Dark Tribute--An Eve Duncan Novel

by Iris Johansen

  “Seven. Maybe eight,” Abrams said. “They’ll contact me, and I’ll arrange to bring them here. I was able to contact Laidlow after we got away from Coal Town. He was with two others, but they didn’t have a vehicle, so I don’t know how quickly they can get here. He said that he hadn’t been able to reach any of the camps on the cliff trail before he went on the run. He thinks they hit them first.”

  Svardak was swearing. “How did Kaskov’s men get that close without any of you fools spotting them?”

  “Kaskov’s men didn’t show up until later,” Lacher said. “It was that Detective Joe Quinn, whose picture you gave us, who set off those explosives.”

  “Quinn?” Svardak stiffened. “Are you certain?”

  “Hell, yes. You offered us a bonus for him if he showed up. I memorized his damn face,” Lacher said. “The bastard was picking us off from the trees after the blast.”

  “And he was alone?”

  “At first, then there was someone else with him. After Kaskov’s men came, we didn’t stick around to check IDs.”

  “The other man’s name was Gavin,” Abram’s said. “I heard Quinn call him when he was running up the trail toward the thicket. I can ask Laidlow if he knows anything more about him.”

  “Do it.” But Svardak was only slightly interested in anyone beside Joe Quinn. The fury was searing through him. He had been right to be wary of Cara’s guardian. He didn’t know how the son of a bitch had managed to pull this off, but he’d found a way to not only humiliate him but give Cara grounds to hold him up to scorn. It was totally unbearable. He could still see the triumph on her face after she’d stabbed him. That look had been more painful and infuriating than the wound itself. All the time he’d been here recovering and planning, he’d thought of little but how he could make her pay. Now that time was almost here. “Find out anything you can about him. But it’s Quinn I need. It’s Quinn I have to have.”

  “More than the woman?” Abrams asked.

  Svardak was tired of pretending that these men were anything but servants. “For God’s sake.” He got to his feet and headed for the door. “One will lead to the other. Quinn will give us Cara Delaney. And, after I’ve punished her for making me go through all this hideous trouble, she will give me Kaskov. But first I need Quinn.” He looked over his shoulder at them. “And Quinn will feel that he needs me. He won’t like the idea that I mistreated his sweet little ward. It will hurt his pride. He’ll want revenge.”

  “He’ll come after you?” Lacher moistened his lips. “But that might be another reason for us to go to—”

  “If you don’t shut up, I’ll tell Abrams to cut your throat, you yellow hyena,” he spat. “Listen carefully, and I might let you survive. Quinn will try to hunt me down. Your job is to hunt him down. He’ll expect my wound to hamper me and that I’ll be on the run. But we’re going to sit here and wait for him.”

  “Wait for him?”

  “There are two rangers that I disposed of in the shed in the back. Go bury them and put on their uniforms. Then go to neighboring towns and leave signs that will lead him here. Use the truck that you stole from that farmer. Talk to the merchants and police and tell them that you’d had tips that that the truck had been seen somewhere in this lake area and ask if they knew anything about it. Point them in this general direction because that’s where they’ll point Quinn.” His lips twisted. “You will be friendly and wholesome and smile a lot. Everyone will look at your uniform and be sure that you represent all that’s clean and environmentally correct in America.”

  “It might not work,” Abrams said slowly.

  “Make it work.” Svardak went out on the porch. “You really don’t want to disappoint me.”

  HOLIDAY INN

  “Wake up, Jock.” Cara pounded on his door. “I want to get out of here. I’ve waited for you long enough.”

  “It’s only 6 A.M.” He opened the door. “And I don’t believe we had an appointment.” He was fully dressed, and his hair was slightly damp from the shower. “Of course, I could be mistaken.”

  “But you know me. And you knew I’d be waiting for you to call me after you talked to Joe. Why didn’t you do it?”

