Eve nodded. “We’ll check for both.” She started for the gates. “And what did he mean, ‘She’s the one’? I’m beginning to have a terrible feeling that I have an idea about—” Her cell phone rang, and she glanced down at it impatiently.

No ID.

But it could be someone from Nalchek’s office.

She answered it. “Eve Duncan.”

“You’re very interfering, you know. You’ve caused me a good deal of trouble. I don’t like the idea of having to deal with you twice.”

She went rigid. She knew that voice. She pressed the speaker. “And you think killing an innocent FedEx driver is just trouble?”

Joe’s eyes narrowed as he leaned forward.

“Ah, you remember me? I thought you might. You’re very sharp.”

“Why shouldn’t I remember you? You didn’t even try to disguise your voice when you were pretending to be that dispatcher, Walsh.”

Silence. “Walsh? Now I wonder where you got hold of that name.”

“Perhaps you’re not as clever as you thought you were. Joe is a very competent law-enforcement officer and terrific at searching databases. Why would you think that you might not have managed to let something slip along your very ugly career?”

“Because I’m not that careless.”

“But you do compartmentalize, and you evidently felt very comfortable with the Walsh identity. Was it because you were so adept at fading in and out when you were taking all those children’s lives?”

Silence. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Do you want me to reel off the names and numbers of your kills? It started with little Donna Prahern in Sacramento, didn’t it? No accident. None of them were accidents.”

“Why, I have no idea of what you’re accusing me.” He paused. “And I have no intention of listening to your raving about crimes that have nothing to do with me. That’s not why I called.”

“Why did you call?”

“I’m very irritated that you interfered with me. You had no right. I believe you have to be punished. You should have hung up on Nalchek when he phoned, begging you to help him.”

“It’s what I do. Identify and then find a way to put monsters like you in a prison or gas chamber.” Her tone hardened. “And I’ll do that, Walsh. No one deserves it more.”

“So dedicated,” he said softly. “Do I detect a touch of possessiveness? Let’s put it to the test. You were very bitter when I took the reconstruction of that sweet little girl, weren’t you? How badly do you want her back?”

She didn’t answer for an instant. “Are you offering?”

“I might be. How much do you want her?”

“Money?”

“Now I’m sure you know that’s not in the cards. You’d have to earn her.”

“And for all I know, you’ve already destroyed my reconstruction.”

“True.” He added, “But as it happens, I haven’t gotten around to it yet. You still might have a chance. Why don’t you come and get her?”

“When you’ve just said you want to punish me? I know what that means to you.”

“Yes, but you left your cozy little cottage and came out to the Golden State to try to retrieve that skull. That tells me what it means to you.”

“What it means is what it will always mean. A way to catch the filth who was coward enough to kill a little girl and hide her body in the ground.”

“Are you trying to make me angry?” His voice was amused. “There’s nothing cowardly about killing in any form. Society totally rejects the idea of murder, they even seek to put to death those who have the courage to go their own way in spite of their stupid rules. To be clever and skilled enough to take a life and walk away a free man makes me far more remarkable than you and that detective, who are trying to find and punish me.”

“You actually believe that?”

“Of course.”

“And the act of killing is only a challenge no matter who the victim? A helpless child, an old man?”

“You sound so revolted. As you say, it’s the challenge of the kill itself. I do appreciate the ending of a young life because it’s regarded with such horror. But just the act itself immediately puts me in the crosshairs of do-gooders like you and Nalchek. If I make a mistake, you could bring me down. It’s me against the system.” He paused. “But I much prefer that it be me against you and Joe Quinn. So much more interesting. So why don’t you come and see if you can take this reconstruction away from me?”

She looked at Joe, then said, “A trap, Walsh?”

“A challenge, Eve.” He chuckled. “I’ll e-mail you the location where you can find the skull, and you can take a look and see if you want to attempt trying to bring her home. Isn’t that the phrase that you use? I read a magazine interview with you about your sculpting process. I was quite touched.” His voice suddenly lost all hint of humor. “But now that you mention traps, if you try to load the dice against me and bring on police or FBI reinforcements, you will not only not see the skull to judge whether you wish to take your chances, but you’ll see your fine reconstruction destroyed before your eyes. It’s just between you, that fine lover of yours, and me. Do you understand?”

“I understand that you’re trying to set us up.”

“Then meet the challenge and try to win the prize.” He hung up.

Eve drew a shaky breath as she turned to Joe. “What do you think?”

“I think he’s a complete sociopath, and he wants you dead,” he said harshly.

She nodded. “Jenny said that he meant to kill me, but he didn’t have time after he stole the skull.” She grimaced. “It’s clear he didn’t like my chasing after him.”

“On the contrary, I think he did like it. Now he doesn’t have to go back to the lake to finish you off. He thinks he can do it here.”

Her e-mail pinged, and she looked down at the phone. “That’s probably the location.”

“The trap, you mean,” Joe said. “Give me your phone and let me handle it.”

“Joe.”

“He wants to kill you.”

“It’s a chance to get the reconstruction.” She looked at him. “It may be a chance to get Walsh. We have to get him, Joe. It’s not only Jenny. I sat there all afternoon and read all those case files about those murdered children and their families.”

“Too much risk.”

“I can work around it.”

“Good God, you’re going to do it.”

“I’m going to try. I’m not going to do anything suicidal. As soon as I can, I’ll notify Nalchek and try to bring him up there to trap Walsh. But I’m going to see if I have any way I can retrieve that skull. If I can’t, I’ll see if I can learn anything, do anything to bring me closer to catching Walsh before he kills again.”

He met her gaze for a long moment, then glanced at her phone. “Pull up the damn e-mail.”

She pushed the e-mail access. “It has to be Walsh. It’s a map.” She scanned it and handed it to Joe. “Somewhere near Tahoe. No X marked the spot. He’s probably going to contact us later.”

“When he’s sure you’re going to meet his challenge,” Joe said bitterly.

“I can’t do anything else, Joe,” she said.

“Do you think I don’t realize that?” he asked as he took her elbow and led her toward the car. “I was sitting right there beside you today. Do you believe I wasn’t sick to my stomach? I wanted to kill the son of a bitch by the time I jerked you away from that computer.” He opened the car door for her. “So I’ll take you to Walsh. I’ll try to keep you safe while you get that reconstruction. But if there’s a choice between getting the skull or taking out Walsh, it will be Walsh. I won’t care if you can’t bring Jenny home.” He slammed the door and strode around to the driver’s seat. “She’ll have to be satisfied with my sending her killer straight to hell.”

CHAPTER

9

SONDERVILLE

He was coming.

He would be here soon.

Margaret sat absolutely still beside the creek, waiting. She was excited, she realized. Was there an element of fear with that excitement? Maybe. Strange. She was seldom afraid.