to tell me we had to sit down and wait until you finished that interview with Jill Cassidy.”
“It wasn’t exactly an interview. It turned out to be something different.” That was an understatement. “And that wasn’t me, that was Michael. He liked her. He was feeling sorry for her and thought I should help her.”
“Why?”
“You know Michael. He just said she was sad.” She shrugged. “And maybe she is. Journalists don’t have tremendously happy lives. They see too much. Big-time stress. But I told him sometimes people have to fix their own problems.” She turned and kissed him again, hard. “And the only problems I want to fix right now are yours and Michael’s,” she said fiercely. “You take care of yourself, and I’ll expect at least one Skype a day. Even if it has to be from a pub on Whitehall Street.”
“You’ll get it.” His hand gently caressed her cheek. “Don’t work too hard. I don’t want to come back to a haggard wife who will send me running back to that pub to drown my sorrows.” He grinned. “Now go say good-bye to Michael. I’m sure he wants to lecture you about your mistreatment of Jill Cassidy.”
“No, he won’t. Not this close to the time he’s going to have to leave me. I’ll get a break.” She was moving toward Michael. “But he might do it on our first Skype call!”
* * *
Dammit.
Eve could feel her eyes sting with tears as she drove up the driveway to the lake cottage. The place seemed just as empty as she’d been afraid it would without Joe and Michael. It had been bad when she’d watched the plane take off, but this was worse. This was where there were a million memories, and she’d have to fight them every single day.
She wanted to run back to the airport and jump on the next plane.
Yeah, that would be mature and responsible. It would be good for Michael to spend time with his sister. He and Jane didn’t get a chance to bond that often. And she’d be in Joe’s way while he was networking. Just get busy and this month would fly by and they’d all be together again.
She ran up the porch steps and threw open the door. It was getting dark, and she flicked on the light. That was more cheerful. She threw down her purse and moved to her worktable in the studio across the room. “Hi, Nora.” She looked down at the reconstruction. “It’s just me and you, kid. But we’ll get along just fine, won’t we?” She touched the clay of her cheekbone with her index finger. “And after that, we’ll find someone else to help.”
Nora gazed up at her from blind eyes. Eve hadn’t put the glass eyes in the eye orbits yet. That was always the last touch. Usually she didn’t even notice that emptiness, but she did today. Probably because she was feeling so empty herself. “Maybe we won’t work right away.” She turned away. “No offense. I’ll just have a cup of coffee, then call Jane and tell her they’re on their way. We’ll get together later tonight.”
But the call to Jane went straight to voice mail. Jane was always busy, and she might even have a gallery showing. Later. Everything seemed to be later today.
She took her coffee to the porch and looked out at the lake. Beautiful as usual. But it wasn’t as lit by sunlight as it had been earlier when she’d been out here with Jill Cassidy. The sun had gone down, and it was a little somber.
Jill Cassidy.
Promise you’ll look at them.
Her gaze went to the manila envelope she’d left on the porch swing. She didn’t want to look at those photos. She’d seen more than enough horror photos in her career in forensics. She was depressed enough today.
Promise me.
She could almost see Jill standing on those steps, pleading desperately.
She’s so sad.
And Michael had ganged up on Eve.
Oh, well, just do it. She crossed to the swing, plopped down, and reached for the envelope. It might be better that her mood was as somber as that lake out there. She pulled out the photos and switched on the light. It couldn’t be any worse than what she’d seen before…
* * *
Wrong.
Two hours later, the tears were still running down Eve’s cheeks. So much worse than anything she’d ever encountered in her career thus far. Not only the butchery and the burning of innocents, but Jill had researched and