Silencing Eve (3 page)

“I think he has an agenda, and Eve’s not at the top of it.” She met Catherine’s eyes. “And why didn’t he let you know about what was happening to Eve? You’re her friend, and I’d judge you’re fairly lethal. Why not bring you into this chaos of a situation?”

“That’s what I asked him.”

“Were you satisfied with the answer?”

“No. He’s been dodging it.”

“Good. Then you’ll not trust him any more than you do me.”

She smiled faintly. “But I believe I’m beginning to trust you, Kendra.” Her smile faded. “I’ve got to get this clear in my mind, but I don’t want to blow your little scenario. Who knows that Eve is alive?”

“Joe, Zander, Jane MacGuire, Margaret Douglas, and the people who have been concerned with the hunt for Eve from the beginning.”

“Not Eve’s mother, Sandra?”

“No, it was Joe Quinn’s call. He decided that she was too erratic to trust with that information.” She made a face. “Actually, Joe was being diplomatic. Replace erratic with selfish. You’ll notice she didn’t come today—too devastated. But not too devastated to give one TV and three print interviews this morning.” She shrugged. “I don’t know what their relationship was, but it was definitely complex.”

Catherine was mentally going over the other names Kendra had given her. “Margaret Douglas…” she repeated. “You broke off in the middle of telling me something about a Margaret. Why?”

“Margaret is … difficult.”

“You don’t want to talk about her.” Catherine’s eyes narrowed on her face as she tried to remember the exact words Kendra had spoken. She had been so upset and intent on digging for the truth that she had dismissed it at the time. “You said something about your not being able to put the entire scenario together sooner except for her.”

“No, just not as soon.” She turned back to the window. “Look, I’m not going to try to explain Margaret to you. She has to be experienced. All I’m telling you is that she’s a good kid and no phony. I’d trust her in the trenches.”

“But I’m not you. I’ll make up my own mind,” Catherine said. Her gaze followed Kendra’s to the crowd below. “Which one is Margaret?”

“The girl standing next to Jane MacGuire. She tends to stay close to her when she can. She’s a bit protective.”

“Of Jane MacGuire?” She had met Jane, and no one appeared to be less in need of protection. Strong. Very strong. And Kendra had been referring to Margaret as a girl, even a kid. She gazed curiously at Jane and Margaret standing beside her.

Golden. Margaret seemed bathed in sunlight, tanned, sun-streaked hair, slim in her simple black dress. She did look young, nineteen or twenty at the oldest. She was appropriately solemn for the occasion but there was an aura of vitality, a barely restrained exuberance, held in check. “Why protective?”

“Jane saved her life. She took a bullet for her from Doane’s cohort, Blick, when all of this madness first started. Margaret believes in payback.”

“Interesting. I believe I have to talk to this Margaret Douglas.” She turned toward the door. “Would you like to come along and introduce me?”

“No, I have some thinking to do. You’re on your own.”

“Thinking?”

“Things are changing,” Kendra said soberly. “I have some decisions to make.”

“Don’t we all,” Catherine said. She opened the door. “Thank you, Kendra. And thank God you found out that we might still have a chance of freeing her.”

“I should have found out sooner. It’s to do all over again.”

“Maybe not. It appears a trap is in the offing.”

“He’s managed to sidestep traps so far.” She paused. “Good luck, Catherine.”

The words sounded curiously final, Catherine thought, as she left the house and ran down the porch steps. Imagination? Maybe. Everything was looking dark to her right now.

Dismiss it.

She had to probe, to find which way to go. She had not been pleased that Kendra Michaels had been suspicious about Venable’s motives and response to that disaster in the ghost town. Kendra had impressed her as being very sharp. Catherine had worked with Venable since she was a girl of fourteen and knew him as well as anyone. He was always an enigma, but he was a professional. Yet his priorities were always to the job, and she could see that if he had been torn, Eve might have been downgraded in importance.

So walk carefully and discreetly around Venable.

And don’t trust him any more than she could throw him.

She started to make her way through the crowd toward Jane and Margaret.

But she’d only gone a few steps when Margaret Douglas said something to Jane and was walking briskly toward Catherine.

