Silencing Eve

by Iris Johansen

  “How long ago?”

  She shook her head. “I only get impressions. It’s lucky there’s a memory at all. But rats don’t necessarily always learn from their mistakes. Those old rats keep going back when they’re hungry. There’s plastic that they gnaw at … and some kind of circular-tube-type gadget.”

  “If they ate the wires, maybe they actually disconnected the bomb,” Jane said.

  “Or if they were outside the box, maybe the wires were meant to be an alarm system,” Trevor said. “That seems more likely. Kevin would have wanted to protect his treasure. Could you tell what else was in the room, Margaret?”

  “No.” She thought about it. “But the circular tube had a WR—and the rest has been eaten. The only reason that made any impression on them was that it was on the wall.”

  “They’re into wall art?” Trevor asked.

  Margaret gave him a disgusted glance. “No, haven’t you noticed that you seldom see a rat in the middle of the room? That’s because they have terrible vision, and they feel uneasy unless they can hug the wall.”

  “It never occurred to me,” Jane said. “But the nuke device is tucked away in the wall, and, therefore, it’s rat fodder?”

  “It’s possible. I guess it could be some other box that’s been hidden there,” Margaret said. “But no one goes to that room. It’s deserted whenever the rats decide to raid.”

  “Then it’s worth a shot,” Trevor murmured. “Let’s get back to the hotel and get a schematic of the Wrigley building and see if we can figure out where that room is located.” He smiled at Margaret. “Of course, we could send you back and have the rat third degree continue.”

  “No, you couldn’t,” Margaret said flatly. “I’m done. It’s up to you now.” She leaned back on the seat. “Take me back to the hotel. I need a hot shower and a long nap.” She closed her eyes. “Then I’ll be fine. Too many rats … I just have to get away from them…”

  * * *

  “HERE’S THE WRIGLEY floor plan.” Caleb turned his iPad around on the room-service table. “It’s a damn big building.”

  “We only want the lower floors.” Margaret was scanning the floor plan. “And probably an area that’s not usually frequented. Kevin wouldn’t have wanted to risk stashing the device somewhere that it would have been easily discovered.”

  “And how do we find a room where no one would generally go?” Jane grimaced. “Particularly in a high-rental place like that building. It’s not reasonable that any space would be wasted.”

  “And we could spend all evening going over this map and still not be sure.” Trevor was gazing down at the computer. “But there’s one way we’d know for sure.” He jabbed his finger at a cubicle on the plan. “Security.”

  “What?” Jane frowned. “Security’s not even on the lower level.”

  “No, but their motion cameras are focused down there. They’d be all over the building.” Caleb nodded. “And if we could get our hands on a set of the security tapes, we’d be able to run them and find the type of area that we’re looking for. If there’s no motion activity, then there’s a good chance that we’re close.”

  “And how are we to do that?” Jane asked.

  Caleb exchanged glances with Trevor. “Distraction, then a discreet snatch. I can provide the distraction. In fact, such a good distraction that they won’t even suspect that you were the one who made off with the tapes.”

  “So I’m the one who runs the risk of the snatch,” Trevor said dryly. “And I have to rely on you to make sure that I don’t get arrested.”

  “No,” Jane said. “We’ll think of something else, Trevor.”

  “No, it’s a good plan.” He smiled at Caleb. “He knew that’s where I was headed when I mentioned security. And I even trust him to make an excellent distraction. It would be too obvious for him to do anything else.”

  “What kind of distraction?” Jane asked warily.

  “One of the security guards will start worrying about the possibility that he’s having a heart attack.” Caleb held up his hand. “Not pain, I promise. Just a rapid beat. It will end when he’s on his way up to the medical center. The other guard will probably stay with him until he’s at the facility. If he’s not, I’ll have to think of something else.” Caleb turned to Trevor. “I lure the guard away, and you get the tapes. And there would be no immediate discovery of anything wrong. You don’t have to access anything recent. You can go back to past-date files and get a day that’s already been filed away. That would be fine for our purpose.”