  “Would it have done any good?” His lips tightened. “I told Joe that I was done with trying to talk you into anything. I’m strictly into damage control from now on. It’s hardly my fault that you expected anything else. Did you have a bad night?”

  “Yes. You probably knew I would. Everything you do and say has an effect on me. I can’t dismiss it. I tend to worry. Was it supposed to be punishment?”

  “Perhaps. Though I wasn’t aware of it. I’ve been a bit frustrated lately. I had a few things to do and thought I’d be better served doing them than arguing with you.”

  “What things?” Then she made an impatient gesture. “Never mind. Later. I have to get out of here. Are you coming with me?”

  “Certainly. Damage control is impossible long-distance.” He came out of the room and locked the door. “And where am I supposed to be going?”

  “Just away from this hotel.” She was crossing to her rental car, parked in front of the door of her room. “I was smothering, and I knew that if I took off on my own, you’d be tracking me down like Joe’s doing to Svardak. So I thought I’d just take you with me.”

  “Wise decision. It saves so much time.” He glanced at her violin case on the backseat of the car. “And I see you invited another old friend to come along. I’m sure the Amati is considerably more welcome than I am right now.”

  “Well, it doesn’t cause me as much trouble.” She opened the driver’s door. “Though I couldn’t play last night. Violin music is generally not welcome in the middle of the night in hotels. Particularly not old hotels with walls as thin as this one. I needed to play, and I couldn’t do it.”

  “Obviously I’m not the only one who was feeling frustrated last night.” He got into the passenger’s seat. “Those other guests don’t know what they missed. Where do you want to go?”

  “You tell me.” She backed out of the parking spot. “I don’t know anything about this place. You might say I’ve had limited access up in that canyon. You must have explored the entire area while you searched for me. Just somewhere I won’t bother anyone.” She shivered. “And that’s not anywhere near Lost Canyon.”

  “Not too difficult. Go straight down this road for a few miles and turn left on Patriots River Road until you get to the riverbank. It’s fairly deserted, and no one but the birds will object to a little Tchaikovsky.” He leaned back in his seat. “And, if they do, you can refer them to me.” He snapped his fingers. “Oh, that’s right, you’d prefer to handle all that yourself. I’ll be sure and remember.”

  “Don’t be sarcastic. I can’t take it today.” She paused. “I don’t object to us helping each other. That’s natural and right. I just don’t like it to go only one way.” She changed the subject. “What did Joe ask you to do last night?”

  “I think you can guess. He asked me to take care of you. He said for me to give him two days, and he should be able to find Svardak. If he didn’t succeed, he’d come back and take my place here so that I could have my chance at him.”

  “Wonderful,” she said dryly. “Babysitters, incorporated. You’re right, I did guess. I just didn’t realize Joe had given himself the two-day limit. I suppose that’s the only way he thought you might not give him too much of an argument. Joe’s always been clever.”

  “Very,” he said grimly.

  “But you resented not being able to go after Svardak, particularly when you found out about Lacher and Abrams heading up there.”

  Jock was silent.

  “And since you were chained to me here, you immediately started to make plans on how to try to find a way to capture Svardak when you got your chance. That’s what you were doing instead of wasting your time talking to me.”

  “I didn’t consider myself chained to you,” he said quietly. “I never said that.”

  “But
you thought it,” she said quietly. “And chained is the right word. I know about chains, Jock. I learned a lot about them in that cabin.”

  “I know you did,” he said hoarsely. “I saw them. I hated it.”

  “So did I. And I would never want to do that to anyone. I won’t do it to you.” She paused. “But you’re doing it to yourself, and I can’t stop you.” She shrugged. “All I can do is try to be part of the process and help where I can.”

  “I’ve hurt you.”

  She didn’t want to admit it even to herself. “No, you’re being too sensitive. I know you would never intentionally do anything to make me sad or hurt me. You’re just driven by the events that made you who you are. You’re a hunter, and you resent being in a cage yourself.” She added, “Now what were you doing after Joe hung up?”

