“Maybe not yet. I’m not sure, but I think that something special is happening. I’m going to be with Elena for a while, but later…” She shrugged. “Whatever it is, it’s not over.”

“I don’t doubt that something special is going to happen to you. You’re a very special person. Wherever you’re going, I’ll miss you, Jenny.”

“You’re sad. Don’t be sad. I’ll miss you, too. But I’m not sad. I’ll always be close to you.” Her voice was soft, intense, and her expression glowing. “Remember, I feel what you feel. It’s not going to end.”

She shook her head. “Jenny … don’t hold on to me. I want you to be happy. Take that next step.”

“I am happy. Can’t you see?”

Eve could see. Jenny’s expression was serene and certain as Eve had never seen it. “Jenny, I don’t know—”

“Neither do I. But I know everything is changing, and it’s all good.” She was beginning to fade into the darkness. “I have to go. Your Joe is fighting to get closer to you. I think he’s going to bring you back to consciousness by sheer will alone. I’ll leave you now. Thank you again, my dear, Eve…”

*   *   *

“Eve!” Joe’s voice was rough and demanding. “Open your eyes. I’m not going to let you go.”

By sheer will alone, Eve thought hazily. Jenny had been right.

“Eve!”

“Okay.” Her lids slowly opened. “I heard you.”

Joe’s face close to her own, pale in the moonlight. Joe’s hand tightly holding hers. “Then pay attention. I think you probably have a concussion. The ambulance is on its way. You’re not going to black out like that again. Do you hear me?”

“I … hear you. You’re one … to talk. All … this is … very familiar. You’re sure you’re okay?”

“Thanks to the miracle of duct tape.”

“Duct tape? Never mind, I don’t want to know.”

“Then be quiet. This isn’t about me. Nothing is supposed to happen to you. Not ever.” He kissed her, hard, fast. “Or don’t be quiet if it keeps you awake.”

She suddenly realized she was lying on the sand, outside the cave. “Margaret…”

“She’s with the kid. She and Nalchek are trying to comfort her. The first thing she asked after she knew she was safe was about Elena.”

“She was … the only … family Cara knew. Elena loved her. She felt terribly guilty that she’d told Walsh where to find her.”

“Maybe she somehow knows that Cara is safe now.”

“I have to go and be with Elena for a while.”

“Oh, yes, she knows.”

“You seem certain.”

“I am.” She looked up at him. “I think it’s over. Thank God.”

“Maybe not quite. There’s still Nalchek to consider.”

“Nalchek?”

He shook his head. “Not now. You probably couldn’t comprehend anything clearly at the moment. That was quite a hit you took.”

She wasn’t going to push it. He was right, she was still bleary. It was a struggle just to keep awake and not go back to the darkness.

But she wouldn’t have to struggle long. She could hear a siren and see the flashing lights of the ambulance somewhere near the strip. “I’ll be fine. A couple aspirins, and they’ll let me go home.”

“Screw it. You were out almost thirty minutes. I’m going to have them go over you from head to toe with a fine-tooth comb. Then, if they don’t find anything wrong, I’ll let you leave the hospital.”

“You’re not doing that because I wouldn’t let them release you? Payback?”

“It’s a thought. No, I’m doing it because you scared me shitless.”

“Then I guess I’ll let you get away with it.”

“Let me? No choice. You know we both signed over medical powers of attorney years ago because we weren’t married and were always running into red tape.” His hand tightened on hers. “The minute you enter that emergency room, you’re mine.”

“Bully.” Mine. Wonderful word that could mean so many things when spoken between them. “I’ll see about that.” She was having to force her lids to stay open. “And it might not have been that I was really blacked out. Might have been Jenny…”

COMMUNITY HOSPITAL OF THE MONTEREY

PENINSULA, CARMEL, CALIFORNIA

“Eve?”

Margaret’s voice, Eve realized drowsily as she fought to rouse herself from sleep. She slowly opened her eyes to see Margaret standing beside her bed. The hospital room was dark except for the light streaming in from the hallway. “Hi, what are you doing here?”

“Sneaking in where I’m not supposed to be.” She smiled down at her. “Joe helped me, but he’s not pleased. I wouldn’t have done it except that the doctors said that you’re not nearly as fragile as you looked right after you got that knock on the head.”

“It must be important if you’re barging in here in the middle of the night.” Eve yawned. “Is everything okay?”

“No. But I think it might be something you can fix.” She turned her head. “Cara.”

Cara Delaney moved out of the shadows in the far corner of the room. “Is it all right that I’m here? I won’t be any trouble.”

“Cara.” Eve held out her hand to her. “It’s all right as long as we don’t get caught. They seldom have middle-of-the-night visiting hours at hospitals.” She glanced at Margaret. “But she’d be better off in bed.”

“No, she wouldn’t,” Margaret said. “Nalchek pulled strings to keep her out of a child-care facility, so she could stay in my hotel room tonight. But she kept waking up with nightmares. The last time she woke up, she said she had to come here to you. She was getting upset, so I stopped arguing and decided to try to negotiate our way in here.”

“You evidently succeeded,” Eve said dryly.

“I won’t be any trouble,” Cara repeated. “Just let me stay.”

“She’s very good,” Margaret said quietly. “I wouldn’t have brought her if I’d believed she’d be a hassle for you.”

“I’ll just sit here and be with you,” Cara said. “Like Jenny would want me to do.”

Eve went still. “What?”

“She didn’t tell me that,” Margaret said.

“No?” She was gazing at Cara. She looked so much like Jenny, yet there were differences. Her features were not as delicate, and her eyes were hazel, not green. She had Jenny’s exotic cheekbones but they looked stronger, more defined. There were other differences; the years of living and being on the run had given Cara a reserve and quiet strength unusual in a girl her age.

And she was gazing steadily at Eve as if she were trying to tell her something.

Perhaps she was, and whatever it was, Eve wanted to hear it. “You can leave her with me, Margaret. We’ll be fine together.”

Margaret nodded and fetched a chair from against the wall and set it beside the bed. She turned on the lamp on the bedside table that cast a low glow in the room. “I believe you will.” She headed for the door. “But you can expect Joe to peek in shortly just to make sure.” She glanced over her shoulder at Cara. “Don’t wear her out.”

“I won’t.” The little girl settled in the chair, and added gravely, “I know I have to take care of her.”

Margaret’s brows rose. “Really?” She shrugged. “Whatever.” She left the room.

“Do you want me to turn out that light? I don’t want to keep you awake,” Cara said. “I just wanted to be here.”

“No, it won’t bother me.” She smiled. “And I’d like to see you. You’ve been the mystery in this puzzle. Joe and I have been searching for you and looking at hundreds of pictures to try to locate you. We couldn’t find one until we saw you in that choir photo.”

“Elena didn’t want me to be in that photo. But she found out too late to stop it.” Her lips were suddenly tight with pain, her eyes glittering with tears. “She always told me that we still had to be careful. Sometimes, I didn’t believe her. I should have believed her.”

“The young always believe the best,” Eve said gently. “Elena considered it her duty to protect you from the possibility that the best wouldn’t happen. She loved you very much.”