“And I’m so conveniently on the sidelines.” He followed immediately. “That’s not fair. I’ll get to work on it immediately. You’re right, we’re heading for the homestretch, and there’s no way Walsh will get there before us.”

“Thanks, Joe.”

“Is that all you need?”

“Yes.” She paused. “No. It was bad seeing Elena—I felt helpless. I’m missing you right now. I wanted to hear your voice. I wanted to be with you.”

“You’re always with me.”

“Yeah, I know. Keep in touch.” She hung up.

Joe slowly pressed the disconnect. Eve felt safe saying she wanted to be with him when she was almost two hours away, and she had arranged roadblocks to keep him here.

Sorry, Eve. Homestretch.

He sat up in bed and threw his sheet aside.

First, get to Carmel in the quickest way possible.

He was dialing his phone as he started dressing.

“Nalchek. I need you to do something for me.”

“Forget it,” he said curtly. “I don’t have the time. I’m driving toward Carmel and trying to—”

“I know what you’re trying to do. I need one phone call from you, then I’ll leave you alone.”

“You’ll not get it. I’m busy and—”

“I want you to set up a helicopter to bring me down there right away.”

“What? You think I can just blink my eyes and arrange for a helicopter?”

“Probably. You have connections. You did very well when you got those police helicopters so quickly to us in Tahoe.”

“That was different.”

“Then consider it a challenge.”

“No.”

“Yes. Or we’ll discuss Bryland Medical, and I don’t think you want to waste time on that at the moment.”

Silence. “You’ve been digging hard and deep.”

“And I’d just finished putting together the pieces before Eve called me. But I’m willing to put it aside until we take out Walsh.” Joe’s tone hardened. “Get me the helicopter. And while you’re at it, get rid of that guard in the hall, or I’ll do it myself.”

Nalchek didn’t answer for another moment. “I’ll get it for you. Why should I worry about you killing yourself? That’s Eve’s job, and she’ll probably kill you herself when she finds out what you’re doing.”

“I’ll be out of here and downstairs on the street in ten minutes. Call me and tell me where to pick up the helicopter.” He hung up.

Eve wouldn’t kill him, but she would probably find a way to punish him, Joe thought ruefully. But as long as he didn’t pull those stitches and bleed to death, she would eventually forgive him. It would be worth the risk.

Homestretch.

*   *   *

Eve, Margaret, and Nalchek pulled off the road and climbed out of the car. They were on the southern end of the scenic seventeen-mile drive, which offered some of the most stunning views of the Pacific Ocean Eve had ever seen. But now it looked anything but beautiful to her. The crashing waves were ominous, threatening. Jagged rocks jutted from the water like fingers clawing desperately upward. Dark clouds billowed offshore, pulsing with electrical energy.

Margaret pulled her sweater closer around her. “The birds have all gone. Look around.”

Birds. Eve’s mind went instantly to the vultures wheeling over Elena’s poor broken body.

Margaret knew what Eve was thinking and shook her head.

Nalchek turned toward Margaret. “And what does that have to do with anything?”

“There’s a storm coming, and they know it.” Margaret nodded to the clouds offshore. “It’s going to be a big one.”

Eve unfolded a map and spread it on the car hood. “One more reason to find Cara as fast as we can.” She ran her finger up and down the coastline. “The way I figure it, she could be anywhere along here. Most of the scenic road is close to sea level, and there aren’t many places to hide. It’s only here at this section, with all these cliffs and rocks, that offers a real possibility.”

Nalchek shook his head. “It’s still a lot of ground to cover. I’ll coordinate with the Coast Guard and local police to get some manpower out here.”

“Do that. But we’re running out of time.” Eve looked up and down the shoreline. “Walsh has a head start on us. I’m going down to the beach.”

“By yourself? That’s not a good idea.”

“No choice. Cara needs us.”

Nalchek shook his head. “And what if I ordered you to stay here?”

Eve folded the map. “I’d remind you that I don’t work for you.” She turned to Margaret. “What do you think?”

Margaret pointed up the scenic road. “I’ll head up this way on foot. I’ll call you if I see anything.”

“Sounds good.” She turned to Nalchek. “It’s a lot of ground for two people to cover. I hope you were serious about getting the cavalry on board.”

“Why, Eve, don’t you trust me?” he asked mockingly.

“Sometimes.”

“Margaret has obviously been exerting her influence on you.” He pulled out his phone. “The first wave should be arriving in just a few minutes. I’ll coordinate from here.”

Eve was already sprinting down the stone stairs toward the beach.

*   *   *

This had to be it, Walsh thought.

He stopped in the knee-deep water and gazed up at the jagged rocks before him. The opening wasn’t visible from the road, and he wouldn’t have even guessed it was there if that bitch hadn’t told him.

Stupid woman. She should have known better than to try to outsmart him. All that running and hiding, and it had come down to facing his knife on that hillside. It had been pure pleasure to force the information from her. She was surely dead now, and soon he’d have Cara.

He sloshed through the water toward the cave.

He stopped.

There was a sound echoing in the cavern.

Whimpering. Crying.

He smiled. Of course she was crying. She was only a kid and afraid of what was coming. Not like her sister, whom he’d not been able to break until that final blow. Cara was different, probably softer, and she should be afraid. Because once he had her, he’d make her pay for those years when he’d had to hunt her—

Wait.

He listened. It didn’t sound like crying. It sounded more like …

Laughter.

And it wasn’t coming from the cavern at all. It seemed to be all around him.

He swallowed hard. A trick of the wind, he told himself. The gusts were stronger now, whistling around the rocks. That had to be what he was hearing.

The laughter stopped.

He let out the long breath he hadn’t realized he was holding.

Time to end this. Time to end her.

He moved into the tall cave, then stopped just inside the entrance. It was much larger than he would have imagined, with its small opening quickly expanding to a gaping yawn of a cavern perhaps forty feet high. Sharp rock formations stabbed upward and downward, like teeth in the mouth of a giant monster. As he sloshed through the shin-deep water, the noise from the outside receded, replaced by the sounds of breathing and movements bouncing off the rock walls.

He smiled as he glanced around the dark cavern. Absolutely perfect. No witnesses, no one to keep him from what needed to be done.

“Cara?” he shouted.

No answer.

“I’m here to help you. Everything is going to be all right now.”

Silence.

“Elena sent me. She wants me to take you back to her. She’s waiting for us.”

Movement above him.

He looked up. The motion had appeared to be on one of several ledges that extended to the dark upper reaches of the cave. Could she really be up there?

His eyes adjusted to the darkness. He saw there were footholds in the craggy rocks, more than large enough for a child to climb.

“Cara?”

More movement up above.

She was up there.

Walsh grabbed hold of the rocks jutting out and lifted himself up.

*   *   *

The spider’s nest.

Eve gazed desperately around her as she hit the beach. What in the hell had the poor woman been trying to tell them? It might have meant absolutely nothing, of course. Elena had been out of her head, practically incoherent in her last moments on Earth.