Sleep No More (12 page)

“So am I.” Kendra’s gaze was still on her face. “But mothers can be a challenge, can’t they?”

Change the subject. Eve was feeling as if Kendra were seeing right through her. “What about your father?”

“My mother divorced him. She said it was because of his other affairs, but I think it was really that he wasn’t a cheerleader for me. She wanted him to be as supportive as she was.” She tilted her head. “You?”

“My father?” She was startled. She hadn’t expected the subject to be turned back to her. “I never knew him. I’m illegitimate. So you see, we’re nothing alike.”

Kendra was silent. “I’m not so sure. Maybe not on the surface.” She looked down at her iPhone. “Quinn, it’s hours before we get to Santa Barbara. I can’t sit here with nothing to do. Will you give Eve your phone and have her send that floor plan of the hospital to me? I should be able to memorize it before we get to the hotel.”

“Big task unless you have total recall,” Joe said as he handed Eve his phone. “I don’t recall that as one of your gifts.”

“It’s not,” she said absently as she retrieved the e-mail from her phone. “But I had to train my memory from childhood, and I’m pretty good. Braille doesn’t really cut it when you’re a blind musician. It can be terribly frustrating…”

*   *   *

“I THINK I LIKE THIS PLACE,”
Eve said, as they parked in front of the long, rectangular, stone motel that hovered on a cliff over the beach. Its paned windows reflected the rays of the setting sun, and it looked clean and bright and sturdy. “Did you stay here before, Joe?”

“No, I was in and out of town too quickly.” Joe got out of the car in front of the front entrance. “I’ll go check in for us.” He nodded at a large white building high on a hill across the harbor. “That’s the mental hospital. It will take about ten minutes to reach there tomorrow morning.” He disappeared into the motel.

“Very impressive.” Kendra got out of the car and stared up at Seahaven Behavioral Health Center. “But not threatening.”

“Did you expect Frankenstein’s castle?” Eve asked.

“No, just a comment. I know that bad things sometimes come in pretty packages.” She took her duffel out of the car and turned to Joe as he came back out of the motel. “Room service?”

“Minimal. Sandwiches and drinks.” He handed her a key. “Your room is around the corner and two doors down.”

“Minimal is all I need. I’ve got to call my mother back, then try to sleep. I’ll see you both in the morning.” She moved down the walk, wheeling her duffel behind her.

“I believe we’ve been dismissed,” Joe said. “Do you want to go find a restaurant?”

“No.” She cast one more glance at the hospital before she turned away. It wasn’t Frankenstein’s castle, but it was beginning to loom large in her imagination. Had Beth been able to look out those windows and see all this freedom around her? “Minimal is enough for me, too. Let’s just shower and get to bed.”

“Sounds good. But I have a few follow-up calls I have to make, too.” He took out the bags. “I’ll shower first and make them while you take yours.”

CHAPTER

6

“YOU’RE ON EDGE. I CAN ALMOST FEEL IT.
What can I do?” Joe asked quietly as he paused in the bathroom doorway to look at her standing by the window. He was towel-drying his hair as he came out of the bathroom. He had another towel draped around his waist, and with his bare chest and powerful, naked thighs, he reminded Eve of a gladiator. “You don’t have to work with Kendra if you don’t want to. We can find another way. I just thought this would be easier.”

“Easier? I don’t think Kendra Michaels could ever be termed easier,” Eve said. “It’s fine, Joe. I’d tell you if it wasn’t. You know I’m not shy about voicing opinions.” She was gazing out the window at the surf crashing on the beach several hundred feet below the motel. She couldn’t see the hospital from that window, but she knew it was there, and the knowledge was hanging over like a heavy fog. “Yes, I’m on edge. What do you expect? What if we’re wrong? What if that woman you saw in that hospital bed is Beth Avery? It’s such a fragile fabric of evidence. We’re operating on instinct and dreams and hope.”

“So what’s new?” He took her in his arms. “And what’s wrong with it? It usually works for us.”

She buried her face in the wiry hair on his chest. He smelled of clean soap and the faint musk that was distinctly his own. Even if she were as blind as Kendra had been, she knew she’d know Joe by the scent of him. She closed her eyes and breathed deep. “I love the smell of you. Have I ever told you that?”

