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“I thought you meant that you were talking about … I was wondering if the end you were talking about was—”
“Dying?” Her smiled faded. “It could be, but I don’t know if that’s coming. I only know that the path is leading somewhere now, and we all have to walk it.”
“And it’s making you sad. You scared me when I saw you before.”
“I was scared, too. I didn’t want it to happen, but I couldn’t stop it.”
“Jacobs’s killing?”
She didn’t answer. “I have to leave you now, Mama. I only came because I knew that you were worried about me.”
“Don’t you dare go away.” Her voice was unsteady. “You’ve told me before that you can’t tell me about the person who killed you, that it’s lost in darkness. But I think that’s changing, isn’t it? Tell me who did it.”
“It is changing. I don’t believe I was meant to know everything before. It’s as if I’ve been moving back and forth on two levels, and neither of them is clear. One has to be with you here and the other one is somewhere else with…” She shook her head. “It’s gone. Once I leave one level, it’s forgotten, yet something lingers, and I know I’ll be going back. I’ve been wondering if the reason there’s no recollection is that it’s a kind of trade-off for letting me come to you. That I’m not allowed to have everything. But lately I’ve been getting glimpses, memories, and I think maybe the two levels are coming together.”
“That’s confusing as hell.”
Bo
“Well, it doesn’t seem very orderly to me. All I want to know is one thing. Ted Da
Bo
“Closer and closer. Oh, yes, he was pretty close to Catherine today. He almost killed her.”
“Watch him,” Bo
“Gallo?”
“He’s my father, Mama. Of course he has to know. And he’s not like Joe. I’m having trouble leading him. He’s too alone. He’s hurting too much. You may have to help me.”
“Me? You have more influence on him than I do, Bo
“I’ll do what I can.” She gazed out over the bayou. “The darkness is getting lighter, and soon I’ll be able to see everything. Maybe I should have seen it already, maybe I’ve been hiding away.”
“Then don’t look,” Eve said quickly. “Not if it’s going to hurt you, baby. Let it go.”
“You never wanted me to hurt. When I scraped my knees or I got a cold, I think you felt it more than I did,” she said gently. “And you blame yourself that you weren’t able to keep me safe. No matter how many times I tell you that you did everything you could to make my life everything that it should be.” Her glance shifted back to Eve. “You gave me such love, Mama. Love doesn’t die. It can change, strengthen, become something more than it was in the begi
“No, it can’t die.” Eve’s eyes were stinging. “I love you, Bo
“And I can’t stop you from being bitter, no matter how hard I try. I don’t know why it happened,” Bo
“Because it would make me remember those years when I thought I was dreaming or hallucinating when you came to me? I’ve accepted you for what you are now, Bo
“I know. But you’re handling it well. Maybe someday…”
* * *
BONNIE WAS GONE.
Eve didn’t have to look back at the tree where Bo
She drew a deep breath and turned away. This visit from Bo
But Bo
Until Bo
But surely it was going to be all right. Bo
Soothe her? Not likely. Not when Bo
Bo
But that darkness was coming closer. Bo
That was strange in itself. Bo
Perhaps to that other level where she could not take Eve?
You may have to help me.
Could that request for help be the real reason why Bo
“Eve!” It was Catherine, waving at Eve to come to where she was still standing and talking to Venable.
Eve shook her head to clear it. The darkness might be coming, but this was the real world intruding and she had to deal with it. She’d talk to Venable, then get Catherine to go with her to New Orleans and take the first step toward finding Ted Da
If he was alive. If he was truly the man who had tried to kill Catherine and murdered Thomas Jacobs. That was still not a certainty.