“I’m not sure either. It’s never a certainty,” Margaret said. “Where are we going?”
“Into the woods. Dukes, one of Venable’s agents, had his throat cut about a mile from the lake. That’s all we know. The area was pristine clean. Forensics has been all over the area and not found anything yet. I want to know how he died and if Doane left any clues that we haven’t found.”
Jane shook her head as she followed them out on the porch. “Joe, how can she possibly tell you anything about a murder that took place while she wasn’t even in the country?”
He stared Margaret directly in the eye. “Can you?”
She was silent a moment. “Perhaps.”
His smile flashed tiger bright as he pulled her out of the house. “Then let’s go see, Margaret.”
CHAPTER
12
Rio Grande Forest, Colorado
“YOU’RE TAKING THOSE RED MARKERS out of his face,” Doane said approvingly as he leaned forward in his chair. “I’m glad. He looked like a demon, and Kevin is such a handsome boy.”
“He’s no boy. He’s a man.” Eve corrected herself as she checked the final depth measurements. “He was a man. I’d judge him to be late twenties when he died.”
“You’re trying to hurt me by reminding me he’s no longer with me.” Doane smiled gently. “You can’t do that when I know that you feel so deeply about your Bonnie. I’m sure you feel she’s still by your side.”
Bonnie sitting leaning against the rollaway bed and talking to her.
“Every now and then. Every parent who has lost a child clings to memories.”
“It’s more than memories. Maybe it’s that way with you, but it’s different with Kevin and me. Sometimes a soul is so strong, it fights free.” He tilted his head as he once more leaned back in his chair. “You’re working very slowly today. I thought it would go faster after you got those voodoo markers out of him.”
“I have to be careful. I start the sculpting process soon, and I have to have an accurate foundation on which to build.” And she was sick again, fighting the nausea. It was worse now than it had been before when she had thought it had been caused by breathing that gas.
It’s not the gas, it’s Kevin.
I’m beginning to believe you, baby.
She stared at the mass of clay that was the reconstruction and fought the nausea. No defined features, cavities where the eyes, nose, and lips would be, just bold swathes of clay. There should have been no hint of personality yet in this unfinished state. She seldom felt a connection with the victim until she began the final sculpting.
Dear God, but she was feeling a connection now. It was faint and dark and brimming with menace.
“I’d hate to think you were stalling,” Doane said. “Kevin wouldn’t like it. It’s important that you finish the reconstruction as soon as possible so that we can go on with what we have to do.”
“And what do you have to do?”
Doane didn’t answer.
“Kill me?”
“Do I look like a man who would kill a kind, worthwhile woman like you?”
“No, but I think that appearances don’t reflect the true picture where you’re concerned.” She paused. “Have you killed anyone before, Doane?”
“No.”
She waited a moment, then asked, “Has Kevin ever killed anyone? Was that why he was in court?”
Doane didn’t answer.
“You don’t want to tell me the truth? I’ll find out sometime. I’ll keep probing until I know everything about you and your precious Kevin. Why not tell me yourself?”
“It would poison you against Kevin. It might affect the reconstruction.”
“You haven’t researched me very thoroughly if you believe that. I don’t let anything interfere with the validity of my work.” She shrugged. “Who knows? It might make it come faster. Truth can be a great clarifier. Was Kevin in that court because he killed someone?”
He slowly nodded.
“Who?”
“No one important.”
She stared at him in shock. “Every human being is important. Every death diminishes us.”
“That’s trite nonsense.” He grimaced. “I used to believe that kind of bullshit before Kevin taught me the truth.”
“Kevin taught you? The father teaches the son.”
“No other man had a son like my Kevin. He was … extraordinary.” Doane’s face was luminous, his eyes glittering. “It took me a long while to understand that there are special people born in this world to rule and others to follow. If Kevin had lived, he would have been a leader, no, he would have been more. He would have been a god. He told me once that Hitler would have changed the world and been worshipped as he deserved if he’d been a little smarter.” He added simply, “Kevin was much smarter. He only needed a little more time before he would have been able to control himself and move up where he belonged.”
“Control himself?” She moistened her lips. “Who was this ‘unimportant’ person that your son murdered?”
He didn’t speak for a moment, and then he shrugged impatiently. “It doesn’t really matter what I say, does it? I’ve tried so hard to do what Kevin taught me to do, but it’s coming to an end. I believe he’s ready for it to come to an end. I can’t make you believe in me. So what difference does it make?”
“Whom did Kevin murder?”
He was silent again. “Just a child. Her name isn’t important. She would have been glad to sacrifice herself if Kevin had time to explain how vital her death was to him. He needed a release to keep him functioning properly. If she’d gotten to know him, she would have loved him. Everyone loved Kevin.”
She closed her eyes for an instant as the horror hit home. “I understand that Hitler had his fans, too. But I don’t believe that they would have been glad to die for him.”
“That’s why Kevin would have been greater than Hitler. He could persuade anyone to do anything.”
“Including you.”
“When I understood that was my duty to him. Yes, I did anything he wanted me to do, gave him anything he wanted.” He met her eyes. “I’m not ashamed. I’m proud of everything I did for Kevin.”
Eve’s head was spinning. Images of Hitler. Ugly visions of a dead child. How old had that child been when Kevin had killed her? As old as Bonnie when she’d been taken? “He still has you under his spell even though he’s dead. Don’t you realize that he was crazy? All of that bull about his needing a release is straight out of serial-killer textbooks. He obviously had delusions of grandeur, but that isn’t unusual either. He was a self-indulgent monster who was using you. He probably cared nothing for you.”
“He did care.” His face was flushed. “That’s all you know. Kevin loved me. When he found out that he was going to have to go to court, he wouldn’t let me come to him and made sure that I’d be protected no matter what happened to him. I didn’t want to go. I wanted to stay and help him. But he said he had Blick if he needed to escape. Blick would never leave him.”
“Blick was Kevin’s friend?” Her lips twisted. “Or should I say follower?”
“He worshipped Kevin. They were both in the Army, but Kevin was in the Special Forces when they met in Istanbul. The Army taught Kevin to kill, and he became magnificent at it.”
“Like a god? But then the Army didn’t know Kevin needed his little releases, did they? Did Blick know that executing the enemy wasn’t enough for your son?”
“Not at first. But Blick could see his power, and Kevin let him come close to him. Kevin showed him how exciting it was to break all the rules and take what you want. He was grooming him.”