Iris Johansen - Blood Game

Lord, she was glad to have her home again.

JANE JUMPED TO HER FEETthe minute Joe walked out on the porch. “Okay,” she said. “What the hell is wrong with you, Joe?”

“I don’t know what you mean.” Joe looked away from her and out at the lake. “Nothing is wrong with me. Eve and I have had a rough patch for the last few weeks. She probably told you about it on the way from the airport.”

“She told me that the serial killer who she’d thought might have killed Bonnie hadn’t done it. She told me that you’d found a virtual killing ground of children on that island in the swamp that he had murdered.” She paused. “She didn’t tell me that you’d withdrawn from her like this. She downplayed it. But you didn’t even look at her. And not only her. Have I done something lately to make you angry with me?”

“How could you? You’ve been in Paris at your art gallery.”

“Maybe you think I should have been here and supporting Eve. I did try, Joe. She wouldn’t have it.”

“I’m not blaming anyone for anything.” Joe’s smile was forced. “Look, we just have to work through this.” He checked his wristwatch. “And it’s time I got to the precinct and did some work on cleaning up that case. We still haven’t identified all those bodies.”

“And you won’t tell me what’s wrong,” Jane said bluntly. “You’re running away. Don’t bullshit me, Joe. You and Eve practically raised me. I know you.”

“Do you?” He started down the porch steps. “Then you know that I’m a cop and when I have a job to do, I do it. I’ll call you and Eve later and tell you what time I’ll be home.” He could feel Jane’s troubled gaze on him as he got into the driver’s seat. As he started the car, he saw Eve come out of the house and stand beside Jane on the porch. Two strong, intelligent women, the two women he loved most in the world.

And because of their strength and intelligence he had to avoid them like the plague right now. He didn’t need them focusing that keen intelligence and perceptiveness on him. They might see something he didn’t want anyone to see.

He waved as he backed the car out of the driveway.

He’d be okay. It had only been the stress and strain of the years of searching for Eve’s little girl that had sparked that hallucination earlier this morning. He wasn’t nuts. As long as he recognized the problem, then it was no problem at all. There would be no more hallucinations.

There would be no more ghostly visits from Bonnie.

“WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME,Eve?” Jane watched Joe drive down the road. “I’ve never seen him like this. I know you’ve been having problems, but Joe was almost… distant.”

“I couldn’t tell you what I didn’t know,” Eve said. “He was fine when I left to pick you up at the airport.” No, not fine. Joe and her relationship was strained, and the failure to find Bonnie on that island and bring closure to the agony of the years of searching had not made it any better. But he hadn’t been the stiff, almost remote man who’d greeted Eve and Jane when they’d returned to the lake cottage. “Yes, we’re not absolutely on the same page, but we’re working through it.”

“Are you?”

She shrugged. “We’re trying. We may not make it. If we don’t, it will be my fault. I have to find Bonnie, but that’s my obsession, not Joe’s. I don’t know why he doesn’t just walk away from me.”

“Yes, you do. He loves you. You’re his center,” Jane said. “And he won’t walk away from you.”

“He came close this time,” Eve murmured. “I told you, he needed for me to find Bonnie. He wants it over, Jane.”

“You said you were working it out. As long as there’s hope, he’s not going to give up.” Jane gave her a hug. “He said that you were going through a rough patch. Maybe that’s all it was this morning, just a reaction to that horror on the island. I don’t know how in hell you survived.”

“We had Megan. She was the one who almost didn’t survive. She went into shock and was in a coma for hours.”

“So you told me.” She slid her arm around Eve’s waist and led her back into the cottage. “Though some of the things you told me are pretty hard to believe. Come on, let’s have a cup of coffee, and we’ll talk it out.”

“I can’t make you believe in her, Jane. I thought Megan was a phony, but she’s not.” Her lips curved in a sad smile. “I guarantee that she doesn’t want to be able to hear those dead children. She can’t help it. She heard them, and she led us to that island. It could have killed her. She said she doesn’t know much about how that psychic talent works. She only became aware she even had any psychic abilities very recently.”

Jane poured coffee into Eve’s cup. “You’re right. I’m having a few problems with this Megan business. I have a tendency to think that you only wanted it to be true.” She paused before she added deliberately, “Because then she might be able to help you find Bonnie.”

“I wouldn’t ask her to do it.” She took a sip of her coffee. “Lord, I hope I wouldn’t ask her. I know what it would do to her.” She gazed at Jane across the table. “She thinks I’ll ask her someday. She’s already told me that she won’t do it. That it would be worse for me to really know the details of how Bonnie died.”

“My respect is growing for her. She may be right,” Jane said. She held up her hand as Eve opened her lips. “I hope with all my heart that you find Bonnie. But I don’t want you to find a new stock of nightmares along with her.”

Eve was silent a moment. Even Jane could see the dangers that Megan had told her about. Eve could see them, too, but to find Bonnie… To bring her home…

“Eve…”

Jane’s expression was full of love, full of understanding, full of concern. “Listen, Eve. I’d like to say I know how you feel, but there’s no way anyone could.” She reached across the table and took both of Eve’s hands. “When I was a kid, I was even a little jealous that you could love Bonnie so much. I never wanted to take her place. I just wanted to find a way to take away your pain. But I knew I never could.” She shook her head as Eve opened her lips to speak. “And when I grew older, I began to understand. To lose a child… I probably won’t fully realize what that means until I have a child myself. But even if I can’t feel what you feel, I want you to know that I’m with you until hell freezes over.”

“I know you are.” Eve could feel her throat tighten with emotion. “And I bless the day we found you.” She smiled with an effort. “Enough of this. You haven’t been home a few hours, and you’re already worried about Joe, worried about me, and trying to solve all the problems in the world. Now, forget about us. Tell me about your work. Are you working on a new painting?”

“No, I’ve been too busy doing public-relations stuff with the gallery.” She made a face. “You know how I love that. I’m not meant for-” She stopped as Eve’s phone rang. “Answer it. You don’t really want to hear about my trials and tribulations with the media.”

“Yes, I do. You’re not getting out of it.” She glanced at the ID. “It’s Montalvo.”

Jane’s brows rose. “Montalvo’s still on the scene?”

“Yes, but he’s under control.” As much as anyone could control him. She punched the button. “I’m very busy, Montalvo.”

“Why do you always greet me as if I was on the attack?” Luis Montalvo’s voice was amused. “When you know I only want the best for you.”

“I’m having coffee with Jane. What do you want, Montalvo?”

“Ah, your Jane. The beautiful Jane MacGuire. I didn’t know she was back in the country.”