Mind Game

by Iris Johansen

  “You’re crazy.”

  “Tell me what information Santara paid you to get.”

  “Nothing,” he said defiantly. “I gave him—” He stopped as he saw the blood gushing from beneath his thumb. His eyes widened in horror. “What?”

  Caleb’s hand moved to the bridge of his nose. “Thirty seconds and the blood will start pouring out your nostrils and down your throat as the vein ruptures. If I don’t stop it, the blood could choke you. What information?”

  Ben Kemal was looking down at his swollen hand, which was now gushing blood from every finger. “Get away from me!”

  “No. Next we’ll go to your lungs. In fact, I’ll start the pain there now.”

  Ben Kemal was suddenly frantically clutching at his chest. “What’s happening to me?” he gasped.

  “Only what I told you. Ah, there comes the blood from your nostrils.” He moved his hand. “I need to know what Santara wanted from you.”

  “No!” It was almost a scream.

  “Very well. It may take a little longer than I thought. Bad for you, good for me.” Caleb sat with legs crossed, gazing down at him with a smile. “I’ll wager about fifteen minutes.…”

  CHAPTER

  12

  It took twelve minutes.

  “Interesting.” Caleb rose to his feet and headed for the bathroom, where he washed and dried his hands. He came out and gazed down at Ben Kemal. “I’m tempted to spend a little more time with you, but I think I know everything you know. Do I?” He studied the panic twisting Ben Kemal’s features. “Oh, yes. Then there’s only the final instructions. I’m leaving now and you’ll lie there for the next twenty minutes. I was never here. You never talked to anyone about your time with Santara or the Romanos. The moment you open your lips to do it, your heart will start to pound and the pain will begin again.” He smiled. “You might experiment to make sure. I admit I like to think of you suffering because of your own ugliness and stubbornness.”

  “Monster.” Ben Kemal’s eyes were glaring up at him with rage and horror. “Devil.”

  “I’ve been called both. I wonder what you’re called at that whorehouse where you get your playmates.” He headed for the door. “By the way, I think you should obey your Koran and leave those little boys alone from now on. And you do want to please me, don’t you?” He heard Ben Kemal cursing behind him, but he wasn’t moving or making any effort to come after Caleb. A minute later, Caleb was on the balcony and climbing down the trellis.

  Palik appeared out of the shrubbery. “It took you long enough.” His gaze went to the balcony. “Quiet. You got what you wanted?”

  “As much as he knew.” Caleb moved down the path toward the parking lot. “But I’ll find out more once I trace Santara’s steps and go over the info Ben Kemal turned over to him.” He shrugged. “It offered a few surprises.”

  “I assume some that you’re going to have me explore?”

  “Of course. I’d never think of giving my business to anyone else. There are so many unscrupulous people in your line of expertise. It’s such a waste of time weeding them out.”

  Palik gave another glance at the balcony. “But I believe you may have enjoyed the ‘weeding’ this time. Is he going to cause you any trouble?”

  “No.” They had reached the car. “Where did you send the boy?”

  “To my cousin’s village near Petros. There’s construction work there, as there is all over Dubai. She’ll see that he gets some schooling on the side. He can live with her until he can find a place for himself. And I’ll add his rent to my increasingly hefty fee from you.”

  “I didn’t think anything else. I never rely on generosity from anyone.” He got in the passenger seat. “But there’s something I want you to get on right away. You haven’t been able to find a trace of the Romanos anywhere. I thought perhaps Italy or Greece, but you came up with nothing. Ben Kemal said that the Romanos weren’t only vacationing when they were here; they were looking for a temporary residence. He thought that they’re probably still here in Dubai or at least close by.”

  “So you want me to find them,” Palik said. “Top priority?”

  “They control Santara. Or rather, Teresa does. After talking to Said Ben Kemal, there’s absolutely no doubt that he thought Teresa Romano was pulling all the strings. Her loving spouse, Gino, appears to be fading fast into oblivion,” he said grimly. “Hell yes, top priority.”

