Plan. She had to have a plan that would take care of all aspects of her escape. And what about her course when she made it outside? Not easy. Doane had set a load of complications for her to overcome. She could do it. She just had to have a plan and not try to wing it.

Today, Doane. I promise you, it will be today, you bastard.

CHAPTER

16

“YOU’VE GOT THE NOSE.” DOANE’S eyes were glinting with excitement as he stared at the skull. “You said it would be so hard, but it came quickly, almost like magic.” He added softly, “Kevin’s magic. He’s telling you what to do, isn’t he?”

“No, I’m just damn good at my job.” She avoided looking at the nose that had emerged beneath her fingers in an incredibly short time. “Your son is dead, and he has no magic. All that’s left of him is this hideous skull.”

“It’s not hideous anymore. You’re making him the way he was before Zander killed him.” His gaze was visually caressing the skull. “But it will be better when you put in the eyes. Go ahead and do it.”

She stiffened. “It’s not time. There’s a lot of smoothing and fine-tuning to do. The eyes are the last thing to go in.”

“You could do all that stuff later. I want to see his eyes. They were blue like mine. But his were sharper, keener, almost mesmerizing.”

“You’ll be disappointed. These are glass eyes, and they only reflect color, not personality.”

“Maybe. Put them in.”

She did not want to put those eyes into the skull. She did not want to complete this reconstruction of a monster. “Later.” She pushed her stool back. “I need a cup of coffee.” She walked toward the kitchenette. She could feel the tension in every muscle. It was almost time. It was late afternoon, and she needed to escape while she could still see the terrain to give herself the best chance. Doane was excited, impatient, absorbed with his son, less likely to notice anything different about her demeanor. Good. Because she felt as if her determination and nervousness were blatantly obvious.

Calm down. She had a plan, didn’t she? She had worked and experimented with those gas vents. It wasn’t as if she were going at this blind.

“You can’t have everything your own way, Doane.” She put on the coffeemaker. “You brought me here because I’m an expert, right? Now let me do my work the way it should be done.”

“Yes, you’re an expert.” He was frowning. “And that’s one of the reasons why I brought you here. Not the only one. I had no idea you’d be so difficult. I want those eyes put in.”

She turned her back on him and reached for a coffee mug.

He muttered a curse. “You’re a bitch who doesn’t realize how helpless you are. I’m the one in charge. I’m the one who makes the calls. I have the—” His phone rang, and she saw him check his ID as she glanced over her shoulder. “Curious?” He was smiling maliciously. “I made a call to Blick last night. I wanted someone dead. That’s how much power I have. I just say the word, and someone dies. Do you know who I told him to kill?” He punched the access. “Hold on, Blick. A lesson is in progress.” He looked at Eve. “You heard me send him to your lake cottage when we were in the truck. People you care about are there. Did I tell him to kill Joe Quinn? Jane MacGuire?”

She couldn’t breathe, her chest painfully tight. “I don’t believe you.”

“Which one, Eve?” he asked softly.

She moistened her lips. “Neither. You wouldn’t want to sacrifice a possible way to control me.”

“Clever. But I had you for a minute, didn’t I?” He pressed the speaker button on the phone. “Go ahead, Blick. Success?”

“He’s dead. I killed him in his garden. It was a great shot. I was able to break into the house next door and zero in on him from one of the upper-floor windows. Kevin would have been proud of me.”

“I’m sure he would have been. Any interference?”

“A guard inside the house. I was able to get away while he was checking out the old man.” He paused. “You know, I think the old man knew I was there. He lifted his head as if he was listening or something. Then he just sat there as if he was waiting. Weird.”

“But he’s dead, that’s all that counts.”

“Yeah, where do you want me to go from here?”

“I’ll let you know.” He looked at Eve. “Maybe back to the lake cottage.”

“Whatever you say, but the woods were crawling with cops. It may be chancy.”

“I’ll let you know,” Doane repeated. He hung up.

“Who … is the old man?”

“I think you can guess. You’re so clever. General John Tarther. He’s lucky he lived to be this old. He’s been on borrowed time for the last five years.” He looked back at the reconstruction. “But we got him, didn’t we, Kevin? I couldn’t make it last as long as I wanted. I sent him to you to do whatever you want with the bastard.”

She shuddered as she saw Doane’s vicious intensity. “Why now?”

“I’m sure you realized that my call to Zander last night was the signal for the game to start. I was willing to let Blick take care of Tarther, so that I could concentrate on Zander.”

And while Eve had slept, an old man who had only sought final justice for the death of his child had breathed his last.

Rest in peace.

Help him, Bonnie.

“So you can see that I’m in charge. I make the rules. One phone call, and I can—”

“I understand you.” She didn’t want to hear any more. She was sad and sick at the thought of that needless death. She had to stop that obscene bragging. “I’m duly intimidated.”

“No, you’re not. But you will be. Put in Kevin’s eyes.”

“Do it yourself.”

He was taken aback. “What?”

“If you won’t let me finish the rest the way it should be done, then do it yourself.” She poured the hot coffee into her mug. “Placing the eyes is the simplest part of the process, and who should know better how they should look.” She took a sip of coffee. “I’ll open the display case for you, if you like.”

“I don’t know if…” But he was beginning to like the idea. His expression was intrigued. “You’re right; I know exactly how he should look.”

“And your Kevin would love having someone simpatico add the final touches. I don’t think he likes me much, does he?”

“No, he liked you better before he realized how strong you made the little girl,” he said absently. He was suddenly eager, excited. “Yes, Kevin would like me to do him that service. It would be the way we helped each other when we were together.”

Helped each other victimizing those children, she thought, sick. “I’ll get the case.” She crossed the room to the worktable. “I might have to build up the under-eye area to support the eye.” She set her coffee down on the worktable and reached underneath and pulled out the case. “I usually use brown eyes, but I notice you made sure I had blue.”

“Of course.” He watched as she opened the case. “It’s not as if I didn’t know exactly what he looked like.”

“Why didn’t you say anything about me looking at photos then?”

“You didn’t do it with other reconstructions. I wanted you to get the feel of him.” His eyes were fixed in fascination on the glass eyes she’d revealed. “And you did.”

There was no doubt about that, Eve thought. Even at this moment, she felt entirely too close to that skull.

“Now it’s your turn to get the feel of him.” She lifted her coffee to her lips. “Pick up one of the eyeballs. Careful.”

“They’re not as beautiful as Kevin’s.” He carefully picked up the glass eye. “But they’ll have to do.” His head lifted to look at the empty orbital cavities. “We’re so close, Kevin. Just this one more—”

Eve threw the scalding coffee into Doane’s eyes!

He screamed. He dropped the glass eye and frantically reached for his own eyes.

Eve’s hand darted out in a karate chop to his neck. He dropped to his knees. His hand reached blindly for the weapons in his pocket. “Bitch.”