“Cassie?”
The child turned her head away.
Rejection. But that was a response too.
“Okay.” She swallowed. “One step at a time. It seems we came closer tonight than I thought. Now, I’ll just sit here and talk to you. And you’ll listen, won’t you? We’re going to talk about the Wind Dancer and you and me and the way to get rid of the monsters forever. . . .”
“Hello, Travis. You’re proving to be exceptionally annoying.”
He stiffened. “ Who is this?”
“Don’t you recognize my voice?”
He inhaled sharply. “Deschamps?”
“Do you know what beauty you destroyed?” Deschamps’s voice was harsh with pain.
“ I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“ It’s just coincidence that my house was invaded and destroyed when I know you must be searching for me? I don’t think so. It was you, wasn’t it?”
“ I’m not the one who blew up your place. You set an explosive.”
“ It wouldn’t have gone off if you hadn’t tried to enter the room.”
“ You’re the one who destroyed it. Why?”
“ It wouldn’t have been mine any longer. I’d have had to think of it as belonging to you or whomever you sold it to. It would have spoiled it for me.”
“Good God, you’re a closet collector?”
“ What a pat phrase. You know nothing about it. But you didn’t succeed in robbing me of all my treasures. Do you think I’d keep them all in one place? But you’re going to pay for that Monet. You’re going to give me something in return. Where’s the Wind Dancer, Travis?”
“ The museum.”
“Screw you. You took it with you.”
“How do you know?”
“ Where’s the statue?”
“ If I did take it, you know I won’t tell you. So why are you calling?”
“ I told you.”
“ Why?”
“ Perhaps I thought it was time we got to know each other. I’ve been looking for you for a long time.”
“ You found me. But you shot Jan instead.”
“ I had my reasons. I believe you know what they are.”
“ The Wind Dancer.”
“ It was obvious from your conversation with van der Beck that you were going to steal it. All I had to do was wait and watch.”
“ But you’d already scoped out the museum for yourself.”
“ I thought it might be necessary after you kept me from getting the little girl. It would have been so easy to ransom her for the Wind Dancer.”
“So it was always about the statue?”
“Of course. Always. I’ve known I had to have the Wind Dancer since I was a boy. All my life I’ve been waiting for my chance. You’ve spoiled it for me twice.”
Keep him talking. Find out what makes the bastard tick. “ What could you do with it? You couldn’t sell it, and Andreas would never give up searching for you.”
“ You and I both know there are still places on this earth where a man can lose himself. I’ve been looking at the Orient lately. Europe is getting a little too hot for me.” He paused. “And a man who would sell the Wind Dancer is a man without a soul.”
“Do you believe you actually have a soul, Deschamps?”
“ Because I’m not a sentimental fool? What is a soul? My entire being sings when I see a beautiful painting or a magnificent statue. I shed tears when I first saw a picture of the Wind Dancer. Who’s to say that my sensitivity doesn’t equal yours?”
“ I’m not a cold-blooded killer.”
“ That’s a poor argument. You’re an intelligent man, but you’d be a much worthier adversary if you didn’t let your emotions control you. It was very clear when I killed van der Beck.”
He smothered the surge of rage. “ You had no reason to kill Jan.”
“Of course I did. It hurt you. I always have a reason. I never indulge myself with senseless slaughter.”
“ Not even when you killed your stepfather?”
“Ah, you’ve been busy. And what did you find out about my esteemed parent?”
“ That you didn’t like him and demonstrated that dislike by chopping him into pieces. Just what did he do to you?”
“He put me in prison for the very love he tried to instill in me. I practically lived in his art gallery. Wasn’t it natural that I tried to take just a few pieces for my own? I had a lot of time to think when I was in prison. It was like being in a cocoon and turning into a butterfly.”
“Hardly. Maybe a cobra. Why are you telling me this?”
“ I want you to understand me. I want you to know what’s waiting for you.” He paused. “ You should have died at the museum. I was planning on killing you all and grabbing the statue. I would have done it if it hadn’t been for that woman.”