Caleb made a face. “Not when it meant you didn’t have to take the heat from Margaret.”
“True. How did she take the news that we’d left her in Muncie?”
“No curses or threats, just cool acceptance and a comment that neither of us had behaved honorably. She said she’d be on her way to Chicago within the next hour and would tell us where to pick her up. If it was inconvenient, she’d get to Jane on her own.”
“How is she getting here?” Jane was already dialing Margaret. “I doubt if she has airfare, and she gave me back my credit card. Maybe I can prepay her ticket or something.”
No answer.
Voice mail.
“She gave you back your credit card?” Trevor asked. “Why did she have your credit card?”
“Don’t ask,” Caleb said. “But I think I can guess. Stop worrying, Jane. Margaret will find a way. She always does.”
“But it might not be a safe way.” She knew that Margaret had been left behind for the girl’s own safety, but she wished now that she was with them. “I’ll keep trying.”
“Harriet’s car has stopped.” Trevor was looking at the GPS. “Her Jeep Cherokee just pulled off the street somewhere.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know. It could be a gas station or a grocery store.” He was activating the map detail. He added softly, “Or a hotel. She’s pulled into a Marriott Hotel parking lot.” He exited the freeway. “Let’s see if she checks in and sets up housekeeping.”
“We don’t want Jane to check into the same hotel.” Caleb was accessing the hotel feature on his phone. “She’s the only one Harriet would recognize. Even if she was registered under an assumed name, there’s a chance she might run into Harriet.” He found what he was looking for. “Here’s a Radisson Inn a block away but within viewing distance of the Marriott. You check Jane into the Radisson and get her settled, Trevor. I’ll register at the Marriott, find out what room Harriet is in, then take it from there.”
“Take it where?” Jane asked. “And I don’t like being relegated to anywhere that’s not close to Harriet.”
“I didn’t think you would. But I need to be free to install a few electronic bugs in Harriet’s room, then do some listening without worrying about you interfering.”
“Me interfering?” Jane said. “I wouldn’t do that. I’m more interested than either one of you in finding out if Harriet is in contact with Doane.”
“You’d interfere because I’d be thinking about you instead of Harriet,” Caleb said quietly. “I need this hunt for Eve to be over. That means I have to focus on giving you Doane and Eve.”
“I’ve never seen you have trouble focusing,” Jane said. On the contrary, his intense concentration had often made her uneasy. “Is this some kind of excuse?”
“No, it’s different right now.” He met her gaze. “You’re ill and hurting, and I could make you feel better. You won’t let me do it, and I’m frustrated. I’d probably do something that would blow everything for me. It’s better that I get away from you and do something else that I’m good at.”
“And what is that?” Trevor asked with narrowed eyes. “You were exceptionally good planting those listening devices in Harriet Weber’s apartment. Is there more to you than an expert Peeping Tom?”
“Fathoms,” Caleb said. “I spent years chasing down the killer of my sister. I’m good at the hunt, I’m fantastic at the kill.” He glanced out the window. “There’s the Marriott. Let me out here, then go on to the Radisson. I’ll grab a taxi, have the driver take me to the closest place where I can buy a few devices, and check in at the hotel. I’ll call and report as soon as I find out anything.”
Trevor pulled over to the curb. “I could go with you, Caleb.”
“I don’t need you.” He glanced at Jane as he got out of the car. “She does. Look at her. For the last thirty miles, she’s been fading.”
“I have not,” Jane said. “I’m just tired.”
“Liar. I’ve been watching you. And I can feel you. You’re almost as bad as you were before they let you out of that hospital.” His lips tightened. “And you won’t let me do anything for you.” He turned back to Trevor. “Take care of her.” His smile was suddenly reckless. “Or I’ll come after you. I’m no caretaker like you. Do you know how difficult this is for me?”
“I have a good idea.”
“No, you can’t even come close.” He turned and strode down the street toward the Marriott.
