He had moved a few yards away and was going toward a stand of trees to the north.

Don’t move. No sound.

“And you can’t try to light a fire to dry out. Because I’ll see it or smell it. I may go back to the house for the rest of the night, or I might keep stalking you. You won’t know, will you? You might as well give up and come back to the house. You’d have a better chance of surviving.”

The hell she would. He wouldn’t kill her immediately, but it was definitely on his agenda.

“Though I am enjoying our little game. It brings back old times with Kevin. I loved those weeks in the woods. I never felt closer to him. I feel that way now. Do you feel close to him, Eve? Do you feel him hovering over you? Waiting?”

She made sure she didn’t think about Kevin. She blocked out everything but evading Doane. That was a full-time task. She’d been trying to locate a branch of the rock road he’d driven when he’d taken her to make the phone call to Joe, but she hadn’t succeeded. She’d probably have to go back to the house and start from there. But that would be like stepping into the lion’s mouth. Not yet. Not until she had a better plan on how to either avoid Doane or find the opportunity to take him out.

“The sun won’t rise for a long time. You’ll have to contend with the wind and darkness for hours yet…” His voice was fading away and she could no longer see him through the trees.

Too soon to get down. She’d stay here for a while in case he came back. She sat back on the branch and took off her wet right shoe and sock. He was right. Her feet were already cold, and she had to keep the blood moving. She began to rub her foot and ankle roughly. After five minutes she did the same with her left foot. Good, the blood was tingling. Once she was settled for the night, she’d massage them again.

Chance making a fire?

No, a fire was an emergency measure. She would just make do as she had done earlier tonight.

And keep busy trying to make that damn branch into a viable weapon.

She settled back against the trunk of the tree. Give him another forty minutes, then get down from the tree and make her way back to the tree where she’d hidden the small duffel that contained her store of treasures. Treasures, indeed, she thought ruefully. The blanket alone was worth its weight in gold.

More, it could save her life. She’d been right to go after the duffel.

Hate you. Burn you.

She instantly rejected the memory. Kevin might be close to Doane but not to her. She was having trouble keeping Doane and Kevin apart in her mind. Perhaps that was also Doane’s problem. Maybe it had been Doane projecting those thoughts to her.

Hate you. Burn you.

She shivered; the words seemed to reach out and touch her.

Time to get down and start moving. She could not let the thought of Kevin haunt her or get in her way. She carefully climbed down from the tree. She paused for a moment to lean against the trunk as she looked around the forest.

She rubbed her neck. God, she was tired and hungry.

Berries. Try to find some berries or something. Joe had told her about some of the edible ones on some of their walks through the woods at the lake. She had to keep her strength up. It wasn’t as if she could build a trap for a rabbit as he could do. It definitely wasn’t her forte.

Well, she might be able to do it, but berries would be easier.

If she could even see the bushes in the dark. She might have to wait until dawn. Or until she was sure Doane had gone back to the house. But she couldn’t be sure of anything, as tonight had proved.

Get moving.

Carefully. Warily.

Hate you. Burn you.

Oh, yes … warily.

The Abyss

“I’LL GET HER, Kevin. Be patient.”

Doane stood on the cliff edge and looked down into the abyss where Eve had tossed his son’s reconstruction.

Vicious bitch. He couldn’t control the sudden anger that tore through him. He wanted Kevin back.

All of his careful plans and they had been destroyed by Eve Duncan.

In spite of the words he had earlier hurled at Eve, he was no longer enjoying the hunt. The pleasure had lasted only a short time, until he realized that he was losing control of the situation. He had no doubt he would catch her eventually, but she was faster, smarter than he thought she’d be in the woods. She made mistakes, but she was still good enough to be annoying.

And the hunt could take much longer than he’d thought it would.

Which would mean that his plans for Zander might totter and be destroyed.

No!

Make up time. Move the plan forward.

He reached in his jacket and pulled out his phone. He would call Terence Blick and stir him into action. He was not alone in this. Blick loved Kevin, too, and would do anything to make sure he was avenged.

Blick picked up the call a moment later. “Doane?”

“Things are not going as quickly as I thought, Blick. I may need you to step in and help.”

“What’s wrong? You said you had Duncan.”

“I did have her. There was a problem.”

“Did? You let her go?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. It’s only a temporary setback. I just may have to spend time retrieving her. I need you to go to the safe house and retrieve the box. By this time, all of Venable’s searches must have been done, and it should be fairly safe. Maybe only a guard or two to get in your way.”

“You shouldn’t have let her go.” Blick’s tone was ugly. “You yell at me for not doing what Kevin would want, but I’m the one who’s making all the moves. I shot Jane MacGuire, I killed the general, and now you want me to risk my neck going to the safe house to get that box. You said you were going to do it.”

“And I would, but I don’t have time.” He controlled his anger. “We want everything to be perfect, don’t we? Get the box, then kill Zander. Remember what they did to Kevin. You said he was your friend. Is that how you behave toward your friend? You told me you’d die for him. Now you complain when I ask for one small change in the plan.”

Silence.

“I’ll do it.”

“I knew you would. Remember to take the photo. I miss it.” He hung up.

He stood there, looking down at the abyss, trying to control his rage.

He had been wrong. He was alone.

“He’s not worthy of you, Kevin,” he whispered. “He was good enough to serve you when you were alive but he’s proving … lacking. When this is over, I may have to send him to you. You’d be able to shape him to suit yourself.”

Yes, that would be the answer. He could feel Kevin’s approval for the solution he had crafted like a gentle touch. He and Kevin had usually thought alike when he was alive, but lately he had felt that their minds were linked.

“I hate to leave you,” Doane said regretfully as he turned away from the cliff. “But I have to go down to the house and get some sleep.” He started down the path. “Eve Duncan has more strength than I thought. I have to be ready for the hunt…”

CHAPTER

3

Lake Lanier, Georgia

KENDRA CURSED HER GPS as it struggled to calculate her route from Cornelia Highway to Eve Duncan’s lake cottage. Eve had been urging her to visit ever since they had met the year before, but Kendra had no idea she would be finally making the trip under these circumstances.

It was after midnight, but the infamous Georgia heat and humidity were still living up to their reputation. She had lowered her car window to look at a road sign a few minutes before, and the air conditioner was only starting to overcome it. She glanced at her GPS device. It had now given up entirely, locked in an endless loop of RECALCULATING.

No matter. Joe Quinn had been thorough with his directions, and she was sure she could find it on her own.

But to what end?

She had dropped everything and rushed across the country to join the search, as if she was Eve’s last best hope. She had managed to impress Quinn and most other investigators whom she had assisted through the years, but what if there was simply nothing for her to observe here? She knew it had rained, and that had a way of washing away a hell of a lot of clues.