The Face of Deception

by Iris Johansen

  I will. She paused and then said impulsively, I love you.

  My God, now I am scared. You dont get sappy very often. She said awkwardly, I love you too, Eve. She quickly hung up the phone.

  Eve pressed the end button on her phone. Ex-pressing affection was still never easy for either of them. There had been too many years of noncommu-nication during Eves childhood.

  But Sandra knew she loved her. She didnt have to say it.

  She braced herself. Now Joe.

  She quickly dialed Joes private digital phone number.

  He picked up immediately.

  Joe?

  A silence, and then his voice came low, hard. What the hell are you up to?

  Can you talk? Is there anyone around?

  Im walking out to the parking lot. Why didnt you call me? Why the hell didnt you return

  I was busy. Stop yelling at me.

  Im not yelling. It was true, but every word was laden with anger. I could strangle you.

  You may have to stand in line.

  Is that supposed to be funny?

  No. Im in trouble, Joe.

  Thats pretty clear. Did you kill Logan?

  Her hand tightened on the receiver. What?

  Did you kill him?

  Are you nuts?

  Answer me. Look, if you did it, I know it was self-defense, but I have to know so I can fix it.

  Why would you think Of course I didnt kill him. Hes not dead. Its all a lie.

  Silence. Then Id say youre in very deep shit. Have you seen CNN?

  About Barrett House burning? Yes, I know about that.

  No, the latest bulletin. The one that mentions you as a suspect.

  Me?

  Novak, that hotshot lawyer of Logans, was in-terviewed, and he said you were staying with Logan at Barrett House. He paused. He said you were Logans lover and he had been concerned about the relationship because you were unbalanced.

  Son of a bitch.

  They know about Lakewood, Eve.

  She stiffened. How could they know? How could anyone know? You buried the records. You promised me that I

  I dont know how they found out. I thought I had it covered.

  You should have been more Christ, she was blaming Joe for something that wasnt even his re-sponsibility. They mentioned Lakewood?

  Yes. He paused. I told you that there was no reason to hide it. Theres nothing wrong about

  It seems there is reason.

  Joe cursed softly. Tell me where you are. Ill come to you.

  She tried to gather her wits. I shouldnt see you. As long as youre not involved youll be

  Tell me. I am involved. Tell me or Ill hunt you down. Im damn good at hunting.

  She knew better than anyone else how deter-mined Joe could be. Im coming to Atlanta. I need to see Kessler. Ill meet you at the Hardees parking lot out in Dekalb at ten tomorrow morning. Thats about six blocks from Emory.

  Right. He didnt speak for several seconds. How bad is it, Eve?

  Big-time. It couldnt be any worse.

  Sure it could. You couldnt have me to help fix it.

  She smiled shakily. Thats true. That would make it worse. She thought of something. Will you dig up a picture of Logans assistant, Margaret Wilson, and run it over to my mother? Tell her that Margaret is the one whos going to help her.

  Help her do what?

  Shes going to see that Mom gets to somewhere safe.

  Im taking care of her. There was an edge to his tone. You dont need any other help.

  Dont do this to me, Joe. I need all the help I can get. Will you get the picture to her?

  Of course Ill do it. But youd better have a damn good reason for not trusting me.

  I do trust Maybe hed understand when she explained everything to him. She thought of some-thing else. And will you find a picture of James Timwick and a man called Albert Fiske, who works for him? Bring it with you tomorrow.

  Timwick should be no problem. Hes on the news fairly frequently, but whos Albert Fiske?

  A name I need to put a face to. Good-bye, Joe. She pressed the end button.

  Lakewood. My God, Lakewood.

  She put her phone back in her purse and stood up. She could hear the television in the next room. Logan and Gil would be hearing about Lakewood.

  But Logan must already know. The lawyer was his snoop and it was Logans money that had dug up all the facts about her past.

  Logan again. Damn him.

  Gil and Logan both looked up when she walked into the room.

  The plot thickens, Logan said as he switched off the TV.

  Yes, Im crazy and youre dead, she said jerkily. They want to make it hard for us to make any move at all.

  Not hard. Impossible, Gil corrected her. Were you really at Lakewood?

  Ask Logan.

  Logan shook his head. I didnt get that morsel of information. I guess Novak was saving that to sell to Timwick.

  You knew he was dealing with them?

  I suspected the possibility. Novaks ambitious. He paused. But the question is how valuable is that piece of information to them. How long were you at Lakewood?

  Three weeks.

  Who committed you?

  Joe.

  Christ. The authorities. Not a good image.

  It wasnt the authorities, she said fiercely. It was Joe.

  Quinn was with the FBI at the time.

  They didnt know about it. Nobody knew about it. Not even my mother.

