Bonnie - Iris Johansen [82]
But had Eve’s time come now? Was that why Danner was seeing Bonnie?
Too many questions. Perhaps she was reaching too deep. Outside of scientific medical knowledge of hallucinations, there were also stories that the insane sometimes saw visions and spirits not visible to normal people. At any rate, Danner was not going to answer any more of her probes right now. She was lucky she had managed to get as much information as she had from him.
Or maybe not so lucky. He was becoming too human to her. Yes, there was no doubt he had moments of sanity as well as madness. Yes, there had been reasons that had caused him to slip into that half-world. But you could not forgive evil as great as the killing of Bonnie because of what had happened to him. It was better that she only thought of him as the monster who could have murdered her Bonnie.
She could call him mad, but she could not call him a monster until she knew for certain that he had killed her daughter. He had refused to say the words, dammit.
But it had to be him, and she would know everything before she was through.
She started to push after him through the heavy brush.
* * *
“THEY BUILT A FIRE HERE,” Gallo said as he knelt beside the huge oak tree.
“How long ago?” Catherine asked.
He studied the grass and the drying mud beside the ashes. “Six, maybe seven hours ago.”
Catherine frowned. “That’s a big lead.”
He nodded. “But at least he’s stopping to rest on occasion. That will lose him time.” He looked up at Catherine. “And he’s still got Eve with him.”
And that was a circumstance beyond price, Catherine thought. Every time she caught sight of Eve’s tracks after a period of losing the trail, she felt a surge of profound relief. This terrain was rough as hell and hard to get through. Who the hell knew if Danner would get impatient with dragging Eve with him and decide to dispose of her.
She stood up. “Let’s get going. We’ve lost too much time on that last—” Her phone rang. “It’s Joe.” She punched the button. “We haven’t caught up with them yet, Joe. But Danner still has Eve with him. Are you still at the church?”
“No, I’m at the Rainbow Connection. A youth rescue camp at Bradburg near the Alabama border. Father Barnabas said that Danner went to work for the organization because of its location. He said he had to be near ‘the child.’”
She stiffened. “What?” She pressed up the volume. “Why didn’t you tell us?”
“This is only a slim lead. If you can track him, then that was our best bet.”
“But it was a lead to where he might be heading. Where is this Bradburg?”
“A couple hours’ drive from Atlanta, near Columbus, Georgia.”
Gallo was already pushing buttons on the apps on his iPhone. He glanced up at her. “We’re heading in the general direction. If he doesn’t change course, it could be his destination.”
She shook her head. “Joe said the camp was close, not his destination.” She spoke into the phone. “Doesn’t anyone know anything about Danner down there?”
“His job was to take kids hiking and canoeing. He did what he was supposed to do and didn’t cause any trouble. He was a loner. Every week or so, he would take off and go camping for a few days.”
“Where?”
“No one seems to know. Like I said, he was a loner.”
“Wasn’t anyone curious, dammit?”
“No one I’ve found so far. I’ve talked to several of the employees and counselors and not come up with anything. I still have a few to question.”
And if they knew anything, Joe would get the information, she knew. He would be relentless. “Then we’ll keep on the trail. At least we know what may be his general direction. It would help if we could tighten a noose around him from both directions. Let us know.” She hung up and turned to Gallo. “How long will it take to get to this Bradford?”
“In this kind of heavy brush? At least another day. Providing that’s where he’s headed.” He glanced at the app again.