The Face of Deception (8 page)

Or she could be dead.
Timwick could be moving quickly to tie up all the loose ends.
Shit, Logan had thought he had time.
Maybe he was jumping to conclusions.
Hell, so what? Hed always trusted his instincts, and they were shouting at him now.
But sending Gil to check on Dora Bentz would be a tip-off. Timwick would know what he only sus-pected now. Logan could try to save Dora Bentz or he could remain safe for a few more days.
Shit
He picked up the phone and dialed Gils number in the carriage house.
Lights. Moving lights.
Eve stopped drying her hair, slowly got up, and went to the window.
The black limousine that had picked them up at the airport was gliding down the driveway toward the gates.
Logan?
Gil Price?
It was almost four oclock in the morning. Where would anyone be going at this hour?
She doubted if shed be told if she asked to-morrow morning.
But shed damn well do it anyway.
SIX
Eve didnt fall asleep until five, and then her slumber was restless. She woke at nine but forced herself to stay in bed until almost ten, when a thun-derous knock sounded on the door.
The door opened before she could answer, and a small, plump woman strode into the room. Hi, Im Margaret Wilson. Heres the gate control you wanted. She set the remote on the nightstand. Sorry if I woke you, but John says I screwed up on the lab. How the hell was I to know you wanted pretty? What do I need to get? Pillows? Rugs?
Nothing. Eve sat up in bed and gazed curiously at Margaret Wilson. The woman was probably in her early forties. The gray gabardine pantsuit she wore slimmed her plump figure and complemented her dark, sleek hair and hazel eyes. I told him that I wasnt going to be here long enough for it to matter.
It matters. John likes things right. So do I. Whats your favorite color?
Green, I guess.
I should have known. Redheads are pretty predictable.
Im not a redhead.
Well, almost. She looked around the room. This kind of thing okay?
Eve nodded as she threw back the covers and got out of bed.
Good, then Ill get on the phone and order some stuff. It should be Oh, my God, youre a giant.
What?
Margaret was glowering at her. How the hell tall are you?
Five nine.
A giant. Youll make me feel like a midget. I hate tall, skinny women. They do something to my psyche and I become over aggressive.
Youre not that small.
Youre patronizing me. She grimaced. And Im being defensive. Oh, well, Ill have to fight it. Ill just keep telling myself that Im much smarter than you. Get dressed and come on down to the kitchen. Well grab some cereal and then Ill take you for a walk around the grounds.
Thats not necessary.
Sure it is. John wants you kept happy and he says you dont have anything to do right away. If youre anything like me, youll go crazy. She headed for the door. But well take care of it. Fifteen minutes?
Fine. She wondered what the response would have been if she had said otherwise. Margarets tac-tics made a steamroller look subtle.
But it was hard not to like her. She hadnt smiled once, but she exuded a vibrant energy and cheerful-ness. She was blunt, bold, and like no one Eve had ever met. She was a breath of fresh air after the dark tension she sensed in Logan.
The Barrett family graveyard. Margaret waved a hand at the small iron-fenced cemetery. Theres no grave later than 1922. Do you want to go in?
Eve shook her head.
Thank God. Cemeteries depress me, but I thought you might be interested.
Why?
I dont know. All those bones and stuff you work with.
I dont hang around graveyards like some kind of ghoul, but they dont bother me. Particularly family cemeteries. No lost ones here, and it was ex-tremely well kept. All the graves were even covered with pallets of fresh carnations. Where did all the flowers come from? Are there Barretts still in the neighborhood?
No, the direct line died out about twenty years ago. She pointed at a gravestone. Randolph Barrett. The family scattered over the years and Randolph Barrett was the last to be buried here back in 1922. The graveyard was in pretty sad shape when John bought the property. He gave orders for it to be cleaned up and fresh flowers brought in every week.
Im surprised. I wouldnt think Logan would be that sentimental.
Well, you never know what John is going to do. But Im glad he brought in a landscaper for this job. Like I said, cemeteries depress me.
Eve turned and started down the hill. They dont depress me. Sadden me, maybe. Particularly the babies graves. Before modern medicine, so many children didnt live to grow up. Do you have any children?
Margaret shook her head. I was married once, but we both had careers and were too busy to think about kids.
Your job must be very demanding.
