Bonnie (24 page)

“And you’re not sorry?”

The priest shook his head. “Why? Occasionally I get to even be present for one of his miracles. Sometimes they’re small, sometimes they fill me with wonder. No, I’m not sorry.”

Dammit, I like this man, Joe thought with frustration. He might be conning him and hiding his real agenda but, if that was what he was doing, he was a superb actor. Ignore that warm charisma and force him to do what he needed him to do. “Then you can get God to keep Eve safe and deliver Danner to me, Father. Either that, or it’s up to you.”

The priest chuckled. “It doesn’t work that way. I’m permitted to observe, not orchestrate. But you’re right, it is up to me. You’re not going to have to damage your conscience by harassing a priest.”

“My conscience isn’t in danger. Not if it concerns Eve.” He met his gaze. “And I regard you as damaged goods in the clergy department. You may be very dirty.”

“And I may not. You’re not sure.”

“Evidently, the court wasn’t either. I can see you’d be a very believable witness. But your obsession with finding Danner could be—”

“Not what it seems,” the priest said. “But you’ll have to accept that if you want to find Danner yourself.”

He tensed. “You’re going to tell me where I can find Danner?”

“I’m going to tell you where we can start.”

“We?”

“I told you, I’m going with you,” Father Barnabas said quietly. “I’m not going to give up my chance of saving Danner. But I can’t run the risk of having him hurt Eve Duncan if I can prevent it, so I’ll permit you to accompany me. You have that right. But I have the right to try to keep Danner alive if I can and try to end his torment.”

Joe frowned. “It’s a lousy idea. You could get hurt. You’d get in my way.”

“Your concern is truly touching. It’s a possibility, but just because I wear a white collar is no sign that I haven’t lived in the real world. I was in the army myself when I was a kid fresh out of high school. I know how to survive.”

“But not how to attack. Or if you did know, you chose to forget it. I don’t believe in turning the other cheek, and I don’t like the idea of having to protect you when you do.”

“Get used to it. I’m going to be with you until we find Danner.”

Joe stared at him in exasperation. The priest’s expression was calm but completely resolute. “We’ll talk about it. What’s your starting point?”

“You mean you’ll try to talk me out of it.”

“What’s the starting point?”

“The little girl.”

“What? Bonnie?”

“He never mentioned her name. When I asked who he was referring to when he spoke about a little girl, he never answered. He just continued talking about her.” He frowned thoughtfully. “For a little while, I thought that she was a fantasy in one of his delusions. Then I believed I caught a hint of pain, and I wondered if he couldn’t bear to recognize her, put a name to her. That could be more likely if he killed her as Eve thinks.” He shook his head. “I can’t believe it. He loves children.” Then he said soberly. “Or perhaps I can. A sin like that could turn a man to madness. But I can’t promise that the child Danner talked about is Bonnie. He spoke about her as if she were alive.”

“He’s crazy. It’s got to be Bonnie,” Joe said impatiently. “It can’t be a coincidence. His nephew is Bonnie’s father. And Danner took Eve, dammit.”

“It seems likely. As I said, I believe we have to look to the child. We have to find her, and we may find him.”

“So simple,” Joe said bitterly. “We’ve been trying to find Bonnie for years, Father.”

The priest nodded. “Danner has been talking to me about the child for the last four years.”

Joe shook his head. “Bonnie was taken long, long before that.”

“Maybe God didn’t want her to be found. He does things in His own time.”

“I can’t be that philosophic. Why do you think that we’ll find Danner when we find her? It could be a hallucination. And what makes you think you can find her anyway?”

“If it’s a hallucination then it has a home, a place where Danner thinks he interacts with the child. I have a general idea where that is.”

“A home? What do you mean?”

“Four years ago, Danner left his job with me to go to work for a charity in south Georgia. The Rainbow Connection. It’s a camp for disadvantaged kids. I tried to persuade him to stay so that I could keep an eye on him. But he said he couldn’t do it, that he was too far away from the child. She might need him. He kept his job with that charity for almost two years, then gave it up. But Max Daltrop, the head of the organization, told me he remained in the area. And I know it for a fact because Danner mentioned it whenever he came to confession. He said he couldn’t leave there although the demons were always surrounding him. He had to protect the child.”