  Shes next of kin. She would have had to know.

  Eve shook her head. Lakewood isnt a public in-stitution. Its a small private hospital in South Georgia. Joe admitted me under another name. Anna Quinn. He told them I was his wife.

  And you went in voluntarily?

  She smiled crookedly. No, Joe can be a power-house when he chooses. He bulldozed me into it.

  Why?

  She didnt answer.

  Why, Eve?

  What the hell. Hed find out anyway. The night Fraser was executed, I took an overdose of sedatives. I was staying at a motel near the prison and Joe came to check and found me. She shrugged. He made me throw up several times and walked me around that damn room until I was out of danger. Then he took me to Lakewood. He stayed there with me for three weeks. At first they wanted to sedate me, but he told them that wasnt why he brought me there. He made me talk to every shrink in the place. He made me talk about Bonnie. He made me talk about Fraser. He made me talk about my mother. Hell, he even made me talk about my father, and I hadnt seen him since I was a baby. She grimaced. But he didnt think I was opening up enough with the good doctors, so after three weeks he checked me out and took me to Cumberland Island and kept me there for another week.

  Cumberland Island?

  Its a wild island off the coast. One hotel, but Joe didnt check us in there. We camped out and Joe ad-ministered his own brand of therapy.

  And did you open up with him?

  Joe didnt give me any choice. Her lips twisted ruefully. I told you, he can be a powerhouse. He wasnt about to let me go crazy or kill myself. He wouldnt have it. So I had to cope.

  Quinn must be pretty impressive, Gil said.

  Oh, yes. No doubt about it. Theres nobody like him. She walked over to the window and looked out at the surf. I fought him like a tiger. He wouldnt let me go.

  I wish hed buried the Lakewood records deeper.

  So do I. In the neighborhood where I grew up there were a lot of crazies, but you were really bonkers if you had to go to an asylum. But Joe doesnt think like we do. Hes very direct. If somethings broken, you get an expert to fix it. He didnt see any stigma about staying at a mental hospital. That didnt scare him.

  Did it scare you? Logan asked.

  She was silent a moment. Yes.

  Why?

  She said haltingly, I was afraid I belonged there.

  Ridiculous. You had enough stress to give anyone a nervous breakdown.

  And how close is a nervous breakdown to going over the edge? You never realize what
a tightrope we all walk until you almost slip into the chasm.

  But you fought back.

  Joe jerked me back. She crossed her arms over her chest. And then I got mad as hell and disgusted with myself. I wasnt about to let Fraser take anything else from me. Not my life and not my sanity. I wasnt going to let him win. She turned to face Logan. And Im not going to let Timwick and her win either. The question is how are we going to keep them from making everyone think Im nuts.

  We cant. Not now. Were on the defensive, Logan said. We cant do anything until we have a weapon to launch an offensive.

  She had known that, but shed hoped for good news, not reality. Did you call Margaret?

  He nodded. Shes on her way.

  Where will she take my mother?

  Shes consulting with the security service whos guarding your mother now. Wherever they decide to stash her, I told Margaret I wanted them to take at least one guard. Did you tell Sandra to ex-pect her?

  Yes, and I told Joe to meet us tomorrow in At-lanta. She saw an expression flit across Logans face and demanded, What?

  Nothing. It just might not have been wise to in-volve him. The fewer people who

  Crap. She ignored the fact that that had been her own initial thought. I trust him more than I trust you or Gil.

  I can see why. Gil rose to his feet. Im eager to meet the interesting Mr. Quinn. I think Ill go for a walk. Care to join me, John?

  Logan nodded. I can use some air. He moved toward the door. Well be back soon. Keep an eye on the news, will you, Eve?

  They wanted to talk over the situation alone. Theyd weigh the recent developments and try to plan an offensive. Well, let them. Theyd learn soon enough that she wouldnt be shut out of decisions any longer.

  On the other hand, she just might want to shut them out. Tomorrow shed be with Joe again. Logan had used her and she had no confidence he wouldnt do it again, but she could trust Joe. Theyd been a team for a long time, and together they could work their way through anything, including Timwick and Lisa Chadbourne.

  Lisa Chadbourne. Did the fact that her name had come so easily to Eve mean shed accepted Lisa Chad-bourne as the prime conspirator? The signals she had used with Detwil indicated complicity but didnt nec-essarily mark her as the kingpin.

  But the woman shed studied in the videotapes was not the type to accept second place. She exuded confidence and charisma.

  And Gils description of Timwick had not been of a man who would be able to pull off a deception of this magnitude. It would take nerves of steel and the ability to think on your feet. According to Gil, Timwick was a man who might crumble under pres-sure.

  If Lisa Chadbourne was the prime player, then Eve had better study her very carefully.

