Bonnie

CHAPTER 16

DANNER!

Catherine had only caught a brief glimpse of the man streaking down the twisting path toward the bottom of the canyon, but she’d recognized him. She had not seen that shock of silver hair at the bayou, but he moved with that same lithe alacrity that had so surprised her.

She tensed. It would take her five to ten minutes to intercept him, and there was a possibility she might lose him. Call Gallo.

She dialed quickly. “I’ve spotted Danner. He’s alone. Where the hell is Eve?”

“I don’t know. We lost them after he started climbing the west wall of the canyon. Joe and I split up to search.”

Catherine muttered a curse. “That’s not good. I have to find out where he left her.” She didn’t want to think of the question of how he’d left Eve.

Dead. Alive. Wounded.

“Where are you, Gallo?”

“Still on a path on the canyon wall.”

“Then you’re no help. Danner’s headed for the bottom of the canyon.”

“Wait for me. I’ll be there.”

“No time. I’m not letting him leave the canyon without telling me where he left Eve. If she’s unconscious, it could take us days to find her.”

“Wait for me.” The phone crashed in her ear as he hung up.

Screw it. The time was over for waiting and also for working as a team with Gallo. If she could lever herself from that overhanging oak tree down to the next level of the path, she would make up a good deal of the distance. She slipped her phone in her jacket pocket and started down the trail toward the oak tree.

RUN.

Don’t slip on this damn sandy shale, Danner told himself.

One false step would throw him off the path and into the canyon over a hundred feet below.

But he couldn’t see for the tears running down his cheeks.

He had killed Ben. Why had the boy come after him? He hadn’t wanted to harm him. He had been closer to Ben than he had been to anyone since the time he’d spent with John when he was growing up. He had wanted to protect him and take care of him. To keep all the demons away from him.

Dead. Dead like the little girl. He had killed him as he had Bonnie.

No!

It was the demon, Black, who had killed Bonnie.

He wouldn’t have killed the little girl.

But he had done it. If he could kill Ben, then he could kill Bonnie.

“Stop where you are, Danner.”

A woman had come out of the brush at the side of the trail, a gun in her hand. Long, straight, dark hair, slightly tilted dark eyes, framed in long lashes. He knew that face. Catherine Ling, who had been with John at the bayou.

“Where is Eve, you bastard?” she asked grimly. “Give me an answer in ten seconds, and you’ll live for a little while longer.”

Eve. He should not have run away even if he’d been sick about killing the boy. Eve was still alive. He had failed Bonnie. It would be okay. He could make it right. But he had to get away from here first. Then he could concentrate on finding Bonnie’s mother again.

“Is she dead?” Catherine asked.

He shook his head. “She fought me and ran away. She shouldn’t have done that. It’s not what the little girl wanted.”

“Where is she?”

“With the boy.” He was sobbing. “I killed the boy.” Too much pain. Get away. Get rid of her.

He dove sideways and kicked out and struck her gun with the toe of his boot.

It fired and the bullet ricocheted off the wall of the canyon. Then he was running into the brush, the thorns and branches whipping at him.

She was running after him.

Pull to the side and ambush her.

Not now.

Keep running.

Keep running.

Keep running.

Run away from those children in the flaming house in the mountains of Syria.

Run away from Ben, with blood blossoming on his shirt.

Run away from Bonnie, lying so still in the trunk of his car.

Bonnie.

“You have to stop.” It was John calling from behind him. “Don’t make me come after you.”

John was hurting. He could always tell when the boy was hurting. How many times had Ted chased after John when Ted’s brother had beaten him? John had always tried to hide it from him, but he always knew.

“You have to make it right,” John’s voice was hoarse with pain. “I’ll try to help you through it, but you have to give yourself up. And you have to tell me where you left Eve.”

He kept on running.

“Stop,” John said. “For God’s sake, stop. Or I’ll have to shoot you. Don’t make me do that.”

He looked over his shoulder and saw John aiming his gun.

He kept on running.