“How?”

The priest shook his head. “He was usually irrational by the time he started to speak of the child. And his attitude changed as time went on. She was suddenly no longer a child to protect but to fear. Toward the last, he was frightened, agitated. He wanted her to go away. But he said that she wouldn’t go until he gave her what she wanted. He seemed to think that I should be able to know what that was. He’d ask me several times in the periods that we came together.”

“And you believe whenever he left you, he’d go back to the child?”

“I can’t be positive. As I said, he was irrational. But I thought at the time that was what he was doing.”

“And you believe that would be where he would take Eve? How certain are you?”

“Enough so that’s where I was going to go to find Danner when Eve Duncan told me that he was wanted for murder.”

Joe began to feel a flare of hope. It was a slim chance, but it was something to go on. “And where is this charity camp? South, you said?”

He nodded. “Near Jasper, Georgia.”

“Will you give me the telephone number of this administrator … Daltrop?”

“I’ll call him myself … on the drive down to see him. I’ve already phoned him and asked him if he could give me an address for Danner, and he didn’t have one. But he’ll make his staff available for questioning, and they may know something.”

“I didn’t say I was going to go down to the camp. As you said, it’s definitely not a sure thing. I don’t have time for mistakes. I’ll talk to—” His phone rang, and he glanced at the ID. Catherine.

“I have to take this, Father.” He punched the button. “Have you zeroed in on him?”

“Yes, Danner abandoned his truck, and he and Eve are on foot. Not surprising since Gallo said Danner was used to living off the land. He taught Gallo everything he knew about that. Since Danner knew that there would be pursuit, he’d feel more comfortable in the woods than on the roads. It took a while, but we found the footprints. He tried to mask them at first but he gave up about a quarter mile into the woods. He was probably losing too much time. Now he’s just trying to move as fast as possible and ignoring pursuit. He’ll probably make a few diversions to throw us off the trail, but I believe they’ll be minor.”

“Which direction is he heading now?”

“Due south.”

“Keep me informed.” He hung up and looked at the priest. “South.”

Father Barnabas nodded. “Give me ten minutes to change clothes and grab an overnight bag. I’ve already spoken to Father Dominic about taking over for me.” He got to his feet and smiled. “Don’t be so troubled. I’m not your responsibility. I either go with you or by myself.”

“You know you’re not giving me any choice.”

“There has to be a balance, Detective. Just as there is in a court of law. I’m for the defense.”

“Maybe. But it’s Eve who needs the defense.”

“She has you and all the people who care about her.” He moved down the path toward the sanctuary. “I won’t be long, Detective.”

“Joe.” It was a surrender. “Evidently we’re going to be on fairly informal terms.”

“Kevin. If it will make you more comfortable to think of me in a more secular way.”

“It won’t. You are what you are. And I’m not sure what that is at the moment. Besides, I thought you were supposed to have abandoned that other life entirely.”

He shook his head. “I just tried to add to it and let it enrich me. In most cases, I succeeded.” He disappeared into the sanctuary.

CHAPTER

12

HOW FAR HAD THEY GONE?
Eve wondered wearily. She had lost track after the first seven or eight miles. It had been dark for some hours now, and that distance must have increased accordingly. The paths that Danner was following were only narrow rutted trails, and the overhanging thorny bushes tore at her clothes and face. She’d had to stop innumerable times to disentangle her hair or shirt.

The path they were on now was particularly bad because it was following a shallow creek bed and her feet were wet and the mud was sucking at her shoes.

She muttered a curse as one shoe was pulled off her right foot. She balanced on the other foot as she reached down to retrieve the shoe.

“You should have worn sensible shoes. Why are women so impractical?” Danner had turned and was standing beside her with a scowl on his face.

“They are sensible. They’re just not mountain boots.” She added dryly, “I wasn’t expecting to go hiking.” She was trying to brush the mud from the sole of the shoe. “I’ll be ready to go again in a minute.”

He stood watching her for a few seconds, and then grabbed her wrists by the ropes binding them and pulled her off the path into the shrubbery.

