Joe laughed. "I never had any doubt about that. I doubt if Logan does either. Are you going to let me see your work? I’ve never seen you sculpt anything but skulls."
"Later maybe." She gave him a hard stare. "If you’re decent to Logan." She turned into the driveway leading up to the large white plantation house. "He’s been terrific to me. I won’t have you abusing his hospitality."
"Nice house. Where do you work?"
"Logan had a lab built for me on the beach beside the house. Stop trying to change the subject.
Are you going to be nice to Logan?"
"You’re very defensive. As I remember, Logan can take care of himself.”
“I always defend my friends."
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"Just friends?" His gaze narrowed on her face. "Not lovers?" She looked away from him. "Lovers can be friends. Stop probing, Joe.”
“Does it make you uneasy? Or are you already uneasy? Is he pushing too hard?”
“No, you’re pushing too hard." She parked in front of the house and jumped out.
"Back off."
"No problem. I think I’ve got my answer." He took his suitcase out of the backseat. "I’ll be much less abrasive once I have a shower. Do you want me to face Logan now, or do you want to show me where to lay my weary head?"
Less abrasive was definitely better. "You can join us later for dinner.”
“If I’m supposed to dress for dinner, you’ll have to send me to the kitchen. I brought only this one suitcase."
"Are you nuts? You know I don’t live like that. I change a couple of times a day only because it’s so hot here."
"You never know. You’re running in fast company these days.”
“Logan isn’t fast company. Well, not here on the island. We live as casually as I did in Atlanta."
"Very smart of Logan."
"He works hard too. He does as much here as he did when he was in the States. He likes to relax when he gets the chance." She stopped at the front door. "Why have you come, Joe? Are you on vacation?"
"No, not exactly."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, the department does owe me a few weeks. I’ve worked a lot of overtime while you’ve been here basking in tropical bliss."
"Then why do you say you’re not ‘exactly’ here on vacation? Why did you come, Joe?"
"To see you.”
“No, why now?"
He smiled. "To bring you home, Eve."
turned away from the window as she came into the study. "Where is he?"
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"I showed him to his room. You’ll see him at dinner." She wrinkled her nose. "I know you can hardly wait."
"Bastard."
She sighed. Having to strike a balance between these two men she cared about was irritating. "I could have met him in Tahiti. You promised you’d be nice to him."
"As nice as he is to me." Logan held out his hand to her. "Come here, I need to touch you."
She moved across the room and took his hand. "Why?"
He didn’t answer. "We both know why he’s here. Has he talked to you yet?”
“He said only that he came to bring me home."
He cursed. "And what did you answer?”
“I didn’t."
"You can’t go, dammit. You’ll just fall back into that dark hole where I found you."
"It wasn’t so dark. I had work. I had purpose. You never understood that, Logan.”
“I understand that I’m going to lose you." His hand tightened on hers. "You’ve been happy here, haven’t you? Happy with me?"
"Yes."
"Then don’t let it happen. Don’t listen to that damn Pied Piper." She stared at him helplessly.
Dear heaven, she didn’t want to hurt him. Tough, smart, charismatic John Logan, corporate giant and businessman extraordinaire. She’d never dreamed he’d be this vulnerable. "My staying here was not supposed to be a permanent arrangement."
"I want it permanent. I never intended anything else.”
“You never told me."
"Because I had to walk on eggshells or you’d have run away. I’m telling you now."
She wished he hadn’t. It made her decision more difficult. "We’ll talk about it later."
"You’ve already made up your mind."
"No." She had grown accustomed to this lovely, tranquil place. She had grown used to Logan.
These had been days of tenderness, affection, and peace. If she also felt restlessness, wouldn’t it eventually go away? "I’m not sure."
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"He’s going to try to make you sure."
"I make my own decisions. He won’t pressure me."
"No, he’s too smart. He knows you too well. That doesn’t mean he won’t use everything he can to make you go back. Don’t listen to him."
"I have to listen to him. He’s my best friend."
"Is he?" He gently touched her cheek. "Then why is he drawing you into a world that could destroy you? How long can you deal with skulls and murder without having a breakdown?"
"Someone has to do it. I can bring closure to a lot of parents who are still searching for their children."
"Then let someone else do it. You’re too close."
“Because of Bonnie? She only makes me better at what I do. She makes me work harder for those other parents who also want to bring their children home."
"It makes you a damn workaholic."
She grimaced. "Not on this island. I don’t have enough to do.”
“Is that the problem? We can go back to the States. We’ll go to my place in Monterey."
"We’ll talk about it later," she repeated.
"Okay." He kissed her hard and sweet. "I just wanted to get in my innings before Quinn. You have options. If you don’t like the ones I’ve given you, we’ll find others."
She hugged him. "I’ll see you at dinner."
"Think about it, Eve."
She nodded and left the room. How could she not think about it? She cared about Logan. Did she love him? What was love? she wondered. She didn’t know much about man-woman love.
She had thought she loved Bonnie’s father, but she’d been only fifteen; later she’d recognized her feelings for him as passion and a need for comfort in a rough world. She’d had a few other encounters, but they’d been unimportant, fading immediately into the shadow of her work.
Logan was not unimportant, and he’d fight being overshadowed by anyone or anything. He could rouse her to passion and he was kind and caring. She would be sad if he disappeared from her life. Surely that could be love.
She didn’t want to analyze anything now. After she talked to Joe would be soon enough. She’d go down to her lab and work for a while on that age-progression photo of Libby Crandall, who’d been kidnapped at age eight by her father.
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She moved down the hallway toward the French doors that led to her lab. Sunny. Everything was sunny and bright and clean on this island. That’s how Logan wanted to keep her life, always in sunlight, away from the darkness. Why not let him? Let the pain fade. Let the memory of Bonnie slip away. Let someone else help all the other children who were lost out there.
Not possible. Never. Bonnie and the lost ones were woven into the fabric of her life and her dreams. They were a big part of who she was, maybe the best part. Logan knew her so well, it seemed impossible he’d never accepted the truth about her.
That she belonged in the darkness.
PHOENIX, ARIZONA Darkness.
Dom had always liked the night. Not because it was concealing but because of the excitement of the unknown. Nothing appeared the same at night, and yet for him everything became so much clearer. Wasn’t there something by Saint-Exupréy about that?
Oh, yes, he remembered…
When the destructive analysis of day is done, and all that is truly important becomes whole and sound again. When man reassembles his fragmentary self and grows with the calm of a tree.