He didn’t hear the shot until the bullet entered his kneecap. Pain. He fell to the ground. Then, as he was levering himself up against a tree, he saw Catherine Ling come out of the shrubs ahead with a gun in her hand.

She was staring at him with no expression. “You should have stopped, Danner.”

John was beside them now. “I would have done it, Catherine.”

“I believe you. But you would have given him every chance to surrender, and I was tired of pampering him.” She bent over Danner and plucked his gun from his jacket. “Is Eve still alive? I want an answer, and I’ll know if you’re lying.”

Yes, she would know. He had thought when he had first seen her that she was a demon, a Delilah, who was as lethal as she was beautiful. “Yes, but you can’t have her. It wouldn’t be right. I’ll fight you. She belongs to the child.”

“Wacko.” She turned to John. “I’m going to call Joe and see if he knows anything about Eve. If you can persuade Danner to talk, do it. Or I will.”

John pushed past her, closer to Danner. “Why?” His voice was ragged. “Why didn’t you tell me that you were sick? It wouldn’t have mattered to me. I would have helped you. I loved you, dammit.”

Danner shook his head. John’s words were hurting, scalding him with shame. “I couldn’t do it.”

Catherine hung up the phone and turned back to them. “Eve is safe. She and Joe are together. I told him where we are.”

John breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank God.” He turned back to Danner. “You didn’t hurt her. Maybe we can still make this-”

“Go away, John.”

“I can’t go away,” he said harshly. “You didn’t kill my daughter. I know you didn’t. Say the words.”

Of course, he could say the words, Danner thought. It was the demon, Black, who had killed Bonnie.

But what if it wasn’t?

Bonnie.

His head was exploding, he could feel the veins of his neck swell and distend.

Bonnie.

“No!” He lunged forward and got to his feet.

He was running, trying to get away from that hideous truth.

“Don’t move,” Catherine said.

He paid no attention, he was hobbling, his leg buckling with every step.

Catherine took a step forward. “Stop, Danner.”

Bonnie!

He slipped, fell, and was tumbling from the path down the sandy incline toward the bottom of the canyon.

“WHAT THE HELL,” EVE BREATHED. She and Joe had stopped on the cliff above the trail where Catherine and Gallo stood. She watched Danner skidding down the side of the incline. “He’ll be killed!”

“Maybe not. The ground is very sandy, that means soft.” Joe took her elbow and was running toward the trail. He added grimly, “But I may take care of that when I get down there.”

He meant it, Eve thought, as she tore down toward the canyon floor. She was angry, too, but she was also filled with dread and wrenching sadness. It wasn’t what she had expected to feel toward Danner. He was a murderer. He had tried to shoot Joe. He had killed Bonnie, and he might have killed that boy, Ben. Why couldn’t she just feel the anger and the thirst for revenge? Why did she keep seeing Danner as he had been when he’d smiled down at six-month-old Bonnie in her stroller and handed her the rabbit she had dropped?

Tragic.

But all tragedies had to end.

She stumbled, almost fell, but Joe caught her.

Joe was always there to catch her, to protect her, to stand by her.

As Danner had been there to protect Gallo. If things had been different, if Eve had let Danner into their lives when Bonnie was a toddler, would he have been there to love and protect her, too? Would everything have been changed?

Stop trying to second-guess every action she had taken. She was human. All she could do was play the cards she’d been given.

“Just below,” Joe said as he took her hand and started skidding down the incline. “I see Catherine, but not Gallo.”

“And Danner,” Eve said. “I don’t see Danner. Maybe he-”

AND THEN SHE SAW DANNER.

Blood.

Danner was lying on his back near the bottom of the canyon. He had fallen on a large branch and the force of the fall had broken the branch and caused the jagged point to pierce his body and exit from his chest.

She stopped beside Catherine, who was standing a few yards away from Danner. Gallo was kneeling beside him, examining the wound.

“Is he dead?” she whispered to Catherine.

“I don’t think so.” Catherine was short of breath, her chest rising and falling. “Not yet. We just got down here, and Gallo has been trying to see if he has a chance.”

