“You’re not infallible. You’ve made mistakes before. Evidently you made one here.”

“I’m not the only one who makes mistakes. Quinn made a big one leaving you here.”

“He thought I’d be safe. He wanted to protect me.”

“And he’s desperate to get back in your good graces. He wanted to fight the wicked monster and lay my carcass at your feet.” Hebert smiled. “You know, I was sorry at the time that I had to pull you into the reconstruction by using your daughter, but it does keep paying dividends.”

“Sorry?”

“I’m not made of stone.”

“You’re a murderer.”

“So is a Medal of Honor winner who kills the enemy in battle. It’s all a matter of means and ends.”

“You’re no hero.”

“I never said I was. I just fight for what I believe in.”

“And you believe it’s right to kill me.”

“I believe it’s necessary. But I’m a little sad to do it. I admire your strength. I’ll give you as long as I can before I put you down. I know how precious every moment can be.” Hebert’s gaze shifted to the bayou and he moved to the shadows at the side of the platform. “You just stand there where Quinn can see you when he comes around that curve in the bayou.”

“And you’ll pick him off.”

“If Dufour hasn’t done it for me. I paid him well enough to do the job, but I’m not sure he has the balls to tackle Quinn.”

Eve drew a deep breath. “Joe doesn’t have to die.”

“Of course he does. You know better than that. He knows too much. It’s my duty to keep the Cabal safe.”

“The FBI already knows of its existence.”

“Suspects.” Hebert smiled faintly. “There’s a difference. We have people in almost every FBI field office in the country. Evidence gets misplaced, information doesn’t get to key personnel, agents who know too much have ‘accidents.’ ”

“Like your brother. You killed him, didn’t you?” His smile disappeared. “He betrayed me; he betrayed the Cabal.”

“How?”

“I made a mistake. Once I’d tracked them down, and found Bently and Simmons here doing research on fuel cells, I sent Etienne to work for Bently and Simmons to bring in supplies from the city. I thought it would be easier for him to destroy them and the prototypes from inside. They trusted him. Everyone trusted Etienne. He was everyone’s friend.”

“When he wasn’t killing people?”

“He never killed anyone. I took him along because I hoped if the Cabal could see how loyal he was, they’d accept him. I taught him everything I could, but he had no heart for it. Still, I wanted him with me. I was lonely.” He drew a deep breath. “I set the charge to blow up the facility, but Etienne was the one who went in to verify that they’d both been killed after the explosion. People were used to seeing Etienne go back and forth to the island, so it was less suspicious. He told me that he’d seen the bodies and buried them.”

“He didn’t?”

“He liked Bently and Simmons.” Hebert’s lips tightened. “He liked everybody. He was only a youngster, and it wouldn’t have been hard for a smart man to manipulate him. I thought everything was fine. Until four months ago, when our sources in Detroit told the Cabal that there were new purchases being made similar to the ones that were bought by Bently two years ago. The order came from Louisiana.”

“It could have been someone else experimenting.”

“That wasn’t quite all. During the last two months, three Cabal members from Louisiana have died under circumstances that were a little suspect. They could have been accidents, but all three were known to be against environmental restrictions.

The Cabal doesn’t like coincidences, and they don’t like their members targeted.”

“Revenge?”

“It was a possibility.” Hebert smiled grimly. “Enough to scare Melton shitless. He was afraid he’d be next.”

“But how would Bently or Simmons know who the Cabal members were?”

“Haven’t you guessed? Bently belonged to the Cabal for over four years. He believed, as I do, that the power of the Cabal could work miracles. He was the one who brought Simmons’s invention to our attention. He wanted our help. Then when it was decided that the fuel cell had to disappear, he dropped out of sight and took Simmons with him.”

“They sent you after them.”

“And I found them. I always find them.”

“But this time you fouled up, didn’t you? You failed your precious Cabal.”

“I didn’t fail them,” he said, stung. “I made a mistake, that’s all. A mistake I corrected. After we heard from Detroit, we had to make sure that both the research and the men who’d done it were destroyed. Melton asked me if I was positive Simmons and Bently were dead. Of course I was positive. Hadn’t the person closest to me, the only man I trusted, told me that they were? But they asked me if I’d seen the bodies myself. What could I say? So they told me to go get the skeletons for DNA testing. I was in Barcelona at the time and I called Etienne and told him to retrieve the skeletons and meet me at Sarah Bayou near Baton Rouge. Melton had already arranged for a forensic anthropologist and DNA expert to meet us at the church, so that we could rush the tests.” He was silent a moment. “When Etienne showed up with the coffin, I could tell something was wrong the minute I saw him.”

“He didn’t have the skeletons?”

“Neither one. Just that damn skull. At first, he told me that the skeletons had been stolen. Then when he could see I didn’t believe him, he told me he’d destroyed both skeletons but had brought me Harold Bently’s skull.”

“Why?”

“He thought it would get me off the hook with the Cabal. He’d made sure the skull was almost impossible to identify, but he didn’t want to get me in trouble. He was proud of himself for thinking of a way to save me and still keep the Cabal from getting what it wanted.”

“But it didn’t save Etienne, did it?”

“He didn’t understand. I talked to him for hours trying to persuade him to tell me if we’d killed both men, and to whom the skull belonged. He wouldn’t tell me anything. All he’d say was that what the Cabal was doing was wrong and we should do what was right. He wanted me to break with the Cabal.” He shook his head. “He didn’t understand. The world would be chaos without the Cabal to guarantee order.

There have to be checks and balances. Someone has to guide our path.” My God, he actually believes what he’s saying. “I’m with Etienne. I don’t understand that concept, either. It’s just propaganda. So you killed him?”

“You make it sound so easy,” Hebert said bitterly. “You think I wanted to do it? I loved him. If there had been a way to save him, I would have done it.”

“There’s always a choice.”

“I had to tell the Cabal what he’d done. It was my duty. He’d betrayed them.”

“And they told you what to do.”

“Yes, Melton said to find a way to lure him to the church and dispose of him there. It was isolated enough for our purpose, and for what I had to do.” He paused.

“I told Etienne that we’d find a way to fool the Cabal. I’d steal a skeleton from one of the old graveyards outside of town and put it in the coffin, so that we’d have something for the experts who were supposed to be waiting at the church to examine it.” He swallowed. “It was easy. He thought it was a wonderful idea. He wanted to believe me. He always wanted to believe me.”

“Until the minute he died?”

“Until the minute he died.” Hebert’s eyes glittered with tears. “It was a merciful death. He was happy until the end.”

“No death is merciful.”

“It could have been worse. Melton told me that I had to make him talk before he died. That’s why he wanted me to take him to the church—so that I’d have all the privacy I needed. I’m very good at making people talk. I know every agonizing way.

I couldn’t do that to Etienne. He was very strong, very stubborn. It would have been a long, long time before he broke, and then he would have had to die anyway. So I disobeyed and killed him quickly.” His lips twisted. “Melton wasn’t pleased. I had to find a way to make amends for destroying any information Etienne might have given me.”