Taking Eve(4)

“Doane has taken off.”

Zander’s hand tightened on the phone. “Really? When?”

“He left Goldfork, Colorado, at seven this morning according to his neighbor.”

“According to his neighbor?” Zander’s tone was icy. “Weren’t you supposed to have him under surveillance? Wasn’t that our agreement?”

“We’ve been watching him for five years. Naturally, you tend to relax when there’s been no change in the status quo in that time.”

“Bullshit.”

“Okay, our agent screwed up.”

“Yes, he did. Do you have any idea where he was going?”

“He said family emergency.”

“He has no family. He’s coming after me.”

“You don’t know that. He has no idea that it was you who did the killing.”

“Doane is obsessed, and he’s had five years to hunt for answers. I would have found those answers long ago. I’d bet he’s only been waiting for his chance.”

“What are you going to do?”

“What do you think? We had a deal. I told you I’d leave Doane alone as long as it was safe for me. You screwed up. I’m not going to wait around for him to come knocking on my door. I’ll get rid of him in the most convenient and safe way for me.”

“Let us try to find him first.”

“No. I trusted you once. It was a mistake. I won’t do it again.”

Venable muttered a curse. “You cold son of a bitch. What kind of monster are you?”

“You know what kind of monster. You’ve used me on occasion … when the game was rich enough.” He paused. “The world is overrun with monsters. I’m just the one who doesn’t make excuses.”

“Two days. Give me two days. I’m having an agent break into his house and see if he can find the disk or a way to trace him.”

“I don’t give a damn about the disk. Give it up. Why does it matter to you if he lives or dies?”

“I made a promise. This isn’t only about you. I do give a damn about the disk and several lives that are more important than yours. After all these years of keeping him contained, I’m not going to let Doane ruin everything for us.” He added sarcastically, “I know that sounds bizarre to you that anyone would care to keep his word.”

“Why? I always keep my word,” Zander said. “I told you exactly what would happen if you lost track of Doane.”

“Two days.”

Zander thought about it. It would take him one day to wind up things here, and now that he was alerted, he could afford to give Venable the time he wanted. “Two days. But I want to know what your agent finds out. If you don’t gather Doane in, I’ll be right on top of him. No second chance.” He paused. “And find out if he knows about Eve Duncan.”

“There’s been no sign that he’s even been looking for her.”

“But then you’ve obviously been taking Doane for granted all these years. How would you know if he’s gone after her?”

Silence. “And would you care?”

“You know me better than that. I just have to know which way the bastard is going to dodge.” He hung up and headed for the desk across the room.

He was surprised he’d had to nudge Venable to explore the Eve Duncan possibility. The CIA agent not only knew Duncan but liked her. Perhaps he was rejecting the idea because he did care about her and didn’t want to accept the blame for turning Doane loose on her. Foolish. You couldn’t ever allow feelings to interfere if you wanted to stay alive.

He opened the drawer of the desk, drew out the folder he always kept handy, and flipped it open. Eve Duncan’s photo and dossier were front and center. The dossier was short and concise. Duncan was illegitimate and raised in the slums of Atlanta, Georgia. She’d been raised by a mother who hadn’t known or cared who Eve’s father could be and who’d been hooked on drugs for most of Eve’s childhood. That hadn’t stopped Eve from becoming one of the foremost forensic sculptors in the world and in demand by every law-enforcement authority in the U.S. Her career had been motivated by the kidnapping and murder of her daughter, Bonnie, when the child was only seven years old. She had only recently discovered the child’s body and the person responsible for her abduction and death.

And Zander could see in her face the pain and endurance that had been the result of that agonizing search. Eve Duncan was not a beautiful woman, but her features were interesting, and her hazel eyes gazed out of the photo with directness and boldness as if to challenge the world.

But she did not have to fight that world alone. She might be queen of her particular world, but she had two knights who were always on guard.