“I’ll get you the water anyway.” He disappeared into the bathroom and came out with a glass of water. “You shouldn’t be upset.” He handed her the glass. “It was a lost cause to begin with. Zander is a law unto himself.”
“Bullshit.” She took a sip of water. “He’s a law until someone stops him. It will happen someday. It’s only a matter of time.” She met his eyes. “And then you’ll be looking for another job.”
“Yes.”
“Would it be a relief? I’ve watched you with Zander, and I can’t figure out your relationship. You’re on edge with him, and yet…” She shrugged. “You’d be much more comfortable if you didn’t have to deal with him.”
“Without doubt. But he does make life interesting. Now, I’m not one to embrace challenges, but I got used to walking the tightrope.” He added softly, “And you do love challenges, and being with Zander gave you a jolt of adrenaline, didn’t it?”
“I don’t need any jolts of adrenaline.”
He gazed at her quizzically.
“All right, I admit that he’s … unique.” She added, “But if you don’t like challenges, why did you come to work for him?”
“It seemed the thing to do at the time.”
“You’re evading answering. Money?”
“No, money was never a problem for me. The stock market is usually my friend. Are you sure you don’t want a cup of coffee?”
“No, I don’t. I want you to answer me.”
“Why are you so curious?”
“I’m not curious, I’m on the hunt,” she said curtly. “Zander took me down, but he left me with you. You’re all I’ve got right now. I may be able to use you in some way to get my own back and find Zander.” She shook her head in despair. “If Doane doesn’t already have him.”
“The chances are Doane does have him. Because that’s the way Zander wanted it.” He added gently, “And that may not be as bad as you’re thinking. Zander always has a plan.”
“And will that plan include Eve? Talk to me. Help me. Tell me everything you know about Zander. I tried to convince myself that he wanted her to live, but how can I be sure, dammit?”
“You can’t be sure.” He was silent a moment, his gaze on her face before he finally said, “You want to know why I came to work for Zander? Didn’t Venable tell you anything about me? I’m surprised he didn’t share. I’m sure he dug deep and hard about everyone surrounding Zander to find something he could use to manipulate him.” He grimaced. “But no one really regards me as being important in that area. No influence. I was probably just being watched to make sure I wouldn’t kill Zander at an inconvenient time.”
“Kill him?”
“My parents and my brother, Sean, ran a medical missionary in Africa. Good people. I loved them, but I didn’t understand them. They didn’t care about money or possessions and were perfectly satisfied working at that mission. On the other hand, I lived in New York, and I was fascinated by the game of acquiring money. I was very good at it.”
“What has this to do with Zander?”
“Patience. A terrorist group overthrew the tribal leaders in the village, and the mission and everyone connected to it were murdered. My parents were lucky. They were killed almost immediately. My brother Sean was taken prisoner and held for four days. He was not lucky. When they finally let me see him in the hospital, he was praying to die. After I saw him, I prayed with him. He died that night.”
His tone was without expression but Catherine could feel his pain. “I’m sorry.”
“So was I. Sorry and angry and wanting revenge. The government had rounded up the terrorists except for their leader, Abu Karr. He was in hiding in the jungle. No one could find him. The entire country was in an uproar about the massacre, and the president and his government were about to topple. The president was very dirty and involved with the pirates who raided the sea-lanes. He knew he had to give the people Abu Karr’s head to save his own. The American ambassador told Sean and me there was a rumor the president had hired Zander to go after Abu Karr and kill him.”
“And he did it?”
“Abu Karr was found shot in the head outside his cave. There was some controversy about whether Zander did it or not. The president claimed one of his generals found him and fired the shot. Zander was nowhere in the vicinity. A week later, the president was assassinated. So the question was did Zander kill the terrorist, then kill the president when he refused to pay? Or was the ambassador wrong, and Zander was not involved at all?”
“And what difference did it make?” Catherine said. “The beast was dead.”
