Quicksand by Iris Johansen Read Free Book Online Page A

Bonnie." It was the second time he'd mentioned Bonnie with that same bitterness. "Not if I felt you were on my side, Joe."
    "I'm always on your side," he said roughly. "And that sometimes means I have to be against Bonnie. Because your damn obsession is going to kill you someday." He opened the car door.
    "And that day could be today or tomorrow or next week. Kistle is fixating on you like a mad dog. It's only a matter of time before you end up with a stake through your heart too. I won't stand by and wait for it to happen."
    "Stake? What are you talking about?"
    "Kistle killed two deputies last night. He led them to a bog and when they were struggling in the quicksand, he shot them. Then he left notes on stakes he stabbed into their hearts."
    "Quicksand," she whispered.
    "Aren't you interested in what he wrote on those notes? Just three words." He paused. " For you, Eve ."
    The words tore through her like a knife thrust. "No!"
    "He wanted to hurt you. It does hurt you, doesn't it?"
    "Of course it does," she said unevenly. "It makes me feel . . . responsible."
    "I knew you'd feel like that." He added bitterly, "That's why I didn't want Dodsworth to tell you. I wanted it to be done gently by someone who loved you. I do love you, but I can't be gentle right now." He started the SUV. "So I end up by hurting you too. Kistle would be proud of me."
    She watched him back out of the parking space, filled with a bewildering mixture of horror, sadness, anger . . . and fear.
    Quicksand.
    Those two men had died in that bog and Joe was on his way to Clayborne Forest now. She wanted to call him and tell him to come back.
    It would be no use. She had never seen Joe this driven and bitter. She could almost feel the explosive emotional energy that was tearing through him.
    And she was in little better shape. The shock of Joe's revelation and the raw harshness of his words had shaken her. Get over it. She was here in Bloomburg for a purpose and that purpose would be accomplished. She had to believe that Joe would be able to take care of himself. Yeah, since she could do nothing about it anyway, she thought dryly. Joe wasn't about to do anything she asked him to do. He had his own agenda and believed she was some kind of fluttering, suicidal bird flying to destruction. He might understand that Kistle could be the one to bring her peace and closure, but he didn't really accept it.
    "It's good to see you, Eve. Though I wish it was under kinder circumstances." She whirled to see Miguel Vicente coming out of the hotel. The last time she had seen him he had been bedridden from the torture he'd received at the hands of the drug dealer who had also almost taken Joe's life during those nightmare weeks in the jungle. Though it was impossible to ever say Miguel was subdued, he'd definitely been under the weather. Now he looked like the young man she had first seen at that armed compound in Colombia. Tall, dark, handsome, and filled with a wicked sense of understated humor that could be both endearing and exasperating. "Hello, Miguel. Montalvo told me you were here." She frowned as she looked at his bandaged hands. "And I told him to send you back to the hospital."
    "If I'm careful, all is well." He smiled. "For instance, I will not offer to carry your bags into this hotel. Though it offends my sense of gallantry, I will let you take them in yourself." He tilted his head. "Of course, I could go inside and prod the doorman, who should be out here to do his duty." He beamed. "Yes, that would be much less boring. Wait here."
    "No," she said firmly. She knew exactly how lethal Miguel could be even with those wounded hands. "I'll do it myself."
    "That one box looks very familiar," he said. "Another skull?"
    "Yes."
    "Anyone I know?"
    "No, a child no one knows right now."
    His smile faded. "I meant no disrespect. As you know, it's my nature."
    "Why are you here, Miguel?"
    "One, to make sure you're comfortable. Two, to make sure you stay alive. Montalvo said the