True Evil

Alex nodded an exaggerated apology. Her eyes were still ringed with black shadows. 'Can we go in?'

'Yeah.'

She pushed him backward and closed the door behind them.

'Have you slept at all since I saw you last?' Chris asked.

'No. I picked up the prescription, but I was afraid to take it. I had to drive back to Jackson to see my mother. She's going down fast, but she was awake for a little while, and she was asking for me.'

He motioned for Alex to sit on the sofa opposite his workstation. After she did, he rolled his chair across the hardwood floor and sat in front of her.

'Why are you carrying your gun?'

She set the pistol on the sofa beside her. 'I'll tell you in a minute. Has Thora called you tonight?'

'Oh, yeah. She's having a great time. She and Laura had full-body mud baths this afternoon.'

'How long ago did she call?'

'I don't know. A good while ago. Ben was awake.'

'Did she ask if you were in the house or the studio?'

Chris leaned back in his chair. 'She wouldn't have to. My private phone only rings out here. What are you doing here, Alex?'

'I came back from Jackson because I knew that once Thora left town, someone might make a move against you. I've been watching your house for the last three hours.'

'Why? And from where?'

'I parked across the road, in the carport of that house that's for sale.'

'Did you see anything?'

'When I pulled into Elgin, I passed a vehicle coming out. The driver had his brights on, but it looked like a van. A white van. Does anybody who lives back in here own a white van?'

He thought about it. 'I don't think so. But there are about sixty houses out in these woods, even though it looks like wilderness. Also, we get a fair number of strangers out here. Kids parking, or nosy people just trying to check out the houses.'

This didn't mollify Alex. 'About fifteen minutes ago, another vehicle drove slowly down the road. It came around the last curve, but instead of going on toward your house, it nosed into the drive of the house where I was parked. It came far enough up the hill for its lights to illuminate my car, then stopped and backed out.'

That sounded like teenagers looking for a place to make out. 'Did they see you?'

'I don't think so. I took cover pretty quickly.'

'Could you ID the vehicle?'

She shook her head. 'When he backed out, he didn't turn around. He backed all the way around the curve.'

Chris saw genuine fear in her bloodshot eyes. 'I know that seems suspicious to you, okay? But I've seen exactly that kind of thing happen out here at night. Poachers drive out here to spotlight deer. They'll shoot right into your yard, and the residents out here will shoot back. The poachers know there's only the one road in and out, so they're paranoid as hell.'

Alex was watching him carefully.

'You're too tired to think straight,' he said gently. 'You told me yourself that we have a margin of safety before anybody tries anything. Remember? The first day we met.'

'That was before William Braid and his insulin coma.'

'Alex, if you want me to, I can call the neighborhood watch captain. He's got a big John Deere that he can pull across the road and block all access in or out.'

'Really?'

'Absolutely.' Chris looked at his watch. 'And if it weren't so late, he'd love to do it for us.'

She looked as if she wanted Chris to make the call, but she said, 'I admit, I didn't see the vehicle that second time. I don't know if it was a van.'

'You said you weren't even sure about the first vehicle you passed.'

'I know that was a van. I just wasn't sure about the color.'

He reached out and squeezed her knee. 'You know what I think?'

'What?'

'I think that even if some guy drove here to kill me, once he saw you parked across the street, he'd realize the game was up.'

Alex didn't look convinced.

'I mean, he has to make it look like an accident, right? That's the deal, according to your theory. Not even an accident, but a disease. There's no way he can pull that off now.'

She was shaking her head. 'Three of the victims didn't die of cancer, remember? One heart attack, one stroke, one pulmonary embolism.'

'You don't know those were murders. And they don't fit in with the other deaths, do they?'

'I think those deaths show that if the fee is high enough, the murderer will take the risk of killing someone quickly.'

Her stubbornness was starting to wear on him. 'Even if you're right, you contacting me-not to mention hanging around and ambushing me for the past three days-has wiped out any chance of someone murdering me for money and making it look like an accident. That's just not an option anymore. You told me yourself that someone trying to kill me would be watching me, tapping my phones, that kind of thing. If they have any sense at all, they're lying low and hoping you'll get tired of chasing them.'

'I won't.'

He smiled. 'I know that. But tonight, you can take a break. A short rest. I'm going to fix up a bed for you in the main house, and-'

'No. I don't want to upset Ben.'

'Ben will never see you. No argument, Alex. You're going to take an Ativan and crash for the next twelve hours. All this is going to look different after you wake up, I promise.'

He could tell she was considering it.

'If I do that,' she said, 'I want you and Ben in the main house, too. So I can-'

'What?' He laughed. 'Watch us? Forget it. You're going to sleep.'

Alex opened her mouth to keep arguing, but her cell phone preempted her. She checked the LCD, and her face darkened.

'Who is it?' Chris asked.

'My father's old partner. He's a private detective.' She opened the phone. 'Uncle Will?'

Alex listened, her face growing taut. She put her elbow on her knee and cradled her forehead in her hand. After a short while, she asked some questions about her mother's prognosis, then hung up.

'What is it?' Chris asked. 'It sounded like renal failure.'

She nodded. 'The doctors think this is the end. She has two or three hours, barring a miracle. They told me that once before, but this time Will agrees.'

'You can't drive to Jackson now. Not in this state.'

Alex stood and put the phone in her pocket, then lifted her gun off the sofa. 'I don't have a choice. It's my mother.'

He stood and took hold of her free hand. 'Do you think she would want you to risk your life to be there when she's not even conscious?'

Alex looked up at him with determined eyes. 'She'd do it to be there for me.'

He saw that there was no arguing the point. 'If I didn't have Ben to worry about, I'd drive you myself.'

'You don't need to do that. But…'

'What?'

Embarrassment made Alex look away for a moment. 'Do you have anything that could help me stay awake? I