"Okay." Joe unlocked his apartment door. "Pick us up across the street, inside the park, at six."
"I’ll be there."
Eve watched Grunard walk toward the elevators before she followed Joe into the apartment.
"He appears very"—she searched for the word—"solid."
"That’s why he’s so popular." He locked the door and Eve looked around the apartment.
"Good God, you could have done better than this, Joe. It looks like a hotel room."
He shrugged. "I told you I didn’t do much more than sleep here." He headed for the kitchen. "I’ll make coffee and sandwiches. I doubt if we’re going to eat much at that dinner with Barbara Eisley."
The Killing Game – Eve Duncan 02
Page 88 of 286
She followed him into the kitchen. She doubted she could eat much now either, but she’d have to. She needed all her strength. "I think I may have met Eisley before."
"When?"
"Years ago. When I was a kid. There was one caseworker…" She shook her head. "Maybe not."
"You don’t remember?"
"I’ve blocked a lot of that time out of my memory." She made a face. "It wasn’t a very pleasant period. Mom and I were moving from place to place and every month the welfare department was threatening to take me away from Mom and put me in a foster home if she didn’t get off the crack." She opened the refrigerator door. "Everything in here is spoiled, Joe."
"Then I’ll make toast."
"If the bread’s not moldy."
"Don’t be pessimistic." He opened the bread box. "It’s just a little stale." He popped bread into the toaster on the counter. "Considering what you went through as a kid, you might have been better off in a foster home."
"Maybe. But I didn’t want to go. Back then there were times I hated her, but she was my mother. To a child, family always seems better than strangers." She got the butter from the refrigerator. "That’s why it’s so difficult to take abused children from their parents. They want to believe everything’s going to be all right.”
“And sometimes it’s not."
"Evidently it wasn’t for this Jane. Not if she’s been in four foster homes." She went to the window and looked down into the street. "You don’t realize how rough it is out there for kids, Joe."
"I realize. I’m a cop. I’ve seen it."
"But you haven’t been there." She smiled at him over her shoulder. "Rich boy.”
“Don’t be snooty. I couldn’t help it. I tried to get my parents to abandon me, but they wouldn’t do it. They sent me to Harvard instead." He plugged in the coffeemaker. "It could have been worse; they were thinking about sending me to Oxford."
"Terrible fate." She looked back out the window. "You never talk about your parents. They died when you were in college, didn’t they?"
He nodded. "Boating accident off Newport.”
“Why don’t you talk about them?”
The Killing Game – Eve Duncan 02
Page 89 of 286
“Nothing to talk about."
She turned to him. "Dammit, Joe, you didn’t spring fully grown into Atlanta. I’ve tried dozens of times to get you to tell me about your folks and the way you grew up. Why do you keep dodging?"
"It’s not important."
"It’s as important as the way I grew up." He smiled. "Not to me."
"You’re only fifty percent of this friendship. You know everything about me. Stop shutting me out."
"I don’t believe in living in the past."
"How the hell can I really know you if you won’t talk to me?”
“Don’t be crazy. You know me." He chuckled. "For God’s sake, we’ve been together more than ten years."
He was dodging again. "Joe."
He shrugged. "You want to know about my parents? I didn’t know them very well. They stopped being interested in me about the time I stopped being a cute little tyke." He got down cups from the cabinet. "Can’t blame them. I was never an easy kid. Too demanding."
"I can’t imagine you demanding anything. You’re too self-reliant.”
“Imagine it. Accept it." He poured coffee into the cups. "I’m still demanding as hell. I’ve just learned ways of camouflaging it. Sit down and eat your toast."
"You never demand anything of me."
"I demand your friendship. I demand your company. Most of all, I demand that you stay alive."
"Those are the most unselfish demands I’ve ever heard.”
“Don’t you believe it. I’m probably the most selfish man you’ve ever met." She smiled as she shook her head. "No way."
"I’m glad I’ve got you fooled. But someday you’ll find out how I’ve deceived you all these years.
You slum brats just can’t trust us rich kids."
"You’ve switched the conversation around to me again. Why do you keep doing that?"
"I’m bored with me." He yawned. "In case you haven’t noticed, I’m a very dull fellow."
The Killing Game – Eve Duncan 02
Page 90 of 286
"The hell you are."
"Well, I have to agree that I’m witty and supremely intelligent, but my background’s pretty mundane." He sat down opposite Eve. "Now, what about Barbara Eisley? What do you remember?"
Stubborn bastard, he’d told her as much as he was going to. She gave up as she had so many times before. "I told you, I’m not sure I knew her. There were so many caseworkers and, hey, they never stayed long in the job. Can’t blame them. Techwood wasn’t the safest neighborhood."
"Think."
"Bully." Okay, stop avoiding thinking about that hellhole where she had grown up. She let the memory flow back to her. Dirt. Hunger. Rats. The smell of fear and sex and drugs. "She might have been one of the caseworkers. I remember one woman in her late thirties. I thought she was old. She came to one of the houses on Market Street. I think I was nine or ten…"
"Sympathetic?"
"I think so. Maybe. I was too defensive to judge. I was angry at Mom and the whole world."
"Then you may have trouble bonding with her tonight."
"I don’t have to bond with her. I just have to convince her to open those files and help us find that child. There’s no time."
"Easy." His hand covered hers on the table. "One way or the other, we’ll get the records tonight."
She tried to smile. "I suppose if she won’t help, you’ll pull a Watergate at the welfare office?"
"Possibly."
He meant it. Her smile faded. "No, Joe. I don’t want you to get into trouble.”
“Hey, if you’re good, you don’t get caught. You don’t get caught, you’re not in trouble."
"Simplistic."
"The whole world should be so simple. I’d say the life of a kid is worth a little risk. If you’re persuasive enough, it may not be necessary for me to turn burglar. Who knows, Barbara Eisley may not be as tough as Mark claims. She could be a pussycat."
“Hell, no," Barbara Eisley said. "I don’t open those records for anyone. I’m up for my pension next year and I’m not taking any chances."
The Killing Game – Eve Duncan 02
Page 91 of 286
Barbara Eisley was definitely no pussycat, Eve thought in discouragement. From the moment Grunard had introduced them, she avoided talking about the files. When Joe finally pinned her down after dessert, she responded with the bluntness of a hammer blow.
"Now, Barbara." Grunard smiled at her. "You know that no one is going to jerk your pension for a little infringement involving a child’s life. Besides, you’ve been with the department too long."
"Bull. I’m not diplomatic enough for the mayor or city council. They’re just waiting for a reason to bounce me out of my job. The only reason I’ve lasted this long is that I know where a couple of political bodies are buried." She stared accusingly at Mark. "And you quoted me on that child abuse case two years ago. It made my department look negligent."