Everything was okay. She just needed some air. She’d keep the car windows open as she drove to the hotel. The tension of the day must have been more enervating than she had dreamed.
She was feeling less sick but still shaky as she pulled out of the hospital parking lot. Stop it. She was fine. Everything was fine.
* * *
“No, it’s not. It’s all wrong, Eve.”
She stiffened, her gaze flying to the passenger seat.
Jenny.
Pain.
Eve could feel her pain and despair.
“It’s been a long time, Jenny. I thought we were working on this together.”
“I told you that I’d never be sure when I could come to you,” she said. “It’s so hard. He’s so hard. He fights me. He won’t believe me, and sometimes he makes me think that he’s right. That I’m … nothing.”
“No, he’s not right. Don’t think that.”
“It’s only sometimes. Most of the time, I know I’m getting stronger, and I’ll soon be able to stop him.”
“Stop him?”
“The way he stopped me,” she said. “The way he stopped her.”
“Her?”
“Elena. He shouldn’t have done that. It was all wrong.”
“Jenny, what are you saying?”
“He followed her. I couldn’t do anything. I couldn’t make him listen. He wouldn’t hear me.”
“Jenny, what did he do?”
“I don’t know. The car … I don’t know. He wanted to hurt her. I think he did it.”
“He hurt Elena?”
“Yes. He shouldn’t have done it. So kind to me. So good to Cara.”
“Cara. You know about Cara? You know that she’s the little girl Walsh was targeting?”
“Of course I do. Who else? It had to be Cara.”
“You didn’t know before.”
“I told you, I’m getting stronger. Things are coming back to me. Soon I’ll know everything.”
“And you know that Cara is your sister?”
“Of course she is. She was Marnie. Now she’s Cara. Elena had to change it.”
“And Elena isn’t really her aunt?”
“No, she was our nurse. She took care of both of us before Walsh took us from our home. He thought having her with us would make it easier for him on the trip, and he made her come along.”
“But it didn’t make it easier, did it? She helped you to escape from him?”
“Yes, but it didn’t work. He was too smart. He came after us. He was too close. He was going to catch Cara. I couldn’t let him do it. All I had to do was run away and make a lot of noise, so he’d follow me. But I had to leave her alone. I told her that I’d keep her safe if she’d just do what I said.” She moistened her lips. “And I did it. I can’t let it all be for nothing. I can’t let her die now. I saved her the last time. I have to do it again.”
“Is it Cara who Walsh is hurting now?”
“No, not yet. I told you … the car. Cara wasn’t in the car.”
“She wasn’t in Elena’s car? But she picked her up at school.”
“No, she fooled him. She had to fool him. She couldn’t let him get Cara.”
“Then where is Cara?”
“I don’t know. I can feel her. She’s scared, so scared. Like she was that night. There were tall trees around her then, but now there’s only rock. And she’s all alone.”
“Does Walsh know where she is?”
“I don’t think so. Maybe. He hurt Elena.”
“Do you know where Elena is?”
“The car.” Her green eyes were glittering with tears. “It’s the car. We have to help them, Eve. I’ve been searching. I have to find them before Walsh does.”
“We will. We found two bus passes that led up and around Carmel. Could that be near where she is?”
“I told you, I don’t know. I have to—” She stopped and drew a deep breath and straightened her shoulders. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have put this on you. I always knew that I was the one who had to stop Walsh. Maybe the reason I was sent to you was that I had to learn to be strong enough to do it. Remember, you told me that I had to reach down and get the strength to fight him? Maybe I didn’t try hard enough. Well, I have to do it now.” Her lips were trembling, but her voice was steady. “I hope you can help me, but if you can’t, then I have to do it myself. It’s all wrong. It shouldn’t happen again. I can’t let it happen.”
“No, and it won’t. We’ll work it out together. It will be—”
* * *
But Jenny was gone.
Eve could feel her own eyes sting. “I wish you wouldn’t do that, Jenny. It’s hard enough without you wafting off to never-never land after you upset me.”
She pulled into the parking lot of the hotel and turned off the car. She buried her face in her hands and tried to get control of herself.
Think.
Try to put it together.
If she was to believe Jenny, Cara was somewhere alone and on the run.
Elena Delaney? Eve was afraid to make a guess. She leaned back in the seat and took a deep breath.
Wherever Elena was, she must be in danger … or worse. She had to be found. How?
“Car … it’s the car.”
She took out her phone and dialed Nalchek. “I need your help.”
“In the middle of the night?” A pause followed immediately by, “Have you found Walsh?”
“Not yet. I’m worried about Elena Delaney. I’m afraid that Walsh may have located her.”
“Not the kid?”
“No, I think Cara and her aunt may have split up.”
“Why do you think that?”
Awkwardness again. “I had a tip.”
“Another anonymous source?”
“Yes.”
“That you’re not going to divulge.”
“Sorry.”
“So am I,” he said dryly. “And how am I supposed to help?”
“You were going to try to locate Elena’s car. Have you done it?”
“Yes. I’ve been on the phone twice with the local police.”
“Could you call them now and go up the chain of command to try to get someone to find her car right away?”
“I could ask them, but I have no proof to show real grounds for the pressure.”
“Kidnapping. Tell them that you suspect that she kidnapped Cara, and you’re trying to verify.”
“She’s supposed to be the kid’s aunt.”
“Which you can say was based on forged documents.”
“And they’ll have my ass when they find out I’m lying.”
“It could be true. We don’t know why she was with Cara. We don’t know anything.”
“Your mysterious source didn’t tell you?” he asked sarcastically.
She didn’t answer. “Will you do it?”
“You haven’t given me a good reason.”
“Walsh is after Elena. She’s going to die if we don’t find her before Walsh does.”
He was silent. “So Walsh is directly involved and on the move? That has a certain substance. I’ll give Carmel PD a call and phone you. Are you still at the hotel in San Francisco?”
“I won’t be by the time you get back to me. I’ll be on my way to Carmel.”
“Then I’ll see you there. I’m staying at the Radisson.”
“In Carmel?” she asked, startled.
“I started driving down there after the last time you called me. Things were happening, and I figured that was the place to be. You were getting close.”
“Not close enough. Cara Delaney slipped away.”
“Closer than I’ve been before. This time I’ll get him,” he said grimly. “Is Margaret still with you?”
“Yes.”
“Leave her in San Francisco. She’ll get in the way.”
“No. Call me when you find out anything.” She hung up.
The news that Nalchek was in Carmel had come as a surprise. She supposed it shouldn’t have been a shock. She couldn’t expect the sheriff to stay in the background while she was asking for help. She had known from the beginning that he was a dominant personality. But she was uneasy knowing he had not bothered to tell her he was coming to Carmel. He had just quietly and efficiently complied with her every request and compiled all the information she had gathered for his own investigation. Then he had positioned himself where he might be able to use it for his own advantage.