Eve’s gaze flew to Gallo’s face. He was pale, his eyes haunted, and there was a long scratch on his right cheek. He was going through hell, and he looked it. “It doesn’t look good.”

Catherine shook her head. “I’ll try to get some help for him.” She glanced at Eve. “If that’s what you want. He’s probably not going to last anyway. Tell me what you want me to do. I know how long you’ve been searching for your daughter’s killer. If you want him dead, I’ll let him go.”

And cause Catherine to shoulder the blame for killing Danner?

Eve shook her head. “I don’t think he’s going to make it either.” She looked at Gallo. “Make the call. If he lives, then we’ll deal with him.”

Catherine took out her phone. “We’re surrounded by this rock canyon right here. The best I can do is get out from under these trees and hope I can pick up a signal.” She moved toward an opening in the trees several yards away. “Joe, you’ve got a satellite phone; come with me, and you try if I don’t get through.”

Joe frowned. “Dammit, I don’t give a damn if he-” He looked at Eve. “Okay, but it’s a waste.” He strode after Catherine.

He was probably right, Eve thought. But who the hell knew what was right or wrong? In this moment, she did not. There was too much history, too much pain. And the pain was still here. She could see it in Gallo’s face, feel it in all the memories of the years. She moved closer to where Gallo was kneeling beside Danner and put her hand on his shoulder. “How bad? What do you think?”

Gallo jerkily shook his head. “I can’t even stop the blood. I don’t know how many organs that branch damaged.”

“Catherine and Joe are trying to get him help.”

“That’s more than I expected.” He reached out a hand and gently touched Danner’s hair. “He was so damn good to me, Eve.”

“I know.”

“It’s crazy. How could he do it? He killed my daughter.” He reached out blindly and covered her hand on his shoulder. “Our daughter.”

“Our daughter,” she repeated. Yes, in this moment they were bound together as they had never been during Bonnie’s life. “And it was crazy. He wasn’t sane. He told me… it was an accident. That he was trying to save her.”

“Do you believe him?”

“Yes.”

“But it doesn’t take the pain away.”

“No, but it takes away some of the horror. I’ve always been afraid that Bonnie was helpless, terrified. It was one of my worst nightmares.”

“He was trying to save her?” Gallo’s eyes were moist. “Like he tried to save me. He did save me, Eve.”

“But he didn’t save-”

“Hurts…” Danner’s eyes were suddenly opening, staring up at Gallo. “I… fell.”

“Yes.” Gallo took his hand. “But I’ll take care of you.”

“How could you do that? You’re just a kid. Give me a minute, and I’ll get up and get us back to the cabin.”

Did he think he was back at that cabin in Wisconsin where he’d taken Gallo so many times? Eve wondered.

But Danner’s gaze was now on Eve. “I know you. You have a little girl…”

“Yes, I do.”

He suddenly tensed. “The demons. You have to keep the demons from finding her.”

“I have her safe. Forever.”

“But I have to help. I have to-” He began to cough, and a rivulet of blood flowed out of the corner of his mouth.

He was dying, Eve realized. There was no doubt in her mind. “I don’t need you. My Bonnie is safe. I’ll watch over her.”

“No, it’s my job.” His head was thrashing back and forth. “I have to do it. It doesn’t matter if I’m afraid. I have to do it.”

“I’ll do it for you,” Gallo said thickly. “Just rest.”

Danner’s eyes were clinging to his. “I tried to save her for you, John.”

“I know you did.”

“I failed you. I failed her.” His eyes closed. “Go away.”

“No.”

“Go away.” He jerked his hand away from Gallo’s. “I don’t want you. You make me feel- Go away.”

Eve couldn’t stand it any longer. She turned and moved a few yards from Danner and Gallo. She crossed her arms across her chest to still their trembling.

“Take him away, Mama.”

“Bonnie?”

“Take my father away. They’re both hurting too much. I can’t help him.”

Eve hesitated, then strode back to Gallo. “Come on,” she said unevenly. “Leave him.”

