The Killing Game ed-2

by Iris Johansen

  “Damn you, Joe." She felt as if her face were on fire. "I won’t think about it." But she would. She wouldn’t be able to stop herself from remembering his words.

  And he knew it.

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  "It’s okay." He was still smiling as he pulled her into the crook of his arm. "Relax. I don’t mind occasionally being just a shoulder to lean on. I’m only opening our relationship to more interesting possibilities."

  She shouldn’t take comfort from him. It wasn’t fair. Besides, it confused the issues. And what the hell were the issues? Sex? Love? Friendship? Whatever they were, she should probably stay remote until she could think clearly.

  Yet they had sat like this a hundred times, touched and shared thoughts and silences. How could she push him away? It would hurt too much. It would be like tearing out a part of herself.

  "Stop fretting," Joe murmured. "This part will always stay the same. I’m not trying to take anything away from you. I’m just trying to give us both more."

  "You must think I’m a selfish bitch," she said unevenly. "You’ve already given me so much. You saved my life and you saved my sanity. I’d give you anything you wanted if I wasn’t afraid I’d end up hurting you. Sex is nothing. You’d ask for more and I don’t know anything about a man

  — woman relationship. The boy who got me pregnant with Bonnie left as soon as I told him I wouldn’t get an abortion. That wasn’t exactly great training. I don’t know if I could handle such a big commitment."

  "You can handle it. You can handle anything."

  "Yeah? I haven’t handled any sexual relationship with great skill.”

  “That’s because it wasn’t with me."

  She suddenly chuckled. "You arrogant bastard."

  He smiled. "Nothing but the truth." He pressed her head into the curve of his shoulder. "Go to sleep. You might get lucky and dream of me.”

  “I wouldn’t give you the satisfaction. Your ego is too big as it is." She gradually relaxed. Weird, she thought drowsily, she shouldn’t be able to fall back into the comfortable groove of years.

  But Joe seemed able to switch back and forth effortlessly and bring her along with him. "I shouldn’t go to sleep. I came here in case Dom—"

  "I know. The minute you showed up I knew I was safe."

  "Shut up."

  "Whatever you say."

  "Yeah, sure. Catch me hurrying out to try to save your neck again.”

  “You’d do it."

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  Yes, she would. Without question and without thought. Because the concept of Joe hurt or killed was too frightening to contemplate.

  To live without Joe…

  Spiro arrived at the field at ten-fifteen the following morning. "Hello, Eve. You’ve been a very busy woman since I last saw you." His gaze went to the red flag. "That’s it?"

  Joe nodded. "That’s it."

  "We’d better hope that cadaver dog has a damn good nose. I’m going to look like an idiot if he’s found a dead gopher."

  "He has a good nose," Eve said. "Sarah says he can tell the difference.”

  “Sarah?"

  "Sarah Patrick, his trainer."

  "That’s right, Joe told me about her." Spiro turned back to Joe. "And what if it’s not Debby Jordan?"

  "Then we start searching again."

  "And I’m supposed to ignore the fact that I know Eve and the kid are here? You’re asking a lot of me. I could lose my job. Besides possibly facing criminal charges for harboring a criminal."

  "Stop dancing around, Spiro. If you hadn’t intended to deal, you wouldn’t be here. You’d have sent a squad car of Phoenix’s finest to pick us up."

  "And tell me why I shouldn’t do that?"

  "We’ve given you one major lead. We may be able to get you more."

  He was silent a moment. "The kid. Give her back to welfare and maybe we can—"

  “No," Eve said flatly. "That’s not negotiable." Spiro turned to her. "Everything’s negotiable."

  "I’m not returning Jane." She paused. "But I’ll make it easy for you. I’ll give you what you want."

  "No," Joe snapped.

  "Be quiet, Joe. I knew it was going to come down to this." She stared directly into Spiro’s eyes.

  "I’ll give you my word to let you use me any way you want. But only if there’s no other solution."

  "And who’s to decide if there’s no other solution?”

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  “I will."

  "That puts you in control. I don’t like that."

  "But you’ll take it." She smiled wryly. "Because you’re an obsessed man, Spiro. You want Dom almost as much as I do."

  "More. Because I know what he is and what he can do. You’re seeing him only from a personal point of view."

  "You’re right, my interest couldn’t be more intensely personal. Deal?" Spiro hesitated. "Deal."

  "May I speak now?" Joe asked grimly. "I seem to have been left out in the cold again."

  "We need him, Joe. It was the only way to get him."

  "You could have let me give something else a shot first." He turned to Spiro. "You’d better try damn hard to catch that bastard, or I may declare your little deal null and void. In the most violent way possible."

  Spiro acted as if he hadn’t heard him. His gaze had shifted back to the grave site. "I’m calling the Phoenix PD to help excavate the site. That means I don’t want either of you anywhere near this place. I’ll tell them I received a tip about the grave from one of my informants." He looked at Eve. "I’m sending a man to your house with equipment for tracing and taping Dom’s calls. I don’t have much hope, but we’ve got to give it a try." He headed for the car. "I’m calling the Phoenix PD now. Get out of here."

