Hunting Eve

by Iris Johansen

  Her softness pressing against his hardness.

  No, her breasts were not soft, the tips were hard.

  She couldn’t breathe.

  “It’s not easy for me either,” he murmured. He pulled her closer, enveloping her.

  Flesh to flesh.

  She was dizzy. Heat was surrounding her. Every nerve in her body was alive, crackling.

  And everything, every sensation, was coming from him, pulling her toward him.

  “Is this … are you telling me the truth, Caleb?”

  “Mostly. I lied about its not being easy. I have a few masochist tendencies that permit me to enjoy it.”

  “But about the rest?”

  “You’ll be well enough to leave here by late afternoon. As I said, it’s not a permanent fix. If you don’t abuse yourself too much, you’ll be fine for a day or two.” His lips brushed her temple. “If you start getting weak, all you’ll have to do is come to me, and we’ll do this again. I’m at your disposal.”

  “That’s not going to happen.”

  “You can never tell…”

  “And I won’t forgive you if I find out that you’re lying to me.”

  “I wouldn’t dare.”

  “Or twist it to suit yourself.”

  “I would dare to do that. But how would you know whether it would work if I didn’t do exactly what I’m doing? That’s why it’s important that I have your trust.” He rubbed against her. “For instance, this is all part of the therapy. The tingling, sexual rush, and intense sensation is all beneficial.”

  “Caleb.”

  “Just a small lie. I don’t know if it is or not, but I thought we both deserved it.”

  “I don’t want this.”

  “Of course you do.” He laid his head on her shoulder, his cheek on the wound. She could feel both the smoothness and the faintest roughness. It was wildly erotic. “You want it as much as I do. But I have to concentrate on something less entertaining. I made you a promise.” His lips moved against the flesh of her shoulder. “Do you feel your blood surge against my mouth? I’m going to lie here and hold you, and the blood is going to flow and move and heat. Close your eyes and let it come to me.”

  Come to him.

  Her entire body was tinglingly alive and coming, surging, to him.

  “Shh, not that, not yet.” His tongue touched the flesh of her shoulder. “Just give your body what it needs to heal. A few more minutes, and the heat will cause everything to blur, and the need will be gone for a while.”

  She didn’t believe him. The need was too intense, too hot, the feel of him was too good. She instinctively moved closer.

  “No. Later, anything you want. Not now.” His cheek rubbed back and forth against her breasts. “Feel your heart beat? It’s bringing the blood to every part of your upper body. But particularly where the wound is causing all that shock and trauma.” She shuddered as he licked delicately at her nipple. “Burning? Stomach muscles clenching? It’s all good, Jane.”

  She drew a deep breath. “The hell it is.”

  “It will have a good result.” His cheek was once more on her shoulder. “But the blur is coming. You can relax now.”

  The blur.

  The heat.

  Dizziness and swirling intensity.

  Relaxed …

  The sexual need was still there, but it was like low-burning embers.

  Everything was visible only through a red heat haze.

  Blood haze?

  It didn’t matter …

  All she wanted to do was lie there with Caleb and let the haze surround her. But should she—

  “Shh, it’s okay. Let go. I’ll bring you back when you’ve had enough…”

  CHAPTER

  11

  JANE’S EYES FLEW OPEN, startled.

  “Don’t be afraid,” Caleb whispered. “It’s just time for you to start stirring. They’re starting to serve the meds. You don’t want any nurses bustling in here.”

  “No.” Not with Caleb half-dressed and in bed with her. “How long was—”

  “Long enough for you.” He sat up and carefully rebandaged her wound. “And not nearly long enough for me. Button your shirt. I’d do it, but I’m afraid you’ve been jarred out of intimacy.” He swung his feet to the floor, and his fingers began buttoning his shirt. “But it was quite an intimacy, wasn’t it?”

  “Intimacy? I don’t know what it was,” Jane said as she hurriedly buttoned her shirt. “I’ve never felt anything like that before. I think you must have hypnotized me or something.”

  “You said yes, Jane.”

  “I know I did. I thought—I believed you when you said—” She looked at him. “Should I have believed you, Caleb?”

  “Ask yourself that question. How do you feel, Jane?”

  She thought about it. “Good, I think.” Her eyes widened. “No, very good. Normal.”

  “High energy?”

  “Yes.”

  “Any pain in your shoulder?”

  She moved her shoulder in a half shrug. “No pain at all.”

  “Why don’t you take a look at the wound.”

  She slowly pulled her shirt off her shoulder and shifted the bandage. “It’s still there. No miracle recovery, Caleb.”

  “The doctors will think it’s one. We accomplished three weeks’ worth of healing in the last three hours.” He headed for the door. “Now go wash your face while I go round up a doctor or two to give you the once-over.”

  “Do you think it really worked, Caleb?”

  “It worked. Once you get on your feet and start moving, you’ll know that it did.” He glanced back over his shoulder. “And you may feel a little strange for a while, but you’ll get used to it.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Your blood has become … accustomed to responding to me. It may continue to have a residual effect on your body responses. We were together for a long time. Action and reaction.”

  “You didn’t say there would be any long-term effects.”

  “I didn’t, did I? I wasn’t really sure, but there was always that possibility. We’ll have to work through it ourselves.” He smiled slyly. “I wouldn’t mention that to Trevor. It might make him feel a little … excluded.”

  She stared at him in astonishment, then understood. He hadn’t liked it one bit when she had told him that Trevor had reminded her of Cira’s lover, Anthony. It somehow made her closer to Trevor in his eyes. This was a little payback.

