"Okay. You goin' to school now?" Mike asked. "Maybe I could walk along with you."

He was lonely. He was only six and hadn't learned how to ignore the emptiness yet. "Sure. Why not?"

She smiled at him.

DOM HADN' T BEEN sure until he'd seen her smile.

The smile was warm and sweet. All the more appealing because of the kid's usual air of wariness and toughness. Without that streak of softness he wouldn't have been sure. But now he was convinced.

Little Jane MacGuire was perfect.

"YOU' RE SURE HE' S the Devon boy?" Spiro asked when Joe opened the door later that afternoon.

"It's close enough." Joe gestured to the pedestal. "The picture's on the worktable. See for yourself."

"I'll do that." He crossed the room. "Where's Ms. Duncan?"

"Still sleeping."

"Wake her up. I need to talk to her."

"Screw you. She's exhausted. Talk to me."

"I have to--" He gave a low whistle as he compared the reconstruction with the photo. "Damn, she's good."

"Yes."

He tossed the photo back on the worktable. "I almost wish it wasn't him. You realize what this means?"

"Yes, and so does Eve."

"I'm going to have to use her, Quinn."

"No one uses Eve."

"Unless she wants to be used," Eve said from the doorway. She came toward them. She'd obviously just gotten out of bed; her hair was tousled, her clothing rumpled. "And the fact that he's John Devon doesn't make that much difference to you, Spiro. You would have tried to use me anyway."

Spiro glanced back at the skull. "He could be telling the truth about Fraser taking credit for his kills."

"Some of his kills," Joe corrected Spiro. "All we have are the two boys."

"Aren't they enough?" Spiro turned to Eve. "Are you going to help me?"

"No, I'm going to help me. You and Joe keep my mom safe and I'll let you use me as bait."

"The hell you will," Joe said.

She ignored him and asked Spiro, "He's been watching me, hasn't he?"

"Quinn told you?"

"No, but Dom knew about our trip to Talladega." She glanced at Joe. "What else?"

"Someone's been keeping an eye on the cottage. I had Spiro send a forensic team yesterday to go through the bushes where he'd been standing, watching."

"Thanks for telling me."

"I'm telling you now. You were a little busy before." He smiled. "I don't think he'll be back with Charlie and those other guards patrolling outside and me inside."

"Don't be too sure. He's bored or he wouldn't have taken so many chances."

His smile faded. "You think he's that unbalanced?"

"I believe he's desperate for some reason. But I don't think he'll try to kill me yet. Not until he gets what he wants."

"And when he does, we'll be here," Spiro said.

"Will you?" she said wearily. "Why would he attack if he knows there's a chance he'll be caught? If he's as smart as you believe, he'd find a way to get to me and elude you. Did your team find any evidence in the stuff they collected yesterday?"

"We're still sifting through--" Spiro shook his head. "We don't think so."

She shrugged. "I rest my case."

"And what do you suggest?"

"That we go after him, not wait for him to come after me."

"It's much safer for you to--"

A knock on the door.

Charlie smiled apologetically. "Sorry to bother you, but I wondered if my call had come through. It's taken a lot longer than I thought it would."

"No call," Joe said.

"Why not ask me?" Spiro said dryly. "Did it occur to you that as your superior, I'm the one they would contact?"

Charlie eyed him warily. "Did they?"

"Last night. They're faxing the full report to me at Talladega. They were surprised I knew nothing about your request that they call you directly."

Charlie grimaced. "Sorry. I guess I was being a hot dog."

"Well, eagerness is better than apathy."

"Did they find any cases that matched?" Joe asked.

"Two possibles. Two skeletons were found three months ago in San Luz, a suburb of Phoenix. No teeth. Wax sediment in the right hands."

"Children?" Eve asked.

Spiro shook his head. "Adults. One man. One woman."

"Arizona," Joe repeated. "That's a long way."

"Who says Dom is a local boy?" Spiro said.

"He was here ten years ago," Eve said. "He's here now."

"It's a mobile society, and organized serial killers are known to be particularly mobile." Spiro turned toward the door. "At any rate, I'll send a man to Phoenix to see if he can find out anything more from the local PD. We'll probably have to organize an interstate task force now."