Catherine stopped and watched her move. Margaret was worth watching—confidence, grace, vitality. Smiling at the people in the crowd as she brushed by them. She couldn’t decide whether Margaret was beautiful or just attractive because that inner glow was so strong it dominated everything about her.

“You’re Catherine Ling,” she said as she reached her. She reached out to shake her hand. “I’m Margaret. You’ll want to talk to me.”

“I will? How do you know?”

“I saw you going up to the cottage to talk to Kendra, and I asked Jane who you were.” A smile lit her face. “I’m glad you came, Catherine. Jane said you’re very tough, very clever, and that you owe Eve a debt for helping to save your son. A debt like that is great motivation.” She looked around her. “Want to go for a walk with me in the woods? There are too many people around.”

Catherine fell into step with her. “How did you know that I’d come looking for you after I talked to Kendra?” she asked again. “What do you know that she doesn’t?”

“Nothing. But she doesn’t like to talk about me.” She chuckled. “It’s part loyalty because she likes me. And it’s part discomfort because I’m kinda hard to explain.”

“That’s what she told me.” They were deep in the woods now, and Catherine stopped and turned to face her. “I don’t give a damn about discomfort, but I don’t like lies. She said something about your not being a phony. What was that supposed to mean?”

“Did she say that? That was nice. It’s particularly hard for her to defend me when I offend her sense of logic. That’s a primary sin for Kendra.” She reached down and took off one of her high heels. “I have to get these off for a minute. I’m not used to anything but my flip-flops or tennis shoes.” She flexed her bare feet. “That’s better. I knew I had to look somber and dressed up, but I can’t stand these heels. I bought them at Payless at the mall, but they don’t—” She broke off. “You’re looking impatient. Sorry. You’re worried about Eve like the rest of us, and you’re in the dark. How can I help?”

“By shining some light,” she said curtly. “You’re right, I’m worried about Eve, and I’m not going to let that bastard kill her if there’s a chance of saving her. I have to know everything, dammit. Kendra said that you were the trigger that made her realize that perhaps Eve hadn’t been killed. How did you know that was possible?”

“Oh, it was more than possible,” Margaret said. “It was fact. I told Jane and Kendra that the night of the explosion, but they’re both cautious. They wanted to believe me, but they couldn’t bring themselves to raise their hopes until they had proof.” She beamed. “So I sent Kendra to use all that logic and deductive reasoning that she does so well to gather their proof. Didn’t she do a fine job?”

“Excellent. Now tell me how you knew that Eve’s being alive was a fact.”

She sighed. “Okay, here it comes.” She made a face. “There’s a wolf pack in those mountains, and wolves are usually easy for me to deal with. Not like a dog, but close enough.”

“What?”

“The pack is always on the hunt for food. Naturally, since they’re in the wild, they would have to be. When the wolves noticed Doane and Eve in the mountains, they were considering them for their next meal.”

“Where is this going?” Catherine was frowning. “I don’t want a nature lesson, Margaret.”

“But you want an answer from me. That’s what I’m giving you. For some reason, the wolves became intrigued by Doane.” Margaret tilted her head. “Peculiar. But you can never tell what a wolf will do. Anyway, they started tracking, shadowing him … and Eve. I asked if it was because of the food factor. But that wasn’t the reason, it was something else. Doane had to go away. It was important for him to go away.”

“Go away?”

“Die. Doane had to die. It was important to the wolves that he die.”

Catherine couldn’t take any more of this. “Stop spinning fairy tales. I want answers, Margaret.”

“You’re getting them.” She added simply, “The wolves didn’t like Doane, but there was something else. They felt he had to die. It was something to do with the natural order. I couldn’t get it clear. It had some connection with death and silence and a little red-haired kid.”

“Margaret.”

“You want to know how I know.”

“I want to know why you’re bullshitting me.”

“I know because the night of the fire, I tracked down one of the males who was staking out the ghost town. I heard him howling, and I thought maybe…” She smiled. “And I struck it rich, like they say in the gold towns. Pure gold, Catherine. Karak was pure gold.”

“Karak?”

“The wolf. That’s the closest I can translate his name.”

“Wolves have names?”

