“There’s a possibility if I thought Doane wasn’t a real threat and controllable.” Venable saw the expression on their faces and said harshly, “I won’t make excuses. My life is all about compromises and control. That disk is important. I need to take Doane alive and take it away from him. It’s life or death for too many people not to try to grab it and keep it safe. It’s worth taking a risk.”

“Not if it’s Eve’s risk,” Jane said jerkily. “Screw your control. And there won’t be any compromises where Eve’s concerned. If there are I’ll—”

“Easy.” Joe put his hand on her arm. “I feel the same way, but we have to work together.” His glance at Venable was icy. “We have to use him for the time being. Afterward, it may be a different matter.”

“So use me.” Venable’s lips twisted. “I never thought I’d say that. It should tell you how much I want you to find Eve.”

“If it doesn’t get in the way of CIA business,” Jane said. She held up her hand. “I know, Joe. I’m not being cool and logical. I’m just so damn mad.” She added in a whisper, “And so damn scared.” She drew a shaky breath. “All right, I have to get everything straight in my head, Venable. It’s all been hurled at us in bits and pieces. This Kevin Relling was a monster of the first order. He was in the Special Forces and became an expert assassin. He was also some kind of megalomaniac who was trying to grab power by joining the terrorists who were protecting Bin Laden.”

“The children,” Margaret whispered. It was the first words she’d spoken since Venable had begun his narrative. Her face was pale and stricken. “Those poor children.”

“The fact that he was also a child killer was merely his casual entertainment,” Jane said. “Venable wouldn’t regard it as important as political ramifications.”

Venable flinched. “Not fair, Jane.”

“I don’t want to be fair. It’s going to take a long time for me to forgive you.” She added, “But that’s not important right now. General Tarther was authorizing illegal action in Pakistan to catch the terrorist group who was protecting Bin Laden. Kevin Relling killed Tarther’s daughter as revenge, but the general went on the hunt and brought Relling in to face a criminal trial. When the charge was dismissed on a technicality, Tarther couldn’t believe it. When Relling escaped, the general almost went crazy. He hired a contract killer to find and kill Relling. He accomplished his mission, and that was the end of Kevin Relling.” She glared at Venable.”Do I have it right?”

“But it was the beginning of your dealing with Doane,” Joe said. “What the hell were you doing protecting him?”

“Doane came to us and demanded we protect him from his son’s former al-Qaeda buddies. He said he’d lost his son and all he wanted to do was start a new life. He wanted to be placed in a witness protection program.”

“And you did it?”

“He also said that he had a disk his son had given him and told him to use it if he felt threatened. He didn’t want to use it, but he had to protect himself if we couldn’t do it for him.”

“And you believed him?”

“I’m a cynical bastard, but there was a chance he was telling the truth. He was very, very good. He seemed so sincere, a grieving father who’d had no idea his son was anything but a soldier serving his country.” He looked at Jane. “You drew that sketch of him from Ben Hudson’s description. He looks like a nice guy, sympathetic, kind. He’s even more convincing in person. He strikes just the right note. It’s incredible. I researched him thoroughly, and I couldn’t connect any of Kevin Relling’s crimes to his father. It was worth a chance if I kept him under close surveillance. I set him up in a small town in Colorado.”

“Why didn’t you just have someone break in and go after the disk?”

“We searched his house four times in the last five years. No disk.” He lifted one shoulder in a half shrug. “And Doane appeared to be living the life he told me he wanted. Involved with the neighbors, volunteer at the local high school. Everyone liked him.”

“And then he took off?” Joe said. “Where the hell was his surveillance?”

“Too complacent. For five years, he’d watched Doane being the great guy next door. I’m sure Doane knew my agent’s schedule and worked around it.”

“So he was lulling everyone into thinking he was something he wasn’t,” Jane said. “Five years is a long time to waste building up a false image. Or did he just suddenly, impulsively break out?”

“He wasn’t wasting time,” Venable said. “I think he must have been very busy.”

“Doing what?”

“Getting ready to go after the men he blamed for killing his son.”

“Five years? Why didn’t he go after General Tarther right away?”

“I’d bet he wanted the whole package. He might be able to kill Tarther, but what about the hired gun who actually pulled the trigger? He didn’t even know his name.” He grimaced. “Though Doane did ask me if I knew who did it when we started negotiating his protection.”

“And that didn’t set off any alarms?”

“I told you, he was very good. There was no anger, tears were running down his cheeks. A bewildered father trying to find answers.”

“And do you know who killed Kevin Relling?”

“Yes. Tarther told me.” He was silent a moment. “Though I made a deal with him that I wouldn’t reveal his name to anyone in exchange for his not going after Doane to tie up loose ends. I tried to keep my word, dammit.”

“You told Doane?”

“Hell, no. But I’m going to tell you. I have to do it. It’s too dangerous not to do it now.” He paused. “Lee Zander.”

Joe frowned, going over the name in his memory for any reference. “I’m familiar with the names of a lot of professional hit men. I’ve never heard of him.”

“That doesn’t surprise me. That’s why Zander’s lasted all these decades without being killed or captured. He’s very particular about his targets, and he’s as close to being the perfect killing machine as I’ve ever come across. He’s also incredibly expensive, and he only has to emerge from seclusion occasionally. You might say he’s unique.”

“I might say he’s a murderer. You shouldn’t have worried about keeping your word to him.”

“I was more worried about keeping myself alive,” he said dryly. “Zander was hard to persuade not to go after Doane, and he doesn’t like people who don’t keep their word. As it was, he thought he was running a risk, and Doane was going to cause him trouble.”

“And he was right?” Jane asked. “But he’s causing more trouble for Eve than Zander. Why?”

“He spent a long time finding out who killed his son and making his plans. She’s evidently part of the entire picture.”

“The reconstruction?”

He was silent a moment. “I’m sure that’s one of the pieces.” He went on quickly, “And since he went to a good deal of trouble to get her, we have to include her in any long-range plot Doane concocted. We have to assume she’ll be on his list.”

“List?”

“Kill list,” he said simply. “Tarther. Zander.” He paused. “Eve.”

“No,” Jane said hoarsely. “He had reason to kill Tarther and Zander. Not Eve.” She shook off Caleb’s hand as he reached out to touch her shoulder. “But since when do maniacs have to have reasons?” she asked unevenly. “He killed Dukes and probably that farmer. Okay, I’ll accept that it’s only a matter of time before he decides to kill her. Now we have to keep him from doing it. If he’s going after Tarther and Zander, then we have a chance to capture him when he shows up.” She rubbed her temple. “If he keeps Eve alive that long. We’d be much safer trying to find out where he’s keeping her. You have no idea, Venable? Something you haven’t told us? If you had an agent watching him all those years, he should have been able to report where he went when he left the property.”

“He did, and we checked them all out. That doesn’t mean that he couldn’t have slipped away from him some nights.” He made a face. “Complacency, again. He wasn’t considered a danger. He also had a computer that he’d wiped clean. We’re digging into that memory.”