“It made a difference to my brother,” he said quietly. “And that made a difference to me. Before he died, Sean made me promise that if Zander managed to kill Abu Karr, I would try to keep him safe, that I would never leave him until the day he died.”
“But you said you didn’t know if he killed him.”
“I still don’t. But I had to try to find out. I had money. I told you that was easy for me. I hired ballistic experts, and they studied the shot that killed Abu Karr. It was done at an extremely difficult angle, and the shooter would have had to be a magnificent shot. I hired local private detectives, and they found people who had seen a man of his description in two of the villages that bordered the jungle. It took a long time to get the report because Zander is like a shadow figure. I bribed people in the CIA, and they confirmed that Zander was in Africa at the time. They’d even had an agent report that Zander had something to do with the uprising.” He shrugged. “No proof either way, and Zander would never admit to anything. So I was left with making the decision myself.”
“And you went to work for him.”
“I thought the chances were good that he’d killed Abu Karr, and I had to keep my promise. I figured that I might be able to find some more concrete evidence if I worked for him. So I changed my name and applied for the job of his accountant.”
“And did you find any other evidence?”
“No.” He made a face. “As Venable must have told you, Zander doesn’t confide in anyone, and he certainly wouldn’t leave records around concerning his ‘business.’”
“You fooled him all these years?”
He shook his head. “I think he found out soon after he hired me, but he never mentioned it. I’m sure that he knew that the CIA had spread rumors of a report about his possible involvement in the terrorist uprising. I believe the situation intrigued him.”
“I can see how it might,” Catherine said. “Twisted bastard that he is.” She smiled without mirth. “I told him that I was his bodyguard. There’s a certain black humor about the fact that you’ve been acting in that capacity all these years.”
“I wouldn’t have presumed to tell him that’s why I stayed. You have more courage than I do.” He paused. “You wanted to find out if you could use me in any way to manipulate Zander. You can see that the answer has to be not if it endangers Zander in any way.”
“Is that why you told me about your brother?”
“Yes, along with the fact that you’re desperate and in pain and I admire you. I didn’t want you to waste your time.” He held up his hand as she opened her lips to speak. “But that doesn’t mean that I won’t help you find Eve and Zander if we can find a way that is mutually acceptable.”
“Why?”
“Because I want Eve Duncan to live. And because Zander wants me to help you. He didn’t phone me just to send me to make sure you were all right after he took you down. He’s an expert. He’d know exactly what he did to you and how long you’d be out.”
She nodded slowly. “That’s true. And how does he think you can help us?”
He shook his head. “I have no idea. I believe Zander may be a little desperate himself at this point. It’s strange that I should think that … I’ll do what I can. I’m not totally—” He stopped at a knock on the door. “That’s probably Quinn and Gallo. I’ll go let them in.”
She jumped to her feet. “No, I’ll do it.” S
he ran across the room and threw open the door.
“Where’s Stang?” Joe strode into the room. “Did you question him?”
“Are you okay?” Gallo asked her quietly.
“Yes, I questioned him,” Catherine said. “He doesn’t know anything. Take it easy on him.” She turned to Gallo. “And yes, I’m fine. I told you that, Gallo.” She tried to suppress the intense physical reaction that she always had to Gallo. She hadn’t seen him for weeks, and the sexual tension was strong and heated. Ignore it.
“Then if you’re fine, I’ll tell you that you shouldn’t have lowered your guard with Zander,” he said coolly. “And that you were an idiot not to tell us where you were staying.”
“I wasn’t an idiot. I had a chance of manipulating the situation if I could keep control of Zander.”
“But you didn’t keep control.” Joe’s eyes never left Stang. “And now Eve’s probably worse off because you didn’t. And how do you know Stang doesn’t know anything?”
“You’ve dealt with me before, Quinn,” Stang said. “You know that Zander doesn’t confide in me. He didn’t tell me a word.”
“And you didn’t suspect anything?”
“Of course, I did. Zander was actually edgy. I even questioned him. He said he hated to wait.”