  "When will we know what you find?" Eve asked.

  "I’ll phone you tonight with a preliminary report." He smiled sardonically over his shoulder.

  "Just so you can be sure I’m working my ass off. Okay?"

  "Okay." She looked at Joe. "I’ll see you back at the house, Joe.”

  “I’ll be a while," he said. "I believe I’ll go down to the precinct, look at the files and talk to Charlie Cather. I’m feeling uptight as hell. I need to do something."

  The call from Spiro came at eight forty-five that evening. "It’s Debby Jordan."

  "Positive?" Eve asked.

  "Too early for DNA, but we got a match on the teeth.”

  “He didn’t pull her teeth?"

  "I was surprised too. Or maybe not. And from what we could tell, he nearly carved her to pieces. He must have been in a frenzy."

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  "Enough to forget something as important as her teeth?”

  “I’m just telling you what we found."

  "Anything else?"

  "Yes, there was a candle in her right hand. A taper. Pale pink." She showed me the light and then I showed her the light.

  "Can you trace the candle?"

  "We’ll give it a try. The problem is that candles have become so popular, everyone’s manufacturing them these days."

  That was true. Even Mom liked to light candles in the bathroom when she soaked in the tub.

  "When will you get the autopsy report?"

  "Tomorrow at the earliest."

  "Call me if you learn anything else, Spiro."

  "Oh, you’ve decided you’ve wrung me dry and are throwing me away? I’ll call you tomorrow."

  He hung up.

  Candles.

  Light.

  I showed her the light. What did it mean to him?

  Frenzy. It was difficult to imagine Dom in a frenzy. He was too cool and deliberate. Yet he had said that Debby Jordan was a turning point for him.

  "Eve."

  She saw Jane standing in the doorway. "Hi. How’s Monty doing?
”

  “I don’t know." She shrugged. "Okay. I guess. I’m hungry. You want me to make you a sandwich too?"

  Something was wrong. She was too indifferent. Why had she left Monty’s side? "Sure. I’d like that."

  "You don’t have to come with me. I’ll bring it here to the office for you." She disappeared down the hall.

  Was she worried about Monty? Was she scared? It was always difficult to know what Jane was The Killing Game – Eve Duncan 02

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  feeling. But she was reaching out, and it was important that Eve be there for her.

  She dropped down on the couch and rubbed her eyes. Too many things to think about. Too many needs to be met. Stop whining. At least things were moving forward.

  "You asleep?"

  She opened her eyes. Jane stood before her with a tray. "No, just resting my eyes. I didn’t get much sleep last night."

  Jane set the tray down on the coffee table. "I brought my sandwich too, but I guess you don’t feel like company."

  It was Jane who never admitted the need for companionship. "I was just thinking I was a little lonely. Sit down."

  Jane curled up on the far end of the couch. "Aren’t you going to eat?" Eve asked. "Yeah, sure."

  She picked up her sandwich and nibbled at it. "You’re lonely a lot, aren’t you?"

  "It happens."

  "But you’ve got your mother and Joe and Mr. Logan."

  "That’s true." She took a bite of her sandwich. "Are you lonely sometimes, Jane?" She lifted her chin. "No, of course not."

  "I just wondered. You haven’t asked about Mike lately."

  "You said that your mother was trying to get him taken away from his father. He’ll be okay if they do that." She suddenly looked at Eve. "Why? Is something wrong? Did that lawyer toss him out and—"

  "No, Mom says they’re becoming buddies. Nothing’s wrong." Not with Mike, but she was beginning to think something was wrong with Jane. "It’s hard being far away from friends, and I know you like Mike. I’ve always found loneliness sometimes sort of ambushes you."

  "Not me."

  Try another road. "I’m surprised you’re not with Monty. I’m sure he needs you." A silence. "He doesn’t need me. Sarah said I was helping, but he needs only her.

  He barely knows I’m there."

  Ah, there was the pain. "I’m sure he does."

  She shook her head. "He’s her dog. He belongs to her." She didn’t look at Eve. "I wanted him to belong to me. I thought if I loved him enough, he’d love me more than Sarah." She added The Killing Game – Eve Duncan 02

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  defiantly, "I wanted to take him away from Sarah."

  "I see."

  "Aren’t you going to tell me how bad that is?”

  “No."

  "It was bad. I… like Sarah. But I love Monty. I wanted him to belong to me." Her hands balled into fists. "I wanted something to belong to me."

  "He does belong to you. He just belongs to Sarah more. It’s natural. She was first in his life."

  "Like Bonnie was first in yours?"

  Shock rippled through her. "I thought we were talking about Monty. How did we get to Bonnie?"

  "She belonged to you. That’s why you’re helping me, isn’t it? It’s for Bonnie, not me."

  "Bonnie’s dead, Jane."

  "But she still belongs to you. She’s still first." She took a bite of her sandwich. "Not that I care.

  Why should I care? It’s nothing to me. I just thought it was funny."

  My God, her eyes were glistening with tears. "Jane."

  "I don’t care. I really don’t care."

  "Well, I do." She slid across the couch and pulled Jane into her arms. "I’m helping you because you’re a very special person and that’s the only reason."