  She went to her handbag and pulled out the tapes she had stuffed in it before leaving Barrett House. She popped one in the VCR and settled on the sofa in front of the television.

  Lisa Chadbournes smiling face appeared on the screen. Beautiful, intelligent, and, yes, fascinating. Eve felt tension ripple through her, and she leaned forward, her gaze never leaving Lisa Chadbourne.

  What are you doing? Logan asked when he walked in on her two hours later. Lisa Chadbourne?

  Eve flipped off the VCR. Nothing. I was just studying her.

  Her signals to Detwil?

  Some. Mainly body language. Expressions. They tell a hell of a lot.

  Do they? Logans gaze narrowed on her face. I wouldnt think theyd tell you anything. Im sure shes very good at disguising her emotions.

  She shrugged. Im an artist and Ive made it my business to learn a lot about facial expressions. When I first became a forensic sculptor, I even took a course in expressions and body language and how they re-late to psychology. Expressions can make all the dif-ference in identification. A face without expression is like an empty slate.

  And what did you learn about Lisa Chadbourne?

  Shes a little arrogant, bold, but wary too. Per-haps a little vain. She frowned. No, not vain. Shes too confident to be vain. She just knows who she is and she likes herself.

  Smug?

  Eve shook her head. No. She hesitated. Sheshellip; intensely focusedhellip; and maybe a little lonely.

  Quite a crystal ball you have, Gil said.

  Some of its guesswork. Maybe a lot of it. People can usually control most of the muscles of the face. Except the ones around the eyes. Theyre very diffi-cult to manage. But even a lack of expression can sometimes tell a story. She returned to Lisa Chadbourne. Id bet she has a very small circle of friends and shed keep everyone but those few at a distance.

  Logan raised his brows. That wasnt my impres-sion when I met her. I assure you no one could be warmer or more gregarious, and she handles people better than anyone I know.

  And shes good enough to fool you. She turned on the charm and focused the full force on you. Men still rule the world, and shes made it her business to get along with them. Its probably second nature to her now.

  But shes not good enough to fool you?

  Maybe, if you hadnt provided me with the tapes that spotlight her every move and expression. Shes quite wonderful and almost never steps out of character. When it happens its for only a split second and then shes back in character again. She shrugged. Thank God for freeze-frame. It can be very illuminating.

  So youve decided shes just a lonely, misunderstood woman who became innocently involved? he asked mockingly.

  No, I think she could kill a man. She projects de-termination and intensity as strong as an atomic blast. I think she could do anything she needed to do and theres no way shed be a pawn. It would be her way all the way. She switched the television set back on. Im afraid I was too busy to watch the news for you. You can catch up on it yourself.

  Youre assuming a lot from just looking at those videotapes.

  Believe me or not. I couldnt care less.

  Oh, I believe that body language and facial ex-pressions can be a dead giveaway. Studying them is one of the key courses in the negotiating seminars I send all my corporate executives to. Its just that we have to be very careful about assuming anything about Lisa Chadbourne.

  We have to be careful about everything con-nected with her. She headed for the front door. Im going down to the pier.

  May I go with you? Logan asked.

  No, I dont remember being invited when you and Gil wanted to talk.

  Ouch, Gil said.

  She ran down the porch steps. The beach was de-serted except for a few children playing volleyball several hundred yards from the pier. She supposed she should be worried about being recognized. CNN had probably shown a photograph of the crazy pyromaniac who had killed Logan.

  Crazy. She flinched from the word. Damn Lisa Chadbourne. Shed had to use the part of Eves life that could still bring pain. She could almost see her going over the possibilities and then striking like a black widow spider at the heart of

  Why was she so sure it was Lisa Chadbourne who was responsible for the attack on her? She could be wrong. It could be Timwick.

  She wasnt wrong. Lisa Chadbourne would never underestimate another woman. She had too much re-spect for herself.

  She sat down on the pier and looked down into the water.

  Youre assuming a lot just from looking at those videotapes.

  She was assuming a lot. She could be imagining the subtle nuances she thought shed caught while watching Lisa Chadbourne.

  The hell she could. She had trained herself to recognize and portray expression.

  And her observations were more than clinical. She had felt the same gut instinct she experienced in the last stages of sculpting.

  She knew Lisa Chadbourne.

  Fraser.

  She shivered as she looked down into the water. Lisa Chadbourne and Fraser were nothing alike. So why was she thinking of them as one?

  Because the fear was back a second time. It had returned the day her lab had been destroyed so vio-lently and she had thought of Fraser. Lisa Chad-bourne had been the guiding hand th
en, just as she was now.

  Fraser had been tainted with a madness that Eve had not seen in Lisa Chadbourne, but they both pos-sessed the assurance that came with power.