“He was waiting for word to get to Doane so that he could set up himself as bait for Doane’s ambush,” Catherine said. “He knew that Doane wanted to kill Eve in front of him. He also knew that Doane’s wife has to be there at the execution. Zander wanted time to kill Doane and get Eve away before Harriet arrived on the scene.”
“How, dammit?” Joe asked.
She shook her head. “I don’t know. Stang says he always has a plan.”
Gallo muttered an oath. “That doesn’t help us.”
“It might help Eve,” Stang said quietly. “He doesn’t want her to die.”
“But he risks her life because he won’t trust anyone but himself,” Quinn said. “Arrogant son of a bitch.”
“Easy, Joe,” Catherine said. She knew the words were futile. He was as desperate and afraid as she was of the impetus Zander’s move might start in motion. “I may agree with you, but we just have to work around Zander.” She added grimly, “That’s what he was saying before he left. Backup. We have to find that cottage in case Zander and his wonder plan go down the tubes.” She brushed her hair away from her face. “He said we’d more than likely have between five and eight hours after Doane got his hands on him. He had to be thinking about the time it would take Harriet to get out here. We’ve got to make them count.”
“I haven’t been twiddling my thumbs trying to find that cottage,” Joe said. “When we were at the Marine Museum, I didn’t get any solid answers, but the curator did remember seeing a book on artistry in driftwood that had some unusual designs.”
“Headstones?”
“Not that he recalled, but he was fairly vague. I’ve been searching every Web site and publishing house in Washington State to see if I could locate it. No luck.” He frowned. “But I’m beginning to wonder if we’re off base.”
“What do you mean?”
“We’ve been assuming since the nukes are supposed to be in Seattle that the cottage is near Seattle. What if it isn’t? You couldn’t get any answer about land purchase from Langley. We can’t find any mention of driftwood that fits the description. Not near Seattle. Not in Washington State. Why not look south, across the Oregon border? Kevin would have been safer if his hideout wasn’t right on top of a target city. It couldn’t hurt to take a look.”
“Unless it’s a waste of time. Then it could hurt Eve very badly.”
“If you’ve got any other suggestion, I’m listening.”
She didn’t have any other suggestion. “We’ll try Oregon.” She moved back and sat down. “I’ll call Langley and set them to exploring the possibility of Kevin’s purchasing out of state. It might—” Her phone rang before she could dial. “It’s Margaret.” She accessed. “Margaret, may I call you back? Things are crazy here now and we’ve got to find a way to salvage it before they get worse.”
“That’s not what I wanted to hear. This will only take a minute, Catherine. Jane asked me to call.” She paused. “I think we may have big trouble.”
CHAPTER
16
Chicago
“HAS SHE MADE ANY PHONE CALLS?” Jane asked Margaret, when they burst into Caleb’s suite twenty minutes later. “Is Harriet still in her suite?”
“As far as I can tell,” Margaret said. “I heard her moving around the suite. She went to the bathroom. I heard water running. I didn’t hear the corridor door open or close.” She shrugged. “I’m glad you’re here. I listened to every nuance of sound, but I’m not accustomed to interpreting those damn machines the way you are, Caleb.”
“You interpreted what was going on between Cartland and Harriet,” Trevor said. “That’s more important.”
“Ever the kind diplomat,” Caleb said as he strode across the room toward the machines. “But not necessarily truthful.” He put an earphone to his ear and turned up the volume on the machine. He listened intently for a moment, then adjusted the sound again.
“Caleb?” Jane asked.
“Just a minute.” He adjusted the other machine and listened again. “Son of a bitch.” He threw the earphone on the table and ran toward the door. “I heard conversation from some mother with her kid walking down the corridor. Harriet’s door has got to be open!”
“How could—” Jane didn’t finish the sentence as she and Trevor ran after Caleb.
“Use the exit stairs.” Caleb was already running down them by the time Jane and Trevor reached the door. He burst out the door on Harriet’s floor and ran down the corridor.
