Hunting Eve (12 page)

“Everywhere. One in the kitchen, one in the master bathroom, two in here. Doane may have used them to plan the timing of Eve’s abduction. He knew when she would be alone.”

Joe dropped down on the couch, still staring at the bug in his hand. “And if he was listening afterward, he knows exactly what we know. Every conversation we had here with the police, the FBI, the CIA…” He looked up at Kendra. “How did you find these?”

“I wouldn’t have found them if they’d been put in by a pro. Evidently Doane wasn’t as competent at this kind of thing as his son. I wasn’t even looking.”

“Then how?”

“Drywall dust. Not much, just a faint dusting. He drilled tiny cavities in the walls above three doorframes and the one wall mirror. He threaded the antenna wire and microphone into each hole. The holes are small and above almost everyone’s sight lines.”

“Including yours.”

“But I could see small traces of drywall dust on the baseboards below some of the spots where the wall had been drilled. I wondered why. I’d bet a few of these bugs were planted more recently than others, or the dust wouldn’t still be there. Maybe he decided he needed more bugs as the time approached for taking Eve.”

Joe shook his head. “We’ve had a parade of law-enforcement officers through here, and none of them wondered why.”

“Because they didn’t see it. They weren’t looking for it.”

“Neither were you,” Joe said. “But then again, you don’t take anything you see for granted.”

Kendra shrugged. “Two decades of blindness will do that to a girl. Anyway, I looked closer and found these. Venable might be able to track them through retail-sales channels.”

“I’ll let him know.” Joe dropped the microphone back in the glass of water. “I can’t believe it … I’m mentally replaying every conversation we’ve had in the past couple weeks. The thought of that sicko’s listening to us is—”

“That’s minor compared to the thought of his holding Eve someplace.” She checked her watch. “I should really get going.”

“Look, Kendra, about this trip to Colorado. I don’t—”

“Knock it off, Quinn. I know what you’re going to say. You’d never ask me to do it, but that doesn’t change anything.” She moistened her lips. “Look, I don’t have a lot of close friends. Do you think I don’t realize how abrasive I can be? But Eve is my friend. She puts up with me and slaps me down when she thinks I need it and makes me feel like I’m special to her as a person and not the way others look at me. Do you believe I’d give that up? You can’t keep me from going to find her. I know she’d be out there doing the same thing for me.”

“Are you finished?”

“Yes.”

“Then may I say I have no intention of talking you out of going to Colorado. I’m much too selfish. I just don’t like the idea of your going alone.” He pulled his phone from his pocket. “Let me call someone to go with you.”

“Like who?”

“Some of the guys I worked with in the Atlanta PD and the FBI are now private security. I’ll hire one of them.”

“A bodyguard?” She laughed. “You want to hire me a bodyguard?”

“There’s nothing funny about this.”

“The hell there isn’t. Put your phone away. I’ll be okay.” She shook her head. “Classic Joe Quinn. Always trying to take care of everybody.”

“Not everybody. Just the people who matter to me and Eve.”

“I’ll be fine. The last thing I need is to be traveling with some muscle-bound ex-cop.”

“There’s nothing wrong with being either an ex-cop or having muscles. Both can come in handy.”

“I’m joking. But seriously, put away your phone. I’ll be okay.”

“You’d better be. If you’re not, it may be too late for me to tell you I told you so.” Joe paused. “All right. But if you change your mind, just call. If I can’t be there myself, I’ll have someone on the next plane.”

“I’ll remember that.” Kendra stepped toward Joe and awkwardly put her hand on his arm. “You know, that kind of makes me feel special, too. Thanks, Quinn. I know that it’s naïve to tell you that everything is going to be okay, but I’ll do my best to make it that way.” She turned away quickly, instantly rejecting that moment of softness and headed for the door. “Keep me in the loop. Let me know everything you know. We’re all splintering in different directions to find Eve, and that’s not a bad thing. As long as we share information, the dominoes may start falling into place. We just have to cover every possibility. Good-bye, Quinn. I’ll be in touch.”

The front door closed behind her, and a few minutes later, Joe heard her car pull out of the driveway.

He sat down again and stared at the capsules in the glass.

All the time and painstaking effort Doane had made to take Eve was exemplified in those listening devices.

Son of a bitch.