He chuckled. “Not that I recall. It must be Kendra’s influence.” He kissed her long and hard. “Perhaps we’d better explore that concept. I’m ready…”

“I know you are. It’s very obvious in that skimpy towel.” And so was she. It only took a touch, a look, and the heat started to climb. They had been together for so long that it shouldn’t have been that way, passion was supposed to fade or become comfortable. It was a miracle that their passion was as strong and ever-changing as when they had first come together. Her arms slid around his neck, and her nails bit into the muscles of his shoulders. “You should really take it off. It’s not doing you any good.”

“You take it off.” His hands were cupping her breasts. “I’m busy. Why the hell are you still dressed? It’s inconvenient as hell. I should have—” His cell phone rang on the coffee table in front of the couch. “Shit. Not now.”

Her feeling exactly. “Ignore it. Let them call back.” Then she had a thought. “Were you expecting a call?”

“It doesn’t matter,” he muttered, his lips buried in the hollow of her throat.

The phone rang again.

“Who…”

“The doctor’s office at the ski resort in Maine where Beth had her accident. They said they’d call me back. Forget it.”

It was what she wanted to do, dammit. But she pushed herself away from him and hurried across the room before she changed her mind. “It’s three hours later in Maine than we are here. You may not be able to get in touch with them.” She pressed the access button on his phone and took it to him. “Talk to them. Make sure you get everything out of them that you need so they won’t call back.” She headed for the door. “I’m going outside to cool off.”

“Not too much.”

She grinned at him. “No way.” She followed up with a mock Schwarzenegger imitation. “I’ll be back.”

“You’d better.” Joe was already talking on the phone as the door closed behind her.

She drew a deep breath of the cool, salt-laden air as she paused on the walk outside the motel room. She was shaking, she realized. Trembling and hot and ready. Calm down. It was only a postponement. She was acting like a teenager whose eagerness was as explosive and uncontrolled as a lightning bolt. Just take a break, then go back to him. That was the way it always was with them. Separation and reunion but always ending together.

She moved toward the deck chairs on the verandah overlooking the ocean. It appeared to be unoccupied. No surprise. The wind was too strong and cool for it to be inviting, in spite of the view. Just as well. She didn’t feel like being sociable, and she needed that coolness at the moment.

She dropped down in the blue-and-white lounge chair and gazed down at the beach. Beach …

Run.

The security man cursing as he stumbled down the dune after her.

The memory of the dream was suddenly there before Eve.

Had Beth gotten away from him that night?

And why in hell was Eve so sure that dream was more than a wisp of fantasy?

“Where’s Quinn?”

Eve stiffened and turned to see Kendra standing a few yards away. She was dressed in slacks and a navy Windbreaker, her hair pulled back in a ponytail. She dropped down in the chair next to Eve. “I’m surprised he lets you out of his sight.”

“What?” Eve frowned. “Don’t be ridiculous. We’re two mature people, and we’ve been together a long time.”

Kendra raised her brows but didn’t comment.

“Why are you out here?” Eve asked. “I thought you were going to call your mother, then go to bed.”

“I’m restless.”

“Playing your guitar didn’t help?”

Kendra shook her head. “Not tonight. I finally gave it up and came out here. I always have to get used to new places before I can sleep. I get bombarded.”

“Bombarded?”

“Sensory overload. My mind is always automatically trying to absorb, isolate, and identify. After I settle into a place, I can usually accept and block the parts I don’t need from the mix.” She looked at the sea. “But there’s so much life out there that it’s hard to do. Listen…”

Eve tilted her head, concentrating. “Seagulls, the surf … That’s all I hear. Is there something else?”

Kendra nodded. “There are two dolphins jumping and playing just offshore, and the fish … so many fish … And I was watching the crabs in the sand there on the beach. A little distance down the way, there’s a hot dog stand and the smells of the sausage dogs and onions are wonderful. Do you want me to go on?”

“Good God, I had no idea,” Eve said, staring at her. “I can see how distracting that would be.” She had another thought. “Joe said that right after your operation, you traveled all over the world like a gypsy. If you’re that sensitive, going from place to place must have been a nightmare.”

