But after she’d tossed the skull off the cliff she’d run only a short distance before she’d thrown the duffel to the side of the trail to get it out of her way and conserve her strength.

Retrieve it? It was possible. She’d made a mental note of the immediate surroundings when she’d tossed it.

If she could recognize the place in the darkness.

And it was only a few short miles from the house where she’d been held. It was reasonable that Doane would still be there, at least for the night. It could be insane to double back and give up the distance she’d already traveled.

And she’d be even closer to the cliff edge where she’d stood to toss Kevin’s skull into the ravine. What if Doane had decided to camp out there to be close to his son? Considering his obsession, it was entirely possible.

And that possibility was very dangerous for Eve.

What if Doane had seen her discard the duffel and was waiting for her to come back for it?

So was she going to stay here all night, getting colder by the minute, trying to decide?

No, she had to assume that she was in this for the long haul. She mustn’t count on someone coming to rescue her. She had no doubt that Joe would do everything he could, but she had to assume that what could go wrong, would go wrong. Stop questioning and weighing every step. Take a chance on getting what she needed to survive until she could find her way out of these mountains.

She turned and started back through the brush toward the trail that led down the mountain to the log house that Doane had told her had been formerly used as a factory.

She had a sudden mental picture of Doane sitting and waiting like a giant spider with a smile on that kindly face that hid the soul of a demon.

She firmly dismissed the vision from her mind. He would like the idea of intimidating her, making her hesitate, controlling her moves.

And he would probably attribute it to the force of his son, Kevin, reaching from beyond the grave. He had told her that he believed that Kevin was trying to break through the barriers between life and death, and there had been moments when she had believed it was true. She always felt a connection when she was working on a reconstruction, but with Kevin it had been frightening. It had filled her with terror … and nausea. She had been filled with profound relief when she had tossed that skull off the mountain.

Because she believed that the dead could reach from beyond the grave. Her little girl, her Bonnie, had begun coming to Eve a year after she had died. Eve had been spiraling downward and would probably have died herself if she had not begun to see and dream of Bonnie. Yes, the dead could cross that threshold.

But Kevin was not a loving, gentle spirit like Bonnie. In life he had been a serial killer of little girls, and there was nothing but evil in the force that Eve sensed while working on his reconstruction.

She was starting to shiver with cold. Don’t think of Kevin. Don’t think of the father who had given him life and helped him lure those little girls to their deaths. There was hope and good in the world. She was walking toward darkness, and she needed hope right now.

Think of Bonnie.

Vancouver, Canada

“IT’S VENABLE.” HOWARDSTANG handed Lee Zander his phone, which he’d left on the library desk. “Shall I leave the room?”

“Of course not. After all, he’s CIA, not the usual less-than-upstanding client whom you avoid like the plague. In fact, I’ll turn on the speakerphone and let you listen. Haven’t we reached a new plateau of understanding lately?” Zander smiled mockingly as he took the phone. “You’re not only a trusted employee, you’re actually becoming a confidant.”

“Heaven help me,” Stang murmured. He had no desire to be anything but the accountant and personal assistant he’d been hired to be. All these years he’d worked for Zander, the man had kept him firmly in the background of his existence. He was intensely private, and though Stang had been vaguely aware of occasional women who acted as brief sexual partners in Zander’s life, that was the only aspect of the man he’d been allowed even a glimpse of. His contacts, clients, background, all were kept firmly under wraps. Stang had found it strange that Zander had lately chosen to reveal to him layers of his life and character that he’d never done before. But then, no one was more strange or intimidating than Zander.

“You might have to help yourself.” Zander spoke into the phone. “You again, Venable? I’m beginning to feel a bit of pressure. I can’t say I like it. Why are you calling?”

“I’m sorry that I’m disturbing you in your safe harbor away from commonplace cares,” Venable said roughly. “Too bad. Come out into the real world, Zander.”

“I detect a hint of belligerence.” He repeated, “Why are you calling?”

“I just got word that General Tarther was shot and killed at his home in Virginia.”

Zander was silent a moment. “And so it begins.” Tarther, the man who had hired him to kill Jim Doane’s son, was dead.

“And Doane will be going after you next.”

“Yes, he’ll find me a more elusive target than the general.”

“Is that all you’ve got to say? The general was a fine man and a patriot who served his country well.”

“You’d appreciate that more than me. I never dealt with that side of him. He was only a client, but I respected him. He hired me for a job and paid me well and promptly.”

“For assassinating the killer of his little daughter, Dany. After the court declared a mistrial, the general didn’t see any other way to bring Kevin Relling to justice. Didn’t you ever feel even a little sympathy for Tarther?”

“Would that have made me more efficient? No, it would probably have interfered, and I wouldn’t have been able to give Tarther what he’d paid for.”

“That’s no answer.”

“It’s all you’ll get from me. Stop trying to read something in me that’s not there. Your wonderful general was just as much a murderer as me. Perhaps more because he didn’t go after Doane’s son himself but preferred to lay the sin on my soul. Well, I took that sin from him and made it my own.” He shrugged. “In the end, we all have the killer instinct and just choose what circumstance will set it free. The difference is that I let others choose the circumstance and pay me to execute it.”

“God, you’re cold.”

“Is our conversation finished?”

“I promised the general that I’d try to get that disk back from Doane. To do that, I have to find him.”

“My deal with the general didn’t include the return of the disk. That’s your department, Venable.”

“If you hadn’t killed Doane’s son, he wouldn’t have used the disk Kevin gave him as blackmail to hold over the head of those embedded agents in Pakistan. Now that Doane’s broken loose, those men could be killed. It’s all chain reaction.”

“You’re reaching. You must be desperate.”

“I lost Dukes, a good agent, here on the lake property. The general was just killed.” He paused. “And Eve Duncan is still being held by Doane, and I don’t know how long it will be before he kills her. Yes, I’m desperate.”

“Then it’s not only the disk.” He added mockingly, “I believe your sentimentality is showing, Venable. You really must watch that.”

“Doane will be coming after you. He knows you’re the hit man the general hired to kill his son.”

“And I’ll be waiting for him.”

“A trap? Don’t wait for him. If you’re going to kill him, why not go after him now?”

“It will be more efficient to invite him into my web.”

“Damn your efficiency. If you go after him, Eve has a better chance of coming out of this alive. She’s not the most passive prisoner. She’ll be trying to escape. Even if it isn’t according to his plans, Doane could explode and kill her.”

“I gathered that when Doane called me and made me talk to her.” He chuckled. “She wasn’t afraid of either him or me. I can see how she would annoy him.” His smile faded. “But the sole purpose of Doane’s call was to get me to come after him so that he would have the advantage. I won’t give him that advantage. Let him come to me.”