There was a note in Joe's voice that Eve recognized. 'But you don't think he's left the woods, do you?'
'No. I think he may be enjoying himself too much.'
'Enjoying? With those deputies on his heels?'
'Dodsworth told me Kistle had called you. What was your take on him?'
'Evil.' She tried to get past that pain to be more analytical. 'He seemed exhilarated, almost happy. He didn't like that you'd set Jedroth on him, but he was supremely sure of himself. He said he was glad I'd come back into his life.'
'Did he confess to killing Bonnie?'
'No, not in so many words. But he knew what she wore on the day she disappeared. He spoke of her with a sort of horrible… intimacy. And he said he'd killed other little girls after Bonnie.' They were calling her flight. 'I'll be in Bloomburg in four hours. Jane and I are getting on the plane now.'
'No,' Joe said sharply. 'Dammit, stay where you are.'
'No way.' She stood up. 'Four hours, Joe. Good-bye.' She hung up and turned off her phone.
'They still haven't caught Kistle?' Jane asked as she picked up her carry-on.
Eve shook her head. 'But Joe doesn't think he's left that forest.' She frowned. 'And there was something about the way Joe… He's keeping something from me.' She headed for the jetway. 'But you can bet I'm going to find out what it is.'
'SHE'S COMING?' DODSWORTH asked as Joe hung up the phone. 'Good. I have a few questions to ask her. What the hell kind of relationship does she have with that sicko, that he'd kill two good men to please her?'
'The relationship of a victim,' Joe said. 'It wasn't to please her, it was to hurt her. Anyone who knows anything about Eve knows that she spends her life trying to find a way to catch murderers and save lives. Kistle killed those men to show her that what she was doing was futile and just by existing she was causing deaths.' Lord, he was going to hate telling Eve about those notes. In spite of the years of dealing with murdered children in her work, she had never developed callousness. Eve was strong, but her sensitivity was both her strength and her weakness. He treasured that fragility as much as he did her honesty and her intelligence.
'You didn't tell her about what happened at the quicksand.'
'I will.' He stared him in the eye. 'And if you try to tell her before I get the chance, I won't be pleased, Dodsworth.'
'Are you threatening me?'
'Take it how you will. Just don't upset Eve any more than she has to be upset.' He got out of the patrol car. 'What's the best hotel you have in this town?'
'We've got a pretty nice place on Spruce Avenue, the Brown Hotel.'
'I'm making reservations for Eve and my adopted daughter, Jane MacGuire. I want twenty-four-hour protection for them.'
'Is that necessary? You told Jim that Kistle is supposed to be a child killer.'
'He killed two of your deputies in that bog and stabbed your sheriff to death earlier. Kistle doesn't seem to be narrowing his field of operation at the moment. I want Eve-' His cell phone rang and he picked up. 'Quinn.'
'Les Braun. What the devil are you doing up there, Joe?'
He felt a ripple of surprise. Les Braun was with the Atlanta field office of the FBI and he'd worked with him several times in the past, but he hadn't been in contact with him lately. 'What do you think I'm doing?'
'Causing us a lot of trouble. We're spread pretty thin as it is. We didn't need to be pulled into this case.'
'I didn't pull you in.'
'No, you had Venable and his CIA buddies talking sweet and making deals with the director. Okay, you've got what you want. Cassidy from the St. Louis field office is on his way to Bloomburg now. The director is leaving it up to Cassidy to decide if we're needed on the case. I've given him your number and he'll contact you as soon as he gets in. My office is supposed to offer you any assistance if Cassidy decides that we're needed. Who's the local police contact?'
'Charles Dodsworth. Acting sheriff.'
'I'll call and pave the way for Cassidy. Small-town cops don't like interference from us.'
'Neither do big-town cops.'
'Come on, Joe. Years ago you were an agent too.'
'A lifetime ago. Cooperation is great, interference sucks.'
'Either way, you've got us for the time being. And Cassidy isn't going to like it any more than you do. They jerked him off a case he'd been building for the last six months. See you.' He hung up.
Joe turned to Dodsworth. 'You're going to be contacted by an Agent Cassidy, FBI. He's going to assess the situation here.'
Dodsworth frowned. 'You called the FBI?'
'Not me.' And Joe didn't know how the hell Venable had known about Kistle, much less decided to pressure the FBI. 'But they're on the case anyway.'
Dodsworth slowly nodded. 'I'm glad.'
Joe's brows lifted. 'You are?'
'Did you think I'd tell them to go to hell? Dammit, I'm only a deputy in spite of what they're calling me. I'm feeling way out of my depth. I was in charge when two men died tonight. They were my responsibility. I want Kistle caught before he kills anyone else. The FBI's got all kinds of gadgets and databases that can help us, right?'
'Right.' He paused. 'But you might remember that all the manpower and techno wizardry didn't help at all when everyone was tracking down Eric Rudolph in North Carolina. He lasted two years and they had an army of agents after him. If a man is good in the woods, then the game often reverts to the basic laws of nature. He could last for months.'
'How do you know?'
'I was a Navy SEAL. I've survived in worse environments than that forest with men after me.' He changed the subject. 'Go and have that talk with your sheriff's widow and then go get some sleep. You're going to need it once Cassidy and his agents appear on the scene.'
'You don't like them coming?'
'I don't know. They may help. They may get in the way.' Joe turned away and started dialing his phone. 'But I don't like the idea of Venable sticking his oar in without my asking. I need to talk to him.'
DAYLIGHT.
Darkness was safer. Darkness was his own, Kistle thought.
But should he go and kill to prove he could do it in broad daylight? It would take those country bumpkins off guard and maybe frighten them.
No, he'd already sent a chill through them with those kills at the bog. He could afford to rest and plan his next move.
Have they told you what I did for you, Eve?
It's not every woman who has the power of life or death.
Well, not life. But death, definitely death.
Are you coming? Of course, you are.
I'll have to rest now and then decide what to do to welcome you.
EVE SAW JOE AS SOON AS she got off the plane.
He kissed her quick and hard, and then gave Jane a hug. 'Neither one of you should be here. Eve's obsessed, Jane, but you don't have that excuse.' He grabbed their bags and headed for the exit. 'What do you think you're going to do? Trek out into those woods and hunt the bastard down?'
'It's a thought,' Jane murmured.
'A lousy thought,' Joe said curtly. 'If Kistle doesn't shoot you, then one of those trigger-happy deputies will do it. They're nervous as hell.'
'I'm not planning on going hunting,' Eve said. 'I just want to be close to wait until Kistle is caught.' Something he had said caught her attention. 'Why are the deputies so nervous?'
'Because they're not used to dealing with creeps like Kistle.' He opened the door of the rental SUV and threw
