Lake Cottage
“IS IT A GRAVE?” JOE ASKED as he came toward the mound of mud by which Venable was standing. “I thought you might have an answer by the time I got here.”
“You knew I’d be careful not to disturb the scene. If this is Dukes, I want to nail the son of a bitch who killed him.” Venable’s gaze never left the two men who were carefully digging through the mud. “And he didn’t want Dukes found right away. He took his time. He covered the area with leaves and branches, and he dug deep.”
One of the men stopped digging and looked at Venable. “I’ve hit something. I see a green tarp, and there’s blood on it. Should we go on?”
“Yes, just be careful.” Venable took a step closer. “Draw back the tarp. I want to make sure of his ID. After that, I’ll turn this over to forensics. But I have to know.” He looked down at the tarp and watched them draw back the waterproof plastic.
Joe stepped forward. The dead man was dark-haired, and his gray eyes were wide open and staring into nothingness. His throat was cut from ear to ear. “Dukes?”
Venable nodded and turned on his heel. “Dukes.” He walked away from the mound. “He had a wife and a kid. I’ll have to call them.”
“Very fitting.” Joe fell into step with him. “But it would be more fitting for you to zero in on the man who cut his throat. First things first, Venable.”
“I have my own priorities.” Venable gave him a cold glance. “And I do things my own way.”
“Unless you do them wrong. Putting Eve in jeopardy falls into that category.”
“I didn’t want her hurt. There was a chance she wouldn’t be in jeopardy. I had to be sure.”
“You just dug up evidence that should convince you.”
“Knock it off, Quinn. Nothing you can say is going to influence me more than seeing Dukes with his throat cut. I liked him. He was a good man, and I worked with him for more than four years.”
Joe attacked from another angle. “Why would you think that Eve wouldn’t be in danger?”
“Because he wasn’t the one who—” Venable broke off. “Drop it, Quinn. I’m thinking.” He raised his head as they approached the cottage. “There’s Jane on the porch. She looks like hell.”
“Yes, but I can’t convince her to rest. She won’t stop.” He added deliberately. “She’s not like you. She thinks Eve is in danger. She’s probably going to go after you when she finds out about Dukes.”
“Did she finish the sketch?”
“Yes, she brought a copy with her.” He was climbing the steps. “I wanted you to see it.”
“Joe?” Jane took a step forward. “What about Dukes?”
“Dead. Throat cut.”
“Shit.” She had turned paler. She whirled on Venable, and said fiercely, “It could have been Eve. Damn you, Venable. Joe said that you know more about this than you’re telling him. You talk to us.”
Venable’s face was without expression. “Joe said you have a sketch.”
She opened her pad and thrust the copy at him.
He gazed at the sketch for a moment and handed it back to her. “You’re extraordinarily good, Jane.”
“That’s all you’re going to say?” Her gaze was narrowed on his face. “You recognized him, didn’t you?”
He walked over to the porch rail and stared out at the lake. “I hoped it wouldn’t be him. Everything pointed in his direction, but there was the smallest chance that it could be someone else. Because of her profession, Eve does seem to attract a wide variety of lethal weirdos.”
“Who is he?” Joe asked hoarsely.
Venable didn’t answer immediately. Then he shrugged. “His name is James Doane.”
“More,” Jane said. “Tell us more.”
Venable shook his head. “Later. I’ve got to call Dukes’s wife, and then start trying to issue a few warnings.”
“If you know his name, do you know where we can start on finding him?” Jane asked.
“Right now?” He shook his head. “The last address I have is a house in Goldfork, Colorado, where he lived until last week. There’s no possibility he’d take Eve there. He’d know I’d be having it watched.”
Joe tensed. “He’s aware you knew his address?”
“Of course.” He added simply, “I’ve had him under protective custody for the last five years.”
“What?”
“I told you, later.” He met Joe’s gaze. “You’re going to get what you want from me, but it’s going to make waves like a tsunami. I have to warn people it’s coming, so I can minimize the damage. I’ll talk to you as soon as I can.”