  LOCH GAELKAR

  By five-thirty in the morning, Jane was tired of tossing and turning and mentally heaping curses on Caleb’s infuriating head. Just forget him and get on with your life, she thought as she jumped out of her bedroll and started dressing. Then she was striding out of her tent and into Eve’s tent next door.

  “Come on, Michael.” Jane scooped up the little boy and snatched the clothes that Eve had set out for him the night before. “We’re going to leave your mama alone to sleep in and go help Lisa cook breakfast.”

  “I don’t need to sleep in.” Eve yawned. “It’s just a little jet lag, or I would have been up sooner.” She smiled. “And I don’t think Lisa needs help, either, judging by that meal last night.”

  “You’re right. But it won’t hurt you to have a little time to yourself.” She headed for the door. “One hour and I’ll call you for breakfast.” She balanced Michael on her hip as she left the tent and started down the hill.

  “Down, Jane,” Michael said firmly.

  “That sounds like a command you’d give a puppy.” She put him on the grass and just held his hand. “Though you’ve never had one yet. I have to introduce you to my dog, Toby. But right now, he’s going to school on Summer Island. Just like you’ll be going to school in a couple years.” She saw Lisa preparing breakfast by the fire and started to increase her pace. Then she slowed as she realized Michael couldn’t keep up with her.

  Adjustments. So many adjustments with a child. And Eve had made all of them beautifully. Amazing, since she had been able to keep up with her forensic sculpting, as well.

  “Hi, Lisa,” she said as she came into the glowing circle of the fire. “I’m trying to give Eve a break with Michael, but I’m realizing I’m not great at this.”

  Lisa glanced up from the dough she was kneading on a cutting board a few yards from the fire. “You seem to be doing okay. What’s the problem?”

  “Adjustment.” She was quickly changing Michael from pajamas to his jeans and green plaid shirt. “Mind-set. All of the above.” She wiped his face with a cloth dipped in a pail of water from the lake. He giggled and grabbed for the cloth. “Oh, you like that?”

  “It’s cold.” Michael was laughing up at her and reached a hand in the pail to splash her face with water. He laughed harder as she splashed back at him. “Swim?”

  “No, not now. That’s going to be up to your mama. This lake is different from the one you’re used to at home.”

  “Different.” Michael repeated the word as he gazed out at the mist hovering over the lake. “But still … home, Jane.”

  “You think so?” Jane asked gently as she wiped his face and then her own. “You’ll have to discuss that with your mama.”

  “But in the meantime, would you like a cup of orange juice?” asked Lisa, who was suddenly beside them with one of the child’s cups that Eve had given her the evening before. “Is that okay, Jane?” She was frowning. “I don’t know anything about the care and feeding of children.”

  “I’m surprised. You’ve seemed to pick up a little of everything in your nineteen years. I’m sure you’re annoyed with yourself that you missed out on this.” She handed Michael the cup. “Okay, Michael?”

  “Okay.” He was smiling at Lisa. “Thank you.”

  Lisa’s brows rose as she watched him drink the orange juice. “Manners? Isn’t that unusual in a kid his age?”

  “It depends on the kid. But then, Michael is unusual. As Eve says, he picks up everything that comes his way. I tried to tell you, Lisa.”

  “Yes, you did. But he’s still not
what I was expecting.” She paused. “Neither is Eve Duncan. She played me well yesterday. I knew she had to be clever, but I didn’t believe she could do that.”

  “She was sincere,” Jane said. “Eve’s always honest.”

  “I could tell that. But that doesn’t mean she can’t be clever enough to get her own way when she chooses.” Lisa smiled faintly. “And I think she loves you. She didn’t want anyone around you to be uncomfortable, because it might make you unhappy. That’s … extraordinary.”

  “No it isn’t. It’s just Eve.”

  “And it’s you, too. I watched the two of you together. Was it like that all the time you were growing up?”

  Jane nodded. “From the time we came together.” She glanced at Lisa’s face. There had been nothing in Lisa’s barren life that resembled the strength and tightness of the family bond Jane had known. “And perhaps you’re right. But I know how lucky I am.”

  Lisa shook her head. “No, you don’t. You just think you do. But I can see why Caleb wanted to save her. He knew.”

