Silencing Eve Read Online Free PDF Page B

managed to reach Eve only once since this nightmare had begun. That had been at the Colorado house to which Doane first brought her after he had kidnapped her. But then she had been in a deep-coma state, and Bonnie had told her that was the only reason she had been able to reach her, that Kevin was keeping her back.
    Why was it so difficult for Eve to believe in a demon of supreme evil like Kevin trying to breach the border between life and death? She knew that her Bonnie had done it.
    Because evil should be contained and destroyed, and goodness should live forever.
    “I don’t mean to complain, Bonnie,” she whispered. “I know you’re doing your best. But I’d really like to just have you come once, so I know that you’re all right, and all of Doane’s poison are just lies.”
    She straightened and opened her eyes. Just this tiny box of a bathroom. No endearing little figure in her Bugs Bunny T-shirt.
    Of course not. So stop whining and go back and face Doane again.
    No, she’d rest for just a little while before she had to go back to face Doane … and Kevin. She took a few minutes, then went to the sink and started to run the water.
    The volume of the television in the other room was suddenly turned down.
    She stiffened. Another telephone call? The walls in this fleabag of a motel were paper-thin. Twice before when she’d gone into the bathroom, she’d heard Doane talking on the phone. The first call had been barely audible, but she’d caught a name. Cartland. The second call had been to the same man, but she’d heard a little more. They were talking about a city, Seattle. The second in the chain, Doane had called it.
    What chain? she thought with exasperation. And what did this Cartland have to do with Doane’s so-called master plan? Whatever it was must have been important to him. He was very careful about going out, or he would probably have made the calls outside the motel room.
    What did she care about all of Doane’s crazy plans and telephone calls? Lord, she was tired of dealing with him.
    She gazed at herself in the mirror over the sink. She looked as tired as she felt. And she looked … different.
    Her face was thinner, the eyes sunk deeper, her lips more defined. She looked tougher, ready to face down the world. She had changed in these days with James Doane. She resented the fact that he’d had the power to carve out all the softness and left only the lean, sharp essence. But her greatest fear was that the hardness had scored deep beneath the surface. She desperately wanted to keep the humanity that made her what she was. She wouldn’t let him steal that from her.
    And she wouldn’t give up fighting because of the exhaustion. The phone calls Doane was making were signs of need, signs of weakness. Things weren’t going entirely the way he’d planned. Find out the weakness. Find a way to strike out at it.
    She moved quietly closer to the door. She’d missed most of the conversation but heard the last scrap.
    “I’m not going to argue with you, Cartland. You’ll get the location when you give me the money and the manpower to do the job. When Zander is dead, you’ll have what you need. Of course I’m not bullshitting you. You know you can trust Kevin. Has he ever disappointed you?” He hung up.
    The TV volume was turned up again.
    Trust Kevin? Kevin was dead. What the hell could Kevin give to this Cartland?
    Think about it. Listen. Watch.
    She turned the water on full and splashed her face. She wiped it on the hand towel and turned and opened the door.
    Doane was smiling at her. “You look much more refreshed. But you shouldn’t have run away. Did I disturb you by telling you Kevin’s plans for your Bonnie? It was true, you know. She may be dead, but she’s not safe. No one is safe from Kevin.”
    She felt herself tense, and she wanted to run away again. Okay, try to distract him and get him away from verbally attacking Bonnie. “You didn’t make me run away. I’d just had enough