Dark Tribute--An Eve Duncan Novel

by Iris Johansen

  The words were as seemingly guileless as the sunny smile on Michael’s face, Jock thought. And they accomplished his purpose, Jock could feel himself yield and soften slightly as he looked at him. “It’s not the time or place for any of us to be admiring pretty scenery,” he said dryly. “And, if that was your aim, you put your mom through hell to do it.”

  Michael’s smile vanished. “I didn’t want to hurt her. I think you know that, Jock. It was the only way I could think to help Dad. I had to be here.”

  “Because you’re the only who could help him? That’s very conceited. Your father has a few of us ready to step up to the plate who have a few years and experience on you.”

  “I know that, but it has to be me.” He paused. “Mom told you and Cara that I could find him, but you don’t want to believe her.” He frowned, troubled. “You think it might be a waste of time, and that would be bad for Cara. It scares you.”

  “Does it? Maybe I just think you’re a kid with an active imagination who doesn’t realize it might hurt those around him. Yes, you’re smart, but this is something else entirely.”

  He slowly shook his head. “You’re scared.” His bright, amber eyes were on Jock’s, searching deep. “And you’re never scared. You’ve seen bad things, you’ve even done bad things, and now nothing scares you any longer. You’ve been all over the world, and you’ve seen strange sights that not many people have seen. You know that maybe I can do this. But you’re afraid to trust me.”

  Holy shit.

  The eyes staring into Jock’s were not those of a young boy. Or, if they were, they were seeing things about him that no one should be able to see. He took an instant to recover. Because Michael was right—he had seen things in India and Tibet that were fully as strange as a child’s being able to find his father in these mountains. Seen and accepted them because they were no threat, but anything affecting Cara could be a threat. “As I said, you’re very clever. I wasn’t expecting this. It seems you’re an entire other person from the boy everyone thinks you are. You have a real talent for pretense.”

  “No, I don’t,” Michael said. “That would be a lie. Mom’s right about lies being bad. Pretty much what you see is what you get with me. I’m just a kid with a great family.” He frowned. “But sometimes I see stuff or find out I can do something that would make people uncomfortable. So I just kind of ignore it.”

  “Until you’re not getting your way and decide to spring it on someone like me to seal the deal,” Jock said mockingly.

  “Only because it’s so important because of Dad,” he said soberly. “And there’s not anyone ‘like’ you. I could tell all those months I talked to you on the phone that something like this might happen. But I really needed Cara home because of Mom, and I thought it would be worth it.”

  “It wasn’t,” Jock said harshly. “And I won’t have her go through anything more because you want to ‘experiment.’”

  “I love Cara. You know I do. I made a mistake.” His eyes met Jock’s pleadingly. “Help me make it right?”

  “Is that supposed to sway me? I don’t care about making you feel less guilty. I only care about finding Joe. You haven’t shown me you can do it.”

  “Then just let me show you. Don’t get in my way. Okay? Trust me.”

  Persuasive as a siren call, Jock thought. But there was sincerity and honesty beneath that persuasiveness. These last few minutes with Michael had stunned and challenged him, but throughout he had been aware of that element of honesty running through his words. He hesitated, then made a decision. “I don’t have to trust you. I’m already setting up a backup plan that won’t involve you.”

  “Great.” Michael’s brilliant smile lit his face. “That will make you feel better. And it won’t interfere with what I have to do. You might even be able to help me a little? There are so many things I don’t know. I’ve never had to do anything like this before. I promise it won’t have anything to do with Cara.”

  “Everything about you and your family has to do with Cara,” he said dryly. “That’s why I’m scared.” His gaze returned to Michael’s face. “I always intended to help you, Michael. I like you, and Cara loves you. But you’re an unknown quantity, and I’ve never liked operating in the dark.”

  “That’s why I came up here to talk to you. But now you feel you know me better?”

  “No, why should I? All I know is that you’re way deeper than anyone thinks you are. You’re still an unknown quantity.”

  Michael sighed. “Yeah, I know. For me, too. But I’m working on it, Jock.”

