Iris Johansen - Quicksand

He gave her a glance. "You're talking as if you know him."

"I'm on my way. He wants me to-" She stiffened as they came out of the brush into a small clearing. There were several people milling about, but she barely noticed them. Her gaze went immediately to the man dressed in camouflage who was propped against a pine tree. He was staring straight ahead, blue eyes wide open. She could barely see the note staked through his heart, for the blood covering his chest.

"Steady," Joe said quietly. "You wanted to see him. It's not pretty, is it?"

"I didn't expect it to be." It seemed terrible referring to this man who had been alive only hours ago as "it." "What's his name?"

"Ellis."

She moved forward. "And who is that red-haired man kneeling in front of him?"

"Cassidy."

"He's looking at the note." And so was she, trying desperately to make out the words on the bloodstained note.

Cassidy looked up as Eve and Joe approached. "You're Eve Duncan? I was going to come to the hotel and talk to you. Why the hell is he doing this?"

"Back off. I've told you what connection he has with Eve," Joe said. "There's no reason to bother her."

Eve shuddered as she looked at the dead man. "The note. Can you make out what it says? Is it the same?"

Cassidy shook his head. "It's longer than the others. But it's still addressed to you."

"What does it say?"

His gaze went back to the note. "Look for yourself."

She was looking, staring, making out word by word until she had the entire message.

Go home, Eve, Bonnie's waiting .

She flinched back. "My God."

Joe's arm slid around her in support. "Will you get away from here now? Have you had enough?"

She nodded numbly. "I'll go." She turned and started back through the woods.

Joe was silent for a moment. "It's just his way of putting a stake through your heart, Eve. Don't let him do it."

"Only partly," she said. "By killing that man he was taunting the searchers, but he was also sending me a message. He's gone. He's left the forest, Joe."

His gaze narrowed on her face. "Why do you think that?"

"He told me to go home. He's luring me away with the one bait he knows I can't resist. And he's impatient and doesn't want to have to wait until all of these searchers decide that he's no longer here. He wanted to tell me that if I go home he'll be waiting for me."

"It's possible," he said slowly.

"No, it's more than possible. He's telling me to go home to Atlanta where Bonnie was taken. He's teasing me with the idea that he might lead me to where he buried her."

"He'll never do it."

"Not if he can help it. But I told you what he said about giving me clues about where to find her. He could have decided to open a new game. But if he's left this forest, then we may never find him if he disappears as he's done in the past. We know more about him now and he's going to be even more careful. This may be our only chance."

"A chance to have him butcher you."

"A chance to bring Bonnie home."

"What if he decides it's not safe to leave the forest with all the guards around the perimeter?"

"You told me once you thought he'd be able to break through."

He started to curse. "You're going to do it, aren't you?"

"Why even ask? You know I will." She opened the door of the car. "I'm going home, Joe."

"SHE'S LEAVING," MIGUEL TOLDMontalvo when he reached him on the phone. "She's heading for the airport. Quinn is with her."

"Of course he is," Montalvo said. "He wouldn't let her go into the lion's den alone."

"You think Kistle's gone?"

"If he wanted to go. You could, I could. And I'd bet he wanted out. It was getting too tight for fun. He couldn't spread his wings and swoop like an eagle. And he couldn't get near Eve. The notes were the only way to contact her and there couldn't be much satisfaction if he couldn't see her, hear her."

"Are you staying around to make sure?"

"Eve is sure. I trust her instincts. I'll talk to Cassidy and give him a heads-up that Kistle may have flown the coop. He won't give up the search until he makes sure, but that's his prerogative. I'll meet you at the airport in an hour."

EVE AND JOE ARRIVED AT THElake cottage at sunset. The sun was casting a scarlet mirror image on the lake. Beautiful, Eve thought wearily. It was good to see beauty when she had come from such ugliness.

Joe parked the car in front of the cottage and jumped out. "Stay here a minute." He took the porch steps two at a time and disappeared inside the cottage. He came out a few minutes later. "It's secure." He opened the car door for her. "Go inside and lock the doors. You know where the pistol is. I'll go and pick up Toby from Jane's friend. I should be back in twenty minutes."

"I don't think Kistle would be that obvious," Eve said as she climbed the steps. She was already feeling a sense of peace and contentment. It was like being in the tranquil center of a hurricane. It seemed impossible that anything bad could happen here, where she'd been happy for so many years. "There's nothing subtle or clever about breaking into a house. I'll rummage through the freezer and see what I can find us to eat."

"Do that." Joe started the car turned and went back down the road.

She went inside and locked the door before taking Carrie over to the easel and setting her up. One more night and she should be finished with the reconstruction. "Sorry, Carrie," she murmured. "It's not that you're not important to me. It's been a hell of a few days."

That was an understatement. Horror and death and ugliness had stalked her from the moment she had taken the call from Kistle that first night.

Forget it. She was home. She needed to take a little time to get her breath and heal.

Megan had talked about healing. Something about hibernating and-

But she didn't want to think about Megan either. To remember Megan was to remember those moments when she had been caught up in that other horror. To remember Megan was to be pulled into wondering about questions she'd avoided for all these years.

She headed for the kitchen. She was sure there was some lasagna in the freezer. Joe liked lasagna. She'd make some garlic bread and they'd eat and talk and maybe the tension between them would ease.

Lord, she hoped it would ease.

MONTALVO CALLED AS SHE WASputting the bread in the oven.

She hesitated. She didn't want to talk to Montalvo right now. She wanted to keep the fragile serenity she had felt at this homecoming. But if she didn't talk to him now she'd have to talk to him later. She punched the button. "What do you want, Montalvo?"

"Many things. But at the moment I only want to tell you that you did the right thing by coming home. You looked frayed the last time I saw you and you value your home. You'll feel better there."

"Everyone values their home."

"Providing they have one. It takes more than four walls." He changed the subject. "I just wanted to call and tell you that I'm here in Atlanta if you need me. I'm at the Plaza and you have my cell number."

"I won't need you."

"You can never tell. If you don't want to see me, Miguel would be glad to stand in my place."

"You'd let him?"

"If I had to do it. Not willingly. But I have an uneasy feeling that you may need someone."

"I have Joe."

"Who is beyond compare. Call me if you need me." He hung up.

Dammit, she'd known he would manage to disturb her. He had been low-key and said nothing intimate or controversial and yet she was still uneasy.

She turned away from the stove and took down plates from the cabinet. Why did an offer from Montalvo to keep her safe make her feel just the opposite?

Get over it. He was an expert manipulator and those words had probably been carefully calculated.