Iris Johansen - Bonnie

He shook his head. “I just tried to add to it and let it enrich me. In most cases, I succeeded.” He disappeared into the sanctuary.

HOW FAR HAD THEY GONE?Eve wondered wearily. She had lost track after the first seven or eight miles. It had been dark for some hours now, and that distance must have increased accordingly. The paths that Danner was following were only narrow rutted trails, and the overhanging thorny bushes tore at her clothes and face. She’d had to stop innumerable times to disentangle her hair or shirt.

The path they were on now was particularly bad because it was following a shallow creek bed and her feet were wet and the mud was sucking at her shoes.

She muttered a curse as one shoe was pulled off her right foot. She balanced on the other foot as she reached down to retrieve the shoe.

“You should have worn sensible shoes. Why are women so impractical?” Danner had turned and was standing beside her with a scowl on his face.

“They are sensible. They’re just not mountain boots.” She added dryly, “I wasn’t expecting to go hiking.” She was trying to brush the mud from the sole of the shoe. “I’ll be ready to go again in a minute.”

He stood watching her for a few seconds, and then grabbed her wrists by the ropes binding them and pulled her off the path into the shrubbery.

“What are you doing? Dammit, don’t be so impatient. I have to get the mud off so that-”

“You looked like a stork standing there on one foot,” he growled. “Or maybe a scarecrow. But you’re so torn-up that I wouldn’t put you in a field. The crows would laugh at you.” They had reached a small clearing, and he pushed her down on the ground beneath a giant oak tree. “We can afford to take a short rest. It will take time for John to find the trail again after the last two red herrings I threw at him.”

“You think Gallo is after us?”

He nodded as he threw some branches in a pile and lit them. “He’s behind us somewhere. I can feel him.”

“Imagination?”

His lips twisted. “You mean the crazy old fool is having hallucinations?”

She met his gaze. “Maybe.”

He shook his head. “Father Barnabas thinks that I’m crazy. Sometimes I am. But some things I know better than he does. He thinks demons don’t walk the earth.”

“And you do?”

“I know they do. They’re always right behind me.” He took her shoes and put them before the fire to dry. “And I can’t let them catch me.”

“How long have you been seeing demons?” She paused. “Does the child see the demons, too?”

“No,” he said sharply. “I’d never let her see the demons.” He whispered. “But sometimes I wonder if they’ve already got her. She won’t leave me alone.”

Move carefully. Don’t disturb the mood that was opening the gates. “Why do you think that is?”

“I’m not sure, but I have an idea now. I have to try it anyway.” He sat back on his heels and looked at her. “You’ve done well. No complaints. No whining.”

“Whining?” She made a face. “Terrible. No wonder you don’t think well of women if you’ve run into that quality.”

“I’ve always wanted to think well of them. I’ve always wanted to think well of everyone.” His face clouded. “But there are so many demons in the world. John’s parents were demons, you know.”

“I know he said they were abusive.”

“They were demons. I just didn’t recognize it at the time. They were family, and I tried to work with them to save him. If I had known, I would have destroyed them.”

“When did you start recognizing demons when you saw them?”

“Syria. One night in Syria.”

“They just appeared to you?”

“You’re trying to make me say I’m seeing things.”

“I’m trying to get you to talk to me. You promised you’d talk to me, Danner.”

“Not now.”

“Why not?”

He gazed at her. “Why not?” he repeated. “You won’t believe me.” His gaze shifted to the blazing fire. “I’d been sent into the mountains of Syria to destroy a munitions stronghold held by the militants. I planted the explosives at the building and climbed up into the rocks above the village to set them off. My captain was waiting there for me in the helicopter. I’d done a good job setting that charge. I always did a good job. I was proud of myself. I gave it another five minutes after I reached the helicopter before I pressed the button. It blew.” He swallowed. “But something was wrong. The munitions should have blown, but they didn’t. There were no explosions. Except the one I’d set off when I pressed the button. The entire building was on fire, but there were no ammo explosions.” His hand slowly clenched. “And then I saw the children. Dozens of children running out of the burning building. They were burning, too. They looked like torches in the darkness.”

“What? I don’t understand.”

“It was an orphanage. We’d been fed the wrong information by our informants. They wanted to claim a U.S. atrocity. The children were burning… I could smell their charred flesh. And the ones that weren’t on fire were being picked off by snipers from the edge of the village. I went crazy. I tried to get back down to help them, but it was too late. No one else was coming out of the building. Dead. All dead. And I could see those sons of bitches coming into the village to check to make sure no child had survived.”

“My God.”

“God wasn’t there that night. Only the demons. I could see them outlined by the fire, in their dirty robes. They were dressed like Arabs, but I knew who they were, moving among those small bodies. Demons. I screamed and grabbed my rifle. I jumped out of the helicopter, but I was tackled before I got more than a few yards. My commanding officer said I couldn’t be seen there. I was going to make things worse. They had to do damage control.”

“Damage control?” she whispered. “Children.”

“They were dead, and an international situation was still to be saved. And they saved it. They bribed and coerced and made it go away.” He added, “And they wouldn’t let me go back and destroy the demons. I told them I had to do it, but they said that there were no demons that night. I couldn’t get anyone to believe me. Will you believe me, Eve?”

The story had shocked and sickened her and given her an insight into Danner that had an element of pity. Understanding was acceptable, but she could not feel sympathy. This was a man who might have killed her Bonnie. “You could convince me. Searching for Bonnie, I’ve encountered many individuals who could be demons.” She leaned forward and picked up her shoe. “Including you, Danner.” She was struggling to put on the shoe. “But I’m tired of talking about demons. I want to talk about the child.”

“No.” He pulled out his knife and cut the ropes binding her wrists. “This will make it easier for you to walk. You’re slowing me down.”

“You’re not afraid I’ll manage to escape?”

“I’d catch up with you before you went a quarter mile.” He turned away. “But you’re not going to run away. You’re willing to take any punishment that comes along. You want to go with me.”

“How could you know that?”

“I saw your face at the priest’s study. You were… eager.”

And he was very perceptive. “You could be mistaken.”

He shook his head. “And I saw you earlier in the garden with her.”

She lost her breath. “Her?”

He turned away. “The child. Let’s go.”

“Oh, no.” She took two steps and her hand closed on his arm. “You don’t leave me like that. You saw Bonnie.”

“I told you I saw the child.”