She shook her head. “It was magnificent. It was the first time I was able to combine all my senses. I loved every minute of it. I felt drunk on life.” She made a face. “But I liked it too much. I was dizzy, and I lost my balance quite a bit. You tend to do that when every moment is a new adventure. I stretched my boundaries way beyond the rules. I’m lucky to still be alive and out of jail.” She smiled. “Not that I regret it. I tried never to hurt anyone but myself. And I had to accept that every experience made me what I am.” She looked back at Eve. “Bad or good. Just as your experiences made you what you are. But you didn’t get off as lucky as I did.”

“You mean my ‘darkness’?” Eve’s lips twisted. “You may be ultrasensitive, but I think you’ve been doing more than talking to your mother this evening. A little computer research on me?”

“I was curious,” Kendra said. “As I told you, forensic sculpting interested me, but I was more interested in the actual technical process or I would have known who you are. I found out you’re quite famous.” She added, “And the reason that it doesn’t mean a damn to you. I’m sorry for your loss, Eve.”

“So am I. But my work means more to me than you could imagine.”

“Oh, I can imagine.” She looked back at the surf. “And I can see why you’re so desperate to find your sister. You’ve lost too much already.”

“I’m not desperate. I don’t even know her. It’s just a question of what is right.”

“If you say so.” She was silent a moment. “I’ll give you what you need from me, Eve. You’ll find your Beth.”

“You’re damn right I will.” Then she added haltingly, “But thank you for your cooperation. I appreciate it.”

“That was hard for you.” Kendra was suddenly chuckling. “You like to handle everything on your own. And you say you’re not desperate? I think you protest too much.”

Eve opened her lips to protest again, then said grudgingly, “Maybe I’m a little assertive. But, then, so are you.”

“True.” Kendra leaned back in her chair. “But it shows up on you like a red flag. We have to tamp that down tomorrow. Put your hair up in a chignon and wear those glasses I saw you with in some of the newspaper articles on the Net. Stay in the background. No confrontation.”

“I’m not usually confrontational.” She smiled faintly. “You were one of the exceptions.”

“Oh, I’m an exception all right,” she said wryly. “It’s the story of my life.”

“Do you regret it?”

“People trying to use me? Occasionally. The ability to use every sense to the max? Not for a minute. After all these years, I’m still drunk with the sensation. I wish I could share it, but it doesn’t work that way. You have to concentrate and let the senses come alive. You should try it sometime.”

“Maybe I will.”

“And maybe you’ll get busy and think it’s not worthwhile. But that will be your loss.” She drew her jacket closer around her. “It’s getting cooler. I’m going to stay out here a while longer, but you’d better go on in. Quinn’s probably going crazy with frustration by now.”

“What?” Eve was startled. “Frustration? How do you—” She broke off as she saw Kendra’s expression that contained both slyness and a touch of mischief. She wasn’t sure that she wanted to probe how Kendra had known about the passion that was driving Joe and Eve that night. It could be simple guesswork or that damnable highly tuned sensitivity that was anything but simple. If it was the latter, she didn’t want to be told what physical or psychological signs had made that sexuality so transparent. She got to her feet. “It is chilly.” She started across the verandah. “Good night, Kendra. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Good night.” Then Kendra called after her, “Why did he stop? Were you interrupted? Is it something I should know about?”

Eve gazed back over her shoulder in exasperation. “Do you have to know everything?” Then she reined in her temper. This wasn’t only about Joe and her. Of course, Kendra should know everything concerning Beth Avery. She was going to help them, and they should share information. “Joe had to take a call from the ski resort where Beth had her accident. I’ll give you a report in the morning if he found out anything important.”

“Thanks,” Kendra called as Eve left the verandah. “I was … out of line. I’m sorry.”

“Yes, you were.”

“Well, it wasn’t that bad. I’ve been worse. Have a nice time.”

Eve wanted to shake her, but she had an idea Kendra’s puckish humor would cause her to enjoy the reaction. Just face her down. “Oh, I will.” She found that her annoyance was fading as she strolled back toward the room. It was clear that she was going to have to learn to deal with Kendra Michaels on her own terms. For a short time back there, she had actually felt in tune with the woman. No, admit it, she had genuinely liked her. It was only when Kendra had invaded her space that she had become defensive. How many people in her life had Kendra turned away because she had been able to unable to resist letting them know that she could see far beyond their comfort level? If Kendra was as intuitive and sensitive as Eve was beginning to believe, she must have tremendous restraint that she had learned at great cost over the years.