  Jock smiled faintly. “I have an idea it may take a while for all of us to see what’s below all those layers.” He shrugged. “In the meantime, I’ll accept what you show me as long as it never hurts Cara. And I’ll always be there for you.” He clapped him on the shoulder. “Now we’d better go down to Cara and your mom. You think you can do this?” He started down the hill. “Let’s prove it. It’s showtime.”

  * * *

  Eve gazed warily at Jock and Michael as they approached where Cara and she were sitting on the bank. Michael was smiling, and Jock’s expression was as noncommittal as it had been before. “Everything all right?”

  Jock shrugged. “Possibly. We’ll have to see when we go over those maps, won’t we?”

  “She’s already shown them to me,” Cara said. “Eve tabbed the three lakes that Michael said might be the ones that Joe was looking at. She said the one that’s on page one is Lake Cormack, and that’s the closest. It’s about an hour from here. The other two are farther north, and they’re a good three hours. They’re almost right on top of each other, Lake Kedrow and Hunter’s Lake.” She flipped the pages. “If Joe was here in Ruell Falls, he would have had to have a good reason to go that distance.”

  Jock’s lips tightened as he looked at the photos. “And if we go up there, and it’s not the so-called right lake, it will eat into the time that bastard gave Cara as a deadline.”

  “But one of them could be the right one,” Cara said. She glanced at Michael. “Does one of them look more—” He was shaking his head. “Sorry to put you on the spot. I’m just not familiar with this kind of thing.” She made a face. “And who knew that you would be?”

  “Not me,” Michael said. “It’s kind of crazy. But if I see the lake, I’ll know it, Cara.”

  “Then let’s make sure you see it.” She turned to Jock. “The closest one first? We might get lucky.”

  He nodded curtly. “That hasn’t happened so far. But it has to be the closest one. I told Kaskov to deliver Edding here at Ruell Falls after dawn. I have to be back here to receive him.” He turned to Michael. “Backup. Let’s hope that we won’t need him.”

  “He doesn’t need that kind of pressure, Jock,” Cara said quietly.

  “He can handle it. He’s tougher than he looks.” Jock turned away. “But if you want to go with Eve and Michael to Lake Cormack to hold his hand, I think it would be a good idea. I’ll follow her car and scout around, so there won’t be any surprises.” He smiled at Michael. “Be certain, but don’t waste time. We have a tight schedule.”

  Michael nodded gravely. “I won’t disappoint you, Jock.” He turned and hurried down the hill after Eve.

  Cara was staring after him. “What happened up there between you two?”

  “Nothing much.” He took her arm and urged her down the path. “Merely one of those rare moments of mutual enlightenment that comes along occasionally…”

  LAKE CORMACK

  “It’s not the right one,” Michael said flatly.

  “You’ve only been looking around for fifteen minutes,” Cara said. “Are you absolutely sure?”

  He nodded. He was staring out over the lake to the green mountains beyond. “I wanted it to be the one Dad saw, but it isn’t the right one.” He looked at Eve. “I’m sorry, Mom. I thought it wasn’t the one when we first drove up, but Jock told me to be sure.”

  Eve came to stand beside him. “And you did everything right. There
’s nothing to be sorry about. We just have to take the next step.”

  “If there is a next step.” Jock appeared from the brush at the left of the path. “But I also saw no ‘funny house’ in the area that was on your list of descriptive real estate. So this lake has to be off the list for that reason, too.”

  “It just means that we have to go and take a look at Kedrow and Hunter.” Eve stared Jock in the eye. “That’s the next step. Michael has gone through too much to stop now. He believes what he’s saying, so I have to believe it, too.”

  Jock held up his hand. “I never thought anything else. That’s practically a mother’s mantra. It’s that tight schedule that’s raising its head again. I can’t afford to risk Cara if I put all my eggs in one basket. I’m going back to Ruell Falls and pick up Edding and see if I can find Svardak in some way that won’t depend on a séance.” He glanced at Michael, and said slyly, “No offense.” He turned back to Eve. “But you can get on the road and take Michael up there yourself for a look around. If it’s not another blind alley, I’ll hijack Kaskov’s helicopter along with whatever men he sends to bring Edding and be there in a heartbeat.” He paused. “In those circumstances, I don’t have to tell you that you’d be crazy not to hide out and wait until I can get to you, do I? I know that you’re frantic about Joe.”

