Eve shook her head. “Beth Avery is my responsibility. Besides, two can be better than one. I won’t get in your way.”

“No, you won’t,” Kendra said coolly. “If you do, I’ll run right over you.” She turned back to Joe. “What can you tell me about Beth Avery’s quarters at the hospital? I suppose you checked everything out when you went to question the people there.”

“Right now, the woman they’re calling Beth Avery is being held in solitary in a room on the first floor. She’s being taken care of by Pierce, and she’s not being allowed any visitors and has only a private nurse in attendance.” He added, “The room from which she escaped is on the third floor in a deluxe suite where she’s supposedly been living since she came there at seventeen. That floor is designated only for rich or famous clients who have been committed for varying lengths of time. There are only two other suites on that floor. Only one is occupied at the moment. Beth’s suite was Room 305.”

“Very good. Where is the human resources office?”

“First floor, second hallway off the reception area. I downloaded a complete floor plan of the hospital from the Internet and it’s on my iPhone. I’ll send it to you when we get to the motel.”

“And what do we know about Harry Pierce?” Eve asked. “If he’s Beth’s personal doctor, he has to be involved in whatever is going on with her. How long has he been her psychiatrist?”

“Since she came to Santa Barbara. He accompanied her from the hospital in Boston, where she stayed when she was first injured. The Avery family insisted he be taken on the staff as her doctor. He was young, and his credentials were only fair and not up to the hospitals standards. But the administrator caved because the Averys were such heavy donors.”

“But you said Pierce was the administrator now,” Eve said.

“He had over a decade to insinuate himself into a very comfortable niche. With the Averys backing him, it’s not surprising he was able to establish his own little kingdom.”

Eve’s lips twisted. “With Beth as the crown jewel.”

“Anyone else we should know about?” Kendra asked.

Joe shook his head. “Give me a break. I only had one visit and the info I could gather on the Internet.”

“You didn’t give me a break,” Kendra said. “I’ll give you what you need but I want—” She broke off as her cell rang. “Oh, shit. It’s my mother.” She hesitated, then reluctantly answered the phone. “Hello, Mother. I can’t talk right now. I’ll call you later. No, I’m not with a student. I’m on my way to Santa Barbara.” She listened again, then said slowly and distinctly, “No, I do not want you to come to Santa Barbara and help. You’ve done everything I needed you to do. I have everything under control. Nothing is going to happen to me. It’s not as if I’m going to do anything dangerous. I just have to go in and absorb a few impressions. Stop worrying.”

Evidently, Kendra’s relationship with her mother is as complicated as mine with Sandra, Eve thought. Kendra was so confident that it was strange to see her this soothing and apologetic.

“No, it won’t be like that,” Kendra said. “Do you think I’d let myself in for that kind of punishment again? I’m not a fool, Mother.” She drew a deep breath. “I have to go now. I’ll call you tomorrow night. It’s going to be fine.” She hung up and leaned back in the seat. “Dammit, I didn’t want to ask her to pull those strings to get us into the hospital. I was afraid that she’d be on my case once she had time to think.”

“It’s natural that a mother would be concerned about her daughter,” Eve said quietly. “It’s understandable that she’s protective.”

“You think you understand?” Kendra asked fiercely. “Not unless you grew up with my mother. She’s stronger than almost anyone I know. Protective? Hell, yes, she wanted to be protective of me. I was blind, for God’s sake. But she wanted me to be as strong and independent as I could be, so she kept herself from sheltering me and made me face the world and find ways to cope.”

“But she changed once you gained your vision?”

“She tried to let me go.” She shrugged. “Something happened to me on an FBI case I worked on. It scared her. She doesn’t like my taking chances. I had to reassure her.” She met Eve’s gaze. “Sorry I jumped on you. You’re right, it’s a natural maternal instinct.” Her lips twisted. “I guess you recognize the signs. You told me it was really your mother who sent you to look for Beth Avery. She appears to be cut from the same cloth as my mother.”

Except that there was nothing strong about Sandra, and the only maternal affection she possessed had been for Beth.

“No?” Kendra’s gaze was narrowed on Eve’s expression.

Eve forced a smile. “Not exactly.” Kendra’s vision might not have had the same fine-tuning as her other senses, but she was entirely too sharp. “Mothers are different. Just as people are different. But I’m glad that you had a woman like that in your life to raise you.”

“So am I.” Kendra’s gaze was still on her face. “But mothers can be a challenge, can’t they?”

Change the subject. Eve was feeling as if Kendra were seeing right through her. “What about your father?”

“My mother divorced him. She said it was because of his other affairs, but I think it was really that he wasn’t a cheerleader for me. She wanted him to be as supportive as she was.” She tilted her head. “You?”

“My father?” She was startled. She hadn’t expected the subject to be turned back to her. “I never knew him. I’m illegitimate. So you see, we’re nothing alike.”

Kendra was silent. “I’m not so sure. Maybe not on the surface.” She looked down at her iPhone. “Quinn, it’s hours before we get to Santa Barbara. I can’t sit here with nothing to do. Will you give Eve your phone and have her send that floor plan of the hospital to me? I should be able to memorize it before we get to the hotel.”

“Big task unless you have total recall,” Joe said as he handed Eve his phone. “I don’t recall that as one of your gifts.”

“It’s not,” she said absently as she retrieved the e-mail from her phone. “But I had to train my memory from childhood, and I’m pretty good. Braille doesn’t really cut it when you’re a blind musician. It can be terribly frustrating…”

*   *   *

“I THINK I LIKE THIS PLACE,” Eve said, as they parked in front of the long, rectangular, stone motel that hovered on a cliff over the beach. Its paned windows reflected the rays of the setting sun, and it looked clean and bright and sturdy. “Did you stay here before, Joe?”

“No, I was in and out of town too quickly.” Joe got out of the car in front of the front entrance. “I’ll go check in for us.” He nodded at a large white building high on a hill across the harbor. “That’s the mental hospital. It will take about ten minutes to reach there tomorrow morning.” He disappeared into the motel.

“Very impressive.” Kendra got out of the car and stared up at Seahaven Behavioral Health Center. “But not threatening.”

“Did you expect Frankenstein’s castle?” Eve asked.

“No, just a comment. I know that bad things sometimes come in pretty packages.” She took her duffel out of the car and turned to Joe as he came back out of the motel. “Room service?”

“Minimal. Sandwiches and drinks.” He handed her a key. “Your room is around the corner and two doors down.”

“Minimal is all I need. I’ve got to call my mother back, then try to sleep. I’ll see you both in the morning.” She moved down the walk, wheeling her duffel behind her.

“I believe we’ve been dismissed,” Joe said. “Do you want to go find a restaurant?”

“No.” She cast one more glance at the hospital before she turned away. It wasn’t Frankenstein’s castle, but it was beginning to loom large in her imagination. Had Beth been able to look out those windows and see all this freedom around her? “Minimal is enough for me, too. Let’s just shower and get to bed.”