“I told you when I called you. Very boring.”

“No, there are always nuances. I want to know what I’m missing.”

So that he could think and put all the pieces together. “Something is going on between Margaret and Nalchek. She’s not sure she trusts him.”

“Why?”

“The usual reasons with Margaret.” Her hand was stroking his hair. “Nothing concrete.”

“You’re not concerned?”

“I’m concerned. But I have too much on my plate right now to let it become major.”

“And I have nothing on my plate.” He felt her stiffen, and his lips brushed her throat. “I’m not bitter. But I’m getting zilch from those databases. I’m frustrated and trying to work around it and be useful. I just have to have all the info available so that I can do it.”

She felt relieved. She knew he was chomping at the bit, and it was only a matter of time before he exploded. But he also knew that he wasn’t at full capacity and was willing to wait … for a time. “I’ll have Margaret call you tomorrow. She’s staying at the hotel with me, but she could come here if you like.”

“No, I don’t need help. I’ll do it myself. I like the idea of your having someone with you.”

“Nalchek said he was assigning someone to watch me.”

“Oh, you mean our great sheriff who Margaret is so uneasy about?”

“We had no doubts about him before.”

“But now I’m doubting everyone. Probably the result of this damn frustration.”

“It may be over soon. Maybe someone will recognize Jenny’s face tomorrow in the article.”

“And maybe they won’t.” He drew her closer. “Either way we’ll make it work for us.” He yawned. “And now I think that I’ll go to sleep. Don’t you dare move unless one of those nurses shows up with a bazooka.”

“Yeah, you stake me out for disciplinary action, then nod off to sleep.”

“That’s the plan. Someone’s got to take the heat, and I’m wounded and unable to cope.”

“Not true.” She was aware of a subtle difference in his demeanor. He might be frustrated, but he was not on automatic. Joe’s mind was clicking, formulating, and that might be good or bad for her plan of keeping him out of the action. “Wounded, yes.”

“And that’s causing you to agonize and try to—” He broke off. “Go ahead, agonize, it will put you right under my thumb. I’ve been trying to get you in that position for years. And all it took was a bullet.”

“All?” She gave him a quick kiss. “Shut up. And I’ll keep you safe if I want to do it. You have nothing to say about it.”

“Yes, ma’am.” His eyes were closing. “I’m in your hands…”

For the moment, he was in her hands. Tomorrow or the next day, it might be different.

But she would take tonight and hold it close.

CHAPTER

12

“Time to get up.” Elena Delaney opened the door and stuck her head into Cara’s room. “Past time. You’re late. You overslept. If you don’t hurry, you’ll miss the bus.”

Cara raised her head. “I’ll make it.” She yawned. “And if I don’t, I can walk with Heather. She says she does it all the time.”

“No,” Elena said crisply. “We’ve discussed that. Get up and get going. You’re going to be on that bus.”

“Okay.” Cara swung her legs to the floor. “I’ll skip breakfast and be down there in front of the apartment on time. I promise, Elena.”

“You won’t skip breakfast.” She turned and started to leave. “I’ll make a grilled cheese sandwich, and you can eat on the run.” She stopped, and looked back over her shoulder, her gaze going to the dark circles beneath Cara’s eyes. “The nightmares again?”

Cara nodded. “But they’re getting better. I haven’t had one for two weeks. Maybe they’re starting to go away.”

“And maybe they’re not. When you have one, you don’t sleep for the rest of the night.”

“Honest. They’re getting better.” She started for the bathroom and then stopped. “Should I know an Eve, Elena? Do you know someone named Eve?”

“What?” Elena frowned. “No, why?”

“No reason. She was just part of my dream.” She disappeared into the bathroom.

Elena shook her head and hurried toward the kitchen. She had to get Cara on that bus and be at the restaurant where she worked as a waitress forty-five minutes later. It would be fine. She was good at multitasking. She put butter into the frying pan to melt as she turned on the TV to get the local weather. Then she opened the front door and picked up the newspaper and carried it back to the kitchen. She put the two pieces of bread in the frying pan and poured herself a cup of coffee.

“Cara,” she called. “How are you coming?”

“Almost there.”

“Five minutes, and you have to be out the door.” She flipped through the newspaper. Usual depressing stuff. North Korean threats, terrorists beheading people, politicians feathering their own nests. She didn’t know why she even paid to have a paper delivered.

Because it might be more dangerous to ignore the news than to have to put up with it.

Ignorance could be deadly.

And Elena had her own nightmares that she never told Cara about.

But maybe Cara was right, and everything was getting better … for both of them. Maybe it would be—

Dear God.

She was staring down at the face in the newspaper.

Cara’s face.

No, not Cara’s. Jenny’s face. But close enough. Those distinctive features … The two girls had always looked alike even though there was six years difference in age.

Now Jenny’s green eyes were staring out of this paper at her, and Elena was starting to shake as she remembered that last night.

Not my fault. I would have saved you if I could. You shouldn’t have run away. Then I had to choose.

Stop shaking and read the story. See how bad it was going to be for them.

She quickly scanned the article, then pushed the newspaper away.

“Something’s burning.”

Cara was standing in the doorway of the kitchen.

Elena glanced at the toast in the pan that was now smoking and blackened. She tried to gather her composure as she quickly took the pan off the burner. “Sorry, something distracted me. Grab a health bar and get out of here.” She pushed the newspaper aside. “I’ll see you this afternoon.”

“Right.” Cara grabbed her red book bag and a honey oat bar from the cabinet. “See you…”

“Wait.”

Cara stopped at the door and looked back at her.

Elena couldn’t let her go like this. She hadn’t been thinking straight. It might be okay, but having this skull out there for everyone to see could be a disaster. She couldn’t chance the connection to Cara. “We’re going to have to leave, Cara.”

Cara stiffened. “Again?”

“It’s best.” She moistened her lips. “I’ll pack up our suitcases and meet you at school. Do you have your phone in your backpack?”

“I always have it.” She stood there, stunned. “I like it here, Aunt Elena. My school … I’ve even started to make a few friends. Do we have to leave?”

Elena nodded. “Maybe we can come back someday. We just have to leave right now.”

“We won’t come back,” Cara said. “We never come back.”

No, they never went back. They’d had to go on the run several times in the past years, and they’d never returned. Elena was always afraid that they might have left some trace, some clue behind.

And there might be someone waiting for them.

“New places are good, too. You always do well.”

“You said the money had run out. How are we going to get settled again?”

“I’ll find a way.”

“I like it here.”

“Cara, go get on the bus. Don’t argue with me.”

Cara nodded and turned toward the door. “No, I won’t argue. It doesn’t do any good, does it?”

“Cara … I don’t want to do this.”

“I know. I’ll be waiting.” She left the apartment.

No arguments. No questions. The first few times Cara had asked questions, but even then she had not protested. She had just accepted.

Which made Elena wonder if that doctor she’d taken Cara to had been right, that she had no real memory of that night. She hoped that was true. Cara had been a child of three, and what she’d experienced had been enough to traumatize an adult. Yet there must be subconscious memories because the nightmares remained. She would wake crying and shaking in the night, but nothing could get her to tell Elena about them.