“No.”

“Leave him.” She stared him in the eye with all the force of her entire will. “He won’t need you. I promise.”

Gallo gazed at her in bewilderment, then slowly got to his feet. “He’s dying, Eve.”

She nodded. “But he’s hurting because you’re here with him. He’s full of regret and guilt and pain. Let him go, John.” She took his hand and drew him a few yards from Danner. “It will be-”

Gallo stiffened. “Bonnie?”

Did he sense her, too? Eve wondered.

No, he could see her. She was here.

Bonnie was standing over Ted Danner, looking down at him.

Her expression…

Compassion, tenderness, sadness.

“What are you doing, Bonnie?”

But Bonnie was not paying any attention to anyone but the man at her feet.

“Ted.”

Danner opened his eyes. He saw her. His body stiffened. “Go away. It’s not my fault. I tried to do what you wanted. Why do you keep following me?”

“Because you won’t listen to me.” Bonnie fell to her knees beside him. “You’ve never listened, Ted. But now you will, won’t you?”

“No. I want you to go away.”

“Because you’re afraid of me?” Bonnie smiled. “Why should you be afraid? I’m no stranger to you. We’ve been together a long time.”

“You don’t understand.”

“I understand that you’re afraid that I’m angry with you, that I want to hurt you.”

“Yes, because you think that I’m the one who hurt you. You don’t believe it was the demon.”

“No, because I don’t believe in demons.” She took Danner’s hand.

He shuddered and tried to pull away.

“No, hold my hand, and the fear will go. You’re not afraid of me, you’re afraid of the darkness. You’ve been in darkness for a long time and haven’t been able to break free of it. Sometimes it got lighter, then when you weren’t expecting, it came back. Isn’t that right?”

“And then the demons came.”

“But it’s light now, and you can see in every corner. Everything is bright and clear and beautiful. And there are no demons. There will never be demons again.”

He was gazing into her eyes. “You promise.”

“I promise.”

Silence. “You’re not angry with me.”

“I’ve never been angry with you. Why should I? I always knew that you meant no harm, that it was love that made you take me that day. Love for my father, even love for me. I tried so hard to tell you.”

“I… hurt you. Forgive… me. I wanted to say that to you, but it was too late. Everything was too late.”

“It’s never too late. You’ll see. I’ll help you.”

“Will you?”

“Shall I show you?”

Silence.

Then a brilliant smile lit his face. “It starts again? It’s a long road, a hard road, but I can make the ending different. I can begin again.”

“Is that what you saw? It’s different all the time. Beautiful but different.” She leaned closer, and whispered, “Now go to sleep. It’s time. Don’t be afraid. I’ll be there for you. I won’t let you get lost.” She smiled luminously. “I’ve learned so many things, Ted. You’ll learn them, too. Just hold my hand. Don’t let me go.”

“Bonnie…” He was smiling back at her, his face alight with sudden eagerness. “No, I won’t let go.”

He closed his eyes.

Love, so much love…

Eve could feel the tears running down her cheeks.

And then Bonnie was gone.

“My God.” Gallo was moving back to Danner and standing over him, gazing down at his face.

But Danner was gone, too.

EVE DIDN’T FOLLOW GALLO. This was a moment of good-bye between Gallo and his uncle. She was shaken and confused, and she needed to be with Joe. She turned toward the edge of the clearing.

Joe was standing at the tree line, his gaze on Danner. How much had he seen? He turned his head to watch Eve as she came toward him. “So Bonnie kept her word. It’s the end.”

“Or the beginning. I’m not sure any longer.” She slid her arms around him and laid her head on his chest. She could feel the vibration of his heart beneath her ear. “But it’s the way she wanted it.”

“Yes, maybe not the way I wanted it.” His hand stroked her hair. “How are you doing?”

“Mixed-up. Happy, sad, angry. Bonnie may be able to see beyond the act and forgive, but I’m not there yet. It may take me a long time.”

