Iris Johansen - Quicksand

"You're sure?" Eve asked. "There's no other place for him to hide."

"He's not there. The grove isn't that big and I'm no amateur," Montalvo said. "He's not on the ground. He's not in the trees. He not there."

She braced herself. "Then I want to go into the grove and look around."

"If Bonnie's buried there, you wouldn't be able to tell," Joe said. "Too much time has passed."

"But not for Laura Ann," Eve said. "If he's killed her, the earth would be freshly turned. And he said Laura Ann would be near Bonnie."

Montalvo nodded and turned on his flashlight. "That's true. Okay. We'll take a look."

"You take a look. I'll stay here. Kistle could be behind us on that trail." Joe's gaze lifted past the boulder to the top of the bluff. "Or he could be coming over the bluff as you did, Montalvo."

"Eve?" Montalvo asked.

"I want to make sure there's no grave in those woods," Eve said. "I can't believe he would have brought us here if he hadn't set up a way to hurt me in some way." She started for the pines. "If the grove's that small, it shouldn't take long, Joe."

Joe didn't answer and she looked back over her shoulder. He was staring intently up at the top of the boulder. Or was he looking beyond it to the bluff?

"Joe? Do you see something?"

"I thought I saw a sort of glittering on the top of that boulder." He started to take a step closer and then stopped. "Holy shit!" He dove to the ground and started rolling. "Get down! It's a camera, and that means he may have-"

Montalvo jerked Eve to the ground. "Booby trap!"

The earth erupted and the boulder exploded.

Rock flew in all directions.

Eve buried her head in her arms. She could feel sharp bits of rock stinging her arms like shrapnel.

Joe. Joe had been much closer to the boulder than either she or Montalvo.

She lifted her head to see Joe lying crumpled across the clearing.

"No!" She jumped to her feet and tore across the clearing. "Joe…"

He didn't move.

She fell to her knees beside him.

"Don't move him." Montalvo was beside her. "That was a hell of a blast. We don't know what it did to him."

"He's bleeding." The blood was trickling from a cut on Joe's temple.

Montalvo handed her his handkerchief. "So are you."

"We've got to get help for him." She started dabbing at the cut. "This isn't too deep, but it may not be-"

Joe opened his eyes. "Are you… hurt?"

Relief poured through her. "No, but I thought you might be. How do you feel? Can you move your arms and legs?"

He tested one limb after another. "No breakage." He sat up. "I'm sore as hell. I feel as if someone punched me in the back."

"I was nowhere near you," Montalvo murmured. "It must have been the blast." He looked at the boulder and gave a low whistle. "Kistle must have packed a truckload of explosives under that boulder. There's not much left."

"And there wouldn't have been much left of us if Kistle had pressed the detonator a few minutes earlier," Joe said. "He waited until you'd moved a little away from the boulder, Eve. He didn't care if I caught the blast, but he's obviously saving you for something more interesting to him."

"There was a camera on that boulder?"

He nodded. "Probably with a detonator programmed into it. That way he got to enjoy watching us try to catch him and still was able to cause mayhem." He slowly got to his feet. He waved Eve away when she tried to help. "I've got to do it myself. I have to make sure I don't have any damage a hot bath won't cure."

She clenched her hands at her sides as she watched him, but she didn't touch him.

"Okay." He turned to her. "I'm all right. Let's go check out the grove and then go home. I have a hunch you'll be hearing from Kistle soon."

"We could check out the grove later," Eve said. "Why don't we leave now?"

He shook his head. "You'd worry about there being a grave in those pines. Even though this was more than likely a setup, it would be in the back of your mind." He shrugged. "And I believe it's safe enough. I don't think Kistle is going to be anywhere near here or he wouldn't have set up that camera."

"I don't either," Montalvo said. "But you could wait here while we check out those woods. You look like hell."

"Three will do it faster. We'll split up." He met Montalvo's gaze. "And I do feel like hell right now. But I'll get better and I won't let it stop me. Nothing is going to stop me from getting Kistle." He strode toward the pine grove. "Let's get this over with."

KISTLE STARTED THE CAR."Did you hear the blast, Laura Ann? I did that. I pressed a button and I shook the earth." He drove down the rock road toward the highway leading out of the national park. "And I probably blew up Quinn to meet his maker. Have you ever seen a dead man? Before this is over I may be able to show you a few." He glanced over his shoulder and looked down at her on the floor of the car. "I heard a sound behind that gag. Are you crying, Laura Ann?" He shook his head. "No, I see your eyes glittering in the darkness. You're staring at me with such anger and hatred. You know, I'm not accustomed to that from children." He turned back to the road as he put on speed. "Children are usually very frightened. It's what makes the experience so exquisite. And I was counting on wringing Eve's heart when she spoke to you. Oh, well, we have little time. Maybe if I tell you what I'm planning you'll give me the right response."

MONTALVO DROVE WITH THEMup to the front door of the lake cottage.

"Are you coming in?" Eve asked as she got out of the SUV. "I'll make coffee." She made a face. "Or maybe you'd prefer a drink. I'm going to make one for Joe and give it to him while he's in the bath."

Montalvo shook his head. "Not right now. I'm going to go back to my camp and call Miguel and see what's happening with him." He took the steps two at a time. "But first I thought I'd check out the cottage."

"I can do it," Joe said. "Go on."

"It will go quicker for me. You're a bit stiff." Montalvo turned to Eve. "Keys?"

Eve tossed him the keys. "I don't believe Kistle is going to come after us here. He wants to lure us onto his turf."

"Neither do I. But I don't assume anything." He disappeared into the house.

"Neither do I." Joe started up the porch steps. "And it doesn't hurt to be safe, Eve. By all means, put the bastard to work."

"I'm glad you're not objecting to a little help."

"I'm the one who took the hit, let Montalvo take up some of the slack. He wanted to be involved? We're going to let him be involved up to his eyebrows."

Montalvo came out of the cottage and gave the keys back to Eve. "All secure. I'll check outside the house in case Kistle had some extra explosives he wanted to put to use." He ran down the steps. "Call me if you need me. Otherwise I'll be in touch after we all get a few hours' sleep."

"Right." Joe opened the screen door. "But phone me when you get Miguel's report on Okefenokee."

Montalvo didn't answer. He'd already gone around the side of the cottage.

Eve followed Joe into the house. "Okefenokee?"

"Kistle's led us down the garden path at the national forest. He may send us back there. But I'm betting on the swamp." He headed for the bathroom. "I think Chattahoochee was a false trail, a decoy. He was saving the real thing for Okefenokee."

"We'll see as soon as he calls me." She took off her jacket. "Can I get you anything?"

"That drink you promised." He glanced over his shoulder, stiffening. "For God's sake, your arms look like pincushions. Why didn't you tell me you were hurt?"

"I'm not." She glanced at her arms. He was right, both her forearms and wrists were riddled with cuts from the flying rocks. "It's nothing."

"Well, forget the drink and clean them up. All we need is for you to get blood poisoning."