  “I don’t like it,” Jane said flatly.

  “You’d like it less if Harriet flew the coop, and we didn’t know where that nuke was located,” Trevor said. “We may have to move fast, and knowledge is power.”

  He was right, Jane thought reluctantly. Harriet was on the move now, and all she was waiting for was Doane to tell her that he had Zander. Time was the enemy.

  And time was running out.

  Running out for Eve and for all those other innocent people whose lives would be taken if they took a wrong step.

  The enormity of that responsibility was suddenly there before Jane.

  Dear God, what right did they have to make that choice?

  She felt the muscles of her stomach clench. They had been sitting here making plans, ignoring the fact that the situation had changed. Ignoring the fact that they had no idea what Harriet had given to Cartland when she went into the bank. They were working blind, and if there was any possibility that she’d shared information with him about the location of the detonator, it could change everything. She looked at Margaret. “We can’t even be sure that nuke is in that building, can we? It’s all guesswork.”

  Margaret nodded. “I never said anything else. I could be wrong.”

  And the consequences of guessing wrong were catastrophic. Jane had been struggling desperately to try to fight the battle alone for Eve’s sake. Now she knew she couldn’t take a chance even though it was tearing her apart. God, she felt sick. “We have to bring Venable into it. We don’t have the right to do anything else.”

  Trevor reached over and covered her hand on the table. “I was wondering when you’d make that decision,” he said quietly. “I could see it coming.”

  “I couldn’t,” she said. “Even Catherine doesn’t trust Venable to put Eve first.” She moistened her lips. “But Eve wouldn’t want us to run that kind of massive risk for her sake. We have to tell Venable what we’ve found out about Harriet.” Her hand clenched around Trevor’s. “Damn, I don’t want to do it.”

  “So we don’t go after the security tapes?” Caleb asked.

  Jane tried to think. “If we call Venable now, and he sends in a team to locate that nuke, then it could ruin any chance of our being able to track Harriet. If she hears about it, she might panic, and that’s the last thing we want.”

  “We could verify it’s there,” Caleb suggested. “It will only take a couple hours to get those tapes. Then we could use the location as a bargaining chip with Venable to try to control his actions.”

  “He’s not easily controlled,” Jane said. But any way to force Venable to listen to their suggestions to use caution would be valuable. “Okay, we’ll get the tapes, go through them, then call Venable.” She looked at Trevor. “And I’ll go with you to get them.”

  Both men instantly shook their heads.

  “I’m tired of this. Don’t tell me no,” Jane said. “I won’t stay here and send you out to do my job. That’s happened too often.” She gazed at Trevor. “I’m not going to get in the way. I won’t step in unless I see that you’re in trouble.” She made a face. “You keep saying that it’s your job to act as some kind of guardian for me. I don’t agree with you. But if that’s what you believe, then it should go two ways.”

  He shook his head.

  “Yes,” she said firmly. “I’ll be your getaway driver or something. I’m going to be with you, Trevor.”

  He sighed, then slowly nodded. He glanced at the two
machines on the table across the room. “Someone has to monitor those machines.”

  “Margaret can do that,” Jane said. “And the only thing we’ve heard from Harriet this evening was her ordering room service.” She looked at Margaret. “Will you do it?”

  “Of course,” Margaret said. “Though being a getaway driver would probably be much more interesting. On the other hand, I’ve no desire to chance running into any rats. I’ve had enough of them for today. Besides, I need to call Kendra. She needs to work on figuring out where Kevin and Harriet would have hidden the detonator and what kind of code would set it off. Not that she doesn’t have enough to do. When do you leave?”

  “It’s seven now,” Trevor said. “Another hour.” He got to his feet and held out his hand to Jane. “Let’s go to our room. I want to be with you.”

  He was not smiling. His expression was curiously grave.

  “Trevor?”

  Then he smiled. “Stop worrying. I just realized that I’m not going to be able to have my way with you all the time. I don’t like that bit about taking care sometimes going two ways. I want it all.”