  “Eve was only interested in saving Michael. You must have seen how she adores him. He’s pretty extraordinary himself.”

  Lisa’s eyes were narrowed on Michael’s face. “He said ‘swim.’”

  “He lives on a lake. He’s been in the water all his life. Eve wanted to make certain he knew what he was doing, so she had an instructor out from the local YMCA who specializes in teaching toddlers to give him lessons.”

  “Jody.” Michael lowered his cup. He’d evidently been listening. “She likes to float. Nice. But boring.”

  “And lifesaving for most small children,” Jane said sternly. “She did a good job, Michael.”

  He nodded. “Nice.”

  Lisa suddenly chuckled. “Diplomatic, but noncommittal. And he already understands the concept of boring.” She turned to Jane. “I think I like him.”

  “I’m sure he’ll be grateful.” Jane got to her feet. “And I’ll be grateful for a cup of coffee. But first, I have to run up to the tent to get his set of building blocks to keep him amused. He’s into construction right now. Will you keep an eye on him?” She’d already turned and was hurrying back up the hill. “Don’t look so wary. He’s completely nonthreatening.”

  “So you say,” Lisa called after her as she watched Jane disappear into the darkness. Nonthreatening? He was a beautiful child and appeared to be good-tempered, but being responsible for any child is frightening, Lisa thought. That was why she had avoided them through the years. They had a tendency to slip beyond the barriers, and she didn’t allow anyone to do that. It hurt too much when they went away. But this is only for a short time, she told herself. It will be fine. She turned to Michael. “Okay, what do we do?”

  He smiled at her. Dear God, that was an enchanting smile.

  “Don’t give me that. Save it for all your fans.” She went back to kneading the biscuits. “I have to finish these biscuits, or I’ll lose my credibility with MacDuff. You have to give something to get something in this world.”

  “Mist.”

  She stiffened and looked at him. He was still smiling radiantly at her. Well, what had she expected? “Yes, exactly.” Though that had to be an accidental reference. “Want some more juice?”

  He was on his feet and coming toward her. “No juice. Biscuits.” He plopped down on the ground beside her and watched her hands move on the board. His face was intent, his eyes fastened with fascination on the formation of the dough. “Me?”

  “You want some dough?” She gave him some. “Okay, but don’t eat it raw. I don’t think that’s on a healthy kid’s diet.”

  He shook his head impatiently. “Not eat. Build it.” His hands were separating, kneading, copying her movements. But he got the dough too thin and it fell apart as he tried to form the circle of the biscuit. He looked baffled and then he gazed up at Lisa again. “More?”

  “Whatever.” She gave him some more dough and then stood up and took her completed biscuits and put them on the cookie sheet. “But you’re on the right track. That’s how I learned a lot of things. You just do it, and then make it better and better.” She straightened the biscuits. “Pretty soon, you’re the best. It’s important to be best. People can’t argue with best. It’s the—” She stopped. She had turned back to Michael and he was giving her that smile again.

  And the biscuit in front of him was fully formed and round, a tiny bit off-kilter, but acceptable by even Lisa’s standards.

  “Not best.” His smile widened eagerly. “Next time?”

  She stared at that radiant, sunny expression and slowly nodded her head. “Maybe. I wouldn’t put it past you. But give yourself a little time. I get impatient, too, and sometimes I don’t let myself enjoy things.” She was sure this wasn’t how she should be talking to a two-year-old. Too bad. It felt right and she’d go with it. She held out her hand to him. “Come over to the fire and we’ll sit and smell the biscuits and watch them bake. Good idea?”

  He took her hand but said firmly, “My biscuit, Lisa.”

  She laughed and carefully picked up his biscuit. “By all means, your biscuit, Michael.”

  * * *

  “I just got off the phone with Joe,” Eve said as she came down from her tent an hour later, when they were all gathered for breakfast. “It seems we may get the first guest arriving for the ceremony today,” she wryly. “Rather unexpected. She won’t wait to come with Joe when he brings the others. The minute she heard what was happening, she told him she had to be with me right away.”

