CHAPTER 10
“Something’s happening,” Bonnie said. “I don’t like it, Mama.”
Eve glanced away from the skull she was working on to look across the room.
Bonnie was curled up at one end of the couch.
The little girl was dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, as she always was when she appeared to Eve, her red hair wildly curly and her expression radiant and full of life. Eve’s heart leaped with joy.
She quickly looked back at the skull. “Well, hello. I wondered if I was going to see you again.” She changed the tab on the skull to a different depth. “I mean, dream of you again.”
Bonnie chuckled. “Of course that’s what you mean. You never give up, Mama. But someday you’ll admit I’m who I say I am. You’re already halfway there.”
“To the funny farm? No, thank you.”
“You know you’re not crazy. Where are Joe and Jane?”
“They went to a matinee in town. Jane wanted to see some new Matt Damon movie. I had work to do, so I passed on it.” She paused. “But I must have gotten sleepy and stretched out on that couch for a nap. Or you wouldn’t be here.”
Bonnie grinned. “Isn’t it great how much work you got done on that skull while you were sound asleep?”
“Shut up, brat. I don’t care what you say.
You’re not a ghost, only a figment of my imagination.
I created you, and as soon as I no longer need you, you’ll fade.
I’m already on the way. You haven’t appeared for months.
” She kept her eyes on the skull. “I thought when Sarah found your body and we brought you home that maybe you’d moved on. ”
“And that made you happy?”
“Yes, of course.” She closed her eyes. “No, I’m lying. I’ve missed you, baby.”
“I’ve missed you too.”
She cleared her throat. “Then why haven’t you come to see me?”
“You were all confused about me. You know, for a smart woman, sometimes you don’t think so clearly. I thought I’d stay away until you and Jane got everything straight.”
“How diplomatic of you.”
“I want things right for you, Mama. I would have stayed away longer, but I got worried.” She fell silent a moment. “Something’s going to happen.”
“You said that before.”
“Because it’s true. Something bad.”
“And I’m supposed to believe you?” Her hand was shaking as she placed another tab. “Joe? Jane?”
“I don’t think so. Maybe. You know I can’t see what’s going to happen. I just get glimpses or feelings.”
“A fine ghost you are. Get me all excited and then tell me you don’t know any details.”
“Sarah . . .”
“What?”
“There’s darkness all around Sarah. Death. So much death.”
“She just got back from Barat. There was plenty of death there.”
Bonnie shook her head. “Something’s going to happen.”
“Then go visit her dreams.”
“Mama.”
“What can I do? Tell her my daughter who we just buried is worried about her?”
Bonnie nibbled at her lower lip. “It’s not only her. Some of the darkness has to be near you or I wouldn’t be able to feel it.” She cocked her head, listening. “I have to go now. I hear Joe’s car.”
“I don’t.” Eve wiped her hands on a towel and moved toward the window. Joe’s car was just turning the far curve in the road. “How do you do that?”
“There are some advantages to being a ghost. I love you, Mama.”
“And I love you, baby.” She turned her head. “But you can be very—” The end of the couch was empty. No small jean-clad form, no bright, mischievous face. No Bonnie.
She closed her eyes as disappointment surged through her. Most of the time dreaming of Bonnie brought her a sense of peace, but this time she had a nagging feeling of disquiet. Why?
Something’s going to happen.
Darkness.
She had thought she had left darkness behind. These last months with Joe had been filled with joy and light. The only cloud had been Jane’s attitude, and Eve had been sure that could be remedied. If there were something menacing coming, she wouldn’t believe the fates would let it come to them.
She was whistling in the dark. When Bonnie had been murdered, she learned there was no justice in the world. She could only cling to the people she loved and hope.
Joe parked beside the cottage and he and Jane were getting out of the car.
They were laughing and Eve suddenly felt better.
She headed for the front door to meet them.
She wasn’t going to let her imagination depress or panic her.
Bonnie was not a ghost, only a dream. She had no power to see danger on the horizon.
Sarah was perfectly safe, and no darkness was near either Eve or the people she loved.
Darkness was falling, but Rudzak could still see the eager, loving look on Eve Duncan’s face as she moved across the porch toward Joe Quinn and the child.
It told him all he needed to know. It appeared Logan’s affair with Eve Duncan was as dead as yesterday’s news.
Duncan had a new man and Logan wasn’t one to accept the role of second fiddle.
Too bad.
He lowered the binoculars and turned to Duggan. “Start the motor. We can go now.” He settled back in his seat as Duggan piloted the speedboat across the lake.