Yep.
And varied. She paused. Like this one. You cant say that skeleton hunting is in many peoples job description.
I dont hunt, I just do what Im told.
That could be dangerous.
John will keep me clear of trouble. He always has before.
Hes done this before?
Bones? No, but hes been known to walk some mighty thin lines.
But you trust him?
Hell, yes.
Even if you dont know what hes looking for? Or do you?
Margaret grinned. Stop pumping me. I dont know anything about anything and I wouldnt tell you if I did.
You wont even tell me if it was Logan who left in the middle of the night?
Sure. Johns still here. I saw him before he disap-peared into his study this morning. It was Gil who left.
Why?
Margaret shrugged. Ask John. She added bluntly, You came here because John made it worth your while. I handled the transfer to the Adam Fund. Hell tell you everything when he thinks its time. Trust him.
I dont have your faith in him. She glanced at the carriage house. Is that where the gates are monitored?
Margaret nodded. Its a pretty elaborate system with video cameras all over the place. Mark Slater does all the monitoring.
I havent met him yet.
He doesnt come up to the house much.
Does Logans house on the West Coast have se-curity like this?
Sure, there are lots of nuts out there. Men in Johns position are prime targets. Her pace quick-ened. I have some work to do. Will you be okay if I leave you alone this afternoon?
Yes. You dont have to baby-sit me, Margaret.
Actually, I enjoyed it. Youre not what I expected from a bone lady.
Bone lady. Thats what Gil had called her. The correct term is forensic sculptor.
Whatever. Like I said, I expected someone very cool and professional. Hence the mistake I made with the lab. Not that Id admit to John that I made a mis-take. I told him it was all his fault because he didnt let me know what I had to contend with. Its not good for him to know that Im not perfect. It would make him feel insecure.
Eve smiled. I cant imagine that.
Everyone has insecure moments, even me. She added gloomily, But only when I stand next to giants like you. It comes from growing up a shrimp with four six-foot brothers. Is your mother tall?
No, only medium height.
Okay, then youre a freak and Ill magnani-mously forgive you. I wont mention it again.
Thank you. I appreciate the
I was wondering where you were. Logan had come out of the house and was walking toward them. Did you have a good night? he asked Eve.
No.
I have those reports to finish, Margaret said quickly. See you later, Eve.
Eve nodded, her gaze on Logan. Dressed in black jeans and sweatshirt, he looked very different from the man she had met that first day. Not only because of the clothes, but because he seemed to have stripped off the sleek image and completely discarded it.
Strange bed?
Partly. Why did Gil Price leave right after we got here last night?
I had an errand for him to run.
At four in the morning?
He nodded. It was a rather urgent errand. He should be back tonight. He paused. I was hoping youd have a day or two to become acclimated to the situation, but we may have to pick up the pace.
Good, I dont need to become acclimated. Just bring me the bones and let me get to work.
We may have to go to them.
She stiffened. What?
You may have to do a cursory examination right after we excavate and determine if its worthwhile to bring the skeleton here. My source could have lied, and the skull might be damaged too badly for a face to be reconstructed.
You want me to be there when you dig it up?
Maybe.
Forget it. Im not a grave robber.
It may be necessary for you to be there. That could be the only
Forget it.
Well talk about it later. It may not be necessary. Did you enjoy the graveyard?
Why does everyone assume I enjoy grave Her gaze narrowed on his face. How did you know I was at the cemetery? She glanced at the carriage house. Of course, your video cameras. I dont like being spied on, Logan.
The cameras scan the grounds continuously. They just happened to catch you and Margaret at the cemetery.
It could be true, but she doubted if anything just happened in Logans life. I liked the fresh flowers.
Well, Im living in the Barretts house. I figured that was the least I could do.
Its your house now.
Is it? The Barretts built the inn, they lived and worked here for over a hundred and sixty years and saw a lot of history troop by. Did you know Abraham Lincoln stayed here right before the end of the Civil War?
Another Republican. No wonder you bought the place.
Some of the places Lincoln stayed in I wouldnt have touched on a bet. I value my comfort too much. He opened the front door for her. Have you called your mother?
No, Ill do that this evening when she gets home from work. She smiled. Providing shes not out on the town. Shes keeping company with a lawyer from the D.A.s office.