“This is all wrong,” Jane said as she watched him go. “Caleb’s being overcareful. We should have stayed together.”
“If he’d been overcareful, you’d have taken him down and done what you wanted,” Trevor said quietly as he drove into the Radisson parking lot. “It speaks volumes that you let him control the situation with only a token protest.”
“I won’t deny that I’m not well. I have to pick my battles, and there’s a certain logic to Caleb’s handling the first stages of Harriet’s reconnaissance. He’s very effective.” And she was exhausted, she realized. She was bruised and tired and strained to the maximum degree. “But you don’t have to stay with me. That’s ridiculous.”
“It appears that I do.” He smiled faintly as he came around to her door and opened it. “Caleb was bitter that he had to leave such a major opening for me. He meant it when he said that he’d come after me.” He took her hand and helped her from the car. “You wouldn’t want that to happen, would you?”
His hand was warm and strong on her own, and she felt a rush of feeling that was like a deep, swirling river of sensation. The exhaustion was suddenly eased, and she only wanted to stand here and look at him.
“Hey, that’s not fair.” His smile faded. “You’re vulnerable, and I’m trying to remember. In spite of Caleb’s claim not to have any caretaking instincts, even he actually showed signs of doing that for once.” He made a face. “Oh, what the hell.” He grabbed their bags, but his hand still held her own as he pulled her toward the front entrance. “Caleb probably only did it to tie my hands. Why should I let him get away with it?”
* * *
“HARRIET WEBER BOOKED for two nights and she’s in Room 1630,” Caleb said when Jane answered two hours later. “I’m in a room directly above her on the seventh floor. She left her Cherokee packed except for an overnight case and the box of letters from Kevin.”
“Yes, she wouldn’t want to let those sentimental messages from her dear boy far away from her,” Jane said bitterly. “Let’s hope she doesn’t examine the box too carefully.”
“She’d have to be looking for that GPS bug. It’s tiny, and I placed it very carefully. But it won’t help us unless she’s on the road. But I picked up a few very sensitive motion and listening devices that should do the trick. It shouldn’t be too difficult to plant a few bugs.”
“From the floor above her?” Jane asked.
“I told you, I’m in the suite directly above hers. She has a balcony, and so do I. There are sliding glass doors, and I’ve checked, and they’re not sealed the way some hotels keep them. I’ll have to wait until the hotel quiets for the night, but then I should be able to climb down.”
“Like Spider-Man?”
“Piece of cake.”
Jane believed him. Margaret called Caleb one of the wild ones. She was probably referring to the dark recklessness she sensed within him. But Caleb’s years of hunting and stalking his sister’s killer had developed and honed those abilities to the extreme. Jane had seen him move like a jungle cat through the forest after human prey and seen the wildness in him after he had brought that prey down. “And what if she has the doors locked?”
“I’ll be prepared to jimmy them, but not many people feel threatened of anyone creeping in from that direction. As you say, Spider-Man is usually not a possibility. There’s a chance she’ll leave them unlocked if she strolls out there.” He paused. “Stop worrying, Jane. I’ll get the job done.”
“Without falling and breaking your neck?”
“I’m touched. And I thought that you were only concerned about my getting your information.”
“Don’t be sarcastic. Of course I’m concerned about you.”
“Yes, but you guard yourself so well that you don’t let me see it very often. And I’m sarcastic because I’m very pissed off about the situation.” He paused. “Do you know that we don’t have to go through all this surveillance crap? I could go to her and make her tell anything she knows. It would take less than fifteen minutes. People fear pain and are terrified of death. When the evidence that’s happening comes from their own bodies, it’s doubly frightening. I’ve only showed you that blood can be a friend, but when I make it the enemy, it can be excruciating.”
She moistened her lips. “You’d do that to her?”
