* * *
“THIS WAY!” ZANDER PULLED Eve left as they hurtled out the cottage’s front door.
She pointed to a path that extended down the other direction. “That one runs parallel to the beach. I think Doane’s car is—”
“No cover there. Hurry.”
They ran up the hill and almost immediately found themselves in the midst of an area populated by tall rock formations. “Do you know where we’re headed?” she whispered.
“No idea at all. How could I? But if he comes after us, I can take care of him.”
“Without a weapon?”
“Hands and mind are weapons. Sometimes conventional weapons only get in the way.”
“I still like to have them available,” she said dryly.
“Okay, if you prefer.” Zander moved toward a half-buried chunk of driftwood and tore off one of the branches. He held up the sharp, jagged end, about eighteen inches long, and looked at her questioningly.
Eve shook her head. “That’s not going to do much good against his gun.”
“Complaints. Complaints. It’s all we have.” He handed the branch to her. “This one’s yours.”
“Thanks a lot.”
He broke off another sharp piece and hefted it. “Let’s get moving.”
They slid between the rock formations. With each twist and turn, Eve saw more spires of driftwood on the beach below them, looking like a series of insane modern-art sculptures created in a fever dream.
More like a nightmare.
She tensed.
Footsteps were pounding behind them.
Doane.
Zander’s head lifted as he listened. “I believe our absence has been noticed,” he murmured.
The footsteps stopped.
“Did you think you could get away?” Doane shouted. “I can track you even in the dark. I can feel you, smell you.” More footsteps. “I can’t risk waiting for that bitch, Harriet. It’s time you paid the price. Both of you. Kevin wants his pound of flesh. Kevin’s here, Eve. Can you feel him?”
She felt that familiar, icy chill run through her.
Fight it.
Fight it with everything she had.
Doane laughed maliciously. “Just like old times, Eve. Me chasing you through the wilderness … But this won’t end as well for you. For either of you.”
“Don’t listen,” Zander whispered, perhaps sensing how Doane’s words were affecting her. “Keep moving.”
They crouched low and snaked through the rocks.
Doane’s voice called out. “You’re going to watch each other die … Just as I planned, just the way it was meant to be.”
What in hell was he doing with this taunting?
Of course. He was trying to provoke a response, any response, so that he could zero in on their location. Give him nothing.
She turned to Zander. “I can try to draw him toward me. If he’s distracted, maybe you can make your way back to him.”
Zander smiled. “You’re willing to act as bait? Not this time, Eve. I’m not letting you out of my sight.”
Her lips twisted. “Bad timing for a tender family moment.”
“I haven’t had that much experience.” He grabbed her arm and pulled her forward. “So we stick together.”
Blam!
A branch exploded next to her head.
She and Zander ducked as Doane rapidly fired four more shots in their direction.
They crouched lower and scrambled for a cluster of rocks ten feet ahead.
Shit. That was too damned close.
“The only way down is through me,” Doane yelled. “You don’t believe me?”
She and Zander continued through the rock formations, trying to stay close to the larger ones for cover.
“I promise you … it’s a dead end. Your choice is a rock wall and a fifty-foot drop that will kill you quicker than I will.”
Not likely, she thought. Doane had waited too long, and he was hungry.
She and Zander negotiated the twists and turns of the nature-built maze until she heard another sound ahead. More crashing waves, but these sounded … different. The rock formations abruptly ended, and Zander abruptly blocked her path.
They were standing on the edge of a sheer cliff. Waves crashed on the rocks below.
Doane was right. There was no place else to go.
“I told you so.”
Eve and Zander whirled around. Doane stood fifteen feet away, with his gun trained on them.
He was smiling. “We’re done now,” he said softly.
“You have no choice now, Zander,” Eve said in a low voice. “There’s a cluster of rocks over there. Get to them and take him down when you can.” She took a step forward so that she blocked Doane’s view of Zander. Think. Use what she knew about Doane. She raised her voice. “Kevin doesn’t want this, Doane. He told me. You’re making a terrible mistake.”
Doane’s smile faded, his brow furrowing in puzzlement. “What?”
“You’re right. You were right all along. He does live. He’s with us right now.”
“You’re lying. Do you think I’m a fool? You’ve never believed me.”
She’d caught him off guard. Keep his attention focused on her. She didn’t sense any action from Zander behind her, but that meant nothing. He moved like a cat.
She took another step closer. “I didn’t want to admit it. But how else was I able to reconstruct his face so well? Every blemish, every detail?”
Doane’s pistol hand was starting to tremble. “It’s what you do. His skull … and the pictures.”
“Not like that. And I didn’t see the photos until later. You saw what I did. I brought Kevin back. And the only way I was able to do that was for him to work through me. We bonded. We became one. Kevin lives and breathes through me. If you kill me, you’ll be killing him all over again.”
Doane was sweating. “You’re lying. I was the one he wanted to join with.”
“You weren’t close enough. I was there, and he reached out and took. That’s what Kevin always did, right? Think about that skull. Think about how much I made it look like Kevin. I’m good, but not that good. Kevin is the only one who could have done that.”
Doane’s eyes moistened. “Is it true? Kevin…?”
“Yes. No one is that good.” She raised her hand and touched her chest. “Kevin is here.”
“He should have waited for me.” His hand tightened on the gun. “If you’re lying, I’ll—” Doane took a step toward her, then froze, his back arching.
His eyes widened, bulged. “No … you bitch.”
He coughed. An instant later, blood dripped from his nose and mouth.
Eve started at him in bewilderment.
What was happening?
Doane fell to his knees, then tumbled face-forward onto the ground. Only then did Eve see the large knife protruding from his back.
And twenty feet behind him she saw Joe, still in his throwing stance.
Shock. Disbelief. Joy.
“Joe…”
“Stay there. He’s not dead yet.” He rushed up the trail and kicked the gun away from Doane’s still-twitching hand. Then he turned to Eve, and his voice was shaking. “Are you okay?” He didn’t wait for an answer but crushed her in his arms. “You don’t have to answer. I heard you with Doane. You’re very much okay.” He kissed her. “And if you aren’t, I’ll make you that way. God, Eve…”
“I know…”
“It’s not good form to indulge in public demonstrations of affection.” Zander came out from behind the cluster of boulders. “Particularly in the presence of a botched assassination.”
Joe’s eyes narrowed. “Botched?”
“Well, he’s not dead yet, is he? I was making my way around to do it right when you came on the scene.”
“He’ll be dead within a few minutes.”
Zander nodded. “And it wasn’t a bad throw. You were probably better when you were in the SEALs.”
Joe muttered a curse and turned to Eve. “I’m not alone. I brought friends. Catherine and Gallo are on the other side of the house. We split up to search when we didn’t find you in the house. Jane is on the way.”
Zander was smiling at Eve. “You were truly ingenious, Eve. I’m very proud of you. I hope you had an equally inventive story ready to keep Doane from wanting to kill me. Just in case your little distraction didn’t work.”