Lose herself. But she was already lost. She’d been lost as long as she could remember.
Run!
“Eve, wake up!”
A hand grasping her shoulder.
He’d caught her! Fight him.
“Eve, dammit, wake up.”
Joe.
She opened her eyes to see him leaning over her. “Joe?”
Joe. Not the man with the syringe.
The lake cottage, not the hospital by the sea.
No one chasing her through the woods.
“Shh.” Joe was holding her close. “Just a dream, Eve.” He kissed her temple. “But it must have been one hell of a violent one. It took me a couple minutes to bring you out of it. And you almost knocked me out.”
Her arms clung to him with all her strength. Safe. Joe would keep her safe.
“Hey, it’s okay now.” He brushed back her hair from her face with a gentle hand. “I’ve never seen you like this after a nightmare.”
She had never felt like this. “I hit you?” She shook her head to clear it of the last vestiges of sleep. “Lord, I’m sorry, Joe. It was so real…” She sat up in bed and ran her fingers through her tousled hair. Her scalp was as damp as if she’d really been running through those woods. “It still seems that way.” She drew a deep breath. “I think I need to get a drink of water and some fresh air. Go on back to sleep.” She swung her feet to the floor. “It’s almost dawn, and you have to be at headquarters in a few hours. I’m sorry I woke you.”
“Don’t be silly,” he said curtly as he sat up in bed. “What does that matter? You’re upset. You’re still shaking. I’m not about to go peacefully back to sleep. What kind of nightmare was it?” He paused. “Bonnie?”
It was natural that he’d jump to that conclusion. Her daughter, Bonnie, had been kidnapped and murdered many years ago when she was only seven years old, and it had been the tragedy of Eve’s life. She and Joe had searched all those years they’d been together for both Bonnie’s killer and her body, and they had only recently been found. There had been many nightmares during those first years after Bonnie had been taken from Eve. Later, there had been other dreams of her very special child that had been sad but strangely comforting. And then, crazy as it seemed, she and Joe had become convinced that those were not dreams at all but visits from the spirit of her Bonnie. Dear God, how long it had taken her to accept that impossible concept. “Not Bonnie.” She slipped on her robe. “I’ve not dreamed of Bonnie since we found her body a few months ago.” She tried to smile. “I miss her, Joe.”
“She knows,” he said quietly. “She’ll come back to you, Eve.”
“Well, she’s taking her time about it. I think she’s trying to cut me loose. She’s always worried that I think too much about her and not enough about you and Jane. She says ghosts should never have top priority.” She shook her head. “It’s not true. I know how lucky I am to have you in my life. I just want it all.”
“Perfectly natural.” He tossed the sheet aside. “Go out on the porch. I’ll get your water.”
“Joe, I don’t need you to wait on me,” she said in exasperation. “You’re treating me like a kid. It was only a nightmare.”
“Shoo.” He gently swatted her behind as he passed her on the way to the bathroom. “Get moving. And don’t stop at your worktable on the way to the porch and do a few more touches to that reconstruction.”
He wasn’t going to pay any attention to her. No one could be more stubborn than Joe. Particularly when it came to guarding and caring for her.
She left the bedroom and headed down the hall toward the porch. She slowed as she glanced at the forensic reconstruction on the dais on her worktable. It was the skull of a little unknown girl Eve had named Janelle when she had begun to work on it two days ago. When she had first started her career as a forensic sculptor after Bonnie had been taken, she had begun giving the skulls names as a gesture of respect, and she had never stopped. Janelle’s skeleton had been found scattered in a quarry in Indiana, and the Indianapolis police had no idea of her identity and sent the skull to Eve for help. So far, the only thing that Eve could determine was that she