  He shrugged. “It seemed clear that Svardak was trying to scramble and gather an effective force again. If there was a potential manhunt, he’d need more than two men to defend himself. He probably sent out an SOS to anyone who managed to escape Lost Canyon. I needed to know how many that would be and if I could possibly intercept a message from Svardak to one of them.”

  “To find out his location,” Cara said. “But first you’d have to track them down before you could do that.”

  “Tracking is far easier than digging out an entrenched enemy.” His lips twisted. “And you’ve just told me how naturally hunting comes to me these days. I’ve never lost the skill nor the mind-set. Which is something I’ve been trying to tell you for years.”

  But because she had been the one to say it, she could see it had hurt him. Why were they constantly hurting each other, she thought desperately. “And how will you find out how many of Svardak’s men escaped that canyon and where to find them?”

  “I’m already working on it. I called Nikolai and started questioning him last night. He’s very efficient, and every man who was not killed but captured on that mountain would have been questioned so that Kaskov would have a complete picture of Svardak’s operation.” He shrugged. “It took me most of the night while Nikolai gathered information from his men.” He added grimly, “And then got permission from Kaskov to tell me everything. That probably took the most time since Kaskov doesn’t have to worry about you any longer and will want to go after Svardak himself.”

  “But Nikolai gave you the information?”

  “Eventually. No doubt Kaskov was afraid I’d be bothering him directly rather than going through Nikolai if he didn’t. Eight men escaped the explosions and Kaskov’s attack and disappeared before they could be caught. Kaskov also has another prisoner, Ron Edding, who I handed over to him. But he hasn’t started questioning him yet.”

  “He wouldn’t be able to tell him anything,” Cara said. “Svardak is a loner. I think he chose Abrams to head his team, but that was as far as he’d go. He’d use the men who worked for him, but he’d never confide in them.”

  “You can never tell when someone will prove a gem of knowledge … if encouraged. At any rate, I know more now than when I hung up from talking to Joe last night.” He gestured to the road. “Turn here. Then go a mile and turn at the next curve.”

  She did as he instructed. She could see the gleam of green-blue water through the trees. “No houses. It’s pretty remote.”

  “Not as remote as you might think. Kaskov’s rental estate is about ten miles down this road.” He raised a brow. “But I assume you don’t want to go for a visit? Though he probably does have a music room, and he wouldn’t throw you out.”

  “No, thank you,” she said dryly. “I’m in no mood to perform, and we weren’t on the best of terms the last time I talked to him. We had a disagreement.”

  “I won’t ask what about. I can make a guess. You appear to be having disagreements with all of us these days.” He pointed to a willow tree by the river’s edge. “That’s a pretty place, and no one will argue with you for at least the next few hours. After that, I make no promises.”

  “It takes two to make an argument.” She parked off the road some distance from the willow tree. “And I refuse to argue with you, Jock. The sun is shining, you’ve brought me to a beautiful place, and I refuse to let you spoil it.” She jumped out of the car and grabbed her violin case. “So you just sit there and plot and plan like Machiavelli and ignore me.” She darted him a challenging glance as she took the violin out of the case and strode away from him down toward the river. “If you can manage to do it…”

  “Machiavelli? I’m sure he never had anyone like you with whom to contend. And I’ve never been able to ignore you. It’s a mental and physical impossibility to—”

  She was no longer listening.

  Tchaikovsky. She attacked it with her entire heart and soul.

  The music …

  The melody …

  I’m here.

  Listen to me.

  Share with me.

  Grieg.

  Crystal lakes. Reflections of beauty. Wind moving through the trees.

  Heartbreaking.

  Enchanting.

  Mendelssohn.

  Heavier.

  Complicated.

  Innovative.

