Iris Johansen - Blood Game

And the blood was trickling out of the wound, Jelak thought, outraged. Precious blood. Nancy Jo, Margaret Selkirk, all the others… Blood that would give him the prize that he had striven for so long to gain. It wasn’t a strong loss, but even a little was too much. He’d tried to bandage it, but the blood was still seeping around the handkerchief he’d used as pressure.

The wound itself didn’t worry him. He didn’t think Quinn had hit a vital organ, and he was close enough to the divine state of resurrection that his strength would carry him through. But if he lost too much blood, then he would have to delay the final victory. Even Eve would not be able to send him over the top.

So he had to stop the blood, find a way to get to a doctor and get the wound stitched. Fury tore through him. Damn Quinn to hell. How had he found him?

Seth Caleb? More than likely.

It didn’t matter. Quinn had to be punished. He’d thought that Caleb was the main threat, but Quinn had found him. Quinn had shot him. He had to show him he couldn’t do this to him.

There was a BP gas station up ahead with the usual snack and convenience store. He could hear country music pouring out of the radio of the Ford truck parked by the pumps and saw a teenage girl with long, shiny brown hair filling up her Mazda.

He couldn’t afford to wait longer. He had to stop this trickle of blood.

He’d wait until there were no customers inside the snack shop and make his move.

ED NORRIS WAS SITTING INthe passenger seat of a dark blue limousine when Joe walked out of the precinct that evening. “I want to talk to you, Quinn.”

“And I don’t want to talk to you. It’s been a very bad day, and I have no desire to listen to your guff.”

“I’m not going to give you any guff.” Norris got out of the limousine. “And I don’t think it was a bad day if you managed to put a bullet into my daughter’s murderer.” He shrugged. “I could have wished you were a better shot and blown his brains out.”

“I was off-balance. He’d just tried to run me down.”

“Jelak did kill my daughter?”

“I believe he did. It’s early days. We have no proof.”

“Was that what you were doing at Allatoona earlier today? Looking for proof?”

“Yes. Of a kind.”

“What proof?”

“You have people following me all the time. I’m surprised you don’t know.”

Norris smiled. “I’m surprised I don’t either. Someone slipped up.”

He was actually being likable, Joe thought. He was getting a glimpse of the charismatic politician who was on his way to the White House.

“I was looking for evidence connecting the car Jelak abandoned to your daughter’s crime scene.” That was true at least.

“And you found it?”

“I found it.”

“And you were able to locate Jelak from it.”

“Yes. Much good it did me.”

“But you almost had him.”

Joe tilted his head and gazed curiously at him. “Almost isn’t good enough. I thought you’d be ranting and raving.”

“You have a right to that opinion. I’ve given you a hard time.”

“Are you apologizing?”

“Maybe.” He looked Joe in the eye. “I felt like I was being crucified, and everyone was taking their turn with the hammer and nails. I’ve dealt with red tape and bureaucracy, and I couldn’t stand the thought of Nancy Jo’s death being buried in it. You were a prime target, and I let loose.”

“I noticed,” Joe said dryly.

“And I’ll still be after you. I just wanted you to know that you’re the only one I’ve seen who’s brought in results. You found Jelak once; I think you’ll find him again. You don’t have to worry about one of my employees tailing you any longer. If you see a car behind you, it will be me. When you find him, I want to be there.” He paused. “If I didn’t have to keep on your ass, I think I’d like you, Quinn.” He added, “And I believe my Nancy Jo would have liked you too.”

“I know I would have liked her, Senator.” He turned away from him. “And now I’m going to go home and soothe my wounds and prepare for the next foray. I wanted to get Jelak. I’ve got to get him.”

“Because of your Eve Duncan.”

“Because of Eve and your daughter and Margaret Selkirk and all the other women who Jelak is victimizing. They’re all important.” Nancy Jo had said something like that, he remembered. He strode toward his car. “They all matter.”

“YOU COULD TALK ABOUT IT.”Eve turned over in bed and laid her head on his shoulder. “You’re lying there stiff as a board and staring into the darkness.”

“I should have caught him,” Joe said. “Caleb said I blew it, and he was right.”

“He was wrong. Caleb is a fanatic, and you shouldn’t listen to him.”

“It’s hard not to listen to him. He insists on making himself heard.”

“You almost got Jelak. That’s more than he did.”

“Almost, again. If you finished one of your reconstructions and stepped back and realized that you’d almost got it right, what would you do? You know the answer. You’d smash the clay and start again.”

She chuckled. “Okay, no more comforting bullshit.” She paused. “But you never told me how you found him in the first place.”

He was silent. “Nancy Jo. She can connect with him.”

“How?”

“Blood. Her own blood that he took from her.”

She shuddered. “I’m sorry I asked.”

“No, you’re stronger than that. As strong as she was when she was trying to find him for me.” He pulled her closer. “She’s desperate. She wants to protect her father, but it’s more than that. It’s something to do with the blood he took from her. It’s like an obscene bond that links them together even though she’s no longer alive.”

“Blood.” She had a sudden memory of that suffocating moment when she had been working on the reconstruction. “I can understand how she feels.”

“I felt… sorry for her. She was touching the blood on that seat and trying to help me, but she was hurting. I didn’t know how to help her, so I just kept asking her questions, hammering at her.” He added in frustration, “I don’t know how to handle any of this. At first, I was afraid of her. Then I just wanted to get rid of her because she was disturbing my life. But gradually I began to change. I can’t look upon her as anything but the person she was when she was alive. She’s still that person.”

“Is she?”

“Except that she’s learning, changing. I never thought much about life after death. I never expected to have to-I don’t know the rules any more than Nancy Jo does. Was I right to go to her and ask her to help? It hurt her. Shouldn’t I have left her in peace? They always talk a lot about rest and peace.”

“If you didn’t force her, then it was her choice.”

“Yeah, some choice. She’s scared that Jelak is going to kill her father. She’d do anything to keep that from happening.”

Eve got up on one elbow and shook her head as she looked down at him. “Only you, Joe.”

“What?”

“For a man who was mad as hell that this thing had happened to him, you’ve taken a giant leap. Now you want to protect her rights even from yourself. I suppose I should have expected it. It’s how you are, what you do.” She kissed him gently. “You’ve tried to protect me from the moment you met me.”

“I had no other option. I knew from the beginning that protecting you was protecting myself.” He pulled her back down and cuddled her close. “And you can’t tell me that if you were faced with this craziness that you wouldn’t try to figure it out and make it better for everyone.”

Bonnie.

If Eve had accepted that Bonnie was a spirit instead of trying to tell herself that she was a hallucination or dream, would she have been able to put her little girl’s soul at rest? The thought was unbearably painful. Joe was searching, trying to find answers, trying to set everything right for Nancy Jo. All these years Eve had only taken comfort, love, and survival from Bonnie. She had thought bringing her home was the one true answer, but what if it wasn’t? What if she could find some other way to give Bonnie what she needed? What if the solution had been there all along, and she had ignored it? Joe wasn’t ignoring anything, he was probing, questioning. “You’re a better person than I am, Joe. I believe I’d have a tendency to hide away from a truth as uncomfortable as this. Just do what you think is right. That always works for you and everyone around you.”