told her to stay in Atlanta but she'd been in no shape to argue. No, face it, she'd wanted Jane's company. No one understood her like Jane, and being with her was a comfort. There was nothing soothing or comfortable about anything else in this situation.
Including Joe.
She should have known Joe would try to keep any knowledge about Kistle to himself. These last months together had partially bridged the gap between them that had been growing even before she had gone to Colombia. But the abyss still remained and his recent move to shut her out wouldn't help.
She couldn't tear herself up worrying about relationships right now. She stepped into the tub and turned on the shower. What was done, was done. She was here and so was Kistle. How many miles was Clayborne Forest from this hotel?
She shuddered.
Would those two men have died if Kistle hadn't wanted to send a message to her? Killers were killers and they needed no excuse to murder. Easy to say, but who knew what would trigger a monster like Kistle? He might have gone dormant for months if he hadn't talked to her. She had to stop thinking about it. Kistle had meant to hurt her and she mustn't let him.
FOUR
CLAYBORNE FOREST WAS STILL teeming with searchers when Joe arrived at the command post the sheriff's department had set up near the road. And the cavalry had arrived, he noticed.
The scowling red-haired man who was talking to that young deputy Pete Shaw was dressed in a dark suit and Joe would bet he was FBI.
The deputy turned to Joe in relief as he approached. 'This is Agent Hal Cassidy, Detective Quinn. I've been filling him in, but I've got to call Charlie and give him my report. You talk to him.' He hurried away toward his vehicle.
Cassidy shook his head. 'My God, if they have nothing but kids like him conducting this investigation, it's no wonder Kistle is using them for target practice.' Cassidy turned and shook his hand. 'Venable told me about you, Quinn. What the hell is happening here?'
'I'm sure the deputy gave you the bare bones. What else do you want to know?'
'What the FBI is doing here,' he said curtly. 'We have no proof that we're even needed. It's a cop killing, but they have so many searchers they're tripping over each other. They should be able to handle it. And the deputy mentioned another possible kidnapping and murder, but how can we investigate it when there may not even be a crime? All the deputy could say was that a little boy, Bobby Joe Windlaw, was missing and everyone had thought he was drowned.' He stared Joe in the eye. 'Until you contacted Jedroth and he began to wonder.'
'I didn't say anything about any local killings. I don't know anything about Bobby Joe Windlaw.' But he remembered Jedroth had said something about the little boy during that last phone call. 'I just told the sheriff I had suspicions and asked him for surveillance. I'd say those suspicions were warranted, since Jedroth ended up dead.'
'We haven't been able to track down any records on Kistle yet.' Cassidy's gaze shifted toward the trees. 'And this kind of case could stretch on indefinitely. We might be beating those bushes for the next year. I've seen it happen. The locals should take care of it.'
'Do you expect me to argue? I didn't call you into the case. Go back to St. Louis.'
'Easy to say,' he said sourly. 'I've got work there, damn important work to do. I'll be out of here in a heartbeat if I can persuade the director to stop playing patty-cake with Venable.'
'You've obviously made up your mind. Just give him your report.'
Cassidy's gaze narrowed on Joe's face. 'You don't want us here. Why?'
'I don't care whether you're here or not. It won't affect what I do.' He walked away from Cassidy toward the bog where the two deputies had been shot. The bodies were gone, but chalk markings indicated where they had
