“Damn,” Joe said in frustration. “We just had a lecture at the Bureau about the potential for using DNA in identifying victims. But that’s still down the road a bit. I want it now.”

“I’m satisfied with the old tried-and-true methods,” Slindak said. “We get along just fine without your fancy scientific bullshit.”

“Except when all you have to work with is a skeleton.” Joe walked out of the cave. The rain felt good on his face after the stench and closeness of death inside the cave. He moved quickly through the stand of trees toward the road.

The techs were closing the back doors of the M.E. van as he came out of the woods.

And Eve was standing beside the car, watching them.

“Shit.” His pace quickened. He reached her in seconds. “Dammit, why did you get out of the car?” He opened the passenger door and gently pushed her onto the seat. “You’re wet as a drowned rat.”

“I had to see her,” she whispered. “But there was nothing to see, was there? It looked like a bag full of … nothing.”

Joe ran around the car and got into the driver’s seat. “It wasn’t nothing. It was a skeleton, but the bones were … not together.” He started the car and drove past the M.E. van as quickly as he could.

“Animals?”

“Partly.”

Her hands clenched together on her lap. “And what’s the other part? Tell me.”

“So you can hurt more?”

“So I can know what he is.”

She wasn’t going to give up. He said curtly, “He cut off her head and put it on a ledge over her body.”

She inhaled as if he’d struck her.

“And now you know what the bastard is. Does it make you any happier?”

“No. Poor little girl … It’s Janey Bristol?”

“We’re not sure. There’s not much to ID.”

“It’s going to kill her parents. I want to help them.”

“You can’t do anything.”

“I guess not. I’ll think about it. Is there any evidence?”

“A possible footprint. He didn’t try to hide what he’d done. He’s bold as brass.”

“You said that before. Then we should be able to find him.”

“We’ll find him. Stop thinking about him for a while.”

“We may find other bodies. He’s being careless.”

“That’s a possibility.”

She was silent for a long time, watching the rain hit the windshield. “I’m glad she was found. She was alone so long in that cave. When we find out who she is, she’ll be able to go home to people who love her.”

She was identifying the child with her Bonnie, Joe knew. His heart was aching for her, but there was nothing he could do. “I’m glad she was found, too.”

“I keep thinking that … it might have been Bonnie. I have a chance that she’s still alive. But if he did take her, then I have to find him to be sure either way.”

And she was beginning to accept that her daughter could be dead, a victim of the monster who had killed the little girl in the cave.

He pulled the car to a stop in front of her house. “Come on. Let’s get you inside. You need a hot shower and some rest.”

“Go home, Joe.” She got out of the car. “I wouldn’t put it past you to strip me down and throw me in the shower.”

“It’s an interesting idea.”

“Not really. I’m too skinny for you, remember?” She shook her head. “I have some thinking to do. I don’t want you here.”

He didn’t want her to be alone, dammit. Should he push it?

She started up the steps. “I’ll be fine. Stop worrying. I got along before you dropped into my life.”

“But not as well.”

She turned as she unlocked the door. “No, not as well.” She smiled slightly. “Though I hate to cater to your ego. I’ll see you tomorrow, Joe.”

“I’ll call you first thing in the morning. I want you to tell me that you slept a little.”

“I’ll work on it.”

“But you’re going back to those reports.”

“He’s a monster, Joe,” she said quietly. “He might be my monster. We have to stop him.” She disappeared into the house.

Joe waited until the lights went on inside before he pulled away from the curb. He couldn’t force her to let him help her. He’d already invaded her space and compromised her independence. It was a wonder that she hadn’t rebelled against him before. He’d go back to the precinct and see if any of the forensic reports were completed yet.

Whether the man who killed that little girl in the cave was Eve’s monster or not, he was definitely a monster. Joe could feel the anger tear through him as he remembered the hideously macabre scene in the cave.

Get to work. Show the bastard he wasn’t as invulnerable as he thought he was. Joe felt a familiar exhilaration mix with the rage. The warrior instinct that had been a part of his life for years was starting to simmer.

Yes, he was in the mood for hunting monsters.

CHAPTER

5

JOE THREW A FOLDED NEWSPAPER on the table in front of Eve the next morning. “The media got hold of the story. Interviews with the hunters. Descriptions of what they saw in the cave. Damn them. We hadn’t yet notified the Bristols that it might be their daughter. We were waiting to check with her dentist. The phones have been ringing off the hook from parents of those kidnapped kids, and we can’t even tell them yes or no.”

Eve opened the newspaper and shook her head. “Why didn’t they wait? This is cruel.”

“It’s a scoop. The reporter wanted to get ahead of the competition. The bastard will do anything for a story.”

“Brian McVey,” Eve read the byline. “I hope he’s happy about this ugliness.” She looked up at him. “How long before you get a confirmation on the dental records?”

“This afternoon.” His lips tightened grimly. “And the information will not go to Brian McVey. We’ll leave him so far out in the cold, he’ll freeze to death.” He looked at the files in front of her. “Did you find anything?”

“All the children were in the age brackets from four to eight, all of them were from middle- to high-income families, all of them lived in homes in nice subdivisions.” She looked up. “Except Bonnie. I’m poor as dirt, and this is a rental property. It’s nicer than anywhere I’ve lived before, but it doesn’t compare with one of those houses in Towne Lake or Chestnut Hill subdivisions. I was very happy when I saw that she didn’t make the A-list. That’s two things that are different: three months between the kidnappings, and the kind of place where she lived. It may not seem a lot to you, but to me it’s gigantic.”

“It’s gigantic to me, too,” he said gently. “Anything else?”

“Not yet.” She leaned back in the chair. “What about the footprint in the cave?”

“We’re working on it. It’s not the usual shoe. It’s rubberized…”

“A tennis shoe?”

“Not exactly. The pattern is different … We’re working on it. We’ll get there. I’m going to go to a shoe manufacturer downtown when I leave here and see if he can identify it.” He was glancing through the reports. “But first, why don’t we go and take a look at these houses.”

“Why?”

“These are the kids’ home bases. Children stay close to their home at this age. It’s where they may have been kidnapped.”

“But according to the reports, only two of the parents think their child was taken from the neighborhood.”

“We’ll still take a look.” He turned. “If you want to go with me.”

“Of course, I do.” She was beside him in a moment. “And to the shoe factory, too.”

He shrugged. “Just routine investigation. I could just as well phone you after I finish.”

“Nothing is routine.” She got into the car. “I’ve forgotten what the word means.”

So had Joe. Since the moment he had met her, nothing had been routine or commonplace in his life. “Where, first?”

“Chestnut Hills. Linda Cantrell. It’s in Kennesaw.”