  Eve shook her head impatiently. “Of course I’m frantic. But this is purely an exploratory trip. I’d have to be truly insane to think I could barge in and rescue him without help. That’s the kind of madness you and Joe would try to do. And I have to take Michael with me. Do you think I’d risk him?”

  “No way.” Cara took a step closer to Eve. “We’ll just take a look around, then make a decision what we’re going to do.”

  “We?” Eve whirled on her. “Forget it. You’re not going with us, Cara.”

  “The hell I’m not.”

  “I don’t need you. You’d be in the way. You think you’d be a help to us, but Svardak wants you. You’re the beacon that draws him. He took Joe because it was his way to get to you. He’d use Michael the same way if he got the opportunity. I’m not going to take the chance of your being anywhere near him.”

  Cara felt stricken. She could see that Eve did not want to hurt her, but she was right. Because of her, Joe had been taken and the threat to Michael was very real. “I’m sorry, Eve.”

  “There’s nothing to be sorry about.” She took a step closer and gave her a warm hug. “But the best place for you is surrounded by Jock and Kaskov’s guards, for your sake as well as ours. Understand?”

  “I see where you’re coming from, and I’ll try not to be in your way.”

  Eve’s brows rose. “That’s no answer.”

  “As you said, Svardak is holding Joe because of me. I have to help him.” She smiled shakily. “I’ll find a way not to be a beacon.”

  Eve shook her head. “I may rue the day I used that word.” She gave her a kiss on the cheek and glanced at Jock. “You’re very quiet.”

  “I had nothing to say. You did all my work for me.”

  “But you had no intention of letting Cara go with us.”

  “I don’t give Cara orders. It doesn’t turn out well. She responds much better to your gentle influence.”

  “I wasn’t so gentle today,” she said ruefully.

  “But you were honest,” Cara said. She bent and gave Michael a hug. “You take care of your mom. Don’t let her get into trouble.”

  “Okay.” He whispered in her ear. “That’s what Dad told me, and I haven’t been able to do it. But I won’t let that Svardak hurt her. I promise, Cara.” Then he was gone and running to Eve. “Let’s go. Didn’t you hear Jock? We’re on a tight schedule.”

  Eve shrugged. “Well, we wouldn’t want to disturb Jock’s schedule.” She was whisking him away toward the Toyota. “But we do have an agenda of our own.”

  * * *

  Cara shivered as she watched them drive away. “I wanted to go with them, Jock.”

  “I know you did. But she was right, you know. You’re a beacon.” He was pushing her gently toward his car. “And they’re both safer without you. I wanted to go with them, too. I didn’t like having to suggest that they go without me, but she wasn’t going to let it go.”

  “No, she wouldn’t.”

  “And Eve will be supercareful if she sees anything that appears off-kilter. She’ll call us, and we’ll be there for her in minutes instead of hours.”

  She smiled crookedly. “And you don’t really believe that they’ll find anything anyway.”

  “I didn’t say that.” He opened the passenger door for her. “I believe Michael might be able to pull it off. He’s … unusual. I’ve seen stranger things happen. I just believe we have to hedge our bets with the semblance of reality.” His lips twisted. “I won’t let your and Joe’s lives depend on anything mystical or psychic in nature. It’s foreign to me. I know about reality, with all its complexities and ugliness. I can meld it to what I need it to be.” He got into the driver’s seat. “I leave it to Michael and Eve to deal with anything more Star Wars oriented.” He added grimly. “And may the Force be with them.”

  RUELL FALLS

  The large gray-and-cream helicopter descended slowly to the ground in the field across from Ruell Falls.

  “It looks like the helicopter from Blackhawk Down,” Cara murmured. “More military than commercial. Very impressive. But a little wasteful considering it’s only a glorified delivery vehicle for Edding.”

