Quinn - Iris Johansen [41]
“Maybe.”
“Am I supposed to argue with you? None of this is written in stone. I’m guessing, based on what you told me about the mind-set of serial killers.”
“I should have kept my mouth shut.”
She shook her head. “You were trying to help me. You did help me.”
“Enough to put you squarely behind the eight ball with the help of Brian McVey.”
“Am I hearing my name taken in vain?” McVey strolled into the kitchen, his gaze fixed warily on Joe. “Has Eve convinced you that you shouldn’t take my scalp?”
“We hadn’t gotten around to discussing you yet,” Joe said coolly. “But I doubt if she’d be able to tell me anything about you that would tip the scales.”
“I went to him,” Eve said. “He only agreed to what I wanted from him. It’s entirely my doing.”
“I’m insulted,” McVey said. “I contributed. I wrote a damn good article. Maybe not Pulitzer quality, but it’s the quantity of work that counts in this case. And I furnished the house and the telephone, not to speak of the equipment and technician who’s going to trace the dreaded call.” He grimaced. “Though it’s not really dreaded. It’s much anticipated. I admit I want to get this over with as soon as possible. I wasn’t expecting you to appear and offer me bodily harm.”
“I only offered. If you’d been following the one you’d set this bullshit trap for, you’d be missing a larynx.” He paused. “And you’ve convinced me that you’re just as much to blame as I thought. So maybe we should take it outside and start over.”
“You will not,” Eve said. “Since you won’t go away, you’ll stop trying to vent your temper on McVey.”
“Eve to the rescue,” McVey murmured. “I know it’s supposed to be the other way around, but I’ve always believed in women’s liberation. It’s much more comfortable.”
Joe ignored him and stared at Eve. “This is sloppy as hell. It would be a miracle if it worked.”
“But our killer isn’t neat or tidy. He’s sloppy, too. Or should I use the word ‘reckless’? Either way, he might take a chance if it suited him.”
“I can see that happening and that’s why I’m going to call Slindak and have him surround this place,” Joe said.
“No, Joe.”
“Why the hell not?”
“We may not get the trace. If we don’t, then he’ll come after me. A police presence would scare him off.”
“Exactly.”
She shook her head. “He’s a monster. He’s killed all those children. He may have killed Bonnie. I can’t let him get away.”
Joe’s hands clenched into fists at his sides. It was the one argument for which he had no response. There would be no persuading her because Bonnie and those other children were the only thing that mattered to Eve. She did not care about the possible danger. It didn’t matter to her.
“What would you do if I said I was going to do it anyway?”
“I’d go away somewhere you couldn’t find me and set up the trap all over again,” she said quietly. “I’d have no choice. I don’t know how long I can stand feeling this helpless before I break. It has to end.”
How could he argue when he was aware of the terrible strain that she was enduring? He had watched her fight it with every bit of her strength and been unable to help her with anything but silent support. Now she had taken the only path she thought she could and still survive. Hell, maybe she was right. Perhaps they were just down to a question of survival.
“Lock the doors and windows.” He turned to McVey. “Show me where you’ve set up the equipment for the trace. I want to check it out. If we’re going to do this, we might as well do it right.”
“It’s in the dining room,” McVey said. “But it should be okay. I had a geek who’s done stuff like this for me before to set it up. I was going to use it in the newsroom, but then Eve called.”
“I’ll still look at it.” He glanced at Eve. “He may not call tonight. It may take some time for him to search out where you are. And this is a private number. They wouldn’t have given it to me if I hadn’t been FBI.”
“He won’t have that much trouble.”
“Why not?”
“I figured that he’d try my house and McVey’s apartment