He answered. “I have the skull.”
“Good.” Walsh replied. “And I have Eve.”
Joe stopped. “Walsh.”
“Oh, yes. And you also know there’s only one way I could have Eve’s phone.”
“Walsh,” Joe said slowly and precisely. “If you’ve hurt her, I will kill you in the most painful way imaginable.”
“Such violence. Joe Quinn the caveman, swinging his club to protect his mate … Does that kind of thing still work in this day and age?”
“Put her on the phone. Now.”
“So demanding … Especially when I’m holding all the cards.”
“Now.”
Eve’s voice cut in quickly. “Joe, take the skull and get the hell away from—”
She was abruptly cut off, and Joe heard what he was sure was the sound of a blow being struck. Walsh returned on the phone. “I never bluff, Quinn. I don’t need to.”
Joe looked toward the ridge where he’d last seen Eve. She had to be somewhere near there. He started moving as he spoke into the phone. “Then what do you want?”
“You’re holding it. Bring that skull back to me.”
“And you’ll let Eve go?”
“We’ll negotiate.”
“Why in the hell should I believe you? You already had the skull before this night ever began.”
“Conditions change. You brought about that change. Well done, by the way.”
“We’ve both been trained in the same school. If you hurt her, I’ll show you why I graduated cum laude.”
“You’re quite capable. I get that. Bring me the skull, and we’ll talk.”
Eve’s voice cut in again, this time in the background. “Joe, don’t! Get out of here.”
He pulled the phone away from his ear, but he didn’t hear Eve’s voice in the open air. They had to be farther away than he thought. He quickened his pace.
Walsh’s voice was muffled for a moment as he said something to Eve. Then he returned. “I suggest you do as I say, Quinn. Eve is starting to annoy me.”
“Where do I bring it?”
“There’s a small clearing just on the other side of the ridge.”
“You’ll be there?”
“Where I’d make myself a target? Be serious. But that’s where I want you to be. We’ll be close enough to see you. Do as I say, and you’ll see Eve.”
“I’d better see her unharmed. I’m warning you.”
“What happens to Eve in the next fifteen minutes entirely depends on you. Do as I say, Quinn.”
Walsh cut the connection.
* * *
“If you want to live through the night, you’ll let me go,” Eve said quietly. “You don’t know who you’re dealing with. Joe is in his element out here.”
Walsh tugged on her nylon wrist restraints as he pulled her through the woods. “You have a high opinion of your Joe Quinn.”
“It’s well-founded.”
“Your faith in him is touching. He was lucky. I’m better than he is. Look who’s on top now.”
“For the moment.” Eve studied Walsh, looking for weakness, as he pulled her around a clump of bushes. He held his handgun high in his right hand, and he used his left hand to guide her. “But all you’ve proved so far is that you were able to overcome me, and that was only because you took me by surprise.” He was very good. He’d appeared out of nowhere with a gun leveled at her head. A complete shock.
And, if they couldn’t find a way out, in a few moments, he’d have Joe and the skull.
“You were easy. A woman who sculpts faces on skulls? Though you did do an amazing job with reconstruction,” Walsh said. “You brought that little girl back.”
“No. There’s no coming back from what you did to her.”
A range of emotions suddenly played across Walsh’s face. Eve tried to decipher the expressions. Doubt. Fear. Anger. Was that a weakness? Probe a little and try to find out.
“Jenny had her entire life ahead of her,” Eve said.
“How do you know that’s her name?” Walsh snapped.
“That is her name, isn’t it?”
He was silent.
Eve smiled. “She told me.”
“Bullshit.”
“Believe what you want. I know the truth.”
And he knew it, too, Eve realized. Jenny had definitely reached out to him.
“We’ll wait here.” He stopped and pointed through the trees at a clearing. “That’s where your Joe Quinn will be meeting us. Don’t make a sound, Eve, and it may be over soon, with a minimum of pain for you.”
* * *
In less than five minutes, Joe appeared in the clearing. He was holding the bundle under his arm. Run, take the skull, and get the hell out of here, she wanted to tell him. But she had said it all before, and he wouldn’t do it now any more than he had then.
Joe looked around. “Walsh?” he called out.
Walsh responded, still in the cover of the surrounding trees. “Put the skull down, Quinn. And take the gun from your holster and throw it into the woods.”
“Let me see Eve.”
Walsh nudged her.
She called out. “I’m here, Joe.”
Joe tossed his gun, then rested the mosquito-net-wrapped bundle on the ground. He stepped back. “Here’s what you wanted. Now let her go.”
Bam.
Walsh fired his gun, and Joe went down.
Joe!
Blood spurted from his right side. He rolled over and looked up at Eve.
Walsh stepped forward. “So sorry, Quinn. But Eve here has been selling you as quite the formidable opponent. I couldn’t take the chance.”
Eve tried to run to Joe, but Walsh held her back.
“He can still survive, but you need to be smart, Eve. I promise you, my next bullet will finish him.”
She whirled back toward him, her eyes glistening. “He did everything you asked,” she said fiercely.
“That remains to be seen. Open the package for me, Eve. Let’s see your creation.”
