Quicksand

She went down the steps and started down the lake path.

A beautiful child.

Like a burning arrow.

Bonnie.

She stopped to look out over the glittering surface of the lake. She had spent so many years here since she had come to live with Joe. So peaceful and lovely. It had never failed to bring her a sense of serenity and inner strength. How Bonnie would have loved to be able to play and run beside this lake. She had missed so many things.

'NOT SO MANY, Mama.'

Eve stopped on the path as she saw Bonnie sitting cross-legged on the ground beneath the oak tree to the right of the path. She was wearing her Bugs Bunny T-shirt and the moonlight was tangled in her curly red hair.

'Of course you did,' Eve said. 'What do you know? You were only seven when you were taken from me.'

'And can you be sure that what I've got now isn't better than those years you're so sorry I missed?'

'Well, if you have it so good now, why are you flitting around haunting me? You must like it here.'

Bonnie's smile illuminated her face. 'No, I just like being with you, Mama.'

Eve felt an aching melting deep within her. 'Oh, and I like being with you, baby.'

Bonnie suddenly chuckled. 'You said I was haunting you. Ghosts haunt. Are you finally admitting that I'm a grade-A, genuine ghost?'

'Not necessarily. I'm sure hallucinations can haunt. Figments of the imagination are-' She shook her head. 'I don't want to argue about it now. You're here and that's all I care about.'

'You let him hurt you. You shouldn't have done that. Mama. He… likes it.'

'Is he the one, baby?'

'I don't know. I don't let myself think of that night. I've told you that before, Mama.'

'He wants me to believe he did.'

'Truth or lie. He knows it hurts you. He's going to keep on trying to hurt you. Stay away from him.' She frowned. 'And stay away from the woman too. She can hurt you more than anyone.'

'What woman?'

'I don't… know. The box. The woman with the box.' She shook her head. 'Just stay here where you're safe.'

'I can't do that. I have to find Kistle and make him tell me where you are. I have to bring you home.'

'I'm home where I am now. You're the one who is lost. That's why I come. I can't let you stay lost. It hurts me when you hurt.'

'Is that why you came tonight?'

'Maybe. But it's been a while since I was with you. I was missing you.'

'And I always miss you, Bonnie.'

'Yes, but you have Joe and Jane. You love them too.' She looked back at the lights of the cottage. 'Jane is waiting for you to come back. She's worried about you. She wanted to come with you, but she decided to give you your space.' She paused. 'She knows about me, doesn't she, Mama?'

'Yes. It was accidental. I didn't even know she knew.'

'But you've still not told Joe?'

'I will someday. He's a realist. It would be… difficult.'

Bonnie smiled. 'You're being defensive.'

'And you're being pushy. I'll tell him when the time is right.'

'Well, this isn't the right time. He'll be getting off that plane in Bloomburg soon and he's not even going to be able to take a breath before he's pulled down into the quicksand.' She lifted her head. 'Jane's answering the phone. You'd better go back to the cottage.'

Eve's gaze followed hers to the cottage. 'Quicksand. What do you mean, quick-'

BONNIE WAS GONE.

Eve didn't need to look back at the oak tree to know that that small, beloved figure would no longer be there. She felt the familiar rush of sadness that seemed to fill the world. Yet with the sadness she could feel a sort of serenity and healing that was always present after Bonnie came to her. From the time a year after Bonnie's death when Eve had first begun to dream, or fantasize, or whatever term she could find to use for seeing Bonnie, it had been the same. No matter what she called the experience, it had saved Eve's sanity and perhaps her life. She had been spiraling downward into deep depression and had not been able to fight her way out. Then Bonnie had been there and life had begun to be bearable.

'Good-bye, baby,' she whispered. 'Come back soon.'

Even if it meant dire warnings about a madman and a lethal woman with a box. She didn't care if Bonnie's visits were the outpouring of the mental ramblings of her own mind. She would cling with all her strength to these moments, since she could no longer cling to Bonnie.

She turned and started back up the path. 'Come on, Toby.' She whistled for the retriever. 'Let's go back and see if Jane's heard anything.'

JANE HANDED HER A POST-IT note when she walked into the cottage. 'Luis Montalvo.'

Eve stiffened. 'What?'

'I said that he could call you on your cell phone, but he said after consideration it was better that he leave you a message. He wants to talk to you.' She paused. 'But only if you want to talk to him. He said to tell you he's going to be boarding a plane for Bloomburg in the next thirty minutes.'

'Bloomburg,' Eve repeated. 'Dammit, of course I want to talk to him. He leaves a message like that and he wouldn't expect me to do anything else. Crafty bastard.'

'He sounded very… sincere.'

'Oh, Montalvo is very sincere.' She started to dial the number. 'When it suits him. You just have to be careful what he's sincere about. He never gives up. It can be anything from attacking a drug king's stronghold to stealing a skull from a grave.' His phone was ringing. Answer me. Don't you dare leave me hanging. He finally picked up. 'What the hell do you know about Bloomburg, Montalvo?'

'Hello to you too, Eve,' Montalvo said quietly. 'I'm glad you called.'

'You knew I would.'

'Only if you were aware of what was going on in Bloomburg. There was a possibility that Quinn might not have told you that he'd located Kistle. He's very protective of you.' He paused. 'But he did tell you?'

She ignored the question. 'The deputy said that they would be catching Kistle soon. Why are you going?'

'Why is Quinn going? He is on his way, isn't he?'

'Yes. But how do you know he isn't there already?'

'Miguel would have told me.'

'Miguel's in Bloomburg? Is he all right? How are his hands?'

'Not good. He's going to have to have at least one more operation. But I couldn't keep him from going when we found out Kistle had surfaced. He likes you, Eve.'

And she liked Miguel. The young man was a law unto himself and she'd had problems with his complete devotion to Montalvo, but no one could help liking him. 'You should have told him to stay in that hospital.'

'Tell him yourself… when you get to Bloomburg.' He paused. 'You are going, aren't you?'

'Yes. But you didn't answer me. Why are you going when the sheriff's department is sure he's going to be caught anytime now?'

'My life hasn't given me much faith in anyone but myself. And I've been unearthing some additional information