Blind Alley - Iris Johansen Page 0,1
God's sake, wake up, baby. It's only a dream.”
Not a dream.
“Dammit, wake up. You're scaring me.”
Eve. Mustn't scare Eve. Maybe it was a dream if she said so. She forced her lids open and looked up into Eve's worried face.
The worried frown was replaced by relief. “Whew, that must have been a doozy of a nightmare.” Eve's hand stroked Jane's hair back from her face. “Your bedroom door was closed and I still heard you moaning. Okay now?”
“Fine.” She moistened her lips. “Sorry I bothered you.” Her heartbeat was steadying and the darkness was gone. Maybe it wouldn't come back. Even if it did, she had to make sure it didn't disturb Eve. “Go back to bed.”
“I wasn't in bed. I was working.” She turned on the bedside lamp and then grimaced as she looked down at her hands. “And I didn't wipe the clay from my hands before I came in here. You probably have bits of it in your hair.”
“That's okay. I have to wash it in the morning anyway. I want to look good for my driver's license photo.”
“That's tomorrow?”
She sighed resignedly. “I told you yesterday that I'd need you or Joe to take me.”
“I forgot.” She smiled. “Maybe I'm in denial. Getting your first driver's license is sort of a rite of passage. It could be I don't want you to be that independent.”
“Yes, you do.” She met her gaze. “Ever since we've been together you've made sure that I could take care of myself in every way. You've done everything from giving me karate lessons to having Sarah train Toby as a guard dog. So don't tell me that you don't want me to be independent.”
“Well, not independent enough to walk away from Joe and me.”
“I'll never do that.” She sat up in bed and gave her a quick, awkward kiss. Even after all these years, loving gestures were difficult for her. “You'll have to kick me out. I know when I've got it good. So which one of you is going to take me to the Driver's License Bureau?”
“Probably Joe. I have to finish this skull right away.”
“What's the urgency?”
She shrugged. “Search me. Joe brought the skull home from the precinct and asked me to make it top priority. He said it had to do with linking a group of homicides.”
Jane was silent a moment. “A kid?”
Eve shook her head. “A woman.” Her eyes narrowed on Jane's face. “You thought it might be Bonnie?”
Jane always thought it might be Bonnie, Eve's daughter who had been murdered when she was seven and whose body had never been found. The tragedy had been the impetus that had made Eve study to become a forensic sculptor to identify murder victims and bring closure to other grieving parents. The search for Bonnie and her passion for her career still dominated her life. She shook her head. “If you suspected it was Bonnie's skull you were working on, you wouldn't have even heard my stupid caterwauling.” She held up her hand as Eve opened her lips. “I know. I know. You don't love me less than you did Bonnie. It's just different. I've known that all along. From the beginning. She was your child and we're more . . . friends. And that's okay with me.” She settled back in bed. “Now, you go back to work and I'll go back to sleep. Thanks for coming in and waking me. Good night, Eve.”
Eve didn't answer for a moment. “What was your nightmare about?”
Heat. Panic. Darkness. A night without air or hope. No, there had been hope. . . .
“I don't remember. Has Toby come back yet?”
“Not yet. I'm not sure it's a good idea to let him out at night. He's half wolf.”
“That's why I let him roam. Now that he's grown, he has to have more freedom. He has too much golden retriever to be really dangerous to anything but squirrels. Probably not even them. He caught one once and all he wanted to do was play with it.” She yawned. “Sarah said it was okay, but I'll stop him if you say the word.”
“No, I guess not. Sarah should know.” Sarah Logan was Eve's good friend as well as the canine search-and-rescue specialist who had given Toby to Jane. “Just keep an eye on him.”
“I will. I'm responsible for him. You know I won't let you down.”
“You never have.” She stood up. “And we'll have a little celebration when you come home from getting your license.”
Jane smiled