Body of Lies Read Free Page A

talking about? That puppy dashes around every minute of the day.”
    “Running up hills is different. It’s good training and helps the lungs.” She ran out of the cottage. “We’ll meet you.”
    Eve smiled and shook her head as she went out onto the porch. They’d be there long before she reached the grave, and she’d be lucky if Toby didn’t tear up the flowers Jane put down on it.
    Not that it mattered. Flowers were only flowers. And Bonnie would have loved to see the puppy tearing around, full of life and joy. She started on the path around the lake.
    To her surprise Toby was being comparatively sedate, lying on his back beside the grave while Jane scratched his tummy. “I told you hills were different,” Jane said. “He got tired. He needs to get in shape.” She turned around and began picking weeds from the grave. “It doesn’t need much cleaning at this time of year. I was up here three days ago and there was hardly any clover or anything.”
    “You were up here?”
    “Sure. I know it’s important to you. You love Bonnie.” Jane straightened the flowers “There. I was going to brush those maple leaves off, but the red color looks kind of pretty. Like a cozy little blanket.”
    “Yes, it does.” Eve looked down at the fallen leaves. A blanket for her Bonnie. The phrase spoke of home and shelter from harm. Everything she’d wanted for her daughter.
    “Is it okay?” Jane asked.
    “It’s beautiful.” Eve swallowed hard. “Have I told you lately how much I love you, Jane?”
    “You don’t have to tell me.” Jane didn’t look at her as she jumped to her feet. “You keep thinking you’re cheating me or something. It doesn’t have to be even. I don’t expect it.”
    “It is even. It’s just . . . different.”
    “Right. I’ll see you at the car. Maybe we can rent a video while we’re in town, now that you’re finished with Carmelita. Joe said he wanted to see that new sci-fi spoof.” The girl streaked off with Toby romping at her heels.
    Still a few problems there, but they’d come a long way. They had such a strong foundation that Eve couldn’t believe they wouldn’t work everything out eventually.
    Time to go. She looked down at the grave. “Good-bye, Bonnie,” she whispered. She turned and started to follow Jane.
    A sudden chill went through her.
    She whirled and looked back up the hill. “Bonnie?”
    Nothing. No sound. No rustle of trees . . .
    Yet, had there been . . . something?
    Imagination. She must have been working too hard on Carmelita. Bonnie never gave her this sense of menace. . . .
    “Eve!” Jane was waving at her from the bottom of the hill. “Toby’s treed a squirrel. Or maybe it’s a raccoon. Come and see.”
    Eve turned around and her pace quickened. “I’ll be right there.”

Chapter 2
    The child could be the key.
    Jules Hebert faded away into the bushes as Eve left the grave site. The expression on the woman’s face had told it all. She was a mother, and radiated the love, endurance, and tenderness that all mothers possessed. The death of a child could move a woman to do almost anything.
    Jane MacGuire?
    The idea made him sick. He did not like to kill children. He stopped and leaned against the birch tree at the bottom of the hill. He could do it. He could do anything he had to do. He had proved that.
    But maybe it wasn’t necessary. He had to clear his head and think. Would he have to do this? Would it even bring the result he wanted? The situation was critical, but wouldn’t it be better to explore other avenues? Everyone had secrets. Suppose he probed and pried until he knew every detail of these people’s lives. He had always been good at that. He might be able to find something he could use. . . .
    It would take time.
    Not if he bent all his will and effort to the task. He had come to admire Eve Duncan. With her strength and intelligence, she reminded him of his own mother. Surely, he could wait a few more days.
    Boca Raton.
    Three days.