Bonnie - Iris Johansen [110]
“It’s a path that goes to the top of the canyon. It took me a year to hack it out of the wall.”
“Why?”
“I couldn’t be sure that the demons wouldn’t find her. I had to have a route to take her out of here.”
“An escape hatch?” she asked softly. “Good heavens, you thought of everything.”
“Are you laughing at me?”
“No, there’s nothing funny about this.”
It was sad, tragic.
“No.” His gaze went to the far west corner of the garden, then glanced quickly away. “There she is.”
Bonnie.
It was a raised plot of earth that was surrounded by the same gorgeous blossoms that were everywhere in the garden. A simple carved cross marked the grave.
Eve slowly moved to stand before it.
Here I am, baby.
No special sense of presence. She had not believed Bonnie when she had told her that it would not matter whether she found her body. That she was always with her, that it was memories and love that made the difference. She could almost see Bonnie standing in front of her with an impish I-told-you-so smile.
Okay, so you were right. But I’m glad to be here anyway.
And maybe she would have felt something more special if Danner had not been here.
Danner, who was standing looking at her from a few yards away.
He was getting ready. She could see the tension in the set of his shoulders … and his eyes …
“It’s a beautiful place,” Eve told him quietly. “I’m glad that you gave Bonnie such a wonderful garden. She loved flowers.”
“She was John’s daughter. I had to take care of her after the demon killed her. I had to find a place to hide her so that the demons wouldn’t steal her soul as well as her body.”
“And you brought her here.”
“I thought she’d be safe. I took care of her. I made a beautiful place for her. I kept the demons from finding her.” His expression clouded. “At least, I thought I had. But they started coming at me. I heard that Queen and Jacobs had lied to me and were trying to destroy John. I had to stop them. But even after they were dead, it didn’t stop. There are so many demons.… Everywhere I turned, I saw them there in the shadows, waiting.”
“But not here, not in this place.”
“No, the little girl was safe here.” His lips were twisted. “But she wouldn’t stay. I’d see her in the canyon. Sometimes I’d even see her in the camp or in the city. She’d look at me with those big eyes, and I knew she wanted something from me, but I didn’t know what it was.”
“And you were too afraid of her to stick around and ask.” She was putting together the pieces of the tragic puzzle that had haunted all their lives. “Because you thought she’d want revenge because you’d killed her.”
“She didn’t understand. It wasn’t me. I saved her.”
“I think she understood more than you could believe.” Eve was gazing at the cross. “You should have tried to listen to her.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.” His voice was rough. “I tried to hear her, but all I could see were her eyes looking up at me that day at the car. ‘I’m not afraid, Ted,’ she said. Did I tell you that?”
“Yes.”
“And then I let the demon kill her.” His hands clenched at his sides. “But she’s safe here, the demons can’t reach her. But she has to stay. You see that, don’t you?” He took a step closer. “She won’t leave if you’re here with her.”
“Another lovely cross for me, Danner?” Eve asked, her gaze on the grave.
“You love her. You want to be together. Don’t you want to keep her safe?”
“With all my heart.”
He was only a few feet away, and his hand was grasping the hilt of his dagger. “It will be quick. I know how to do it. No pain, Eve. Don’t fight me. I know you want it.”
She did want it. The thought of being with Bonnie was almost irresistibly alluring.
“No, Mama, it’s not your time.”
“Well, that stirred you to action. You always say that it’s not my time, but you promised us that this was the finish. It wouldn’t be a bad ending, baby.”
“Mama.”
Eve was suddenly bombarded with a kaleidoscape of pictures of her life with Joe, her life with Jane, of her work, intense,