“Screw you.” Zander struggled to sit up against the tree. “You’d go straight for Eve and Doane would skip out and I’d have to deal with him later.”
“You’re right, I’d make the right choice. Where does that trail lead?”
“I’ll take you there.” Zander got to his feet. “If you can exercise a little restraint.”
“No promises. Not if Eve’s at the end of that trail.”
“She may be. I can’t be sure. I tried to track them on the trail, but the heavy rain washed the signs away. I kept passing out, and I couldn’t risk being helpless if Doane stumbled over me. He kept her at a house, an old coin factory, before she managed to escape. But I gave her my knife and, if Doane found it on her, alarm bells would ring.”
“You gave her your knife?” Stang asked. “Why?”
“It seemed to be the thing to do at the time.” He was picking up his backpack. He pointed toward a row of mountains to the left. “If you follow the trail over that ridge, you’ll find yourself in a valley. It’s shaped like a punch bowl. The only possible road spirals downward from its rim to an old ghost town at the bottom. But several miles back on this side of rim, we can hike to a cabin that I believe Doane occupied. It used to be a coinery. It was probably built up there so that the miners wouldn’t have to go all the way to town to cash out.”
“You might be proving valuable.” He tilted his head. “I may be glad I stuck around.”
“Let’s get moving. With any luck, they’ll still be at the factory. If they’re not, I have a few other ideas.”
“But now that I know where the trail leads, I don’t need you,” Joe said. “The last thing I want is to be saddled with someone who can’t function. Go back to the helicopter with Eland.”
Stang’s eyes widened, and he gave a choked gasp.
“Saddled? Me?” Zander’s voice was icy. He turned and stared Joe directly in the eye. “I believe you should reconsider. Will I be able to function, Quinn?”
Joe’s eyes narrowed as his gaze held Zander’s for a long minute. Then he turned away and started back toward the trail. “Yes, you can function. Just keep up with me.”
Zander watched him for an instant, then moved after him. His tone was low, almost conversational, as he said, “Do you know, you arrogant son of a bitch, I may take you out before we even get close to Doane.”
CHAPTER
16
Ghost Town
“YOU’RE STALLING,” DOANE SAID harshly. “You’ve done everything you had to do to repair what you did to my boy. Now complete him.” He reached into the sack in which he’d stored all the equipment of hers that he’d taken from the coinery and pulled out the flat wooden box. “Give him sight.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. They’re only glass eyeballs,” Eve said. “He won’t be able to see except in your imagination.”
“And yours,” Doane said softly. “That’s what you’re afraid of, isn’t it? He’s blind now, but you’re afraid that he’ll look at you and be able to see how to destroy you.”
“I’m not afraid.” Reluctant, not afraid, she tried to convince herself. This strange, overpowering, emotional involvement she’d developed with Kevin might be pure hallucination or something more malignantly mystical, but she must not let fear enter into it. “And he can’t destroy me. Only I can do that.”
“Then give my Kevin his eyes, and we’ll see who is right.”
She hesitated, then opened the box. “Blue eyes. The color of the sky. They should be pitch-black.” She lifted the left eye out of the box. She took a deep breath and carefully placed the eye in the orbital socket.
Fast. Do it fast.
Get it over with.
She took the right eyeball and placed it into the socket.
“There it is. He’s done.” She stepped back, avoiding looking at the reconstruction. “Happy, Doane?”
“Oh, yes.” His eyes were glittering with tears as he stared at the skull. “It’s all there, all the beauty, all the power. How handsome he is. How could they kill anything that glorious?”
“How? With a great deal of skill and a strong stomach to combat the stench of him.”
“Bitch!” His hand lashed out, backhanding her, bringing her to her knees. “Even at this perfect moment, you manage to spoil it for me.” His fingers were buried in her hair, and he jerked her head back. “Look at him. He wants you to look at him.”
She was looking at Kevin. She couldn’t help it unless she closed her eyes, and she knew Doane would force her to open them.
Yes, Kevin was beautiful, as Lucifer must have been beautiful. She could even see the power that she had never meant to give those features. It had just come …
And, God help her, she could see the shining blue eyes staring, seeing her. It was not possible that adding those eyes had made his face come alive. She would not accept it. As long as she didn’t accept that nightmare, it did not exist.
Mine. Have you. Have her.
The hell you do.
“So handsome,” Doane whispered. “No one could ever resist him. You won’t be able to do it either. He’ll reach out for your Bonnie, and you’ll fall on your knees begging him to take you, too.”
“Try me. It won’t happen like that.”
“Yes, he’ll try you.” He stroked her hair gently before releasing it. “Soon. Very soon, Eve.” He stepped back. “Get up and get out of my way. I have to carefully package Kevin in his container, and I don’t want you near him.”
“Are you afraid I’ll tear him up again?” She got to her feet and moved away to stand by the window in the front of the barbershop. “I might be tempted.” But she stared out the window so she wouldn’t have to look back at the skull. “I hear that wolf howling again. He sounds hungry. Kevin wouldn’t stand a chance if he got hold of him.”
“He won’t get hold of him,” Doane snarled. “I’m going to go out and shoot that wolf and shut him up. I’ll bring back his head and throw it at your feet.”
“Do you really have time to go hunting? Or maybe you’ve decided that all your plans to kill Zander should be tossed aside. They haven’t been going so well, have they? Joe will find me, you know.” She glanced back over her shoulder. “When I got away from you, I gave him some extra time. He’s probably closing in on you now. These mountains aren’t safe for you any longer. Why don’t you leave here and go on the run?”
“Why don’t you be quiet?” He fastened the catches on the container in which he’d placed the skull. “I’ve considered the possibility that I might not be safe any longer. I’m taking care of it.” He lifted his head and glared at her. “If I have to do without killing Zander, I will do it. Kevin would forgive me. He really wants you more now than he does Zander.” His lips curled. “And he’ll get you, Eve. If I die, I’ll take you with me and give you to him to play with as he did the children. You’ll be too busy protecting yourself to know what he does to your Bonnie.”
“I believe both you and your son are full of hot air and bullshit,” Eve said curtly. “If his spirit still exists, he has no power. He’s just frantically scurrying around and trying to save those nightmare fantasies that don’t exist any longer.”
“You’ll see. He’ll enjoy—” Eve heard a soft ping and watched Doane take out his cell phone and check it. He smiled and thrust the phone back in his pocket. “Perhaps sooner than you might think.”
He strode across the shop, handcuffed her hands in front of her, and grasped her arm. “Come on. It’s time to move to phase two of our visit to this wonderful town.” He pushed her outside the door. “You were so interested in the saloon when we first arrived. Let’s see if it still holds its fascination for you.”
She stiffened. Had he found Zander’s gun and phone? “The saloon? Why?”