Jane could see the mother and little girl Caleb had spoken about at the end of the hall.
Harriet’s door is open.
It wasn’t open.
But Caleb was bending and carefully pulling out a small leather change purse that had been wedged between the door and the jamb, keeping it from closing.
“Quiet,” Trevor said.
“Why?” Caleb threw open the door. “She’s not here. We don’t even know how long she’s been gone.”
“I heard her in the bathroom fifteen minutes ago,” Margaret said as she joined them. “After that, it’s anyone’s guess.” She watched Trevor going from room to room. “But did you hear that ping from the machine right before you ran out of your room?”
“Ping?” Jane repeated.
“Yeah, a ping,” Margaret said. “I was the last one to leave your room, Caleb, and I thought maybe she was down here after all.”
“Obviously, you were wrong,” Trevor said. “No sign of her. All her luggage is gone.”
“Ping,” Caleb said as he pulled out his phone. “I synced those machines to my phone apps. It could have been a signal that the GPS was in motion.” He stared at the phone. “Come on, baby,” he said softly. “Give it to me.”
“What?” Margaret asked.
“She took the box with Kevin’s letters with her.” Jane was holding her breath, her gaze on Caleb’s phone. “The GPS may be able to follow her.” Please let that happen, she prayed. Everything else had gone wrong. Let this one thing go right.
One minute passed.
Two minutes.
A soft ping, barely audible.
“Yes.” Hope flared. “Where, Caleb?”
“It’s hard to pin down.” He turned and headed for the door. “But it’s the general direction of the airport. Let’s not wait to be a hundred percent sure. She could be on a plane by that time. You drive, Trevor. I’ll monitor the GPS.”
She could be on a plane by that time.
The words echoed in Jane’s mind as she rode down the elevator to the lobby.
While they played hunt and chase and dealt with Chicago traffic, Harriet might be lost to them.
She couldn’t risk it.
She took out her phone as they got off t
he elevator. “We need help. I’m calling Venable. We can’t let her get away.”
* * *
VENABLE ANSWERED THE phone on the second ring. “It’s about time that someone decided to call to let me know what’s going on. Where are you, Jane? And what the hell is—”
“I don’t have time to give you chapter and verse,” she interrupted as she got into the car in front of the hotel. “I need your help, and I need it fast, Venable. I didn’t want to call you. I’m scared to death that you’re going to do something rash, and Eve might die. I have no choice. So please shut up and listen. You’re going to have to work fast. Catherine said that Homeland Security has teams in both Chicago and Seattle. Is there someone in that team in Chicago that you can trust to be discreet and not tip his hand?”
He was silent. “Yes, Paul Junot.”
It was comforting that the name had come so definitely and quickly to his mind. “Then get in touch with him and get him out to O’Hare Airport right away. Harriet Weber is going to be leaving the city, and we have to know how and where she’s going,” she added grimly, “Though I think we know the where.”
“Seattle?”
“You’ve got it. But once she’s there, we can’t lose track of her. That could be fatal. Tell Junot that he has to do his check without her being aware of it. The last thing we want is to have her panic.” She was trying to think. “And you’ve got to have Junot set up a private jet rental for us. We’ll probably need it as soon as we reach the airport.”
“You don’t ask much,” Venable said dryly. “And why should I do it when I don’t know what the hell is going on?”
“I’m only asking for what we have to have. We can’t let her get away.” She paused. “She’s in control, Venable. We all thought it was Doane, but she’s calling the shots, and she’s calling them now.” She heard him muttering an oath. “I’m going to hang up so that you can phone this Junot. I know you want answers, and I’ll give them to you. But not now. Not until you get that done.”
“I’ll call you back,” he said tersely.
She pressed the disconnect as he hung up. “God, I hope he can get his man out there fast.” She looked at the GPS. “Is she still heading for the airport?”
Silencing Eve Page 28
