Bonnie

And, he was right, she had been eager to read them.

“It won’t be bad,” he said softly. “I won’t hurt you. She wouldn’t like that.”

“Stop that. Say her name. She’s not an anonymous ‘child.’ She’s Bo

He didn’t speak for a moment. “Bo

It was hurting him. She could tell. Then she realized why. “It’s because you don’t want to recognize her as a person, you want to keep her at a distance. Well, she is a person, a wonderful, wonderful person. From the moment she was born, she was special. I could tell you stories.”

He shook his head. “Don’t do it.”

“Then don’t ever let me hear you call her anything but her name.”

“Okay. It doesn’t matter. I can stand it. It’s all going to be ending anyway.” He turned away. “It’s time to go.”

Ending. Bo

“If I give you to her”—he paused, then said with an effort—“to Bo

“Them?”

He turned away. “Enough talk.”

“Not nearly enough. One question. Did you murder my daughter?”

He ignored the question and was heading back toward the path. “Come on, you’ve had enough rest. I’ll let you sleep a couple hours later.”

He wasn’t even looking back at her over his shoulder. He was sure that she would come with him. How could he be that sure she wouldn’t run for her life?

In that garden there was so much love between you.

Had he been able to see more than the love that bound Bo

But Da

And offering Eve up as a sacrificial offering was the way he pla

But had Eve’s time come now? Was that why Da

Too many questions. Perhaps she was reaching too deep. Outside of scientific medical knowledge of hallucinations, there were also stories that the insane sometimes saw visions and spirits not visible to normal people. At any rate, Da

Or maybe not so lucky. He was becoming too human to her. Yes, there was no doubt he had moments of sanity as well as madness. Yes, there had been reasons that had caused him to slip into that half-world. But you could not forgive evil as great as the killing of Bo

She could call him mad, but she could not call him a monster until she knew for certain that he had killed her daughter. He had refused to say the words, dammit.

But it had to be him, and she would know everything before she was through.

She started to push after him through the heavy brush.

*   *   *

“THEY BUILT A FIRE HERE,” Gallo said as he knelt beside the huge oak tree.

“How long ago?” Catherine asked.

He studied the grass and the drying mud beside the ashes. “Six, maybe seven hours ago.”

Catherine frowned. “That’s a big lead.”

He nodded. “But at least he’s stopping to rest on occasion. That will lose him time.” He looked up at Catherine. “And he’s still got Eve with him.”

And that was a circumstance beyond price, Catherine thought. Every time she caught sight of Eve’s tracks after a period of losing the trail, she felt a surge of profound relief. This terrain was rough as hell and hard to get through. Who the hell knew if Da

She stood up. “Let’s get going. We’ve lost too much time on that last—” Her phone rang. “It’s Joe.” She punched the button. “We haven’t caught up with them yet, Joe. But Da

“No, I’m at the Rainbow Co

She stiffened. “What?” She pressed up the volume. “Why didn’t you tell us?”

“This is only a slim lead. If you can track him, then that was our best bet.”

“But it was a lead to where he might be heading. Where is this Bradburg?”

“A couple hours’ drive from Atlanta, near Columbus, Georgia.”

Gallo was already pushing buttons on the apps on his iPhone. He glanced up at her. “We’re heading in the general direction. If he doesn’t change course, it could be his destination.”

She shook her head. “Joe said the camp was close, not his destination.” She spoke into the phone. “Doesn’t anyone know anything about Da

“His job was to take kids hiking and canoeing. He did what he was supposed to do and didn’t cause any trouble. He was a loner. Every week or so, he would take off and go camping for a few days.”

“Where?”

“No one seems to know. Like I said, he was a loner.”

“Wasn’t anyone curious, dammit?”

“No one I’ve found so far. I’ve talked to several of the employees and counselors and not come up with anything. I still have a few to question.”

And if they knew anything, Joe would get the information, she knew. He would be relentless. “Then we’ll keep on the trail. At least we know what may be his general direction. It would help if we could tighten a noose around him from both directions. Let us know.” She hung up and turned to Gallo. “How long will it take to get to this Bradford?”

“In this kind of heavy brush? At least another day. Providing that’s where he’s headed.” He glanced at the app again. “And providing that he doesn’t veer off course and head for Florida. It’s only guesswork by Father Barnabas that he’d head in that direction.”

Catherine agreed with him, but at least they had another possibility if they lost Da

No, they wouldn’t lose him. That wasn’t an option. She moved toward the trail. “We’ll check his movements every few hours and compare it to the destination on the map in the apps. Maybe it will give us some indication.”

“You know he could cut back to the road and hijack a car?”

“But that would be hard with Eve in tow. And he evidently intends to keep her with him.”

“Thank God.”

She glanced back at him. “That sounded pretty profound. You’re losing your faith in Da

“I didn’t say that.” He was silent, then said, “I want to believe he’s still the man who was my friend as a boy. I just can’t afford to let anyone else be hurt because I want it to be true. I wasn’t lying to Qui

And it was tearing him apart, Catherine could see. But there was no doubt in her mind that he meant every word he said. He was tough and hard-edged and he’d smother any hint of softness now that he’d made his decision.

But that didn’t mean that decision would necessarily have to become reality.

She glanced away from him. “You never can tell, but I don’t think that’s going to happen.”

He must have caught something in her tone. His gaze was suddenly narrowed on her face. “And that means?”