“You think I’d hold my hand because she’s a woman? No, that’s something Trevor would do. I target anyone who is capable of being a threat. I take it on a case-by-case basis. I always have a few problems with the fairness question when it comes to women. I think it’s ingrained in the genes, and has something do with the preservation of the species. But in my experience, women can be more savage and deadly than men if they’re motivated. Harriet Weber shows the signs of being a very ugly customer and would fight with every weapon she has. If you like, I’ll go after her and get your answers.”
“And torture her?”
“It would probably come down to that. I wouldn’t mind this time.” He was silent. “She hurt you.”
“And I hurt her, too.” The brutal simplicity of his answer shocked her. “I fight my own battles, Caleb.”
“I know. And I also knew that my offer would probably turn you off. I had to take the chance. It could save time.”
Time. How much time did Eve have left? For an instant, Jane was actually tempted. “And if Harriet didn’t talk, we’d have no chance of finding out if she has a connection with Doane. Or she could lie and send us down the wrong path.”
“Not likely.”
“It could happen.”
“Yes, it could happen. If she has mental problems; and judging from her actions and the tone of those letters from Kevin, she might. Then she’d feel anger and not fear, and she’d die before she’d tell the truth.” He added impatiently, “Okay, it could go either way. Forget it. You’re obviously not going to let me run the risk. I just had to put the offer out there. Is Trevor there?”
She glanced at Trevor, sitting in the chair across the hotel room. “Yes, he’s been listening. Do you want to talk to him?”
“No, I’ve said what I wanted to say to him. I just wanted to make sure he hadn’t let you send him away. Trevor has a tendency to try to give you everything you want. I’m sure that makes him even more desirable in your eyes, but you need someone with you right now.” He didn’t wait for her to answer. “I’m hanging up now. I’ll call you when I know something more.” He hung up.
“You heard him,” she said to Trevor. “He seems to have everything under control.” She punched the disconnect on her cell. “And so we’re delegated to sitting here twiddling our thumbs. I hope Caleb is pleased. I hate being here. I’m not going to be able to take it.”
Trevor smiled. “Yes, you will. And Caleb is not pleased though he hopes all we’re doing is thumb twiddling.” He gestured to the bed. “Why don’t you lie down and rest while I call room service and get us something to eat?”
“I don’t want to lie down.” She wearily brushed the hair back from her face. “Do you know, I was thinking about letting him hurt her? What kind of person am I becoming, Trevor?”
“Just an ordinary human under superhuman stress,” Trevor said. “And the choices are few, and all with consequences.”
“I think I would have done it,” she whispered. “If he’d told me that he was absolutely sure that he could get those answers. Eve’s life against the pain of a woman who would condone the death of children. I would have said save Eve. There would have been no real question.”
“Could Caleb really have done what he promised? Are you sure?”
“Eve was sure. She saw it happen. That was why she was uneasy whenever I was with him. But neither Eve nor I have ever known him to hurt anyone who didn’t deserve it.”
“You’re defending him.”
“I’m telling you the truth as I know it. Caleb is an enigma, and I won’t say that I can read him. He bewilders me.” Her lips twisted. “You know me, Trevor. The quintessential realist. I don’t like to admit that there are people who have weird gifts. Yet how the hell can I deny that Caleb appears to be in a class by himself? He can hurt, he can kill, he can even heal. Anything connected with blood flow.”
“Extraordinary. Anything else?”
She shrugged. “A few years ago, I thought that blood flow was capable of affecting the mind, too. Hallucinations. Mind games. But I can’t be sure.” She added impatiently, “I don’t want to talk about Caleb.”
“Neither do I. But it’s always intelligent to gauge the strength of the opposition. He’s beginning to come out of the shadows and make his presence known.”
“He was never in the shadows. He doesn’t pretend. I always know exactly where I am with him.”
“And he offers to give you Harriet’s head on a platter. If you’d said yes, would you have felt a kind of unholy alliance with him?”
“I didn’t say yes.”
“No, but you might still have to say it,” he said soberly. “I’d like to take that burden away, but you wouldn’t thank me for it.”