The anger and helplessness were growing by the moment. The little pieces of information and leads that they were finding were not enough, dammit.

But at least Kendra had found out a few things that were promising.

Maybe.

His phone rang. Seth Caleb.

What the hell? “Quinn.”

“I’m with Jane at the hospital. I was bored, so I thought that I’d come out here in the hall and call you. She told me she’d call you again later, but I decided I’d take it off her list. She’s going to be busy.”

“Is she sleeping now?”

“No, she dozed for a while but now she’s wide-awake and in work mode.”

“Work mode? You are not to convince her to leave that hospital, or I’ll strangle you.”

“I couldn’t be less concerned about you, Quinn. I’m taking my orders from Margaret at the moment, and she’s far more intimidating. As it happens, all our goals coincide.”

“Not if Jane’s not resting.”

“She’ll rest eventually, and the work she’s doing will keep her at the hospital, where the doctors can keep an eye on her.”

“What work?”

“Something she’s evidently done before. She mentioned Cira.”

“What?”

“She had a dream about Eve, and she was in some mountain location. Jane is going through computer files and books to see if she can find any matching terrain.” He paused. “She doubts if anything is going to come of it, but she said it had results when she was searching for Cira. She’s pretty desperate.”

“She would have to be. Even when Jane’s dreams of Cira seemed to have substance, she was still trying to find a practical reason why that was so and why she was having the dreams. She has problems with anything that’s not reality-based.” He added wearily, “But then we’re all getting desperate and ready to embrace anything that gives us hope.”

“What about you, Quinn? Did you believe there was anything in Jane’s dreams of Cira that was … unusual?”

“Hell, yes. Do I believe that experience would translate to help for Eve? I have no idea. I haven’t a clue why Jane’s dreams of Cira seemed to have historical and geographic details of which she would have no possible knowledge. I used to be a total realist like Jane, but these days, I only know that there’s nothing that’s not possible. I keep bumping into impossible.”

“I’m surprised you admit that to me.”

“Why? I don’t give a damn what you think about me. As a matter of fact, you’re one of the impossibles, with that blood thing.”

“Point taken.” He paused. “I encouraged Jane to pursue this avenue. It seemed interesting and a way to keep her sedentary. I thought I’d let you know. I’m sure Jane will give you a call if it proves promising.” He hung up.

Promising? Joe pressed the disconnect. He hoped to hell he’d hear something promising from someone. But at least Caleb had found a way to keep Jane safe until she was well.

Maybe.

If desperation was driving her as Joe thought, then she might become frustrated and give up the search for this dream location.

But that wasn’t like Jane. She had bulldog tenacity when she was fighting for anything. It would be an obsessive determination if she was fighting to find Eve. He wished he could believe that dream of Jane’s would give them a hint, a lead, a path. Maybe what he’d told Caleb wasn’t entirely true and there were still strong elements of logic and realism that made him cynical of anything else.

“I saw Kendra driving down the road.” Venable stood in the doorway. “Where was she going?”

“Airport.” His lips twisted. “And then to Goldfork. Make sure your agents welcome her with open arms.”

“I’ll see to it.” He came into the cottage. “She’s sharp, very sharp. Extraordinary. I don’t know if she’ll be able to find anything that my guys missed, but I’m willing to let her take a shot at it.” He went to the kitchen. “Mind if I grab a cup of coffee? It’s been a long night.”

Joe nodded at the glass sitting on the coffee table. “She’s already found one thing. It appears that everything that’s happened in the cottage has been monitored.”

Venable glanced at the devices in the water. “Shit.”

“Yes. How long before you’re able to identify that metallic stuff from the trunk?”

“I put a rush on it, but it takes as long as it takes.” He took his coffee cup from beneath the automatic coffeemaker and lifted it to his lips. “And I promised Kendra I’d call her as soon as it came in.” He made a face. “Otherwise, I think she’d have been down at the lab harassing the techs.”

“No doubt about it,” Joe said. “Kendra’s philosophy is that you throw everything you have at the wall and hope something sticks. She threw that metallic dust, and she’s going to want to know if it stuck.” He looked down at the glass with the capsules. “She also said she couldn’t do anything more here. I don’t think I can either, Venable.”

“And?”

