Silencing Eve

DIDN’T GO OUTSIDE TO TAKE that call, Doane,” Eve said. “Were you caught by surprise?” She studied his face. “Yes, I believe that’s probably it. Who is Harriet?”
    “A bitch like you,” he said through his teeth. “No, maybe worse than you. She thinks that she can tell me what to do. If I do what she wants, it’s because I choose, and Kevin wants it. It has nothing to do with her.”
    “Who is Harriet?” Her gaze narrowed on his face, trying to put it together. “Kevin…” Then it came to her. “Kevin’s mother?”
    “A bitch. She thinks she rules the world.” The words were spitting out. “She thinks that she was the only one Kevin loved. He didn’t care for her. He only used her.”
    “It appears he only used everyone.”
    “Well, I’m going to be done with the bitch and done with you.” He turned on his heel and went to the chest across the room. “She didn’t need to tell me to get Zander. He’s already in my sights.” He opened the top drawer. “I was going after him tonight anyway.”
    She stiffened. “You know where he is?”
    “Why, where would a father be when his daughter is in trouble?” he asked mockingly. “It seems Zander wasn’t fooled by that explosion in Colorado. He’s here in town and asking questions about me.”
    “About you, not me.”
    “If he knows about me, then he knows that you’re also alive.” He shrugged. “And that could mean that Quinn and Jane MacGuire may have staged a very elaborate distraction while they hunted me down. Not that it matters now. It will all be over tonight.” He took a large pistol out of the drawer and put it on the table. “And I’ll be done with Zander and you.” He added, “And maybe that other bitch, too.”
    “You’re going to shoot him?” Her gaze was on the pistol.
    “Eventually. Right now, I’m going hunting.” He stroked the butt of the gun. “This was Kevin’s tranquilizer gun. He used it occasionally when he did his own hunting. One shot, and they would be out.”
    She felt a chill. “Who would be … out?”
    “Why not come and see.” He yanked her to her feet and pushed her toward the front door. “Harriet said that Kevin and I had nothing in common, but he never shared this with her.” He threw open the door and she felt a blast of cool air as he pulled her out on the porch. He gestured to the shimmering white driftwood. “You said it looked like a graveyard. That’s how Kevin wanted it to look. It was his own little joke. He searched the entire coastline to find just the right-shaped driftwood.” He whispered. “Why do you think that he did that, Eve?”
    She was afraid she knew. “How many, Doane?” she asked hoarsely.
    “Only two little girls. He took one from a suburb in Seattle and the other from a little town in Oregon. He was under pressure when he was here and needed release, but he didn’t want to attract too much attention.” He nodded at the driftwood closest to the house. “One is buried there if I remember correctly. The other I’m not sure…”
    “Why bury them practically on his own doorstep?” she asked. “He must have been even more mad than I thought.”
    “He liked the idea of having them near him. And the fact that no one knew what lay beneath that pile of driftwood amused him.”
    “His little joke,” she repeated. She felt sick. A joke. And two little girls who had once been loved and cherished had died and never been brought home.
    “We can go inside now,” he said softly, his gaze on her face. “That’s how I wanted you to look. You were too hard, too tough, like her. But I can hurt you if I go about it the right way.”
    He pushed her back into the cottage. “And I can hurt her. I just have to wait until all this is over.” He pushed her down into the chair and began to bind her. “You’ll be good when I’m gone, won’t you? Just sit there and anticipate seeing your father. I may even let you have some time together before I kill you. He should appreciate what he’s losing.”
    “He won’t care if I live or die. How many times do I have to tell you that? We’re strangers.”
    “Blood means everything. He killed my son. Blood for blood.” He turned and picked up the tranquilizer gun. “And who knows? I may bury you both beneath that driftwood outside.” He smiled as he headed for the door. “Kevin would like that …
    *   *   *
    “I THINK YOU’D BETTER come back to the hotel, Jane,” Margaret said as soon as Jane