  “I guess we don’t have to guess who that is,” Jane said ruefully. “And it’s not unexpected. You know how protective Cara is about you and Michael. It was barely okay as long as you were safely ensconced with Joe only hundreds of miles away from her school. An ocean is a different matter.”

  Jock stiffened. “Cara’s coming?”

  Eve nodded. “Joe wanted her to stay another week and finish her semester. She wasn’t having any of it. She told Joe to put her on the first plane out today.”

  “Cara,” Lisa repeated trying to dredge down to make the connection. “Cara Delaney? She lives with you, Eve?”

  “When she’s not at Juilliard. She’s sort of our ward. Family.” She made a face. “But she sometimes thinks Michael and I are her wards.”

  “Today?” Jock’s body was tense as he leaned forward, ignoring everything but what was important to him. “When?”

  “Four today,” Eve said. “Joe’s putting her on a flight to Edinburgh in a few minutes. He asked me to send one of MacDuff’s men to pick her up.” She glanced at MacDuff. “I thought maybe Robbie Madonald would be—”

  “Not bloody likely,” Jock said sharply. “I’m going to go get her.”

  “MacDuff needs you at the north bank,” Eve said quietly. “I don’t want to be here one day and start disrupting routines.”

  “You’re not doing it. It’s Cara,” he said curtly. “She should have stayed with Joe, where she’d be safe.”

  “Joe wouldn’t have sent her if he hadn’t thought it would be safe for her.”

  “Then we don’t agree.” He smiled recklessly. “And I’m on the spot, so I win.”

  “I can go after her, Jock,” Jane said.

  “With all due respect, I don’t regard your capabilities in the same league as Joe’s.” He turned to MacDuff. “I can give you until two today and then I have to go get her.”

  MacDuff shrugged. “I don’t like it. You’re sure it’s necessary?”

  “I’m sure. She’s a target. She’s the granddaughter of the most influential mob boss in Russia. He has enemies who might love to hand Cara’s head to him on a platter.”

  “But the fact that she’s Koskov’s granddaughter also offers her protection. Nothing’s happened to Cara since Eve took her under her wing. Wouldn’t they hesitate to go after her if it meant facing him?”

  “Hesitate? Screw hesitate. It’s not going to happen. I won’t have it. And how do you know they wouldn’t ha
ve gone after her?” He got to his feet. “I’m going down to the mists and get started. Don’t worry, I’ll bring her to you, Eve.”

  “I know you will.” She was gazing at him thoughtfully. “And you said ‘wouldn’t have gone after her,’ Jock. Curious sentence. It makes me wonder if you put some insurance in place to keep her safe during these last months. Did you?”

  He didn’t answer.

  “Jock?”

  “Aye.” He shrugged. “She was alone in New York at that school. Perhaps I had a contact keep an eye on her.”

  “‘Perhaps’?” Eve shook her head. “And no one can take care of her but you? We love her, Jock.”

  “I know. But she almost died before you and Joe took her into your home, and it was my fault. I’m not going to let it happen again. Learn to live with it, Eve.” He turned and headed for the north bank.

  “Well, that appears to be that.” MacDuff shook his head and took a last swallow of coffee before he got to his feet. “It appears that there’s a chance I’m going to be shorthanded for at least today.” He glanced at Lisa. “Are you in any shape to come help? I promise I’ll be easy on you.”

  Lisa’s head lifted, her eyes bright and alert. “Right now?”

  “No, let’s limit it to half a day to start out. You can stay here and make preparations for dinner.” He grimaced. “I don’t intend to do without that luxury. I’ve begun to look forward to it. Come around two, when I’m being deserted.” He looked at Eve. “I’d forgotten what a distraction Cara could be when I invited you to treat my lands as your own. Her only saving grace is her entertainment value.”

  “Wrong. That’s only her most obvious one,” Eve said. “And you know it, MacDuff. Want me to pack up and go somewhere else?”

  “I didn’t say that,” he said gruffly. “I like the lass.” He turned away. “Besides, I’d lose Jock if he had to go chasing after Cara to make certain that she was safe.” He glanced at Lisa. “We’ll work it out.”