Iris Johansen - Quicksand

"Take it easy, Pete." Dodsworth got out of the car. "You did the right thing. Where are they?"

"Still at the bog. I called the medical examiner and told him to come take a look."

"Take me there." He glanced at Joe. "Coming?"

Joe was already out of the car and shedding his jacket. "You bet I am." He threw the jacket on the hood of the car. "Let's get out there."

"Pete Shaw, Joe Quinn," Dodsworth said. "He's Atlanta PD, Pete."

But the young deputy was already yards away in the brush ahead of them.

The forest itself was pitch-black, but Joe could see beams of flashlights dotting the darkness as he moved after Dodsworth. "How big is this forest?"

"Over a thousand acres."

"And how many men do you have out here?"

"Twenty, maybe twenty-five. We had a lot of volunteers. Everyone liked Jim Jedroth."

Eager young men like this Pete Shaw who wanted to catch the monster and had no idea what they were up against, Joe thought. "The victims were shot in the bog?"

"We think so." Pete had stopped to wait for them. "But we found them on the bank. It's ugly, Charlie." He pulled aside a bush to reveal an area lit by lanterns and teeming with men, some in uniform and some in camouflage hunting garb. "I don't understand why- See for yourself."

"God," Dodsworth murmured. "What did he do to them?"

The two dead men were propped up against a tree. Their eyes were wide open and staring into nothingness.

"Bill was shot in the head. Lenny has a bullet wound in his throat," Pete said. "But after he killed them he set them up like that and pounded short wooden stakes through their hearts. It looked like he was using them to fasten those messages on their chests." He swallowed hard. "Son of a bitch."

Joe could see the scraps of notebook paper, but they were stained with blood and he was too far away to read what they said. He had to get closer. He shouldn't compromise the crime scene, but it had already been trampled by the ten or twelve searchers at the scene. He'd just be as careful as he could.

He moved toward the victims. "Do the notes both say the same thing?"

"Yeah." Pete followed them. "Same thing."

Joe squatted down a few feet from the dead men. "Give me your flashlight."

He shone the beam on one of the bloodstained notes. Some of the ink had smeared and run, but he could still decipher the letters. It appeared to be three words. The first one started with an F…

He stiffened.

For you, Eve.

EVE FINALLY RECEIVED A CALLback from Joe when she was at the gate in Atlanta ready to board her flight. Her first reaction was profound relief, the second was anger. "Why the hell didn't you tell me you'd located Kistle?"

"Jane must have told you my reasons by now. Nothing I can say is going to make you like it any better. I did what I thought was best for you."

"Stop sheltering me, Joe. How many times have I told you that I won't have it where Bonnie is concerned?"

"I can't do anything else," he said simply. "I won't watch you be hurt unnecessarily."

She felt melting warmth mixed with frustration. "Joe, it was wrong. I have to-" She broke off. Arguing would get them nowhere. "Have they caught Kistle yet?"

"No, the bastard has to be pretty woods-savvy. He's been running the deputies ragged."

"Maybe he's not in the woods at all. Couldn't he have made his way to another road or major highway?"

"Maybe. They have guards patrolling around the perimeter of the forest, but he might be able to avoid them if he wanted to do it."

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?"

She was like a burning arrow lighting the darkness.

"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?" DODSWORTHasked 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."