PHILLIP BLAIR WAS WAITING when they arrived back at the dock.
His fists clenched when he saw Megan.
'My God,' he said unsteadily. 'What the hell have you done to her?' He held out his arms as Joe carried Megan from the boat. 'Give her to me.'
'Where's the ambulance?'
'It should be here any minute. Give her to me.'
Joe transferred her to Phillip's embrace. 'It's shock. She wasn't wounded.'
'Maybe not physically. How do you know what you did to her? My wife spent years in an institution fighting those damn voices. And you made Megan go searching for them. I told you to take care of her.'
'We didn't make her go,' Joe said.
'Yes, we did.' Eve got out of the boat. 'No,
'I do blame you.' He looked at the blood soaking her shoulder. 'But Megan wouldn't blame you. She'd want to fix your damn arm.' He turned away. 'So you'd better come along to the hospital with us.'
'HOW ARE YOU?' MONTALVO MET Eve as she was coming out of the emergency room. 'Any problems?'
'No, they cleaned it, bandaged it, and sent me on my way. After telling me that I had to make a report to the police department because it was a gunshot wound. How is Laura Ann? They told me she was in a room down the hall.'
'Bruises, scratches, and hungry. The bastard didn't feed her.' He smiled. 'But she felt much better after she talked to her mother on the phone. She's on the road now, driving down to pick up her daughter.'
'That's good. After what Laura Ann has been through, she'll need her mother close for a while.'
'Right now Miguel seems to be filling the maternal role. She won't let him out of her sight.'
'How are his hands?'
'Bad. The stitches are torn out and he's having to have shots to fight infection from that swamp water. We'll have to start all over.'
'That's too bad. But he did save that little girl. I don't think he could have made any other choice.'
'No. And they seem to have formed a bond dangling in that tree over those alligators. He doesn't mind playing surrogate mom for a while and he'll be able to keep the media away from her. They're bound to get the news anytime now that she's been found. Where's Quinn?'
'He dropped me off and then went directly to the local police department to make a report on Kistle's death and what they're going to find on that island.' She shuddered. 'I don't even want to think about the scope of that burial ground.' But she would think about it for the rest of her life. There would be no forgetting one minute of this night. 'I asked him not to mention Megan Blair's part in this. She's been through enough and sure as hell doesn't need the kind of notoriety this would bring her. I don't even know what all this did to her. She's still unconscious and the doctors didn't like her condition when we brought her into the emergency room.' She shook her head. 'They couldn't understand why they couldn't bring her back. I could tell them why. But they wouldn't believe me.' She moved down the hall. 'I'm going to her room and stay with her until she regains consciousness.' She made a face. 'If Phillip Blair will let me near her. He wanted to take a hatchet to all of us when he saw what I did to Megan.'
'You didn't do it,' Montalvo said.
'Of course I did. I saw what happened to her with Bobby Joe and I went right on. I was willing to put her through that hell. Oh, granted, I didn't know that she wouldn't just be facing one death but all those others.' She said unevenly, 'But, God help me, I might still have done it. So what kind of ruthless bitch am I?'
'Driven, obsessed, desperate,' Montalvo said gently. 'And, yes, ruthless. It goes with the territory. But you're also very giving and have moments of being damn wonderful.'
'Bullshit.'
He smiled. 'Go on and start your vigil with Megan. This isn't the time for me to talk to you. But my moment will have to come, Eve.'
'No, it doesn't. I don't want to-' She broke off as she looked at him. He was still dirty and bruised and it reminded her of all he had gone through tonight for her and Laura Ann… and Bonnie. She nodded slowly as she moved down the hall toward Megan's hospital room. 'We'll find a time to talk.'
MEGAN'S FACE HAD NO COLOR and she looked very fragile in the white hospital bed. She was hooked up to an IV.
Phillip Blair was sitting in an upright visitor's chair beside her bed.
'How is she?' Eve asked.
Phillip shrugged. 'I don't know. I don't think those doctors know either. We're all just waiting. Are you okay?'
She nodded. 'Though I'm surprised you'd ask. You obviously have no kind feelings toward me.' She grimaced. 'And who could blame you? Certainly not me.'
'No, it will take a long time for me to feel anything but resentment toward you. Megan is my family. We've been together since her mother died when she was fifteen.' He gave her a cool glance. 'I'm very protective of my family.'
'And I respect you for it. But you don't have to protect Megan from me right now. All I want to do is stay with her until she wakes.'
'Why?'
'Because I like her more than any woman I've met in a long time. Because I hurt her. Because I'm worried sick about her. Is that enough reason?'
He didn't speak for a moment. 'Maybe.' He nodded at the other visitor's chair. 'Sit down.'
She dropped down in the chair. 'Thank you.'
'Don't thank me. I have an ulterior motive. Megan's going to want reassurance when and if she comes out of this. I have to have answers.'
'Answers,' Eve repeated. 'What are you talking about?'
'She was probably very upset before she collapsed?'
'Of course. It was horrible for her.'
'And did she touch any of you?'
Eve tried to remember. 'I reached out and held her hand at one point. Just for a minute, and then she pulled it away.'
Phillip muttered an oath. 'Dammit, I knew it would happen. Anything else?'
She shook her head. 'Joe held her on the way back from the island. She was unconscious and in shock.'
He frowned. 'I think that's probably all right. No emotional contact.'
'I don't know what the hell you're talking about.'
He glared at her. 'You wouldn't have had to know anything if you hadn't persuaded Megan to go into that swamp.'
'Look, she did go, and that's past history. There's nothing I can do about it. Now, why are you on edge about my touching Megan?'
He didn't answer.
'Phillip, I'm exhausted, I'm worried, my nerves are shot, and I've no intention of letting you say something like that and ignoring it. This weird phobia Megan has about touching people has been popping up since I met her. I've hurt her enough tonight. I'm going to know if I somehow managed to accidentally hurt her again.'
He looked back at Megan. 'She's the only one who has the right to talk about it.'
'Tell me, dammit.'
He wearily leaned back in his chair. 'She wouldn't be the one hurt. It wouldn't matter so much to her if she was the one to take the hit. When she's under extreme emotional tension, it's sometimes dangerous for her to touch anyone.'
'How?'
'Megan is not only a Listener. In the last few months she's discovered she has another psychic gift.' He smiled
