"You son of a bitch."

Joe didn't respond.

"Do you know how much this is going to hurt her?"

"Yes."

"But you don't care. You wanted her to come back and you used Bonnie to do it."

"She wouldn't have thanked me if I hadn't told her about the skeleton."

"I could break your neck."

"I know. But it wouldn't be the intelligent thing to do. You've done a good job of making Eve grateful as well as sad. The last thing you want is for her to leave on a sour note. That would make it much more difficult to draw her back."

Logan drew a deep breath. "I'll be coming back to my office in Monterey next week."

"I thought that would be the next move."

"I'm keeping an eye on you. You won't be able to blink without me knowing it. If this reconstruction does any damage to Eve, I'll decimate you."

"Fine. Are you finished now?"

He started the Jeep. "I'm just beginning."

Joe watched him drive away. Logan was a tough bastard, but he genuinely cared about Eve. He had many qualities Joe admired--intelligence, fairness, loyalty. If things were different, if he weren't an obstacle, Joe might have liked him.

Too bad.

He was an obstacle and Joe had learned when he was in the SEALs that there were three things you could do about an obstacle. You could jump over it. You could go around it.

Or you could pound it into the ground until it didn't exist.

THE PLANE FROM Tahiti had scarcely reached optimum altitude when Eve asked Joe about Talladega. "I want to know everything." She grimaced. "And don't tell me I'm overwrought again, or I'll sock you."

"No, I believe I'll avoid that word in the future," Joe murmured.

"You said she was the only child?"

"Unless they've found more bodies while I've been gone. But I doubt it. They scoured the area pretty thoroughly."

She shuddered. Nine lives gone. Nine human beings buried in the earth and abandoned. "Have you been able to identify any of them?"

"Not yet. We don't even know if they're native to Rabun County. We're combing missing persons records statewide. Then we'll see if any of the DNA profiles on our possibles match our skeletons. It's doubtful that they were all buried at the same time. It looks like someone was using the bluff as his own private cemetery."

"Fraser," she whispered.

"Eight adults, one child," he reminded her. "Fraser confessed to killing twelve children. He never mentioned any adults, and he had nothing to lose after he was convicted."

"That doesn't mean anything. Who the hell knows what he did? He would never tell us anything that might help the parents find those children. He wanted us to suffer. He wanted the whole world to suffer."

"It's a long shot. You've got to be prepared to find out this is another killer."

"I'm prepared. No clues?"

"The rib cages of three victims showed signs the deaths were probably caused by knife wounds. We're not sure about the others. But the killer might have left a signature. There was wax residue in the right hands of all the skeletons."

"Wax? What kind of wax?"

He shrugged. "They're analyzing it."

"They should be done by now. Why are they moving so slowly?"

"Politics. The mayor doesn't want another serial killer to make Atlanta look bad and Chief Maxwell doesn't want to take the flak. The city's already had Wayne Williams and Fraser. The chief would just as soon keep this case in Rabun County. Unfortunately, Rabun doesn't have our facilities and she's having to offer limited assistance. The FBI Behavioral Science Unit is also lending a hand. They're already at Talladega to examine the site and the skeletons."

"Then how did you get permission for me to do the reconstruction?"

"Well, actually, I had to twist a few arms. The chief's afraid there'll be a media circus if they find out you've been brought in."

"God, I hope not." She had fled thousands of miles to escape the publicity, and now she was confronted with it again.

"We'll keep them away. I've set up a lab for you at the lake house."

"They'll still find us. There are always leaks."

He smiled. "I have a few ideas on how to circumvent them. Trust me."

She couldn't do anything else. She leaned back in the seat and tried to relax. It was going to be a long flight, and she had to rest to be ready for the work that lay ahead.

A child's skull to bring to life.

Bonnie?

"COME ON." JOE grabbed her arm after they'd cleared Customs. "We can't go out in the waiting area. There's a mob of reporters out there." He smiled at the red-coated customer service representative beside him. "Right, Don?"

"Enough to cause you a big problem. This way." He led them toward an emergency exit. "A skycap will bring the bags."

"Where are we going?" Eve asked as they went down a stairway.

"Employees entrance leading outside the North Terminal," Joe answered. "I thought there would be a leak and called Don to help us." Don ushered them through a long hall and out into the street in front of the terminal. "Thanks, Don."