But she was frightened, she was sensing Elena’s own fear and reflecting it. “It will be fine. You’re very smart. I’ll be there as soon as I can. But you have to go now.”

Was the Toyota closer?

Maybe.

“If I don’t get there right away, don’t leave the cave. Try to hide if someone comes. Don’t trust anyone. Don’t get in any cars that aren’t familiar to you.”

“I can tell you’re scared. I’m scared for you. What’s going on?”

“Sometimes bad things happen.” She paused. “But we can beat this, Cara.”

Cara was silent. “It’s going to happen again?” she whispered.

“Not if we can help it,” she said. “But you have to do as I say. Get out of there. You know what you have to do. We’ve talked about it. Just follow the plan. Be strong. Call me when you get to the cave.” She was about to press the disconnect, but she couldn’t leave her like this. “I love you, Cara. I’ve … always loved you.” She hung up.

She drew a deep breath. It would take another fifteen minutes to get to Cara’s school, and, hopefully, Cara would be long gone by the time she pulled up in front of the building. But she still had to give her any extra time she could. She would wait there at least another thirty minutes before she left the school.

Then she would try to lose that Toyota before she made her way down Pacific Highway.

But she doubted if the driver would allow her to do it. If it was Walsh, then he was expert at all kinds of deadly games. He would have probably only been tailing her until she picked up Cara. Then he would have had both of them in his sights.

Don’t think about what might happen next. She had a gun in her glove compartment. The two of them had survived this long. They would get through this, too.

All she had to do was stall and give Cara time to get away.

CALIFORNIA PACIFIC MEDICAL CENTER

Screw those databases, Joe thought, as he watched Eve walk down the hall. There wasn’t time to go through the effort again. He had stored enough information in his head; now he needed to analyze and put it all in perspective. Then he had to lay out the pieces of the puzzle and put them all together.

Fast.

Sounded simple, he thought grimly. It wasn’t going to be simple. There were all kinds of variables and possibilities.

But it had to be done. Eve was getting close, and that meant Walsh would be targeting her. He had to be ready for him. He couldn’t do that without knowing his strengths and weaknesses.

And his objectives.

He sat up in bed and reached for his yellow pad. Start at the beginning. List everything he knew about the main principals and locations. He drew three columns. WALSH. JENNY. Then he hesitated and added one more column. NALCHEK.

*   *   *

“All I want to do is see the yearbooks,” Eve said patiently. “I’ll be glad to give you references with the Atlanta PD and several other law-enforcement organizations in California. I’ve no desire to pose a threat to any of these students.”

Josie Coultan was still not convinced. “I don’t know that.” She took the card that Eve handed her and gazed at it suspiciously. “And anyone could have cards made up.”

“Absolutely right,” Eve said. “And I applaud you for being careful.” It was the truth. This woman was completely different from that first photographer they’d run across in Sacramento, but they evidently had similar values. But she wished she wouldn’t be quite this careful. Josie Coultan’s photography studio was the third one she and Margaret had visited this afternoon, and she felt as if time was running out. “Just call Sheriff Nalchek, and we’ll wait until you’re satisfied.” She got to her feet and moved to look at the photos on the wall. “These wedding photos are amazing, Ms. Coultan.”

“Josie. My specialty. I just do the school photos to add to my income.” She frowned as she started to dial the number. “But you have to be careful with kids. I don’t know if it’s worth the trouble. You have parents thinking that I didn’t do justice to their darlings, you have divorced couples who battle who is going to pay me.”

“That’s not what we’re looking for. We’re trying to find a child who didn’t want to have her picture taken.”

“Oh, there aren’t many of those. When? How old?”

“We’re thinking ten, eleven,” Margaret said as she knelt to stroke the white Persian cat sitting on a turquoise pillow on the low table. “This boy is amazing. What do you call him?”

“Royal. I’ve had him for four years.”

“You need to change his diet. He doesn’t like that new cat food you’re giving him. He’s been losing weight.”

“What?”

“Weigh him. Your husband feeds him, doesn’t he? He’s not been paying attention, and Royal is getting very pissed.”

“What are you—”

Eve stepped in quickly. “Margaret volunteers with a local vet office.” Lord, all they needed was to have Margaret start a family feud. “She has a good eye, doesn’t she?”

“Perhaps.” Josie spoke into the phone. “Sheriff Nalchek, I have two women here who gave you as a reference. Will you confirm that it’s…”

“And he hates the name Royal,” Margaret said in a low voice to Eve. “He thinks it’s pretentious. He doesn’t need that nonsense.”

“Do me a favor and let Royal handle his own dietary needs.”

“Don’t worry, he intends to do that. I just thought I’d hurry things along. He was going to start a hunger strike to scare them tomorrow.”

“Sheriff Nalchek informs me that you’re no threat,” Josie said behind them as she hung up the phone. “I’ll get those yearbooks. I did the work at four area schools during the past five years. I always request a complimentary copy of the actual book. I’ll go get them for you.” She got to her feet and headed for a door that led to the back of the shop.

“Like pulling teeth,” Margaret murmured.

“At least she’s cooperating now,” Eve said. “We’ll split up the books to get through them faster.” She turned with a smile as the photographer returned burdened by the yearbooks. “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your help.” She took two of the books and handed two to Margaret. “But I wonder if we might hurry things along if I showed you a photo that was in the paper this morning. It could trigger your memory.” She handed her the folded newspaper. “It’s a reconstruction I worked on several days ago.”

Josie glanced at the photo. “I saw this photo this morning. I was thinking how appalling the photography was. I could have done much better.”

“But you didn’t recognize the child.”

“I didn’t pay much attention. You see one kid, you see them all.”

“Really?”

She made a face. “I suppose I shouldn’t say that? But I’m so sick of having to do those photos. Every one is the same. No grace, no glamour, like a wedding photo.”

“And no fat price to sweeten that glamour,” Margaret said.

“They’re not all the same,” Eve said quickly. “Look at her face. We believe that the girl we’re looking for might be a relative of this dead child.”

Josie studied the photo. “Nice bone structure. Very photogenic. I’d probably remember if I took her photo.”

“But you don’t remember her?”

She shook her head. “It’s like an assembly line. There’s no way I can make any of them stand out. No grace. No drama. I’d probably try with this one, but if she didn’t pay to have her photo taken, I wouldn’t bother. But what a bride she would have made someday. Pity that she—” She stopped. “Maybe I do remember…” She snatched last year’s yearbook from Eve. “A bride…”

“Not old enough,” Margaret said. “Except maybe in India or—”

“No, of course not,” she said impatiently. “But it was the gown…” She was rifling through the pages. “I arranged the folds, and it turned out—” She found the page she was looking for and turned it around. “The girl at the end of the second row. You see how beautifully I draped that collar around her neck?”