Distract Doane. Don’t let him notice.
“If you’re going to sit there watching, you might as well talk to me. Tell me about Kevin and how he became this horror.”
He flinched. “He’s not a horror. Why are you so unfair to him, when you’re not with those children you reconstruct?”
“Those children are victims.”
“So is Kevin. How can you look at him and not believe that’s true?”
“Tell me. The skull is terribly burned. Was he killed in a fire?”
“No. He was shot with a high-powered rifle, then his body was cremated at a funeral home outside Athens.” His lips were drawn with pain. “But I was able to save his skull. I made the funeral director give it to me.” His words were suddenly charged with anger. “They thought that I didn’t know that my Kevin was a target after he walked out of that courtroom. I’m not stupid. Kevin told me that I had to keep myself safe and let him handle those bastards who were going to go after him.”
“Target?”
He didn’t answer directly. “I didn’t want to hide when they arrested him. But I’d always done what Kevin wanted me to do. He was special.” His voice was hoarse. “So special. And they killed him. But they won’t get away with it. He won’t get away with it.”
“He?”
“Zander.”
“And who is Zander?”
“A monster. He killed my son. I didn’t know that—” He shook his head as if to clear it. “I’m not going to talk about Zander. Stop trying to trick me.”
“Trick you? I asked a question,” she said in frustration. “The only thing I’m trying to do is fight my way through this forest of lies and get myself and Jane out safely. I don’t give a damn about this Zander. How could I?”
“That’s right, you can’t feel anything for him. However, I feel a great deal concerning him.”
“Then go after him and let me go.”
His gaze went to the skull. “Sometimes I wish I could, but that’s not possible.”
She drew a deep breath. “Okay, let me try to sort this out. It’s obvious this has to be about revenge for the death of your son by this Zander. For some reason, I’m being drawn into the mix because I have the skill to do this reconstruction. But if you have the skull, DNA can be extracted even in this damaged condition. My work has value if there’s no clue as to the identity of the victim. Then I can rebuild the face and circulate photos to find out. In this case, I’m not necessary.”
“No one is more necessary.”
“DNA is almost foolproof.”
“And can be faked if you have money and influence.”
“Then demand another test. Demand a dozen tests.”
He shook his head. “I need you, Eve.”
Why was she arguing? It was clear that he was not going to be swayed. Yet she had to make one more attempt. “You obviously had a very close relationship with your son. Do you think that he’d want you to put yourself in danger to exact some kind of revenge? You said he wanted you to keep yourself safe.”
“He’d want me to do exactly what I’m doing. Kevin believed in revenge. I can’t tell you how many times that he’d say, ‘We have to go after that one, Dad. The bad have to be punished. They have to learn that we’re the important ones.’”
Eve felt a chill. “And what did he mean by that?”
“What he said.” He sadly shook his head. “You don’t understand. I’m not explaining it right. Kevin should be here to tell you. It took a little while for me to learn what he meant, but then it was very clear.”
“It doesn’t sound clear. It sounds sick.”
“Are you trying to make me angry?” He got to his feet. “Kevin wasn’t sick. He was brilliant and very special. I’m proud to have him for my son.” He glared at her. “Just as you’re proud to have had Bonnie in your life. You shouldn’t speak badly of my son.”
“If your son was shot, why wasn’t the killer hunted down and captured? It doesn’t sound to me as if Kevin was a victim.”
“He was a victim. They all wanted him dead.”
“Why?”
“Because he was special.”
“You keep saying that. In what way was he special?”
“In every way.”
“You mentioned him walking out of a courtroom. What was he doing in court?”
“I’m through talking about Kevin. You’re not being very understanding.”
“Because you’re not telling me the entire story, are you?”
“I’ll tell you … someday. Right now, it might interfere with what you’re doing.” He turned on his heel. “I’m going out to the truck. I need some air.” He looked over his shoulder as he reached the door. His sudden smile warmed his craggy face. “You’ve been very hard, Eve. You mustn’t make us angry. But I forgive you.” The next instant, he’d deactivated the gas jet at the front door and left the house.