“And I certainly can’t confront Nalchek with an accusation that he might be in cahoots with Walsh on the testimony of a coyote,” she said dryly. “Particularly since you don’t have a good deal of faith in it.”
“I did when Sajan was thinking about it,” she said slowly. “He believed it, Eve. He made me believe it.”
“But you don’t now?”
“Like him, I’m confused.” She finished her tea. “But I think you can’t rule out anything.”
“I’m not about to do that.” She opened the door. “I won’t be back tonight. Don’t stay here. Go to your own room and lock the door. I’ll call you tomorrow.”
“You’re afraid Walsh will come after you.”
“Yes, I made him very angry, which means I’m an automatic target. Besides the fact that he’s afraid I’m going to find out too much about Jenny. Yes, he’ll come. But maybe not before he goes after that child in Carmel. She may be first on his agenda. He’s been looking for her for a long time.”
“And you’re going to try to find her first?”
She smiled. “With a little help from my friends. I can’t have Joe know where I’m going, but I might need help in canvassing the areas in Carmel. That’s why I wanted Nalchek to bring you here. I hope that the news story tomorrow will give me a lead, but if it doesn’t, we’ll be heading there anyway.”
“Without Nalchek?”
“I’m not going to invite him along. Though he did help at Tahoe, I’m just not going to put my faith in him.” She smiled. “Someone told me not to rule out anything.”
CALIFORNIA PACIFIC MEDICAL CENTER
The lights were out in Joe’s room and he’d already been given his medication.
“Where have you been all my life?” Joe’s voice was a little slurred. “In particular the last eight hours of it.”
“Hi.” She took her seat in the chair beside his bed. “I told you I was going to a hotel and get some of the stench of that hillside off me.” She held out her arm. “Smell. I’m fabulous.”
“You were fabulous before.” He sniffed. “But a vast improvement. Lemon. I like your vanilla better.”
“Never satisfied.”
“And you like it that way.” He pressed his lips on her forearm. “So do I…”
“Go to sleep. I’m sorry I didn’t make it before you had your meds. We’ll talk in the morning.”
“Come to bed.”
“I’m right here.”
“Come to bed.”
“Joe, they’ll kick me out.”
He kissed her forearm again. “I’m not insisting on conjugal privileges … maybe. I just want you next to me. I can’t sleep without you.”
“You’re almost asleep now.”
“Okay, I won’t go to sleep without you. And you know I’ve been trained to do without sleep.”
“Stubborn bastard.” She hesitated. “They will kick me out, Joe.”
“We’ll face that when it happens.” He painfully shifted to one side. “In the meantime…”
“Don’t move again. I’ll do it…”
A moment later, she was lying beside him, holding him. “Now go to sleep,” she whispered.
“Soon.” His cheek was rubbing her shoulder. “Tell me about your day.”
“I told you when I called you. Very boring.”
“No, there are always nuances. I want to know what I’m missing.”
So that he could think and put all the pieces together. “Something is going on between Margaret and Nalchek. She’s not sure she trusts him.”
“Why?”
“The usual reasons with Margaret.” Her hand was stroking his hair. “Nothing concrete.”
“You’re not concerned?”
“I’m concerned. But I have too much on my plate right now to let it become major.”
“And I have nothing on my plate.” He felt her stiffen, and his lips brushed her throat. “I’m not bitter. But I’m getting zilch from those databases. I’m frustrated and trying to work around it and be useful. I just have to have all the info available so that I can do it.”
She felt relieved. She knew he was chomping at the bit, and it was only a matter of time before he exploded. But he also knew that he wasn’t at full capacity and was willing to wait … for a time. “I’ll have Margaret call you tomorrow. She’s staying at the hotel with me, but she could come here if you like.”
“No, I don’t need help. I’ll do it myself. I like the idea of your having someone with you.”
“Nalchek said he was assigning someone to watch me.”
“Oh, you mean our great sheriff who Margaret is so uneasy about?”
“We had no doubts about him before.”
“But now I’m doubting everyone. Probably the result of this damn frustration.”
“It may be over soon. Maybe someone will recognize Jenny’s face tomorrow in the article.”
“And maybe they won’t.” He drew her closer. “Either way we’ll make it work for us.” He yawned. “And now I think that I’ll go to sleep. Don’t you dare move unless one of those nurses shows up with a bazooka.”
“Yeah, you stake me out for disciplinary action, then nod off to sleep.”
“That’s the plan. Someone’s got to take the heat, and I’m wounded and unable to cope.”
“Not true.” She was aware of a subtle difference in his demeanor. He might be frustrated, but he was not on automatic. Joe’s mind was clicking, formulating, and that might be good or bad for her plan of keeping him out of the action. “Wounded, yes.”
“And that’s causing you to agonize and try to—” He broke off. “Go ahead, agonize, it will put you right under my thumb. I’ve been trying to get you in that position for years. And all it took was a bullet.”
“All?” She gave him a quick kiss. “Shut up. And I’ll keep you safe if I want to do it. You have nothing to say about it.”
“Yes, ma’am.” His eyes were closing. “I’m in your hands…”
For the moment, he was in her hands. Tomorrow or the next day, it might be different.
But she would take tonight and hold it close.
CHAPTER
12
“Time to get up.” Elena Delaney opened the door and stuck her head into Cara’s room. “Past time. You’re late. You overslept. If you don’t hurry, you’ll miss the bus.”
Cara raised her head. “I’ll make it.” She yawned. “And if I don’t, I can walk with Heather. She says she does it all the time.”
“No,” Elena said crisply. “We’ve discussed that. Get up and get going. You’re going to be on that bus.”
“Okay.” Cara swung her legs to the floor. “I’ll skip breakfast and be down there in front of the apartment on time. I promise, Elena.”
“You won’t skip breakfast.” She turned and started to leave. “I’ll make a grilled cheese sandwich, and you can eat on the run.” She stopped, and looked back over her shoulder, her gaze going to the dark circles beneath Cara’s eyes. “The nightmares again?”
Cara nodded. “But they’re getting better. I haven’t had one for two weeks. Maybe they’re starting to go away.”
“And maybe they’re not. When you have one, you don’t sleep for the rest of the night.”
“Honest. They’re getting better.” She started for the bathroom and then stopped. “Should I know an Eve, Elena? Do you know someone named Eve?”
“What?” Elena frowned. “No, why?”
“No reason. She was just part of my dream.” She disappeared into the bathroom.
Elena shook her head and hurried toward the kitchen. She had to get Cara on that bus and be at the restaurant where she worked as a waitress forty-five minutes later. It would be fine. She was good at multitasking. She put butter into the frying pan to melt as she turned on the TV to get the local weather. Then she opened the front door and picked up the newspaper and carried it back to the kitchen. She put the two pieces of bread in the frying pan and poured herself a cup of coffee.
“Cara,” she called. “How are you coming?”
“Almost there.”
“Five minutes, and you have to be out the door.” She flipped through the newspaper. Usual depressing stuff. North Korean threats, terrorists beheading people, politicians feathering their own nests. She didn’t know why she even paid to have a paper delivered.