She could feel him nod but didn’t lift her head. She wanted to stay here hidden in his arms. “But I can’t hate him. All these years, and I can’t hate him. Because she never hated him. From the beginning, she wanted to help him, ease him.”

“Yes.” He was silent a moment. “Do you remember that first week after Bonnie was taken when we were doing the interviews with people who had claimed to have seen Bonnie?”

“Yes, they were all disasters.”

“Except for one. That vicious woman who claimed to be a psychic and said that she’d seen Bonnie the night after she’d been reported missing. She told you that Bonnie had been murdered.”

“She just wanted to hurt me.”

“Yes, but she said Bonnie was trailing after a man and trying to get his attention. She said he wouldn’t pay any attention to her. You asked her if Bonnie was afraid of him, and she said no.”

Memories of that night were flooding back to Eve. “Even then, Bonnie was trying to get through to Danner and tell him that she forgave him?” A man in a torment of guilt, pushing Bonnie away, denying her existence, denying his responsibility for her death. Yet trying to protect her in the only way he knew how. “And she kept trying and never gave up. Even when she sensed the end coming, she knew she had to be there for him.”

Danner’s luminous expression in that final moment.

Perfect faith, perfect love…

She felt tears sting her eyes again. No, she would not cry.

She drew a shaky breath and took a step back. “Did you reach 911? I suppose we should call them back and tell them Danner won’t need them.”

He nodded. “The EMTs should be here soon anyway. They were on the other side of the canyon with Ben.”

“Is he still alive?”

“Yes, but they’re going to have to airlift him out of here to the hospital in Columbus. It may be touch-and-go.”

“I want to go with him. He saved your life, Joe.” She paused. “Ben said something about…”

“Bonnie? She touched him. He had dreams about her.”

She’d touched all of them. Dreams and visions and a love that lasted beyond death.

“I want to talk to him.”

But would she get the chance? Would he be with Bonnie, too?

Joe slipped his arm around her waist. “We’ll go to the ranger station and get a ride to the hospital. We’d better tell Catherine what we’re doing.” He turned to Catherine, who was several yards behind him. “Catherine, we need to go to the hospital. Do you want to-”

“I’ll stay with Gallo.” Catherine’s gaze was fixed on Gallo, kneeling beside Danner. “Do what you have to do.” She started toward him. “I’ll be in touch later.”

Then she stopped and turned to Eve.

Eve stiffened with surprise. Catherine’s golden skin was paler, her eyes wide with shock. Eve had never seen her so discomposed. “Are you okay?”

Catherine nodded jerkily. “As good as I can be. I just wanted to say that I-” She muttered a curse and whirled back again and started toward Gallo. “I just wanted to say I’m sorry. I thought you were all a little crazy. I didn’t believe you. Hell, maybe I’m crazy, too.”

Eve froze, her gaze on Catherine, who had reached Gallo and was standing beside him.

“She saw her, Joe,” she whispered. “She saw Bonnie.”

“And it scared the hell out of her.” Joe pulled Eve toward the trail. “I can sympathize. I remember the first time I saw Bonnie. But she’ll have to deal with it herself. You can’t do it for her.”

He was right. Perhaps later she could comfort, help Catherine, but now she was too exhausted and emotionally spent to do anything but try to get through the hours ahead.

But why had Catherine been able to see Bonnie when only those who were close to her daughter had ever been able to see her?

Don’t ask. Just accept.

Bonnie’s choice.

BEN WAS IN SURGERY WHEN Eve and Joe reached the hospital. But Father Barnabas was in the waiting room and had spoken to the doctors.

“It’s critical,” the priest said. “But the doctors say he has a chance. The nurse just came by to tell me they’re finishing up now.”

“You know that Danner is dead?” Joe asked. “The police told you?”

“No. Ben told me.”

“What?”

“Right before he went into surgery. He said that Ted wasn’t here anymore, but that it was okay.” He turned to Eve. “Are you all right?”

She nodded. “Ben told you?” It shouldn’t have surprised her. Just the few minutes she’d spent with him had revealed his connection with Bonnie.