The dossier on Logan had told him that the relationship with Eve had faded, but Rudzak had had to see for himself. It would have been exquisite to destroy a woman Logan loved. However, he might reconsider Eve Duncan if nothing more interesting appeared on the horizon.
His fingers touched the ivory and jade comb he’d slipped into his pocket when he’d left the hotel that morning. He’d thought perhaps . . .
Not yet, Chen Li.
He would be glad to rid himself of the comb. It was one of the last gifts he’d given her and the memories were bitter.
“You shouldn’t give this lovely thing to me.” Even as Chen Li spoke, her forefinger ran delicately over the yellowed ivory teeth of the comb. “It’s too expensive. John never says anything, but I think it makes him feel bad that he can’t give me gifts like this.”
“Logan isn’t that selfish. You like it, don’t you?”
“It’s wonderful.” She reluctantly handed it back to him. “But John’s feelings are more important. You do understand, Martin?”
Fury tore through him. He turned away so she wouldn’t see it. “Of course I understand.” He moved toward the cabinet where she kept her treasures. “But it belongs to you. Suppose we just put the comb in the back of the case and not mention it to Logan? He’ll probably not even notice it.”
“I—I suppose that would be all right.”
“I’m sure it will.” He closed the case and smiled at her. “After all, he does want you to have the things that make you happy.”
“It’s not things that make me happy, Martin. John makes me happy.”
“That’s good. That’s all I want.”
And to see Logan dead.
She had gone to the doctor the next week and he diagnosed her with leukemia. After all those years he had been cheated.
Logan had cheated him.
“Are we coming back?” Duggan asked.
“Maybe. But not right now.”
“Where do we go from here?” Duggan asked. “Sacramento? Dodsworth?”
“Patience,” Rudzak answered. But Duggan had no patience; in many ways he was like a child.
“Dodsworth?” Duggan persisted.
“Eventually. But there are other things to do first. I’ve waited a long time for Logan. I’ve always found that anticipation can almost be more rewarding than the act itself.”
“For you,” Duggan said sourly. “It seems to me all that trouble we went through in Phoenix was a waste of time.”
He was really incredibly dense, Rudzak thought with amazement. And stupidity was dangerous. Already Rudzak had decided that Duggan would not survive the blast he was so eager to engineer.
But that was down the road, and Duggan’s usefulness was not plumbed fully yet.
So keep him on an even keel, don’t show him the scorn.
Push the right buttons. With Duggan it was his self-love and conceit.
“I know it’s difficult for a man of action like you to hold back,” he said gently.
“It’s one of the qualities I admire in you.
But give my way a try. I think you’ll be surprised. ”
He watched the words work on Duggan.
Finally the man shrugged. “If you say so. I guess I’ll go along with you.”
“Thank you.” Rudzak smiled brilliantly. “I promise this job will be the ultimate experience of your lifetime.”
Eve called Sarah at nine-thirty that evening.
“Is everything okay?” Sarah asked. “How’s Jane?”
“Not much better. Though you’d never guess if you didn’t know her. She’s just . . . quiet.”
“And how are you?”
“Fine. I knew you’d be worrying, so I thought I’d give you a call.”
“The offer is still open. I’m having a few problems right now, but they should be settled soon and I’d love to have Jane for a while.”
“We’re a family. We’ll work it out.”
Sarah shook her head. “You’re so stubborn. It’s not a crime to ask for help from a friend.”
“We’ll work it out. How’s Monty?”
“In love. With a wolf.”
“What?”
“Don’t ask.” But that gave her an idea. “Maggie, that’s the wolf, has a fractured leg and I could use help tending her. Jane is really good with animals.”
Eve laughed. “And that’s going to make me send Jane to the rescue? Only you would think a wounded animal is a perfectly good reason to send a child into a wolf’s den.”
“Hey, it’s my den. The wolf is just a guest.”
“No deal.”
“Jane would love her. Maggie’s not easy, but she has character. Come to think of it, she reminds me a little of Jane.”
“Does she?”
“I can tell you’re not convinced. Keep thinking about it and let me know.”
“Take care of your own wolf.” Eve hesitated. “How are things with you? What kind of problems? Besides the wolf.”
“Isn’t the wolf enough?”
“You’re being evasive.”
“Maybe a little.” She looked at Logan sitting in his chair across the room. “But any problem I have isn’t anything that won’t go away. I’ll call you in a week and see if you’ve changed your mind about sending me Jane. She really would like Maggie.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of. All I need is to have her heart broken when she has to leave your damn wolf.” Another pause. “You’re sure everything is under control with you? I’ve been uneasy about you lately.”
“Why on earth?”
“I don’t know. I just feel . . .”