“Just trying to educate you.” Galen turned, climbed the four steps, unlocked the front doors and flipped on the hall lights. “No servants, Eve. I have someone from town come once a week and make a little headway in the dust. Other than that, we’re on our own. All the bedrooms are on the second floor. I think there are ten or eleven.

Choose any that suits you.”

“The only thing I want is a shower.” Nathan went past him into the house.

“Wrap yourself in a sheet when you get out of the shower,” Galen called after him. “I’ll try to find some clothes of mine that are big enough for your rather Olympian frame.”

“I’m just a few pounds overweight,” Nathan said through his teeth.

“Grumpy, isn’t he?” Galen said as Nathan disappeared. “But I agree with him about the shower. However, I’ll make the supreme sacrifice and give you a glimpse of the room I think will be perfect for you to work on Victor, Eve. Come on.” He went into the house.

“Go on. I’ll get the bags.” Joe had moved around the car to the trunk. “I’m not all that eager to see Galen’s pad. I’ve had enough of him for the time being.”

“Then you shouldn’t have come.”

“You know why I came.” He met her eyes. “And it had nothing to do with Galen.” He opened the trunk. “Apart from the fact that I might get the opportunity to break his neck.”

“What about working in here?” Galen threw open the door of a room on the bottom floor. “Lots of light.”

“A kitchen?” She looked around at the huge room with stone floors, an ancient Aga range, as well as a fireplace big enough to walk into.

“It used to be a scullery in the last century. The man I bought the place from converted another room to a kitchen on the level above. This was impossible to update, and he liked his comforts. So do I.” He gestured to a butcher-block table.

“You could put your equipment there. Okay?”

She shivered. “It’s a little cold.”

“That’s what the fireplace is for. I’ll keep it stoked for you. So should I bring your stuff down?”

She hesitated, tempted, and then shook her head. “I don’t think so. I did some thinking on the way here.”

“Second thoughts?”

“Yes.”

“And what did you decide?” Joe asked from the top of the stairs.

“That I’m being a damn idealistic idiot to even consider going on with this reconstruction.”

“Good.” Joe came down the steps. “That’s what I’ve been telling you.”

“If I work all my life, I can’t get through all the reconstructions for people who really need me. Bently may have been a good man, but there are other good people in the world. People are being killed all around me. How do I know it won’t touch my family?” Her lips thinned. “Yes, I’m sorry at the idea of not finishing Victor, but I’m not going to be stupid.”

“Well, you seem to have made up your mind,” Galen said. “How do you want it handled?”

“I don’t trust Melton. He lied to me.”

“The FBI?” Joe asked.

“Maybe.”

“I know, you don’t trust them, either.”

“You used to work with them. Do you know anyone who has the reputation of being incorruptible?”

“Incorruptible isn’t easy to find. Let me think about it and make a few calls.”

“Since I’m not needed, I’m going to see about that shower.” Galen turned and started up the stairs. “If you like, I could bring Victor down and you could have one more go at him before you turn him over.”

“No!”

He stopped in surprise. “It was just a suggestion. I thought you might like—”

“She’s afraid,” Joe said. “She thinks if she starts to work on him again, she won’t be able to give him up.”

Dammit, Joe could always read her. “I’m not stupid. I know what’s important.” But Victor was important, too. He was lost, and she could find him. If she worked on him just a little longer she might—“Don’t set Victor up.” Galen nodded. “Try to get some rest, Eve. It’s been a long night.”

“Are you giving me orders, Galen?”

He started back up the stairs. “Perish the thought. I know I’m in your bad books.

But I stand by my decision to bring Quinn along.” She hurried after him. The last thing she wanted was to be left alone with Joe.

“Are you going to check on Bill Nathan? He seems okay, but nothing has been as it seems since I left Atlanta.”

He nodded. “Right after my shower.” He smiled slyly. “I wonder if he really does have any of those cunning little leeches…”

“She’s gone?” Melton’s tone was controlled, but Jules could detect the anger beneath the smoothness. “With the skull?”

“Yes. But don’t worry, I’ll find her.”

“You should never have lost her, Hebert. Your orders were to see that she finished the skull, and then get rid of her. Where the hell were you tonight? Why weren’t you watching her?”

“I had to be in Boca Raton to check on the progress. I thought it was safe. She didn’t appear to suspect anything, and I knew she wanted to finish the skull. It seemed a good time to— ” He stopped in disgust. He was babbling, making excuses like a fucking amateur to this asshole. “I made a mistake. I’ll rectify it.”

“You certainly will. If it’s not too late. What if she takes the skull to the police?”

“I don’t believe she’ll do that yet, but I’ll have to move fast. My men saw Joe Quinn enter her house earlier tonight. Either he or Galen must have convinced her to run. But she can’t know anything for certain. If she took the skull, it’s probably because she wants to finish it. We both know how intense she is about her work. That may give me a little time. I’ll need your help.”

“As long as I’m not compromised.”

“She won’t go home. If she suspects something, then she’ll be hiding out. I need you to tap your sources and find out where Galen may have taken her. Fast.”

“It’s a big country.”

Jules tried to hold onto his temper and spaced each word with precision. “Can you do this?”

“I permitted you to pursue this line with Duncan when you blundered with Etienne, but we can’t risk it anymore. It’s too dangerous for us. You get that skull and then dispose of her and everyone around her quickly. I don’t want even a ripple of publicity. Do you understand?”

“I understand. Can you find her?”

“I’ll try.” He hung up.

And he’d try very hard, Jules thought. Melton might try to lay the entire blame on Jules, but he was responsible for Boca Raton and wanted this Bently problem wrapped up before he had to answer awkward questions.

So did Jules. He was having trouble keeping all the balls in the air. Ever since that night when he had killed Etienne, he had been forced to lie and cheat and make compromises. If he wasn’t careful, everything would come crashing down on him.

No, he wouldn’t permit it. He had given up too much to be defeated now. He couldn’t sit here and trust Melton to find Eve Duncan.

He would take matters into his own hands.

Chapter 10

« ^ »

CHRIST, SHE WANTED DINNER TO BE OVER.

The meal seemed to go on forever. Nathan’s surly attitude had not improved with his shower. Joe had been almost silent, and Eve had been so aware of him sitting across the table that she had only been able to respond stiltedly to Galen’s questions and comments.

Galen was the only one who seemed to be unaffected by the atmosphere. He was charged, wired, a one-man show. He alternated between running to the kitchen for a variety of delicious dishes, telling stories, and occasionally jabbing verbally at Joe or Nathan.

“You’re all a great disappointment to me.” Galen leaned back in his chair after he had served coffee. “If I weren’t so socially adept, this meal would have been a disaster. Your performance has been abysmal.”

“This isn’t a circus, Galen,” Joe said. “And you’re not the ringmaster.”

“Very good comparison, Quinn. Evidently you’re not totally lacking in the conversational arts.”

“Galen,” Eve said.

“She obviously wants to smooth the troubled waters around here.” Galen turned to Joe. “Is she afraid for me or you? What do you think?”