“No, and I wouldn’t tell Caleb to do something I wouldn’t do myself.” She met his eyes. “Any more than I would ask you.”
“You wouldn’t have to ask.” He smiled. “I think when the time comes, I’ll know. We’re getting closer all the time. Can’t you feel it?”
She did feel it. Just looking at him, she was experiencing a surge of warm intimacy that was banishing the fear and uncertainty. “We’ll never be that close.”
“Don’t be defensive. I’m aware of where this is going. Your own battles and all of that fine rhetoric. Now stop trying to establish something we both realize is firmly in place. I know who you are. I know your mind and body. We were lovers.” He held out his hand to her. “We are lovers. Come over here and let me hold you.”
And how she wanted to go to him.
Trevor had been a part of her life for so long. He had been her first passion. Hell, she had learned passion from him. Did she love him? Sometimes, she had thought she loved him. She admired him and liked him and had desperately wanted to be with him. And it was that desire that had frightened her. She had felt herself being drawn closer and closer, and, if it had continued, she hadn’t known if she would be able to remain her own person. Trevor’s effect on her had always been too powerful.
Standing there looking at him, memories were flowing back to her … She was remembering the first time she’d seen him at the lake cottage when she was only seventeen. Even then, she’d been stunned by his charisma and sheer good looks. Trevor had swept her away and made her dizzy. She remembered the time when she had followed him to the airport in Herculaneum after he had pushed her away and tried to end the growing attraction between them. She had felt rejected and been angry and indignant and wanting to strike out.
“I’m only seventeen.” She had looked him directly in the eye. “No matter what you think, that’s a plus. I’m going to go home and live every minute of every day. I’m going to grow and learn and experience. I’m going to see if I can find a man who makes you look boring in comparison. It shouldn’t be so difficult, and, God knows, I don’t want to have to deal with you and your antiquated sense of what’s proper and not proper. Someday, you’re going to regret turning away from me.”
He nodded. “Oh, I already do.”
And that moment several years later in Scotland, after she had thought that Trevor had been killed. She’d had to fight desperately to keep from panicking.
“I believe I’m getting tired of being irrespon
sible,” he had said. “Don’t you think we’d make a great match?”
She felt a surge of happiness, followed immediately by wariness. “What are you saying?”
“You know what I’m saying. You’re scared to admit it. Well, I’m way past that point. You’ll have to catch up. How did you feel when you thought I was blown to bits?”
She said slowly, “Terrible. Frightened. Empty.”
“Good. That’s progress.” He took her hand and kissed the palm. “I know I’m rushing. I can’t help it. I’ve got years of experience on you, and I know what I want. You’re having to work your way through this. You don’t know whether you can trust what we have.” He smiled. “And it’s my job to show you that this feeling isn’t ever going to go away. Not for me, and, I hope to God, not for you.”
* * *
AND IN THE YEARS that followed he had done his best to show her that she could trust that the passion between them was only the foundation for something deeper, stronger. It had not been his fault that her wariness was too intense for him to overcome.
As it was right now, she thought as she looked at him.
“Come to me, Jane,” Trevor said again.
She didn’t move.
“I’m not going to make love to you,” he said softly. “It’s not the time. I just want to hold you and share whatever you’re feeling. Does that sound so bad?”
It sounded wonderful. Too wonderful. She stiffened. “I’m not that weak. I don’t need anyone to—Oh, dammit.” She ran across the room and the next moment he’d pulled her into his arms and on his lap.
She burrowed her face in his shoulder. “Just for a minute. Okay?”
“Whatever you say.” His arms tightened around her. “Personally, I prefer forever, but I realize you have limits. I’ll work on the rest.”
“I don’t want to talk.”
“You never did. Not about anything important.” His lips brushed her temple. “I didn’t care at the time. I knew you weren’t ready for commitment. I thought we had all the time in the world. But lately I’ve realized that even a day is too precious to waste.” He leaned back in the chair. “Shh, okay, no more talk.”
Silencing Eve Page 17