“Splinters. Kendra was talking about splinters. How we were all working at different points for the same goal, finding Eve. She’s right. One of those splinters was here. The car and any evidence we could locate. Then Kendra branched off to Goldfork. Another splinter, we knew that Doane would try to kill General Tarther and Lee Zander because they were responsible for the death of his son, Kevin. You even tried to protect the general.”

“Tried. The bastard got to him anyway.”

“But as far as we know, Doane hasn’t been able to kill Zander yet.” Joe’s lips twisted. “That’s a very sharp splinter to explore.”

“More than you dream.” Venable’s eyes narrowed on Joe’s face. “It could be fatal.”

“Why are you trying to ward me off Zander? You’ve been doing it since you told me about Zander and the general. He’s an assassin.”

“I don’t want you dead.” He added, “At first, it was just that five years ago I’d made Zander a promise that I’d keep his identity secret if he didn’t go after Doane. I keep my word. Now, I’m having regrets about opening my mouth and not just trying to handle him myself.”

“I want Zander’s address,” Joe said to Venable. “Now.”

“Not smart, Quinn,” Venable said. “Let me handle him.”

“The hell I will,” Joe said. “I have to get on the move. I can’t sit here any longer. Kendra is on her way to Goldfork, Doane’s safe house. You can’t get me that damn tower location and the general was picked off as cleanly as if you didn’t have anyone there protecting him. It’s all been on Doane’s side. I have to change it.”

“Zander may not even be there.”

“But someone will be there?”

“Stang, his accountant and personal assistant.”

“Then I’ll find out where Zander is and if he has any idea where Doane has Eve.” He added grimly. “And if Doane is going to go after Zander, then I’ll stay there and stake him out myself.”

“What about Jane?”

“Stop trying to put obstacles in my path. Seth Caleb is there watching that she’s not doing too much. He said he’d keep her occupied.” He grimaced. “Which isn’t very reassuring, considering the source. And I think Mark Trevor called Jane yesterday and told her he’d be coming here within a day or two. Jane will have more help than she’s going to want. Give me Zander’s address.”

Venable hesitated.

“Venable.”

Venable reached into his pocket for his phone and accessed Zander’s information. “I’ll send it to your phone.”

“Good.” Joe turned. “Then I’m on my way.”

“Quinn.”

“Don’t try to stop me.”

“I know better. Just be careful.” He hesitated. “Oh, hell. I can’t let you go without telling you. It could be a game changer somewhere along the way.”

“What could be a game changer?”

“The reason Doane took Eve in the first place.”

“The reconstruction.”

“No.” He grimaced. “The fact that Eve is Zander’s daughter.”

Joe froze. “What? That’s not possible.”

“Zander’s daughter, and Doane knows it. It would just be too coincidental that he would pick Eve to do the reconstruction on his son.”

Joe shook his head. “That’s got to be bullshit. Eve didn’t know who her father was. I don’t think her mother did either.”

“That would surprise me because Zander definitely knew about Eve. He told me about her five years ago. He always thought Doane would walk away from that safe house. He was looking at possible chinks in his armor that Doane might attempt to find. He thought Eve might be one. He told me if Doane ever split to look in Eve Duncan’s direction.”

Joe was trying to take it all in, but he was too stunned. “And you never mentioned it to Eve? You’ve known it all these years, and you never told us.”

“I wouldn’t mention it now if I didn’t have to. Eve has made a decent life for herself. She didn’t need to know that her father is probably the deadliest assassin I’ve ever run across. I didn’t know what kind of effect that would have on her.”

“No effect. Nothing could change what she is or how she thinks about herself.”

“And you?”

“Are you crazy? Even if this crap is true, which I doubt, Eve stands alone.” He took a harsh breath. “But if he thinks it’s true, can I use it to get Zander to help me find Eve?”

Venable shook his head. “He doesn’t care, Quinn. I’ve tried that card, and he doesn’t give a damn. I’ve never seen a colder bastard.”

“I can be colder,” Joe said. “Watch me.”

“That’s what I’ve been afraid of. The situation between Zander and Eve may be … complicated. Don’t jump until you know what’s going on with him.”

“I don’t care what’s going on with him as long as I can use him to get to Eve.” He was going down the steps. “You just try to find out where that damn cell tower is.” He opened his car door. “By the time my flight reaches Vancouver, I want answers, Venable.”