Quicksand

'And so he should be. After the time I've spent in the Okefenokee, I'd say you're going to need it.' He smiled. 'But don't worry. Since Eve wants you there I will guard you.' He tilted his head. 'Or maybe you should guard me. Can you keep the swamp devils away? Montalvo says you have very peculiar ways.'

'Sorry, you're on your own,' Megan said. 'I have enough trouble warding off my own devils. I thought you were going to meet us at the visitors' bureau.'

'You seem to have changed the scenario. Montalvo told me to check the bulletin board and bring anything I found here.' He raised his head as a car drove into the parking lot. 'There's Montalvo now.'

And it was followed by the SUV driven by Eve and Joe Quinn, Megan noticed.

'You're tensing,' Miguel said softly. 'If you're this on edge with the people on your side, what will you be when Kistle appears on the scene?'

'Not everyone is on my side,' Megan said. 'Joe Quinn would just as soon I drowned in that swamp, and Montalvo doesn't care about anyone but Eve.'

'How perceptive of you. But he does care about me, so perhaps he might spare a little concern for you.' He turned and strolled over to Montalvo's car as he drew up beside them. 'Here I am, Colonel. I'm brimming with information and eager to give it up.' He nodded to Eve as she got out of her car. 'Montalvo told me that you'd brought in help from the twilight zone. I approve. She's quite wonderful. I may be in love.'

'You said that about Jane,' Eve said.

'But she deserted me.'

'Who can blame her?' Quinn said. 'She has a good head on her shoulders. What kind of information?'

'There's a coffee shop inside the hotel.' Miguel turned and headed for the front entrance. 'I need a table to spread out my map.'

'Did you stop by the visitors' bureau?' Montalvo called after him.

'Of course.' He disappeared into the hotel.

Eve fell into step with Megan. 'Miguel isn't as shallow as he seems. You can trust him.'

'I hope I won't have to trust him,' Megan said. They were a strange and diverse group, she thought uneasily. And the vibrations between them were far from friendly. The only person she could trust was Eve, but she didn't know how far. Not because of any lack of honor but because in the end there was only one thing of utmost importance to her. Bonnie overshadowed everything else. 'How did Miguel hurt his hands?'

'One of Montalvo's enemies nailed him to a cross.'

'God in heaven.' She looked at Montalvo. 'I'm not sure I'd want to be on your list of friends.'

'I don't blame you,' Montalvo said. 'But Miguel has no sense of caution. It didn't make any difference to him at all. Let's get inside and see what he has for us.'

'I have to go see my uncle before I join you.' Megan turned to Joe Quinn. 'He's not going to be happy staying here twiddling his thumbs.'

'So?'

'So I love him and don't want him unhappy. There's no way I want to take him into the swamp, but I want you to find him a job that will be safe but make him feel he's helping.'

'Safe? Then let him stay here.'

It was the kind of cooperation she would have expected from him. 'Okay, safer.'

He shrugged. 'He can stay at the boat launch and be on hand to call in the police and direct them if we phone him. Will he be satisfied with that?'

'Probably not. But it's better than nothing.' She went into the hotel to find Phillip.

THIRTEEN

MIGUEL SPREAD HIS MAP ON the polished oak table in the coffee shop. 'This is the map I purchased from my guide, Bubba Garfield, with a great deal of Montalvo's money. He made it himself and he assured me that it was the finest one I could get.'

'Like BlackJack Calahan sold you the finest bottle of wine in Bloomburg?' Eve asked.

'That's a bitter blow.' Miguel grimaced. 'But this is different. I know about maps. And I made sure Bubba was a little intimidated by me. The swamp is approximately seven hundred square miles and is thirty-eight miles long and twenty-five miles at its widest. It's principally a wildlife refuge, but that wouldn't have bothered Kistle. He would probably have enjoyed breaking the rules. There are seventy islands that are greater than twenty acres.' He pointed to the green spots in the middle of the swamp. 'These are the islands they call lands. There are twenty-two that have names. But there are smaller ones that are considered too unimportant to deserve recognizing on a map. Bubba indicated those with an X.' He pulled a photo out of his jacket pocket and put it in front of Eve. 'This is the photo that was on the bulletin board.'

It was a color photo of an almost barren island, with the only vegetation being a stand of swamp oaks and pond cypresses. Floating in the tea-colored waters of the swamp surrounding it were thousands of water lilies.

'Is there anything unusual about this island?' Joe asked.

Miguel shook his head. 'Except maybe the way the lilies are growing in that T shape in the water.'

'Are we sure this photo is the one Kistle left?' Montalvo asked.

'Oh, yes.' He reached in his pocket and drew out a yellow Post-it note. 'This was taped to it.'

A child's blue satin hair ribbon.

Eve touched it gingerly. 'Another one?' She tried to ignore the horror she felt staring at it. 'This can't belong to her. He must have bought it at Target.'

'It got his message across.' Megan was gazing compulsively at the ribbon. 'That's all he wanted to do.'

'Why don't you touch it?' Joe asked. 'Maybe it will tell you something.'

'Leave her alone, Joe,' Eve said.

Megan deliberately reached out and touched the ribbon. 'It tells me that Kistle is a son of a bitch and that you're one cynical bastard. Back off.'

Joe smiled. 'What a shallow observation. You'll have to do better than that.'

'I'll work on it.' Her gaze shifted to Miguel. 'What else? Can you ask this Bubba if he can remember any island that has that kind of floating foliage surrounding it?'

He nodded. 'I'll get right on it.' He looked at Montalvo. 'This can be ugly. There are trees all over the place where a man could climb and be waiting for anyone passing in a boat below. Providing he doesn't object to cohabiting with coral snakes and other nasty, slimy creatures.'

'I don't believe Kistle would care,' Eve said. 'He'd feel right at home with them. But where would he be able to stash Laura Ann?'

'That's the question,' Joe said. 'On this island? What about it, Dr. Blair? Do you have any thoughts on the subject?'

'I won't know until we get there. Maybe not then.' She looked him in the eye. 'No promises. When do we leave?'

'Dark. It will be safer.' Joe turned to Miguel. 'In the meantime, I want to go with you to see this Bubba Garfield and then go into the swamp and get the feel of it. Montalvo, you bring Eve, Megan, and Phillip Blair. I'll meet you at the dock at seven.'

Miguel looked at Montalvo. 'Colonel?'

Montalvo thought about it and then nodded slowly. 'Go ahead. I don't need to get the feel of that swamp. One swamp is pretty much like another, and I practically lived in one while I was searching for my wife.'

'I'm glad to have your permission.' Joe got to his feet. 'You've rented the motorboats, Miguel?'

Miguel nodded. 'At the dock at the north entrance.'

Joe headed for the door. 'I'll see you at seven, Eve. Come on, Miguel.'

Eve checked her watch after Joe and Miguel had left the coffee shop. 'It's two thirty-five.' It seemed a long time until seven. She turned to Megan. 'What are you going to do?'

'Go have late lunch with Phillip. Then go to his room and try to rest.' She finished her coffee and stood up. 'And then try to keep myself from getting back in my car and heading back to Atlanta.'

'You won't do that,' Eve said.