Eve turned toward Joe. He was doubled over on the ground, pale and in pain. She wanted to run to him.
Walsh shoved her toward the package. “You’re wasting time.”
Eve knelt on the ground, just feet away from where Joe lay. She pulled away the mosquito netting and froze. She looked up and locked eyes with Joe.
“Well?” Walsh said.
Eve turned and raised the reconstructed skull in Walsh’s direction.
He lowered his gun and stepped toward her, his gaze fixed on the skull. He had that odd expression on his face again.
Fear. Awe. Anger.
Eve slowly reached down into the folds of netting and picked up the present Joe had hidden for her there.
His 9mm Beretta.
She gripped the handle and whirled around, firing at Walsh.
The first shot hit him in the shoulder. His gun flew from his hand.
The second shot grazed his temple.
Walsh screamed in pain and ran into the woods.
Eve kept firing until the cartridge was empty. She grabbed Walsh’s gun and turned back toward Joe. “I need you to walk. Can you do that for me?”
He shook his head, and whispered, “Go. Run.”
“No way. Not without you.” She linked her arms underneath his and dragged him out of the clearing.
His eyes fluttered. She was losing him.
She tore off her overshirt and pressed it against his wound. “Hold this here. I’ve called Nalchek. He should have been here by now.”
She punched the number. The buttons became sticky with blood. Joe’s blood.
“Nalchek,” he answered.
“Where the hell are you? Joe’s been shot. We need help now.”
“You’ll get it. The police helicopters are on their way.”
She cut the connection and turned back toward Joe.
She fell to her knees beside him.
Blood.
Staining his shirt. So much bloo
d.
“They’re coming, Joe. He said the helicopters are on their way.”
“I think … I hear them.”
So did Eve, but so far away.
“It’s okay,” he whispered. “Shh, it’s okay, Eve.”
“It’s not okay,” she said brokenly. “Dammit, he shot you.” She was frantically searching for the source of the blood. “You shouldn’t have done it. Not any of it. And you stood out there and let him shoot you.”
“Knew it wouldn’t be … a kill shot if … he wasn’t sure he had the skull.”
“You didn’t know, you took the chance. And you took a chance he’d have me unwrap the skull.”
“It would have been … hard for him to unwrap it and keep an eye … on both of us. Reasonable…”
“There wasn’t anything reasonable about it. You shouldn’t have done it. We should have left when I asked you to do it. I told you that reconstruction wasn’t important. Not in comparison to—” The wound was in the upper right chest.
How deep?
Don’t think about it. Just stop it.
She applied pressure. “Keep breathing. Don’t go to sleep. I’m going to keep you with me, Joe. There’s no way I’ll let you slip away.”
“Yes, ma’am.” His smile was faint, and so was his voice. “You bet you won’t. Gone through too much together … Wouldn’t let a scumbag like Walsh get between…”
“Just hold on. Those helicopters are closer, almost on top of us. They should— Joe!” His eyes were closing. “Don’t do that!”
“I won’t let you down. Promise. Just for a little while…”
He was unconscious.
But not dead, she thought frantically. She could feel the beat of his heart beneath her hand. He was alive, and he’d stay alive.
She wouldn’t let him go.
* * *
Son of a bitch.
Walsh’s foot slammed down on the accelerator, and the car jumped forward.
He could feel the blood trickling down his cheek and the searing sting from the bullet Eve Duncan had fired at him. An inch more, and the bitch would have blown his head off.
She had taunted him and gotten in his way, then had almost killed him.
The rage was tearing through him. It wasn’t enough that he had, at last, probably taken down Joe Quinn. He had to have Eve Duncan. He had to show her how superior he was to her. He wanted to crush her, destroy everyone she cared about, then show her how much pain he could inflict.
Die.
She had to die.
In the most agonizing way possible.
CALIFORNIA PACIFIC MEDICAL CENTER
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA
“You look … beautiful,” Joe said.
Eve opened her eyes and leaned forward in her chair toward the hospital bed. “Awake at last? You must still be woozy from the anesthesia if you think that.” She took his hand. “The surgeon said that the operation went very well, and you’re definitely out of danger. How do you feel?”
“You are beautiful. More … beautiful than usual.”
She chuckled. “I’ve already addressed that comment. No one but you would ever think I’m anything but interesting-looking, and it’s so dim in here, I’m sure you can barely see me. Now let’s talk about—”
“Interesting is beautiful.” He smiled. “And I can see you well enough to see your strength and the way you hold your head and the set of your lips. I think I was dreaming about you before I came around, and you defied every expectation. You always defy expectations.”
“Bullshit.” But even recovering from surgery, Joe was behaving oddly. “What is this all about, Joe?”
He chuckled. “How suspicious. Every word is true.”
“And?”
“Maybe I wanted to distract you a little from agonizing over this wound that’s causing me a few problems. When I opened my eyes, I could see all the strain and the edginess.”
“A few problems?” she said harshly. “You were out of control. You could have been killed.”
“But I wasn’t, thanks to your very nice shooting that put Walsh on the run.” He tilted his head. “Of course, I was being exceptionally skillful myself, but I have to admit you saved the day.”