“I promised I’d try to keep from killing Danner,” Joe said. “He came along to try to protect him.”

“And he knows you did try,” the priest said. “And I don’t think that the reason he came along was to protect Danner. Maybe that was his initial reason, but it changed. He was sticking closer to you than glue.”

“He was protecting Joe?” Eve nodded slowly. “Maybe you’re right.”

“I’m right.” Father Barnabas smiled. “And here’s something else that I’m going to be right about. The doctors weren’t sure that Ben would survive this surgery, but he was sure. He told me that she said that it wasn’t his time.” He tilted his head. “And I wondered… a saintly visitation? Or the little girl Ted Danner was so obsessed with?”

“Bonnie,” Eve said.

“Bonnie,” the priest repeated. “He was so afraid of her. I wanted to be with Ted, to talk to him one more time, to give him comfort. He was in such torment.”

“Yes.” She met his eyes. “But not in the end. And he wasn’t afraid of Bonnie any longer.”

“A miracle?”

Perhaps not the way the priest meant it. But since the day of her birth, Bonnie had been so very special, a wonderful, magical gift. It was no wonder that she had been able to give that grace to everyone around her. “Yes, a miracle, Father.”

“YOU LOOK LIKE A SURGEON.” Catherine’s gaze ran up and down Eve’s loose blue-green tunic and pants when she came into the waiting room two hours later. “Have you changed professions?”

“I borrowed the clothes from one of the nurses on the floor. I took a shower, but my clothes were practically falling into shreds after those days in the woods. Joe wanted to stay here until they let him see Ben, and I wanted to be with him.”

Catherine looked down at herself. “I’m not much better than you, but I’ll wait until I can get to a motel. I’ll pick up some clothes for you and drop them off here. How is the boy?”

“He’ll live. The doctors said it was touch-and-go.” She smiled. “Ben said that there would be no problem. He had it on the best of authority.”

Catherine looked away. “I’ve been thinking it over and what I thought I saw could have been a hallucination induced by stress.”

“It could be.”

“That would be the most comfortable explanation.” She looked back at Eve. “I’ve never gone for the safe or comfortable. It’s not my nature.” She smiled recklessly. “I tend to dive into the volcano and hope that the rope around my waist holds.”

“And are you diving into my volcano, Catherine?”

“Yes. I saw a little girl in a Bugs Bunny T-shirt kneeling by Danner. She was… incredible.”

Eve nodded. “More than you’ll ever know.”

“I hope that’s true. I don’t want to know or see more than I did today.”

“And you may not. I don’t know why you saw my daughter. I assumed that she appeared only to those to whom she was close. Maybe this is a rare instance and won’t be repeated.”

Catherine shrugged. “And if it’s not, I’ll deal with it. Though I hope we won’t become chums. It might be distracting.”

Eve smiled. “She won’t get in your way, Catherine.”

Catherine smiled. “I know she won’t. I’m sure she’s totally independent. She has to be her mother’s daughter.”

Eve’s smile faded. “And her father’s. How is Gallo?”

“How do you think? Not good. He’s taking his uncle home to Wisconsin and burying him in the woods on his property.”

“Are you going with him?”

She shook her head. “I wasn’t invited, and I don’t know if I would have gone if I had been. This is between the two of them, and there were times when I wasn’t at all sympathetic. I was on your side, not his. I wasn’t sure until we were with Danner that he’d be able to keep his priorities straight. We have a lot of… issues.”

And some of those issues were fiery and emotional, Eve thought. It might be just as well that Catherine was keeping distance between them.

“Stop frowning.” Catherine was studying her expression. “Be happy, dammit. You deserve it.”

“So do you. Where are you going?”

“Home to Luke for a while. Then I promised Venable I’d do a job in Peru. A very short job. I’ll stop by your place at the lake on my way.” She started to turn away, then said, “Bonnie. You’re taking her home?”

She nodded. “I’m going to ask Father Barnabas to do the service.”

“I want to be there.”