  Jane’s body was ramrod stiff in her arms. "And you like me?”

  “Yes." Christ, she’d almost forgotten how small and dear a child’s body felt. "I like you very much."

  "I… like you too." Jane slowly relaxed against her. "It’s okay. I know I can’t be first, but maybe we can be friends. You don’t belong to anyone like Monty does. I’d like to—" She stopped.

  "Maybe we can," Eve said. Jane was breaking her heart. So defensive, so resistant, and yet so in need. "I don’t see why not, do you?"

  "No." Jane lay still against her for a moment, and then she pushed her away. "Okay. That’s settled." She stood up and hurried to the door. "I’m going to get Monty some food and then I’m going to bed." The moment of softness was clearly over. Now Jane was eager to escape a situation that must have made her uneasy.

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  Well, wasn’t Eve equally uneasy? The past few minutes had been as awkward for her as for Jane. They were quite a pair, she thought ruefully. "I thought you said Monty didn’t need you."

  "Well, he needs to eat. Sarah would have to leave him to get food, and that would make him sad." She added just before leaving the room, "He can’t help it if he doesn’t love me best."

  Adjustments and compromises and acceptance. Jane’s life had never been anything else, and she was afraid to ask for anything more, Eve thought as she rose to her feet. But there had been a breakthrough tonight. She was beginning to admit that she did need someone, and Eve had been chosen to fill the void.

  Eve smiled in amusement as she started up the steps. Jane wasn’t the only one who had to make compromises. Eve was playing second fiddle to a golden retriever.

  It wasn’t until she was in bed and had turned out the light that the significance of what had happened hit home. Dom had gotten what he wanted.

  Jane had crept beneath Eve’s defenses and was becoming important to her. Calm down. It’s fine. Jane had not become Bonnie to Eve. What Eve felt for Jane was entirely different; Jane was more like a friend than a daughter.

  But that might be close enough for Dom to make his move. The thought sent a bolt of panic through her. It wasn’t too late. She could push Jane away. She could pretend they’d never shared those moments in the office. The hell she could. She could never hurt Jane that way.

  Dom didn’t know anything had changed. She could keep it from him. She’d just be careful to be distant with Jane whenever they were out of the house.

  She could keep the truth from Dom.

  "Hi." Joe came into the kitchen and dropped down into a chair. "I could use some coffee."

  "It’s made. On the counter." Eve lifted her own cup to her lips. "You didn’t come home last night."

  "How do you know?" He got up and poured himself a cup. "Are you checking up on me? Good."

  "I just knocked on your bedroom door and looked in when you didn’t answer. You could have called."

  "I hoped you were asleep." He grinned. "We sound like an old married couple.”

  “Why didn’t you come back last night?"

  "I went with Charlie to his hotel and had a few drinks." He made a face. "Well, more than a few."

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  "You tried to get him drunk?"

  "Just mellow. Charlie’s being very cagey. Spiro has him on a short leash since he went over Spiro’s head about the VICAP report."

  "I don’t want to get him in trouble. You should have tried the Phoenix PD first.”

  “I did, but I ran into a stone wall. The local police are royally pissed at Spiro for not giving them the name of the informant who supposedly told him where Debby Jordan was buried."

  "What’s that got to do with you?"

  "They think I’m a little too friendly with Charlie and Spiro. So I’m out in the cold unless I can find out information from either one of them."

  "And did you?"

  "It took me a long time before I could persuade him to tell me what he’d found out from the Phoenix police about the murders."

  "Candles?"

  "There were wax traces that turned out to be candles, b
ut that’s not it. The bodies had been buried much longer than the ones at Talladega."

  "How long?"

  "Between twenty-five and thirty years."

  "My God." The time span staggered her. How many deaths, how many graves, Dom? "And no one’s ever caught him. It seems impossible."

  "As Spiro said, he was probably lucky in the beginning and then got smart." He paused. "But we may have gotten lucky ourselves. These two killings may have been a couple of the first he committed."

  "What difference does that make? There can’t be any evidence left after all this time."

  “The bodies have been identified.”

  “How? The teeth had been pulled."

  "DNA. Remember, the bodies were found almost three months ago. The lab reports came back two weeks ago." He lifted his cup to take a sip. "The police went through old records and came up with four possible missing persons cases. They visited surviving relatives and finally narrowed it down to Jason and Eliza Harding. Age fifteen and sixteen, brother and sister.

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  was always talking about going to San Francisco someday. When they disappeared, their father told the police to check in Haight-Ashbury or L.A. There had been a young kid hanging around with Jason and Eliza, a likable kid, but Mr. Harding had begun to think maybe he was a bad influence. He and his two brothers had drifted into town a few weeks before. His brothers were quiet, almost moody, but Kevin was chatty, a ball of fire. He went on and on about different singing groups and musicians who were making a fortune in the coffee houses on the West Coast. A regular pied piper."

  "Dom?"

  "His name was Kevin Baldridge. He and his brothers disappeared at the same time as Jason and Eliza."

  "Could they trace him?"

  Joe shook his head. "But there may be a picture of him.”

  “Oh, my God."