  “Kaskov can afford it.” Jock was moving toward the landing site. “He probably has quite a few uses for a military aircraft. Anything from drug trafficking to gunrunning.“He was watching the door open. “And I don’t give a damn as long as that copter is bringing Ron Edding. And I think it is…”

  “Shit!” Edding screamed as he was thrown from the helicopter and landed in the dirt at Jock’s feet. “Son of a bitch!” He rolled over, cursing as he struggled to his knees. He glared at Jock. “You didn’t need to have him do that. Haven’t I done everything I was told to do?”

  “I don’t know. Have you?” Jock looked down at him. “I admit it’s very satisfactory having you in the dirt at my feet, but I didn’t give the order.” His gaze raked Edding from torn shirt to his stained boots. “But you look a little worse for wear, so I’d imagine you’ve been very good lately. I haven’t been given a complete report so I—”

  “Complaints, complaints, Gavin.” Kaskov was jumping down from the helicopter. “You ordered, and I meekly brought him here to lie at your feet. Yet you can do nothing but whine.”

  Cara stiffened. “I didn’t expect to see you, Kaskov.”

  “I thought about it and decided I couldn’t trust Gavin to represent my interests where you were concerned. Particularly since Abrams told Edding when he called that he wasn’t sure that he was needed since they’d been able to get several of Svardak’s crew back in the last couple days. You clearly needed reinforcements.” He turned back, and called into the helicopter, “Nikolai, it’s almost time for that second call to Svardak. I’m sure Edding needs your encouragement to make it all it should be.” He stepped aside as Nikolai and several other men in camouflage attire streamed out of the helicopter. He smiled down at Edding. “I’m going to tell Nikolai to ignore your extremely bad attitude when you renewed your acquaintance with Gavin. I realize Gavin can be very difficult.”

  Edding was suddenly wary. “He’s a bastard.”

  “Without doubt. But I forgive him because we both have problems with the fact that you helped to keep my granddaughter prisoner at Lost Canyon. You told Nikolai you’d never seen her.” He waved his hand at Cara. “You should meet her, and we’ll see how truthful you were. Cara, do you know this man?”

  “I never touched her,” Edding said, panic-stricken. “I didn’t have anything to do with her.”

  “Except make sure she could never get off that mountain,” Jock said softly. “If that’s all you did. I didn’t have time to verify that you weren�
�t lying to me at our last meeting.”

  “No!” Edding scrambled to his feet. “I tell you that I didn’t do—”

  “Stop it!” Cara took a step forward. Jock and Kaskov were standing there, looking as lethal as angels of death, and it was because of her. She hated Jock to revert to that time and state that had almost destroyed him. Somehow, it was even worse to have Kaskov here like a mirror image of what he might have become. “Leave him alone. I don’t know this man. The only one of Svardak’s men I ever saw was that guard, Abrams. And I never really got a good look at him.” She made an impatient gesture. “Besides, none of that matters now. Why are you wasting time when you brought Edding here for a purpose?”

  “I believe we’ve been chastised, Gavin,” Kaskov murmured. “She’s been through a good deal, or I’d have to explain the consequences to her.”

  “Joe is being held by that monster and is probably suffering,” she said coldly. “In the end, that’s your fault. Don’t tell me about consequences.” She looked at Edding. “What can he do to help?”

  “We shall see, now that we’ve determined what kind of treatment he deserves.” Kaskov turned to Jock. “He made the first call to Abrams two hours ago and told him that he’d been wounded on the cliff but managed to get away. He said he’d been on the run in the mountains ever since, but he needed help for the wound in his leg. As expected, Abrams was not overly sympathetic. He said that Svardak didn’t need anyone who couldn’t function and to get lost.”

  “A philosophy you understood perfectly,” Jock said.

  “Which I understood enough to have a reply ready that Svardak would accept. Edding is going to tell Abrams that he literally knew where all the bodies were buried about the murder of that violinist in Bermuda, and he was afraid he might be forced to tell the police if he was caught. The British in Bermuda are very sensitive about threats to their citizens. Even I am careful when handling them. There was no evidence that linked Svardak to the other victims, but the Brits would stir up a hornet’s nest. Abrams will realize that and go to Svardak.” Kaskov smiled. “I think it will all go splendidly and that they’ll soon be having a joyous reunion.”