Eve nodded. “I’ll let you know. If you’re not in South America.”

“Screw South America. I’ll be there.” She moved down the corridor toward the elevators.

“YOU LOOK TIRED,” BEN SAID. “Maybe you should go to bed.”

Joe’s gaze flew to the boy’s face. Ben’s eyes were open, and he seemed clear and coherent. Amazing, considering that they’d loaded him with sedatives and antibiotics.

“I’m fine.” He made a face. “I was just thinking that I hated hospitals. I just got out of one myself.” He smiled. “And you’re the one who should be tired. You went through a couple hours of surgery to put you back together. How do you feel?”

Ben thought about it. “Sore. A little dizzy. But better than when I fell down the steps when I was trying to help Mrs. Smythe.”

“That’s good. I think.” He paused. “Ted Danner is dead. I couldn’t stop it, Ben.”

Ben nodded. “She said it was going to happen, that it was his time, but that it wouldn’t be bad for him. She was worried about you.”

“So you decided to trail along and help?”

“She was worried,” he repeated. “I don’t like Bonnie to worry. It makes me worry.”

“So you took a bullet for me.”

“Ted didn’t mean it. He must have been… excited. Sometimes he got upset.”

“That was pretty obvious.”

“You’re still mad at him. But he didn’t hurt Eve.”

There was no use arguing with the boy. What difference did it make? Ben’s loyalty might have been misplaced, but the quality itself was admirable. There had probably not been that many people in his life who had shown him the kindness Danner had. “No, Eve is fine.”

“That’s good.” Ben’s lids were beginning to close. “I’m going to go to sleep now.”

“You do that.” He paused. “I was wondering when you got out of here what you planned to do.”

“Go back to the camp.”

“You like it there?”

He smiled. “Yes. I told you, I’m good at what I do.”

“I was wondering if you’d like to come and work for me. We could work something out.”

Ben’s eyes opened. “Why?”

Joe shrugged. “I have a place on a lake. There’s always work to do.”

Ben stared at him for a long moment. “You need me?” He shook his head. “You don’t need me. You feel bad and want to give me something. A job is like a present sometimes.”

“And sometimes it starts out as a gift and becomes something else entirely. As I said, we could work it out. Think about it.”

“Maybe.” Ben closed his eyes. “But I shouldn’t do it just because I’d like to do it. That would be wrong… You’d have to need me…”

He was asleep again.

Joe leaned back in the chair. He shouldn’t have assumed it would be easy to get Ben to take a job where Joe could keep an eye on him. Ben was a mixture of simplicity and sudden flashes of sharpness that came out of nowhere.

He should probably just allow the boy to go back to the job he liked and forget about taking him under his wing. The camp was a safe environment, and Joe usually wasn’t this protective.

Hell, no. He’d worry about Ben.

That was what Ben had said about Bonnie, he remembered suddenly. She would worry…

A connection?

He couldn’t rule it out. All connections seemed to be centered around Bonnie.

But it didn’t change anything. Joe still wanted Ben where he could watch over him.

And that meant he had to sit here and think of a way to create a position for Ben that would convince him that he would be totally indispensable.

Providence Canyon

THE SUN WAS GOING DOWN as Eve took the last turn up the canyon ridge.

“I’m on my way, Bonnie.”

“I know you are, Mama. I’ve been waiting for you.”

“Then you should have come to me.”

“I wanted you here. I wanted to show you the sun setting over my valley.”

“Your valley?”

“It’s my valley, my canyon. Ted Danner gave it to me, and I made it mine. I share it with all the animals and the wind and the trees…”

“Joe said that Ben told him that you liked it here, the trees, the deer… I was so afraid that you’d be somewhere…” She stopped. “I worried.”

“I know. But that would have been only a place, too, and you can turn it into whatever you want it to be.”

“You didn’t tell me that, dammit.”

“I didn’t know. I’m learning all the time.” She paused. “But so are you, Mama.”

“Am I? I don’t feel as if I am.”

“That’s because you haven’t been able to think of anyone but me. That will be different now. So many things will be different.”

