Page 86 of The Search

Joe parked beside the cottage and he and Jane were getting out of the car. They were laughing and Eve suddenly felt better. She headed for the front door to meet them. She wasn’t going to let her imagination depress or panic her. Bonnie was not a ghost, only a dream. She had no power to see danger on the horizon. Sarah was perfectly safe, and no darkness was near either Eve or the people she loved.

Darkness was falling, but Rudzak could still see the eager, loving look on Eve Duncan’s face as she moved across the porch toward Joe Quinn and the child. It told him all he needed to know. It appeared Logan’s affair with Eve Duncan was as dead as yesterday’s news. Duncan had a new man and Logan wasn’t one to accept the role of second fiddle.

Too bad.

He lowered the binoculars and turned to Duggan. “Start the motor. We can go now.” He settled back in his seat as Duggan piloted the speedboat across the lake.

The dossier on Logan had told him that the relationship with Eve had faded, but Rudzak had had to see for himself. It would have been exquisite to destroy a woman Logan loved. However, he might reconsider Eve Duncan if nothing more interesting appeared on the horizon.

His fingers touched the ivory and jade comb he’d slipped into his pocket when he’d left the hotel that morning. He’d thought perhaps . . .

Not yet, Chen Li.

He would be glad to rid himself of the comb. It was one of the last gifts he’d given her and the memories were bitter.

“You shouldn’t give this lovely thing to me.” Even as Chen Li spoke, her forefinger ran delicately over the yellowed ivory teeth of the comb. “It’s too expensive. John never says anything, but I think it makes him feel bad that he can’t give me gifts like this.”

“Logan isn’t that selfish. You like it, don’t you?”

“It’s wonderful.” She reluctantly handed it back to him. “But John’s feelings are more important. You do understand, Martin?”

Fury tore through him. He turned away so she wouldn’t see it. “Of course I understand.” He moved toward the cabinet where she kept her treasures. “But it belongs to you. Suppose we just put the comb in the back of the case and not mention it to Logan? He’ll probably not even notice it.”

“I—I suppose that would be all right.”

“I’m sure it will.” He closed the case and smiled at her. “After all, he does want you to have the things that make you happy.”

“It’s not things that make me happy, Martin. John makes me happy.”

“That’s good. That’s all I want.”

And to see Logan dead.

She had gone to the doctor the next week and he diagnosed her with leukemia. After all those years he had been cheated.

Logan had cheated him.

“Are we coming back?” Duggan asked.

“Maybe. But not right now.”

“Where do we go from here?” Duggan asked. “Sacramento? Dodsworth?”

“Patience,” Rudzak answered. But Duggan had no patience; in many ways he was like a child.

“Dodsworth?” Duggan persisted.

“Eventually. But there are other things to do first. I’ve waited a long time for Logan. I’ve always found that anticipation can almost be more rewarding than the act itself.”

“For you,” Duggan said sourly. “It seems to me all that trouble we went through in Phoenix was a waste of time.”

He was really incredibly dense, Rudzak thought with amazement. And stupidity was dangerous. Already Rudzak had decided that Duggan would not survive the blast he was so eager to engineer.

But that was down the road, and Duggan’s usefulness was not plumbed fully yet. So keep him on an even keel, don’t show him the scorn. Push the right buttons. With Duggan it was his self-love and conceit. “I know it’s difficult for a man of action like you to hold back,” he said gently. “It’s one of the qualities I admire in you. But give my way a try. I think you’ll be surprised.”

He watched the words work on Duggan.

Finally the man shrugged. “If you say so. I guess I’ll go along with you.”