“It’s not over,” Joe said as they watched the police cars drive down the road away from the cottage. “The FBI is going to come down on this case like gangbusters as soon as the man Rusk is sending down from his office gets here. They’ll take over the investigation and be on our doorstep tomorrow morning at the latest.”

“We won’t be here.”

“What?”

“Call Galen and get him and Nathan to come back right away. I want to talk to them.”

Joe studied Eve’s expression, and nodded. “I’ll get them.” She crossed her arms over her chest as she gazed out at the pine trees. The sky was no longer red, but the trees were scorched and bare.

Jennings was dead. Blown to bits. She closed her eyes, sick, as the memory of that blazing car came back to her. She had been angry with him for arbitrarily taking the skull, but she had genuinely liked the man. He didn’t deserve to have that monster kill him.

“They’ll be here within an hour,” Joe said. “They’ll have to take a speedboat from the opposite end of the lake to avoid the guards around the crime scene.” The crime scene. It was an ugly phrase for an ugly act.

“Eve?”

Rage was beginning to supplant the horror. “I’m mad as hell, Joe. Hebert killed him because of Victor. When Hebert thought that he might not be able to find out who Victor was, he wanted to make sure no one else would know, either. He didn’t care that a decent man was blown up, too.”

“It may have been more than that,” Joe said. “Jennings was on the track of something in Boca Raton.”

Yes, Jennings had been excited. What had he said?

It was there in front of me all the time. I didn’t see it.

What had been there in front of Jennings?

She rubbed her aching temple. She couldn’t think. She was in too much of a rage for cool reason. She wanted to strike out again and again and again.

You have to stand toe-to-toe and slug it out.

Jane had said that, but Eve had backed away. Now there was another death, and once more Hebert had gotten away with it.

Damn him to hell.

She wasn’t going to crawl into a cave and hide again.

Galen cut the motor of the speedboat as he reached the pier. “You called, we came.”

“Come into the cottage,” Eve said as she walked back up the pier. “We may not have much time. Joe’s not sure when the FBI will show up again.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Galen gave a low whistle as he got out of the boat and followed her toward the cottage. “Whatever you say.”

Joe was sitting in the easy chair by the window. “Any trouble getting here?” Nathan shook his head. “No problem. God, I need some coffee.” He moved toward the kitchen. “You talk, I’ll listen while I’m making a pot.” His face was pale and pinched, Eve noticed. “You don’t look well.”

“I’ll be okay. I’m not used to this kind of thing.” He scowled. “I once thought I’d like to be a police reporter, but I never made it past the first gang shooting.” He poured water into the coffeemaker. “I hate violence. It makes me sick.”

“Join the club.” Eve shivered as she remembered Jennings’s burning funeral pyre.

“It shouldn’t happen. We shouldn’t let it happen.” Joe’s gaze narrowed on her face. “And do we have a way to stop it?”

“We’ve got to try.” Her hands clenched at her sides. “We can’t let him keep on with this. He almost killed Jane and my mother. He did kill Jennings and Capel and—” She stopped and drew a deep shaky breath. “Jane told me that I should ‘slug it out toe-to-toe,’ but I was too scared of what he’d do. That was a mistake. I have to stop him before he does anything else. No one is safe as long as he’s alive and free. I can’t let him go on like this.”

“To stop him, we have to find him,” Joe said.

She was silent a moment. “Or he has to find me.”

“He’s already destroyed the skull,” Nathan said. “He may not target you now.

Particularly if he has other fish to fry in Boca Raton.”

“Oh, I think he’ll target me. I know too much, and he evidently likes to keep everything tidy for the Cabal.” She paused. “But it will add a little impetus if he thinks I’m going after evidence he doesn’t want to be discovered.”

“And that is?”

“Bently’s grave. I don’t have to have the entire skeleton. In this day of DNA technology, if I discover hair, a bone, even a tooth, I may have a chance of spoiling whatever game Hebert and the Cabal are playing.”

“How?”

“I’m not sure yet. But they don’t want him identified, or they wouldn’t have blown up Jennings’s car tonight.”

“And how are you going to find the grave?”

“I may not be able to. But if Hebert thinks I’m getting near it, he may be drawn in.” She opened her handbag. “On the other hand, I may be able to find it.” She took out a letter-size manila envelope and opened it. “If I can find out where this came from.”

Joe took the envelope and looked inside. “Dirt.”

“Galen called it ‘funny dirt,’ ” Eve said. “It’s a light color, and it has a large amount of tiny bones or shell chips. Victor had this caked mud in all his orifices.” Nathan made a face as he poured coffee into his cup. “Pleasant.” Galen smiled. “Isn’t it nice I’m so observant? You were so obsessed with Victor, I didn’t think you were paying attention when I made the comment.”

“I didn’t want to. It got in the way of my work. But after you left, it kept nagging at me. So I scraped some of the mud into an envelope and put it in my purse.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Joe asked.

“I forgot about it.”

He raised his brows. “Forgot?”

“Okay, I blocked it out,” she said defiantly. “I told you, it was getting in my way with Victor.”

Galen shook his head. “Obsession.”

“And what are you going to do with the mud?” Nathan asked.

“Take it to Louisiana State University. They have one of the best geology schools in the South there. I’ll see if they can give me a lead as to where dirt like this can be found.”

“And then?”

“I go there and Hebert follows me.”

“No,” Joe said flatly.

“Yes.” Eve looked him directly in the eye. “Toe-to-toe, Joe. I’m going to get the son of a bitch.”

He was silent a moment. “I wasn’t objecting to that. You said I, not we. I’m going with you.”

She opened her mouth to protest, and then slowly nodded her head. It was no time to worry about their personal conflict. They had worked together before, and there was no one she trusted as she did Joe.

Trust…

Galen nodded. “I think I’ll tag along, too.”

“No,” Eve said. “I want you to stay and watch over Jane. I need you here.”

“That wasn’t what I was hired to do.”

“I want her safe.”

Galen grimaced. “Okay, but Jane will have my head if she finds out that I’m not dogging your footsteps.”

She smiled faintly. “You’ll survive.”

“I’m not so sure. She’s a tough customer.”

Eve turned to Nathan. “Are you coming with us?”

He shook his head. “I’m heading for Boca Raton. If Jennings found out something down there, I might be able to do the same. I’ll be in touch.” He poured more coffee into his cup. “We don’t have much time. It’s already the twenty-fifth, and the twenty-ninth was the date Etienne was so concerned about.” The ticking clock. She wouldn’t think about it. She would move as quickly as she could, but there was no sense in panicking. “Then we need to get going.” She turned to Joe. “Can you call your chief and get them to keep the FBI off our backs for a few days?”

He shook his head. “But I can try to get the chief to keep his mouth shut about where we are.”

“Good.” Eve turned to Galen. “I need Hebert to know what we’re up to.”

“He already seems to know a hell of a lot more than I’m comfortable with.”

“I have to be sure.”

“Any ideas?”

“I believe what Melton knows, Hebert will know.” She frowned, thinking.

“Tanzer. He bragged that nothing went on in Baton Rouge that he didn’t know about. Can you finesse someone at the college to filter information to Tanzer after we leave there?”