  “Tough.” She slipped her hand into his grasp as she rose to her feet. She wanted to be alone with him, too. She wanted to hold him. She felt heavy and sad and desperately worried that she was making a terrible mistake that could be fatal for Eve.

  And that moment of gravity of Trevor’s had shaken her a little. She’d had the strange feeling that there was something … frightening beneath that flip answer. “But we have an hour for me to show you the error of your thinking.” She didn’t look at either Margaret or Caleb as she and Trevor headed for the door. “Call us if there’s anything we should know, Margaret.”

  “Oh, we will,” Caleb said. “Count on it.”

  10:05 P.M.

  “IT’S ABOUT TIME YOU CALLED ME, Cartland,” Harriet said curtly. “You said it would only take five or six hours to find MacGuire. I’ve been waiting and I—”

  “Be quiet, Harriet,” Cartland said. “I’m not talking to you until you come down to the lobby, and we’re face-to-face.”

  She stiffened. “What do you mean? Are you giving me orders?”

  “I’m trying to keep you from making a fool of yourself,” he said roughly. “But it’s probably too late. Meet me downstairs in the lobby in ten minutes, and we’ll take a walk.”

  “The hell we will. I really would be a fool to go anywhere with you.”

  “Meet me in the lobby,” he repeated.

  “Why are you—”

  But Cartland had hung up.

  Harriet felt a mixture of impatience, anger, and panic as she hung up the phone.

  How dare he call her a fool? Kevin was right to have broken with Cartland.

  She drew a deep breath.

  Think, don’t feel. That’s what she’d always told Kevin.

  Calm down.

  In spite of her precautions, Cartland could be trying to lure her out of the hotel to be taken by his men. They wouldn’t like the idea of a woman’s being in control of the operation.

  Or it could be something else.

  I won’t talk to you until we’re face-to-face.

  She looked down at her phone.

  Had she been the fool Cartland had called her?

  It could be either one.

  She had to know.

  She got to her feet and grabbed her handbag. Leave the detonator in the suite or take it with her? If she left it, Cartland’s men might break in and steal it. She would rather trust herself to protect it. She checked her gun, then put it in her handbag beside the detonator.

  Now she was prepared to face the bastard and any tricks he might be planning.

  She almost hoped Cartland was trying to pull a fast one.

  The alternative was humiliating and unacceptable.

  CHAPTER

  15

  CARTLAND WAS STANDING a few yards away when the elevator door slid open. His expression was grim.

  “I’m here,” she said coldly. “But I’m not going anywhere with you.” She nodded at the bar across the lobby. “If you want to talk, we’ll talk there.”

  “No. It’s not safe.” He took her arm. “Just walk with me around the lobby. Slowly. It’s not going to take long, then I’m out of here.”

  “Take your hand off me.”

  He dropped his hand. “I’d like to break your neck,” he said through his teeth. “I wouldn’t even be here if I had my way. But I talked to Tehran, and they’re over the moon about the prospect of having the project reinstated. I wouldn’t be forgiven if I had to tell them we’d failed again.”

  She stiffened. “So you’re going to try to take the detonator from me. I won’t let—”

  “No, I’m trying to clear the path for you to make it happen. If it’s still possible. If Jane MacGuire hasn’t blown everything that we’re trying to do.”

  “Jane MacGuire,” Harriet repeated. “What’s she got to—” She inhaled sharply. “Did you find her?”

  “As I told you, no problem. Her phone wasn’t protected, and Samli had her location within four hours.”

  “Good.” Her gaze narrowed on his face. “Then did you have someone—Is that why you didn’t call me sooner? Did you take care of her?”

  “No, it would have taken longer to make a safe kill even if we hadn’t discovered problems.”

  “Problems?”

  “Do you know where Samli first located her?”

  “I’m sure you’re going to tell me.”

  “She was at a baseball game at Wrigley Field this afternoon.”

  Shock. “No, your Samli made a mistake.”

