Duncan shook his head. “Lansing is still trying to figure out how to spin it.”

“That’s great.” Eve took him by the arm and started hustling him toward the door. “You need to take me downtown to see Coyle.”

“Now?”

“Lights and siren and pedal to the floor,” she said. “I want Coyle to hear the news from me.”

Lionel Coyle was waiting for Eve in the visitor’s room in the Men’s Central Jail. She left Duncan in the hallway and went in alone. Coyle broke into a big smile when he saw her.

“Ouch,” he said. “What happened to you?”

She sat down across the table from him. “I had a car accident. I came here straight from the hospital.”

“Of course you did. The clock is ticking and the moment of truth is tomorrow morning. You didn’t want to waste a second.”

“No, I didn’t.”

“I knew you’d be back today. You want to know why?” He leaned forward, arms on the table, and looked her in the eye. “Because my lawyer dismembered you. Are you ready for our selfie?”

“I’ll take it later, when you’re strapped to a table, getting your lethal injection.”

He laughed. “Is that the best you’ve got?”

She leaned forward now, not breaking eye contact. “I’ve got Caitlin.”

Coyle tried to sustain his smile but it wavered at the edges. “You must have banged your head real hard in that accident. You’re not making sense.”

“She’s alive. I found her under the floor of that empty house near Malibu Creek State Park. I wanted you to hear it from me first.”

Coyle’s smile vanished and his face went pale so fast that Eve thought he might be about to throw up. She sat back, just in case.

“I’ll make a deal with you,” he said.

“You don’t have anything I want.”

“I’ll tell you where the bodies are.”

“I know where they are, Lionel. They’re in the ruins of the old Planet of the Apes set.”

“But you don’t know exactly where, do you? It’s a big park. I can take you straight to them. On one condition.” He leaned forward again and whispered, “After I show you where the bodies are, maybe on the way back to the car, you let me escape, and then shoot me dead before I get away.”

It was an outrageous request and it surprised her. “Why would I want to do that?”

“Think of all the publicity,” he said.

He wanted his death to be fast, and memorable, and it sickened her that he believed she’d actually go for it just so she could have a few more minutes of fame.

She stood up. “I’m going to enjoy watching you die.”

“Wait!” he said.