"No. I’ll stay here."
"I was expecting that." Joe reached for his phone. "I’ll call for an unmarked car to park out here tonight and have the officer go in immediately if he sees anything out of the ordinary. Okay?"
"I’ll stay here too," Mark said.
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She looked at the two of them, undecided. And then she opened the car door. "Okay, we’ll be back at eight in the morning. If you hear or see anything, you call us."
"You’re going to walk? Let me run you home.”
“We’ll get a taxi."
"In this neighborhood?"
"So we’ll walk until we get to where we can find one. I don’t want you leaving here."
Mark looked at Joe. "Will you please tell her she shouldn’t be wandering this neighborhood? It’s too dangerous."
"Jane MacGuire wanders around this neighborhood every day of her life," Eve pointed out. "She manages to survive." Just as Eve had survived all those years ago.
Jesus, it was all coming back to her.
“The car will be here in five minutes." Joe had finished his call and he and Eve got out of the car.
"Don’t worry, I’ll take care of Eve," he told Mark. "Or maybe I’ll let her take care of me. This is her turf."
"We’ll be back at eight in the morning." Eve started down the street. Nothing really changed around here. The grass growing in the cracks in the sidewalk, the dirty words chalked on the pavement.
"And how do we get back to civilization from here?" Joe asked as he fell in beside her.
"This is civilization, rich boy," Eve said. "The real wilds are four blocks south. You’ll notice I’m heading north."
"And where did you live?"
"South. You’re a cop. You must be familiar with this area."
"Not on foot. They shoot at cops in this part of town… when they’re not killing each other."
"They. The mysterious ‘they.’ We’re not all criminals down here. We have to live and survive just like anyone else. Why the hell do you—"
"Hold it. You know damn well who I was talking about. Why are you jumping on me?"
He was right. "Sorry. Forget it."
"I don’t think we’d better forget it. You were talking as if you were still living in one of those houses on Luther Street."
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"I was never lucky enough to live on Luther Street. I told you, this is uptown.”
“You know what I mean."
She did know. "I haven’t been down here since we moved out after Bonnie was born. I didn’t think I’d react like this."
"Like what?"
"I was feeling like the kid I was all those years ago." She smiled ruefully. "I was on the attack."
"That’s how Barbara Eisley described Jane MacGuire.”
“Maybe she has a right to want to strike first."
"I don’t doubt she has every right. I’m merely suggesting that you analyze what being back here has done to you. It’s you against the world again." He added deliberately, "Or maybe you and Jane MacGuire against the world."
"Nonsense. I’ve never even met the child."
"Maybe you shouldn’t meet her. Why don’t you let me go see her alone in the morning."
She turned to face him. "What are you saying?"
"Why did Dom choose someone from this neighborhood? Why did he bring you back here?
Think about it."
She walked in silence for a moment. "He wants me to identify with her," she whispered. Christ, she was already identifying with the little girl. She and Jane had walked the same streets, suffered abandonment and hardship, fought their way through loneliness and hurt. "He’s setting me up. First talking to me about reincarnation and then choosing Jane MacGuire. He’s not satisfied with killing a child and laying the guilt on my doorstep. He wants me emotionally involved with her."
"That’s the way I figure it."
Bastard. "He wants me to feel as if he’s killing my daughter all over again." Her hands clenched into fists at her sides. "He wants to kill Bonnie again.”
“And that’s why you shouldn’t go near Jane MacGuire. You’re already forming an attachment and you’ve not even met her."
“I can keep her at a distance.”
“Sure."
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"It won’t be that difficult, Joe. Not if she’s like me at that age. I wasn’t exactly approachable."
"I would have approached you.”
“And I would have spit in your eye.”
“It’s not a good idea for you to see her.”
“I have to do it."
"I know," Joe said grimly. "He hasn’t left you any way out." No way out.
Of course there would be a way out. She had fought her way out of this neighborhood. She had fought her way back to sanity after Bonnie had been killed. She wouldn’t let that son of a bitch trap her now. Joe was wrong. She loved kids, but she was no bleeding heart. She could save Jane MacGuire’s life and beat that monster. All she had to do was keep at a distance a little girl she didn’t even know.
But Dom wouldn’t keep Jane at a distance. His shadow was already looming over her.
Don’t think about it. Tomorrow she and Joe would talk to Fay Sugarton. Tonight Jane MacGuire was under guard and sleeping peacefully.
The little girl would be safe tonight.
Maybe.
"I’ve been looking for you, Mike. I told you to go to the alley near the mission." Jane sat down near the big cardboard box. "It’s not good here."
"I like it," Mike said.
"It’s safer where there are people."
"This is closer to home." Mike eagerly reached for the paper bag she held out to him.
"Hamburgers?"
"Spaghetti."
"I like hamburgers better."
"I have to take what I can get." What she could steal, really. Well, it wasn’t exactly stealing, was it? Cusanelli’s gave its leftovers to Meals on Wheels or the Salvation Army instead of throwing them out. "Eat it and then go over to the mission."
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“I had to wait until the restaurant closed." She stood up. "I’ve got to get back.”
“Now?" He was disappointed.
"If you’d been at the mission, I could have stayed a few minutes. It’s too late now."
"You said Fay slept hard and wouldn’t wake up."
Maybe. "I have to go climb in the kitchen window. Chang and Raoul have the room next door to the kitchen."
"I don’t want to get you in trouble."
But he was lonely and wanted her to stay. She sighed and sat back down. "Just until you finish."
She leaned against the brick wall. "But you got to go to the mission alley. It’s not good to be alone. There are all kinds of creeps around who could hurt you."
"I always run away like you told me.”
“But there’s no one to hear you if you call out.”
“I’m okay. I ain’t scared."
She knew she couldn’t make him understand. Fear was where his father lived.
Everywhere else was safe in comparison. Maybe it would be okay tonight. She hadn’t seen that creep for a couple of days. "How long does your father usually stay when he comes back?"
"A week, maybe two."
"It’s already been a week. Maybe he’s gone."
Mike shook his head. "I checked after school yesterday. He was on the porch with Mom. But he didn’t see me."
"Did your mom?"
"I think so, but she looked away real quick." He stared down at the spaghetti. "It ain’t her fault.
She’s scared too."
"Yeah."
"It will be just fine once he goes away again."
It wouldn’t be fine. Mike’s mom was one of the hookers who worked Peachtree, and she was gone more than she was home, but he still defended her. It always surprised Jane how kids could never see their parents the way they really were. "Are you finished with that spaghetti?"