Bonnie

“Flames?”

“No, that’s not right.” He moistened his lips. “That was the house in the village. That other time. No flames. Just the little girl getting off the bus and ru

How many times had Eve stood on the porch and watched Bo

“I had to stop him. I knew that he hated John and wanted to hurt him. John had made him look like a fool in front of Queen and Jacobs. They’d hired him to take John out, and he’d failed.”

“How did you know about Queen and Jacobs and how they’d victimized John?”

“When they told me that John was dead, I had to find out what had happened to him. John was smart. John was good. And those bastards used him and threw him away. I went after them. I searched for years until I found out what they were. I was going to take Queen and Jacobs out, but then I heard that John had escaped from that prison. I went to Jacobs and Queen and told them I was going to tell John everything and that I was going to blow the whistle on their drug dealing.”

“Wait. John was told that you were dead when he was in the hospital in Japan.”

“I might as well have been dead. Everyone thought I was crazy. I was having trouble getting off the medication. I didn’t want John to come back and see me like that.” His lips twisted bitterly. “I made a deal with Queen. He promised me that he and Jacobs would make it up to John. They said they’d make him a rich man. He’d have a good life. All I had to do was keep my mouth shut and disappear.”

“And you agreed?”

“They told me what the Koreans had done to him. I knew what John had gone through. I couldn’t help him. He deserved to have a new start.”

After being tortured and starved and cheated of all hope in that darkness in his cell. “Yes, he did. So you made the deal and disappeared.”

“I made the deal.” His lips tightened. “But I told them I’d be watching them, and if I saw any sign that they were trying to hurt John, I’d come back. And I did watch them. They got him well, then started to send him off on missions. I didn’t like that, but they said that they had to allow some time to pass before they could gather a fund together to give to John.”

“They were playing you.”

“And I would have stepped in, but then Black came back to Atlanta. He was one of Jacobs and Queen’s private hit men.”

“And he was angry because John had humiliated him.” She said slowly, “I suppose it could be true.”

“It’s all true.”

But there was more to the story than he had said.

“What else?”

“He killed the little girl to punish John.” But Da

“No. That’s not all.” She took a step back, and he let his hands drop from her shoulders. She braced herself. She didn’t want to hear the answer to this question, but she had to ask it. “How … did he kill her?”

“That’s enough.” He pushed her forward up the hill. “It’s time now.”

She jerked away and whirled to face him. “No, it’s not enough. How do you know he killed her? My daughter was taken at the park. Were you there? Did you see him do it?”

“I saw him.”

“You were there?”

He moistened his lips. “I was there.”

“Then you saw Bo

“I saw her. It was crowded, but I saw you with her on the swings. Then she ran away across the park toward the ice-cream truck.”

Eve could see Bo

“I told you I did.”

“Where was he?”

“Close,” he whispered. “So close. I knew it was going to be that day. It was so crowded. It would be so easy for him. I had to stop him.”

“But you didn’t stop him, did you?”

“I did. I did. I talked to her. I told her she had to go with me. I told her that there was a bad man who might hurt her or her mother. She believed me. She wasn’t afraid. She looked up at me, and she smiled. She said, ‘It’s all right, Ted. Don’t be scared.’”

“She knew your name?”

“I guess so. I don’t know how. Maybe I told her. I whisked her out to my car, which was parked in the street. I saw Black, but I didn’t know if he’d seen her with me. I had to hide her from him. I told her to jump in the trunk, and I’d let her out when it was safe. She didn’t argue. She did what I told her.” He swallowed. “She did what I told her.”

“He followed you?”

“I wasn’t sure, but I had to get her away. What if he’d seen her? I kept driving. I caught sight of a car that might have been Black’s a dozen times. I got caught in a traffic jam, and I was scared that he’d catch up with me. But then I finally broke free and got off the freeway. I drove out of the city until I came to the lake. Then I jumped out of the car and ran around to let her out.” Tears were ru

Eve stared at him in shock. “Oh, my God,” she whispered. “It was hot that day. She wouldn’t have lasted any time at all in that trunk.”

“No, he killed her. It wasn’t my fault. I’d never have killed John’s little girl. She was a pretty little girl and so brave … I wouldn’t have done that.”

Eve closed her eyes. “Heat. You thought you were saving her from Black but that trunk must have been hot as an oven. The heat killed her.”

“No! Stop saying that. I told you what happened.” His voice was harsh as he pushed her forward up the trail. “I kept my promise. Now it has to be over. She has to leave me alone. I have to give her what she wants.”

Her eyes opened, but she could barely see through the tears. “She’s here?” After all the years, the uncertainty. “You brought her here?”

“Of course I did. She’s John’s little girl. I had to find a special place for her. But she wouldn’t leave me alone. I tried to tell her that Black had killed her, but she wouldn’t believe me. Wherever I turned, she was beside me. Lately, it got worse. I tried to run away, but she was always there.” His hands clenched. “But I didn’t know what she wanted.”

And Da

“Listen. I can tell you what she wants.”

He shook his head. “I know now. A little girl needs her mother, and I took her away from you.”

And Da

Or find a way to kill Da

She would think about that later, when she was able to reason and not just feel. At that moment, she couldn’t think of anything but Bo

He was taking her to Bo

*   *   *

“SHE’S ON THAT CLIFF!” Joe stopped skidding across the sandy ground and shaded his eyes with his hand. “And that’s got to be Da

“Yes, that’s Ted,” Father Barnabas said. “But how do we get to them?”

Good question, Joe thought. The cliff on which Da

Not by standing here wondering, he thought impatiently. “We go south, pick up that trail, and start climbing.”

And hope they were in time.

“There’s another trail that I ran across five minutes ago that would be quicker.”