Eve stiffened. “He hurt you?”
“No.” She was suddenly grinning. “He called my bluff. But it was still a revelation.” She waved a hand to shoo Eve out of the room. “Go see your Joe. Nothing happened to me tonight. I wish I could say I learned something more to tell you, but that wouldn’t be true. I only found out more questions to ask.”
“And I certainly can’t confront Nalchek with an accusation that he might be in cahoots with Walsh on the testimony of a coyote,” she said dryly. “Particularly since you don’t have a good deal of faith in it.”
“I did when Sajan was thinking about it,” she said slowly. “He believed it, Eve. He made me believe it.”
“But you don’t now?”
“Like him, I’m confused.” She finished her tea. “But I think you can’t rule out anything.”
“I’m not about to do that.” She opened the door. “I won’t be back tonight. Don’t stay here. Go to your own room and lock the door. I’ll call you tomorrow.”
“You’re afraid Walsh will come after you.”
“Yes, I made him very angry, which means I’m an automatic target. Besides the fact that he’s afraid I’m going to find out too much about Jenny. Yes, he’ll come. But maybe not before he goes after that child in Carmel. She may be first on his agenda. He’s been looking for her for a long time.”
“And you’re going to try to find her first?”
She smiled. “With a little help from my friends. I can’t have Joe know where I’m going, but I might need help in canvassing the areas in Carmel. That’s why I wanted Nalchek to bring you here. I hope that the news story tomorrow will give me a lead, but if it doesn’t, we’ll be heading there anyway.”
“Without Nalchek?”
“I’m not going to invite him along. Though he did help at Tahoe, I’m just not going to put my faith in him.” She smiled. “Someone told me not to rule out anything.”
CALIFORNIA PACIFIC MEDICAL CENTER
The lights were out in Joe’s room and he’d already been given his medication.
“Where have you been all my life?” Joe’s voice was a little slurred. “In particular the last eight hours of it.”
“Hi.” She took her seat in the chair beside his bed. “I told you I was going to a hotel and get some of the stench of that hillside off me.” She held out her arm. “Smell. I’m fabulous.”
“You were fabulous before.” He sniffed. “But a vast improvement. Lemon. I like your vanilla better.”
“Never satisfied.”
“And you like it that way.” He pressed his lips on her forearm. “So do I…”
“Go to sleep. I’m sorry I didn’t make it before you had your meds. We’ll talk in the morning.”
“Come to bed.”
“I’m right here.”
“Come to bed.”
“Joe, they’ll kick me out.”
He kissed her forearm again. “I’m not insisting on conjugal privileges … maybe. I just want you next to me. I can’t sleep without you.”
“You’re almost asleep now.”
“Okay, I won’t go to sleep without you. And you know I’ve been trained to do without sleep.”
“Stubborn bastard.” She hesitated. “They will kick me out, Joe.”
“We’ll face that when it happens.” He painfully shifted to one side. “In the meantime…”
“Don’t move again. I’ll do it…”
A moment later, she was lying beside him, holding him. “Now go to sleep,” she whispered.
“Soon.” His cheek was rubbing her shoulder. “Tell me about your day.”
“I told you when I called you. Very boring.”
“No, there are always nuances. I want to know what I’m missing.”
So that he could think and put all the pieces together. “Something is going on between Margaret and Nalchek. She’s not sure she trusts him.”
“Why?”
“The usual reasons with Margaret.” Her hand was stroking his hair. “Nothing concrete.”
“You’re not concerned?”