“I don’t care about saving the day.” Her hand tightened on his, her voice uneven. “I only care about you. I could hit you. Don’t you ever do that again. I told you that we weren’t going to take any chances. Yet you strode off like some kind of Gary Cooper wannabe gunning for your own personal High Noon.”
“Not entirely personal. You wanted the skull.”
“It was personal,” she said fiercely. “You’ve told me that everything between us is personal. I know that, but I can’t stand the thought of your risking—” She broke off and drew an uneven breath. “And you can’t tell me that you didn’t want to try to take Walsh down. You didn’t care about the risk.”
“Wrong,” he said quietly. “I wouldn’t have risked leaving you alone with Walsh out there. I would have pulled back if I hadn’t thought I could do it.” He lifted her palm to his lips. “And I did do it, didn’t I? Or rather, we did it. Was there any damage to the reconstruction?”
“A little. But it won’t take me more than a few hours to repair it.” She leaned closer. “But I don’t want to talk about the skull. I want to talk about promises. I can’t stand the thought of this happening again. I want your word that you won’t—” She stopped. He was shaking his head. “Joe, dammit.”
“You won’t get it. Why are you even trying? This is who I am. Every bit of me belongs to you, but I can’t change who that person is.” His hand tightened on her own. “Hey, do you think that I don’t want to run your life so that you’ll be safe forever? Sometimes I try to do it. But I’m never going to ask you to be someone else because sometimes I get scared. I’ll just work around it.”
As he’d done when he’d tried to convince her not to go to Tahoe. He’d accepted, then applied every ounce of his intelligence and strength to make the decision work for him. She was silent, gazing at him. “Like you did tonight.”
“Yep. But that’s not so bad. We’ve done pretty well so far.”
All the years, all the love. “So far … But tonight it almost crashed and burned.” She stood up and leaned forward to kiss him. “I’ll be back soon. I’ll go and tell the head nurse that you’re awake.”
“Fine. When am I being released?”
He wasn’t going to like this. “The doctor will be in later, but he’s going to err on the side of caution. He said the earliest will be four or five days.”
“Bullshit,” he said flatly.
“Talk to him. The surgery wasn’t all that easy. He said if you rip those stitches before they’re healed, you could bleed to death.” She heard him mutter a curse before she hurried from the room. “I’ll see you later.”
* * *
“How is he doing?”
Eve turned away from the nurses’ station to see Nalchek walking down the hall toward her. “Not bad. Could be a lot better. But I’ll take it. Unfortunately, Joe isn’t likely to agree. They’re going to have to fight to keep him here for more than a day or two. He’s stubborn as hell.”
“I got that impression.” He glanced down the hall at Joe’s room. “And damn tough. The Nevada PD said he pulled off an amazing stunt out there.”
“He’s always amazing.” And strong, and smart, and more complex than anyone would dream. “And I’ve got to figure a way to keep him from bolting out of here.”
“I could ask the PD to find a minor crime with which to charge him.” He made a face. “But I don’t want Quinn for an enemy. I don’t believe he’s one to forgive and forget.”
“No way. My problem.” She turned to look at him. “Any news about Walsh?”
“Nothing good. They found an abandoned rental car on the shore a few miles away, and forensics is going over it. He probably had a speedboat waiting.”
“I’m grateful for your responding to my SOS and g
etting us out of those mountains. Thank you, Nalchek.”
“I’d say you’re welcome, but I’m still pissed off that you didn’t involve me in the beginning,” he said grimly. “It might have turned out differently if I’d been there for backup.”
“We were playing it by ear.”
“And leaving me out.”
“Yes. We didn’t know what to expect.”
“That’s not going to happen again,” he said grimly. “You owe me. I want to know everything you know about Walsh.”
He was right, they did owe him. “I didn’t mean to exclude you. It just … happened.” She quickly filled him in on everything they’d learned or suspected about Walsh. “I agree that we have to share information. It’s only sensible.”
His lips twisted. “But you and Quinn are so close that you practically finish each other’s sentences. I can see it. I’ll have to watch you like a hawk to keep you from doing it to me again.” He met her gaze. “You need me. I should have been there for you. You’ll notice you didn’t seem to do too well if that—”
“Maybe not,” she interrupted. “We lost Walsh. But we got the reconstruction.”
“So you told me when you phoned. Where is it?”
“In a canvas bag at the administration office. I left it there when they checked Joe into ER.”
“I want it. Let’s go down and get it.”
“Not yet. I have to make a few minor repairs. Then I’ll hand it over.” She rubbed her temple. “Then I have to call Margaret. She has a right to know what’s happening.”
“I already called her.”
She glanced at him in surprise. “You did?”
“After we knew Quinn wasn’t going to die. I thought you’d want her to know.”
She nodded. “Thank you.”
“She said she’d be at the hospital as soon as you let her know you need her.” His lips twisted. “She’s probably planning on hitchhiking. I’ll see that she has a ride.”
“You’re being very cooperative.”
“Haven’t you heard? Margaret says I’m one of the good guys. Not with sterling qualifications, and I could fall from grace at any moment.” He shrugged. “So I have to work on keeping on her good side. She might set her coyote on me.”