Hes lucky. She seemed very nice.
Yes, and shes smart too. After Bonnie was born, she finished high school and then went to technical school to learn court reporting.
She finished school after your daughter He stopped. Sorry, Im sure you dont want to talk about your daughter.
I dont mind talking about Bonnie. Why should I? Im very proud of her. She came into our lives and made everything different. She added simply, Love can do that, you know.
So Ive heard.
Its true. Id tried to get my mother off crack, but couldnt. Maybe I was too bitter and resentful. God knows, sometimes I thought I hated her. But Bonnie came and I changed. Somehow all the bitter-ness was gone. And my mother changed too. I dont know whether it was just the right time and point in her life or it was because she knew she had to get off the crack in order to help me raise Bonnie. My God, how she loved Bonnie. No one could help but love her.
I can understand that. I saw her picture.
Wasnt she beautiful? She smiled luminously. So happy. She was always so happy. She loved every waking hour that she She had to swallow to ease the tightness in her throat and then said brusquely, Im sorry, I have to stop talking now. I can go only so far, and then it starts to hurt. But Im getting better all the time.
Christ, stop apologizing, he said roughly. Im sorry I made you talk about her.
You didnt make me do anything. Its important that I keep her with me, that I never let myself forget her. She existed. She became a part of me, maybe the best part. She turned away from him. And now I think Ill go to my lab and see if I can do a little work on Mandy.
He looked at her in surprise. You brought those fragments with you?
Of course. Theres probably not much I can do with them, but I couldnt give up without trying.
He smiled. No, I can see you couldnt.
She felt his eyes on her as she walked away. She probably shouldnt have shown him how vulnerable she could be, but the conversation had seemed to flow from one subject to another. Logan had listened in-tently and sympathetically and made her feel as if he really cared. Maybe he did care. Maybe he wasnt the manipulator she suspected him of being.
And maybe he was. What the hell difference did it make? She wasnt ashamed of how she felt about Bonnie, and there was no way he could twist anything she had said and use it against her. The only advantage he might have gained was that she felt a little closer to him now; the very act of talking to him about Bonnie had caused the most tentative of bonds to be formed. But a connection that tentative was easy to break and wouldnt influence her in any way.
She opened the door of the lab and went directly to the briefcase she had left on the desk. She unlocked it and began taking the skull fragments out of the case. Putting them together would be like working on a jigsaw puzzle with some pieces the size of tiny splin-ters. What was she thinking? she wondered in despair. It was crazy, probably impossible.
The task would be impossible if she took that attitude, she thought impatiently. Reconstructing Mandy was her job, and shed find a way to do it. The connection with Mandy was one she could trust, a bond she could afford to hold on to.
Hello, Mandy. She sat down at the desk and picked up a nasal bone, the largest left intact. I guess well start here. Dont worry. It may take a long time, but well get there.
Dora Bentz is dead, Gil said baldly when Logan picked up the phone.
Shit. His hand tightened on the receiver.
Stabbed to death and apparently raped. She was found by her sister in her apartment about ten this morning. They were planning on going to an aerobics class together. The sister had a key and let herself in after she kept knocking and didnt get an answer. The window was open and the police think its a simple rape-murder.
Simple, hell.
If its not, it was done very well, Gil said. Ex-tremely well.
Like the vandalism of Eves lab in Atlanta. Were you followed?
No doubt about it. You knew I would be.
Can you find out from one of your old buddies who Timwick might be using?
Maybe. Ill put out some feelers. Do you want me to come back there?
No. Ive been trying to contact James Cadro all morning. According to his office, hes camping with his wife in the Adirondacks. He paused. Hurry. I wasnt the first one to inquire about him.
Do we know where in the Adirondacks?
Somewhere near Jonesburg.
Great. Thats what I like. Precise directions. Im on my way.
Logan replaced the phone. Dora Bentz dead. He could have saved her if hed acted yesterday. But, dammit, hed thought theyd all be safer if he didnt display any interest in them, if he seemed to ignore their existence.
He was wrong. Dora Bentz was dead.
It was too late for her but maybe not for the others. A distraction could possibly save lives and give him the witnesses he desperately needed.
But he couldnt move fast without Eve Duncan. She was the key. He had to be patient and let her begin to trust him.