She shoved him. "Leave me alone."
"God and I have a lot in common. If you believe in reincarnation, then by killing your Bonnie I, like God, created a brand-new human being. Though I didn’t actually create her from Bonnie’s rib, I thought you’d appreciate the symbolism." He paused. "By the way, her name is Jane." He hung up.
The phone dropped from her hand. She stared down into the box. "Don’t touch it," Joe said.
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"I’ll call Spiro and get a team down here to check it out." Charlie ran down the steps toward his car.
"Dom?" Joe asked. She nodded.
"Did he tell you what this is?" She nodded again.
So small…
She reached down and touched it with one finger. Smooth… Tears began to run down her cheeks.
"Eve."
"It’s Bonnie. It’s Bonnie’s rib."
"Shit." Joe picked her up and carried her inside. "Son of a bitch. Bastard.”
“Bonnie."
"Shh." He sat down on the couch and rocked her. "Dammit, why didn’t you call me?"
"Bonnie’s rib."
"It could be an animal bone. He could have lied to you." She shook her head. "Bonnie."
"Listen to me. He wanted to hurt you."
And he had succeeded. God, how he had succeeded. Pain was searing through her. She had told herself only last night that he had no real weapon against her, that she could control— Dammit, she couldn’t stop crying.
And she couldn’t stop thinking of that little fragment of Bonnie in that box. "Go bring it in."
"What?"
"It’s… cold out there."
"Eve," Joe said gently. "It’s evidence. We can’t move—”
“Do you think he’d leave any evidence? Go get it.”
“Even if it’s Bonnie, she can’t feel—"
"I know I’m not being reasonable. I just don’t want her out in the cold if I can help it. It… hurts me. Bring her in."
Joe muttered a curse and got to his feet. A moment later he came back with the box. "You’re The Killing Game – Eve Duncan 02
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not looking at it again." He crossed the room and slid the box into a drawer of her worktable.
"And it’s going to the lab for analysis.”
“Okay."
"And stop crying, dammit." She nodded.
"Oh, shit." He dropped down beside her and gathered her in his arms. "You’re killing me.
Please. Stop crying."
"I’m sorry. I’m trying. It was the shock. I didn’t expect—" She swallowed. "He got the response he wanted from me, didn’t he?"
"What did he say?"
She shook her head. "Not now. Give me a minute."
His arms tightened around her. "Take all the time you need. I’ll give you ten years if you need them. Why not? Hell, I’ve already given you one decade."
What was he talking about? She didn’t have a decade. She might not have any time at all. She buried her head in his shoulder, trying to get past the horror of the box and face an even greater horror.
"He said that—" She couldn’t go on. Not yet.
Her name is Jane.
"It’s all bullshit," Joe said flatly. "Reincarnation?"
"Did he sound as if he believed in it?" Spiro asked Eve. "Not really."
"Then he could have been manipulating you."
"He’d like me to believe it." She smiled bitterly. "That could make it very entertaining for him."
"He knows you’re too intelligent to fall for that crap," Joe said. "He also knows I care about children." Her hands clenched on her lap. "And bones aren’t enough for him. What if he’s chosen his next victim? What if he can make me a part of the kill, make me the cause of it?"
"Clever," Spiro murmured.
"It’s nice to be so detached," Eve said unevenly. "I’m not finding much to admire in the bastard."
"I’m not admiring him, merely assessing his capabilities. And this is all supposition on your part."
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"He went to a great deal of trouble to bring me that box."
"And it gave you a great deal of pain. He may regard that as enough return." She shook her head. "It’s just the opening gambit. He hit me with Bonnie. He hit me with the threat to another little girl. And he tried to tie the two together in my mind."
"And did he succeed?" Spiro asked. "Of course not."
Spiro’s gaze narrowed on her face. "Not even a little?" She looked down. "I wouldn’t let him do that to me.”
“I hope not."
"We have to find her. We have to find that little girl.”
“She may not even exist," Joe said.
"She exists."
"If she did exist, he may already have killed her." She shook her head. She wouldn’t believe that. "I don’t think so." Spiro said, "I’ll rush the analysis of the contents of that box and get back to you."
He turned to Joe. "I want to know how Dom got that close to the house."
“Don’t you think I’ve asked myself the same question a million times? It shouldn’t have happened. But it did. Eve needs more guards."
"This lake curves around like a snake. There’s nothing to stop anyone from taking a canoe into one of the inlets and making his way to the cabin. I’d have to set up a two-mile chain of agents to monitor all that lake front."
"At least get a truckload of equipment out here and trace his calls to Eve.”
“I don’t know how much good it will do," Spiro said. "But I agree that—”
“No," Eve said.
They both looked at her.
"If he finds out we’re trying to trace the calls, he may not call again. I have to talk to him."
Joe muttered a curse.
"You know I have to do it, Joe.”
“Oh, yes, he’s got you, dammit."
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"And what if he doesn’t call you?" Spiro asked.
"He’ll call again. Soon." She lifted her head. "He wants me to know who the girl is."
"You know who she is. He already told you her name and her age.”
“That was just a tease. Enough to make me worry but not enough for me to find her. We have to find her."
"Then it’s your responsibility to convince Dom to tell you more," Spiro said. Her responsibility.
That was what Dom wanted, for her to be responsible for the life of that child. For her to try to save a little girl she didn’t even know.
Her name is Jane.
And she was only ten years old. Too young to know how to fight the monster stalking her.
Just a little girl. She’d be helpless…
’s fist landed squarely on Chang’s nose and blood spurted. "Give it back."
Chang screamed and clutched his nose. "Fay, Janie hit me. I didn’t do nothing and Janie hit me."
"Jane, stop it," Fay called from the kitchen. "And, Chang, quit tattling.”
“Give it back," Jane said through gritted teeth.
"Thief. Crook." Chang backed away. "I’m going to tell Fay and she’ll have you put in jail."
"Give—it—back." She punched him in the stomach and then grabbed the apple that dropped from his hand. She was halfway across the room when Fay said, "Stop right there, Jane."
Sighing, she stopped in her tracks. Bad luck. A few seconds more and she would have been out the front door.
"She stole an apple from the fridge. She’s been stealing stuff for the last two days." Chang smiled maliciously. "You gonna have her arrested, Fay?"
"What kind of stuff?" Fay asked.
"Food. I saw her put a sandwich in her schoolbag yesterday.”
“Is that true, Jane?"
Jane didn’t answer. "And she punched me."
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“You said I shouldn’t fight," he said, sulking.
"I also said you shouldn’t tattle, but you do it." Fay dug into her pocket and handed him a tissue. "Go on. You’ll be late for school." Chang wiped his nose. "Jane was late yesterday.”