“Yes, not all animals identify themselves in that way even mentally, of course. But wolves are on a higher plane.” She drew a deep breath. “I’d better get this over with quickly. You’re getting impatient and angry and ready to call the local booby hatch. Look, I have a certain ability to communicate with animals. I’ve had it since I was a kid. No, I’m not some kind of Dr. Doolittle. I just get impressions and can sometimes tap into memories. It can help on occasion. I was working as a tech at a canine experimental facility down in the Caribbean on Summer Island when I was drawn into all this. They thought I was damn valuable.” She grimaced. “Weird, but valuable. And they eventually got used to me. Does it make you feel better to know that those vets actually believed in me?”

“No, I make my own opinions.”

“Then make it now.”

Catherine looked her directly in the eye. Margaret never flinched but held her gaze with boldness and shining clarity.

Truth. Catherine couldn’t know whatever else comprised the person who was Margaret Douglas, but she recognized honesty.

Catherine shrugged. “Kendra says you’re not a phony. That’s all that’s really important. As for the rest, I’ve run into stranger things. Voodoo, snake charmers … ghosts. I grew up on the streets of Hong Kong, and I’ve traveled all over the world. It’s hard to cling strictly to reality when you’ve gone face-to-face with some of the things I have.” She added, “So bring on your wolf if he can help me find out anything about Eve.”

“I didn’t expect that.” Margaret’s face glowed with delight. “It’s not often I run into someone who is easy. Joe was a little skeptical, but he gave me a chance. Kendra was very difficult. It’s hard for her to accept anything that’s not black-and-white, and I’m definitely on the gray side.”

“So are wolves. Can we get back to your story now?”

“Oh, yes. Karak. After I tracked him down, it took hours before I was able to find out anything other than that it was necessary that Doane die or go away as he termed it. But when he began to trust me, he let me see more.” She paused. “It was the stream. He saw Doane and Eve go down the stream in a raft and go ashore miles away from the town. Eve didn’t move, probably unconscious. Doane deflated the raft and tossed it in a vehicle and took off.”

“Where?”

“Out of the forest, headed south. They lost his scent after that and came back to the mountains.”

“Damn.”

Margaret chuckled. “You can’t expect anything more. They did the best they could. Anyway, Kendra believed me when I showed her where the vehicle had been parked, and she found the tire prints. After that, she started investigating on her own. She didn’t tell anyone what she was doing until she’d gathered all the information, then she went to Joe and Jane to decide what to do.”

“And they decided on this charade.”

“Yes, a chance to take Doane off guard.” Margaret nodded. “It might or might not work, but if he doesn’t expect anyone to know he’s alive, it gives us a little edge. At this point, we’ll take any advantage we can get.” She added soberly, “We have to find her, Catherine. In those hours after we thought she was dead, it almost broke Jane … and Joe. Eve is too important to too many people to let her go. All of those people who came to this memorial service … The stories I’ve heard today. Every life is important, but Eve is special.”

“Yes, she is,” Catherine said. For an instant, memories flooded back to her of moments in her own life when Eve had stepped in and given her time and risked her life to help bring her boy home to her. She cleared her throat. “Of course we’ll get her back. Do you know anything else that could help me?”

Margaret shook her head. “Nothing but that those wolves really wanted to bring down Doane for some reason.”

“That’s interesting but not pertinent.” She smiled. “Now I suggest that you put on your shoes, and we go back to that crowd. I want to talk to Joe again if I can get him away from all those mourners who have him cornered.”

“He’s hating it. He’s particularly angry about all those reporters and media people he had to let come to make sure Doane would know about Eve’s service. He said Eve would hate this kind of show if she were really dead.”

“If she were really dead, she wouldn’t care either way.”

Margaret gestured. “You know what I mean.”

“Yes, I do. She’d just want to fade away and live on as a memory. That’s what I’d want, too.” They had reached the edge of the trees, and she saw that Joe was still surrounded. She’d have to wait until he was free, she realized impatiently.

She had a sudden thought. “Zander. Is Lee Zander here? I need to talk to him. He seems to be the center of this equation.”

“Zander didn’t come. He disappeared shortly after the fire was put out.” Margaret shook her head. “Don’t count on talking to him. I’m not even sure he cares whether Eve is alive or not. Though the idea that Doane is still a threat to him might spur him.”

“To hell with what he cares about. I’m going to talk to him.”