  “He doesn’t make mistakes like that.”

  “You’re saying she’s here in Chicago.”

  “Samli was concerned, too, since I told him that she was probably in Atlanta or Muncie. So he called me and asked for instructions. I told him to stay with the signal. Do you know to where he followed it?” He gazed at the bank of elevators. “She’s in a room on the floor above you. The room isn’t registered in her name. She’s staying with a Mark Trevor. CIA?”

  Shock after shock. “I don’t know. I’ve never heard of him. He could be, I guess.”

  “Or maybe not. One bed. They’re evidently sleeping together.”

  “I told you, I don’t know. I’ve never heard of him.”

  “And what the hell was she doing at that baseball game?”

  Harriet was afraid that she knew. Wrigley Stadium. Five years ago, Harriet had considered that clock, then told Kevin it wasn’t right.

  The clock.

  That bitch had the journal and was beginning to figure out the code of the game Harriet and Kevin had played. Panic and rage tore through her. “How do I know?” She tried to keep her voice from trembling. “Maybe she was meeting someone there.”

  “Maybe. And if she was at your hotel, you can bet that they’ve wired your place.”

  “Yes.” It wasn’t a sure thing but definitely a possibility. She tried to think back at everything she’d said to Doane. Incriminating. Terribly incriminating. But no information that could prevent them from going forward if care was taken. And screw that those calls were incriminating. If you weren’t caught, there couldn’t be any accusations or evidence, could there? Just change her tickets and transfer the line of credit. Disappear in entirely another direction.

  God, but Cartland was right, she’d been a careless fool. And Jane MacGuire was close to taking her down.

  No! She would not have it. She’d still have it all.

  But she had to control the situation, control Cartland and control the way James was handling the disposal of Zander.

  Cartland, first.

  “So what are you going to do?” She gave him a cool glance. “You said that Tehran still wants you to go forward. Does that mean that you’ll still give me your cooperation?”

  “You mean more money,” Cartland said. He was silent a moment. “It’s possible. If you can convince me that you can pu
ll this disaster out of the fire. I’ve checked all my sources with the FBI and CIA, and there’s no word on any surveillance of you or this hotel. MacGuire’s phone wasn’t protected, and that probably means she’s not linked directly to the CIA. You said you were even sure she wasn’t CIA.”

  “It’s not quite a disaster.” She added grudgingly, “Though I obviously underestimated MacGuire. However, she’s obviously still floundering if she hasn’t contacted Venable to close in for the kill. She can’t know I’ve retrieved the detonator. I told James that wasn’t going to happen. She’s only an artist, and I told you that she had a personal vendetta going. She’s an amateur, and we can run rings around her. We just have to move very fast.” Her thoughtful gaze rose to the crystal chandelier casting a glittering ambience over the lobby. “I need to be out of here tonight and on my way to Seattle. Arrange it. A private jet.” Her gaze shifted to his face. “And if you decide that you’re going to take me to an undisclosed location for questioning, I’ll blow the plane out of the sky. Not only that, but I’ll set off the nukes without giving you warning or time to get out of the city. You and the other members of your group will become martyrs. You don’t impress me as the type of terrorist who is eager for paradise.”

  “You’re bluffing. You wouldn’t sacrifice yourself.”

  “Yes, I would. I’ve waited for five years to get revenge for Kevin’s death.” She met his gaze. “And life isn’t the same without my son. I won’t let anything get in the way.”

  “And what do you intend to do once you’re in Seattle?”

  “What I meant to do in the beginning. Just a day earlier. Zander will die, and I’ll type in the code,” she said. “I’ll give you an hour’s notice to get out of the city. But I wouldn’t wait if I were you. Kevin and I were never sure how powerful the blast would be. Get out the minute you put me on that jet.” She wasn’t sure he was convinced. “In eight hours at the latest it will happen. If I move fast, no one can stop me. No one can stop you. You’ll be a hero to al-Qaeda. Don’t back away because of a little mistake that I can fix.”