“Yes.” Gallo took his hand. “But I’ll take care of you.”
“How could you do that? You’re just a kid. Give me a minute, and I’ll get up and get us back to the cabin.”
Did he think he was back at that cabin in Wisconsin where he’d taken Gallo so many times? Eve wondered.
But Danner’s gaze was now on Eve. “I know you. You have a little girl.…”
“Yes, I do.”
He suddenly tensed. “The demons. You have to keep the demons from finding her.”
“I have her safe. Forever.”
“But I have to help. I have to—” He began to cough, and a rivulet of blood flowed out of the corner of his mouth.
He was dying, Eve realized. There was no doubt in her mind. “I don’t need you. My Bonnie is safe. I’ll watch over her.”
“No, it’s my job.” His head was thrashing back and forth. “I have to do it. It doesn’t matter if I’m afraid. I have to do it.”
“I’ll do it for you,” Gallo said thickly. “Just rest.”
Danner’s eyes were clinging to his. “I tried to save her for you, John.”
“I know you did.”
“I failed you. I failed her.” His eyes closed. “Go away.”
“No.”
“Go away.” He jerked his hand away from Gallo’s. “I don’t want you. You make me feel— Go away.”
Eve couldn’t stand it any longer. She turned and moved a few yards from Danner and Gallo. She crossed her arms across her chest to still their trembling.
“Take him away, Mama.”
“Bonnie?”
“Take my father away. They’re both hurting too much. I can’t help him.”
Eve hesitated, then strode back to Gallo. “Come on,” she said unevenly. “Leave him.”
“No.”
“Leave him.” She stared him in the eye with all the force of her entire will. “He won’t need you. I promise.”
Gallo gazed at her in bewilderment, then slowly got to his feet. “He’s dying, Eve.”
She nodded. “But he’s hurting because you’re here with him. He’s full of regret and guilt and pain. Let him go, John.” She took his hand and drew him a few yards from Danner. “It will be—”
Gallo stiffened. “Bonnie?”
Did he sense her, too? Eve wondered.
No, he could see her. She was here.
Bonnie was standing over Ted Danner, looking down at him.
Her expression …
Compassion, tenderness, sadness.
“What are you doing, Bonnie?”
But Bonnie was not paying any attention to anyone but the man at her feet.
“Ted.”
Danner opened his eyes. He saw her. His body stiffened. “Go away. It’s not my fault. I tried to do what you wanted. Why do you keep following me?”
“Because you won’t listen to me.” Bonnie fell to her knees beside him. “You’ve never listened, Ted. But now you will, won’t you?”
“No. I want you to go away.”
“Because you’re afraid of me?” Bonnie smiled. “Why should you be afraid? I’m no stranger to you. We’ve been together a long time.”
“You don’t understand.”
“I understand that you’re afraid that I’m angry with you, that I want to hurt you.”
“Yes, because you think that I’m the one who hurt you. You don’t believe it was the demon.”
“No, because I don’t believe in demons.” She took Danner’s hand.
He shuddered and tried to pull away.
“No, hold my hand, and the fear will go. You’re not afraid of me, you’re afraid of the darkness. You’ve been in darkness for a long time and haven’t been able to break free of it. Sometimes it got lighter, then when you weren’t expecting, it came back. Isn’t that right?”
“And then the demons came.”
“But it’s light now, and you can see in every corner. Everything is bright and clear and beautiful. And there are no demons. There will never be demons again.”
He was gazing into her eyes. “You promise.”
“I promise.”
Silence. “You’re not angry with me.”
“I’ve never been angry with you. Why should I? I always knew that you meant no harm, that it was love that made you take me that day. Love for my father, even love for me. I tried so hard to tell you.”
“I … hurt you. Forgive … me. I wanted to say that to you, but it was too late. Everything was too late.”
“It’s never too late. You’ll see. I’ll help you.”
“Will you?”
“Shall I show you?”
Silence.
Then a brilliant smile lit his face. “It starts again? It’s a long road, a hard road, but I can make the ending different. I can begin again.”
“Is that what you saw? It’s different all the time. Beautiful but different.” She leaned closer, and whispered, “Now go to sleep. It’s time. Don’t be afraid. I’ll be there for you. I won’t let you get lost.” She smiled luminously. “I’ve learned so many things, Ted. You’ll learn them, too. Just hold my hand. Don’t let me go.”
“Bonnie…” He was smiling back at her, his face alight with sudden eagerness. “No, I won’t let go.”
He closed his eyes.
Love, so much love …
Eve could feel the tears running down her cheeks.
And then Bonnie was gone.
“My God.” Gallo was moving back to Danner and standing over him, gazing down at his face.
But Danner was gone, too.
* * *
EVE DIDN’T FOLLOW GALLO. This was a moment of good-bye between Gallo and his uncle. She was shaken and confused, and she needed to be with Joe. She turned toward the edge of the clearing.
Joe was standing at the tree line, his gaze on Danner. How much had he seen? He turned his head to watch Eve as she came toward him. “So Bonnie kept her word. It’s the end.”
“Or the beginning. I’m not sure any longer.” She slid her arms around him and laid her head on his chest. She could feel the vibration of his heart beneath her ear. “But it’s the way she wanted it.”
“Yes, maybe not the way I wanted it.” His hand stroked her hair. “How are you doing?”
“Mixed-up. Happy, sad, angry. Bonnie may be able to see beyond the act and forgive, but I’m not there yet. It may take me a long time.”
She could feel him nod but didn’t lift her head. She wanted to stay here hidden in his arms. “But I can’t hate him. All these years, and I can’t hate him. Because she never hated him. From the beginning, she wanted to help him, ease him.”
“Yes.” He was silent a moment. “Do you remember that first week after Bonnie was taken when we were doing the interviews with people who had claimed to have seen Bonnie?”
“Yes, they were all disasters.”
“Except for one. That vicious woman who claimed to be a psychic and said that she’d seen Bonnie the night after she’d been reported missing. She told you that Bonnie had been murdered.”
“She just wanted to hurt me.”
“Yes, but she said Bonnie was trailing after a man and trying to get his attention. She said he wouldn’t pay any attention to her. You asked her if Bonnie was afraid of him, and she said no.”