  I told you I wasn’t as good at this as you, Marian. I can’t make it sing …

  But it shouldn’t sing, she realized suddenly. Why hadn’t she understood that before? It was so clear to her now. It should travel from movement to movement, not standing out, but letting the artist become one with the melody. Is that what you tried to do, Marian?

  Help me make it come alive …

  Mozart.

  Swagger and elegance.

  Teasing the cadence.

  Tchaikovsky.

  She had to have more of the Tchaikovsky.

  The sheer lyrical excitement, make the canzonetta warm and sensuous to balance it. That was the way it should happen. It had been out there, just waiting for her to see it.

  It was all new and fresh and different. She had thought she knew the music, but she’d known nothing. It was teaching her as she went along.

  Explore.

  Experiment.

  Break every rule.

  Throw open every gate.

  Dear God. The music …

  CHAPTER

  10

  12:40 P.M.

  “I’ll be damned,” Kaskov murmured to Jock, his gaze on Cara playing beneath the willow tree some distance away. “What the hell is going on here?”

  “You took your time.” Jock was sitting beneath an oak tree near the road and didn’t shift his position as he watched Kaskov walk toward him. “I was losing faith in Nikolai’s sentries. We showed up here on your doorstep over four hours ago.”

  “Nikolai was told five minutes after Cara parked her car here,” Kaskov said absently, his gaze never leaving Cara. “But since you were with her, I told them to adopt a wait-and-see policy until we saw what you were up to.”

  “But then curiosity finally got the better of you. I thought it would.” His eyes went back to Cara. “Though I had no idea that this would happen. She said she wanted to play and to find her a place to do it. Some of Svardak’s men are still on the loose. She had to be safe.”

  “So you brought her to me? That’s a first.”

  He shrugged. “I knew you’d have sentries watching the property. I could take advantage of your security and not have her deal with you. It was a win-win situation.”

  “You could have brought her to the house. I wouldn’t have contaminated her.”

  “Wouldn’t you? I wasn’t sure, and I didn’t like the idea of the two of you being in any more contact than necessary. Though I actually did offer. She said she wanted to play, not perform.”

  “I’m not sure what she’s doing is either one.” He never took his eyes off Cara. “It’s … different. I’ve never heard her play like that before. I’ve never heard anyone play like that. My God…”

  “Aye, I thought the same thing,” Jock said. “I’m not an expert on music like you, Kaskov, but I’m an
expert on Cara. But I learned something new about her today.” His lips twisted. “And I wish that I hadn’t chosen to bring her here today. It’s only going to make it more difficult to keep you away from her now.”

  He nodded slowly. “You might be right.”

  “I know I’m right.” He grimaced. “Now get the hell out of here. I don’t think there’s any chance that she’ll notice either one of us for quite a while, but what’s going on with her is only for her. No audience. I don’t want her to know you were even here.”

  “You’re being very selfish.”

  “Damn straight.” Then he wearily shook his head. “It means something to you. You’ll do what you please. I can’t stop you.” He met his eyes. “Or maybe I don’t want to stop you. But I don’t want you to steal this moment from her, and I will stop you from doing that.”

  Kaskov was silent. “It would be interesting to see you make the attempt. You’re always so innovative, Gavin.” He gave one last long look at Cara and turned away. “Stay as long as she wishes. She’ll be guarded as a member of my family should be guarded.”

  He stopped and turned as he reached the woods. “You do know I envy you, Gavin? It’s most disconcerting. I don’t remember the last time I envied anyone. I always considered it a sign of weakness.” He glanced back at Cara. “But I do envy you these next hours with her.”

  He turned and disappeared into the woods.

  * * *

  Someone was standing in front of her, Cara realized vaguely. He was saying something but she didn’t have time to pay attention. “Go away. I’m busy now.”

  “Easy.” His voice was low and soothing. “Slow down, Cara. It’s time for a break. It’s been over eight hours. You’re on fire. You need to rest and eat. I can practically see the calories burning.”