Taking Eve(100)

Could you save her?

It would be an interesting challenge, but not in accordance with either his work ethic or philosophy.

Sorry, Eve Duncan. As you said, you’re on your own.

He flipped the file shut.


Lake Cottage

JOE AND MARGARET ARRIVED BACK at the cottage five minutes after Venable drove up to the front door.

“Talk,” Joe said grimly as he took the steps two at a time to where Venable stood on the porch. “No excuses. No stalling. I’m going to know everything you know, or, by God, I’ll make you pay.”

“If I hadn’t intended to talk to you, I would have disappeared and not come back. Stop threatening me.”

“I would have found you.”

“But maybe not in time.” Venable turned to Jane. “You look a little pale. Why don’t you sit down?”

“I’m fine,” she said through her teeth. “This isn’t about me. What’s happening, Venable?”

He shrugged. “Okay, okay. I might be feeling a little guilty that you’re—” He shook his head. “I never thought you’d be a victim. I thought I’d kept it all under control. Doane appeared much weaker than his son, and there was no evidence that he was actively involved in any of the murders. He might have just been a father grieving for his boy. Even when he took Eve, there was a chance that he only wanted to have her do the reconstruction. She might not have been in danger. Hallet, that farmer, is missing, but there’s no proof of violence toward him.”

“My men are dragging the lake for that farmer now. And there’s a grave out there in the woods that proves differently,” Joe said. “Dukes had his throat cut. He was your agent, your responsibility, Venable.”

“Do you think I don’t know that?” Venable said roughly. “I realized when we found Dukes that I’d been fooling myself. Doane is as bad as his son, Kevin. Perhaps he’s worse, though that’s hard to believe. I knew I had to put him down no matter whom it hurts.”

“And whom will it hurt?” Caleb asked.

Venable glanced at him. “Why don’t you take a hike, Caleb? This isn’t your concern.”

“The hell it’s not,” Jane said fiercely. “It’s anyone’s concern who is willing to help Eve. She’s the only one who is important.”

“At last,” Margaret murmured as she leaned against the porch rail. “That must include me. Yes, whom will it hurt, Agent Venable?”

“You want a list? One, General John Tarther, an honorable man who spent his entire life fighting to keep the country safe. Two, several Pakistanis who will be beheaded or thrown in prison if their countrymen find out that they helped track Bin Laden.” He paused. “And at least five embedded CIA agents whose cover might be jeopardized if those Pakistanis are tortured and reveal information. It will be a chain reaction.”

“That chain reaction is not going to include Eve,” Joe said coldly. “Because we’re going to get Doane.”

“I’m not arguing,” Venable said wearily. “I’ve already started to pull our agents out of Pakistan. It will take time. I just hope that Doane is holding off on releasing that disk on the chance he can use it as a lever in case of an emergency.”

“Disk?” Jane asked. “Dammit, start at the beginning, Venable.”

“The beginning?” Venable gazed out at the lake. “That was probably the day that son of a bitch Kevin Relling was born.” He shook his head as if to clear it. “No, that’s not what you want to know. Brief and to the point, right? Okay, I was working in the Middle East several years ago when I became involved with the group that was hunting for Bin Laden. Kevin Relling had already killed Tarther’s daughter as a gift to his al-Qaeda friends. He sent photos of the kill to all his terrorist group. They were both explicit and brutal.” He paused. “And he also sent the photos to Tarther. It nearly killed him. The only thing that kept him going was the chance to hunt Kevin Relling down and get him convicted of murder.”

“Kevin Relling,” Jane said. “Joe couldn’t find any record on him. You buried it, didn’t you. Tell us about Kevin Relling.”

“Yes, I buried it.” He shrugged. “I told you the beginning started with Relling. I’ll try to keep it as short as possible. It’s not pretty…”





CHAPTER

15



“AND KEVIN RELLING’S FATHER HAS this disk?” Joe asked when Venable had finished. “That house where he lived in Colorado has been searched?”

“Am I an idiot?” Venable asked sarcastically. “It was the first thing I ordered done when we realized Doane had split. Nothing has been found. The second thing was to set a team of agents to try to find him.”