“No, I’ll always love you, think about you.”

“It will be different.”

Eve turned down the dark passage, and a moment later rolled back the large boulder.

“I wanted Joe to come with me, but he said that I should come here alone. He’s been staying at the hospital with Ben. He’s a very sweet boy, Bonnie. Joe and he are getting along famously.”

“Ben is beginning to love Joe. Loving is easy for Ben.”

“Like you, baby. You were always-” She inhaled sharply as she stepped into the garden.

The garden was bathed in the gold and scarlet haze of the setting sun. The vines cast purple shadows that formed exotic patterns on the ground. It was both intimate and spectacular. And the sun sinking below the horizon was breathtaking.

“I told you that it was wonderful. No, don’t look over at that grave. I’m over here, Mama.”

Bonnie was sitting in the corner, leaning against a boulder at the edge of the cliff. The rays of the setting sun were turning her curls to fire red. She gestured out at the valley. “See, Mama.”

“I see.”

“Come and sit by me.”

Eve sat down a few feet away, where she could still look at Bonnie. To hell with scenery that she could see anytime. She was never sure when Bonnie would be gone.

“But I always come back. This way I don’t interfere with you.”

“Ask me if I’d care.”

“I’d care. Every moment of the first step is precious.”

“You didn’t have many of those moments.”

“It’s not always the same. It was my time. I don’t know why, I only know it was time for me to go on.” She leaned her head back against the boulder and looked out at the valley. “Maybe I had more to learn here than there.”

“You seem to be doing pretty well.”

“At first, it seemed as if I was wandering around in a kind of haze. It was beautiful, but I didn’t know what to do. Then it all came together. But you were hurting and Ted Danner was hurting. I had to wait until it was finished.”

“And is it finished?”

Bonnie’s radiant smile lit her small face. “Yes, can’t you feel it, Mama? No pain, no bitterness. All that’s left is the love.”

“Yes, I can feel it,” she said unsteadily. Freedom. None of the shackles of pain and horror and sadness that had bound her all these years. “Love.”

They sat in silence, watching the twilight turn to darkness.

“I want to take you home, baby,” Eve finally said a long time later. “Is that all right with you?”

“It doesn’t matter. I’ve always told you that, Mama. I’m not there anymore.”

“Ben told Joe that you liked it here in the canyon.”

She chuckled. “And you didn’t want to disturb me? There’s beauty everywhere. You only have to look for it.”

Eve was silent, then asked the question that she’d been avoiding. “If it’s finished… am I going to… lose you, baby?”

“Oh, no, Mama.” She added quietly, “But it means you can let me go now.”

“I most certainly cannot. Don’t even think about it.”

“I won’t. It will just come.”

“I’ll still see you?” she asked quickly.

“Sometimes. But you’ll always know I’m with you.”

“That’s not good enough. I want it all.”

“And that’s what I want for you,” she said gently. “So let me go, Mama. Please.”

Another silence. “It’s going to be hard.”

“But you’re tough enough to do it. You’re tough enough to do anything.”

“Maybe not this.”

“Mama.”

“We’ll see how it goes.”

Bonnie threw back her head and laughed. “I do love you, Mama. There’s no one in the world like you.”

“And there’s no one in my world like you, Bonnie.”

“I’ll argue with you later. It’s just good sitting here with you tonight.” She lifted her head to the night sky. “Do you remember that last night when we sat on the porch and looked up at the stars? They seemed so close. You asked me if I wanted to be an astronaut and go from planet to planet.”

“You didn’t get the chance.”

Bonnie turned to her and smiled. “How do you know?” She didn’t wait for an answer but looked back at the stars. “They’re close tonight, too. I can see Venus. This is nice, isn’t it, Mama?”

“Yes, Bonnie. Very, very nice…”

Nice was not the word. The stars were brilliant and the night seemed to enclose them in velvet darkness. Eve was surrounded by memories of the past and the sweetness of the present.

It was enough.

More than enough.

Tomorrow could take care of itself.