“What are you doing? Dammit, don’t be so impatient. I have to get the mud off so that—”

“You looked like a stork standing there on one foot,” he growled. “Or maybe a scarecrow. But you’re so torn-up that I wouldn’t put you in a field. The crows would laugh at you.” They had reached a small clearing, and he pushed her down on the ground beneath a giant oak tree. “We can afford to take a short rest. It will take time for John to find the trail again after the last two red herrings I threw at him.”

“You think Gallo is after us?”

He nodded as he threw some branches in a pile and lit them. “He’s behind us somewhere. I can feel him.”

“Imagination?”

His lips twisted. “You mean the crazy old fool is having hallucinations?”

She met his gaze. “Maybe.”

He shook his head. “Father Barnabas thinks that I’m crazy. Sometimes I am. But some things I know better than he does. He thinks demons don’t walk the earth.”

“And you do?”

“I know they do. They’re always right behind me.” He took her shoes and put them before the fire to dry. “And I can’t let them catch me.”

“How long have you been seeing demons?” She paused. “Does the child see the demons, too?”

“No,” he said sharply. “I’d never let her see the demons.” He whispered. “But sometimes I wonder if they’ve already got her. She won’t leave me alone.”

Move carefully. Don’t disturb the mood that was opening the gates. “Why do you think that is?”

“I’m not sure, but I have an idea now. I have to try it anyway.” He sat back on his heels and looked at her. “You’ve done well. No complaints. No whining.”

“Whining?” She made a face. “Terrible. No wonder you don’t think well of women if you’ve run into that quality.”

“I’ve always wanted to think well of them. I’ve always wanted to think well of everyone.” His face clouded. “But there are so many demons in the world. John’s parents were demons, you know.”

“I know he said they were abusive.”

“They were demons. I just didn’t recognize it at the time. They were family, and I tried to work with them to save him. If I had known, I would have destroyed them.”

“When did you start recognizing demons when you saw them?”

“Syria. One night in Syria.”

“They just appeared to you?”

“You’re trying to make me say I’m seeing things.”

“I’m trying to get you to talk to me. You promised you’d talk to me, Danner.”

“Not now.”

“Why not?”

He gazed at her. “Why not?” he repeated. “You won’t believe me.” His gaze shifted to the blazing fire. “I’d been sent into the mountains of Syria to destroy a munitions stronghold held by the militants. I planted the explosives at the building and climbed up into the rocks above the village to set them off. My captain was waiting there for me in the helicopter. I’d done a good job setting that charge. I always did a good job. I was proud of myself. I gave it another five minutes after I reached the helicopter before I pressed the button. It blew.” He swallowed. “But something was wrong. The munitions should have blown, but they didn’t. There were no explosions. Except the one I’d set off when I pressed the button. The entire building was on fire, but there were no ammo explosions.” His hand slowly clenched. “And then I saw the children. Dozens of children running out of the burning building. They were burning, too. They looked like torches in the darkness.”

“What? I don’t understand.”

“It was an orphanage. We’d been fed the wrong information by our informants. They wanted to claim a U.S. atrocity. The children were burning … I could smell their charred flesh. And the ones that weren’t on fire were being picked off by snipers from the edge of the village. I went crazy. I tried to get back down to help them, but it was too late. No one else was coming out of the building. Dead. All dead. And I could see those sons of bitches coming into the village to check to make sure no child had survived.”

“My God.”

“God wasn’t there that night. Only the demons. I could see them outlined by the fire, in their dirty robes. They were dressed like Arabs, but I knew who they were, moving among those small bodies. Demons. I screamed and grabbed my rifle. I jumped out of the helicopter, but I was tackled before I got more than a few yards. My commanding officer said I couldn’t be seen there. I was going to make things worse. They had to do damage control.”

“Damage control?” she whispered. “Children.”

“They were dead, and an international situation was still to be saved. And they saved it. They bribed and coerced and made it go away.” He added, “And they wouldn’t let me go back and destroy the demons. I told them I had to do it, but they said that there were no demons that night. I couldn’t get anyone to believe me. Will you believe me, Eve?”