  She said softly, “Why, you bastard.”

  She heard him laugh as he walked out the door.

  Southern Colorado

  “IT’S ABOUT TIME YOU answered your phone,” Venable said sourly.

  “How was I supposed to know it was you until you unblocked your caller ID.” Kendra glanced over at Margaret, who was asleep in the passenger seat. They had passed construction sites and several wailing sirens on their trip down to southern Colorado, but she hadn’t stirred. A simple phone conversation was unlikely to wake her. “I don’t pick up for just anyone.”

  “I’m honored,” he said sarcastically. “But I believe you might have suspected I’d be calling. And I know that Jane MacGuire must have been trying to reach you. She was very upset when she heard about what was happening at Goldfork.”

  “Then you shouldn’t have told her, dammit.”

  “And I’ll bet you haven’t answered her calls, either.”

  He was right. Kendra had wanted to put off talking to anyone until she absolutely had to do it. She had to sift through the events of the past hours and decide what she could reveal. She hated lies, and deceit was just that in her eyes. “How was I to know that you’d bring Jane into this? Quinn wouldn’t want her to be disturbed.”

  “Disturbed? We have a lot of questions about what went down in Goldfork. A lot of people are upset that you decided to flee the scene, especially since you left behind a dead cop in the driveway.”

  “A man tried to kill us up there in Goldfork. Excuse me for not wa
nting to stick around.”

  “Who?”

  “Blick.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Margaret is sure.”

  “Margaret Douglas is with you? We had reports of a woman of her description in the neighborhood but no confirmation.”

  “She got to Goldfork even before I did. She recognized Blick from the photo in the dossier you gave to Quinn and Jane. I take it that he hasn’t been apprehended?”

  “No sign of him. When did you last see him?”

  “At Doane’s house.”

  “Could he be following you?”

  “Yes, but I’m fairly sure he’s not.”

  “Okay, putting aside that bit of news … What in the hell was Blick doing back in Goldfork? It looks like he tried to destroy the house with that gas explosion.”

  This was a bit awkward. “Actually, that was sort of my handiwork.”

  Venable muttered a curse. “I suppose I should have known.”

  “Why should you have known? It was purely in self-defense.” She paused. “Is there anything left of the house?”

  “Yeah. Most of it is fine. Just a couple rooms upstairs were damaged. Evidence teams are there now. They really want to talk to you.”

  “Later.” Kendra drove in silence for a moment. It would probably have been better for her if the place had burned to the ground. She had an idea what his next question was going to be. She wasn’t surprised when it came.

  “So what did you find in that staircase, Kendra?”

  “The staircase?”

  “I received pictures. A panel on the landing was destroyed. More of your handiwork?”

  “Yes.”

  “So what did you find?”

  She braced herself. She hated this. “Nothing. We were still fishing around in there when Blick showed up. I was just going to suggest that your people give it a closer look. Doane went to a lot of trouble to make that secret compartment.”

  A long moment of silence. “We searched and came up with zilch. Are you positive you didn’t find the disk?”

  “No disk.”

  “Or anything else?”

  Damn, she hated to lie. “I’m positive.”

  Another pause. He didn’t believe her.

  Tit for Tat. She wasn’t sure she believed anything he’d told her about that disk either.

  She looked down at the tattered notebook on the console beside her. Not yet, Venable.

  “Okay,” he finally said.

  “Have the forensics guys pulled anything else from Doane’s car?”

  “Not a lot. That was gold dust in the trunk, but it wasn’t especially pure.”

  “Unprocessed?”

  “It was processed, but not in the way that it usually is these days. They found traces of cyanide in it.”

  “That doesn’t sound good.”

  “It’s actually not uncommon. Cyanide is one of the chemicals used to extract impurities from the gold. But the thing is that the gold dust we found in Doane’s car wasn’t processed like most gold is today.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Most gold undergoes a type of electrolysis to further separate it from other minerals. That wasn’t done in this case. It’s almost as if…”

  “What?”

  “That the gold dust we found may have been processed over a hundred years ago.”

  Kendra let that sink in for a moment. What in the hell was going on here? “Interesting.”

  “Yeah. I’m not sure what it means, but I thought you’d like to know.”

  “I do. Thanks.”

  “Always willing to cooperate. Cooperation is very important, Kendra.” The words couldn’t have been more laden with sarcasm.

  Sorry, Venable.

  “So what’s your next move?” Venable asked. “Or am I allowed to ask?”

  She hesitated while she decided whether or not to tell him. What the hell. “We’re going down to the southern part of the state, in the coverage area of the radio stations on Doane’s car stereo.”

  “We’ve been looking at that part of the state ourselves. It’s a pretty big coverage area.”

  “I know.”

  “And did you say ‘we’?”

  “Margaret is still with me.”

  “Good God.” Venable chuckled. “It sounds like you’re a team. Shades of Thelma and Louise. How did that happen?”

  “Long story. And we are not a team. Thelma and Louise? I find nothing laudatory in being compared to two idiotic women who drove off into the Grand Canyon. I’ll be in touch, Venable.”

  Kendra cut the connection.

  “Thelma and Louise?” Margaret asked drowsily. “Grand Canyon?”

  Kendra glanced over and saw Margaret’s eyes were open. “I thought you were sound asleep. How much did you hear?”

  “From the beginning. Only from your side, but it was enough to put most of the conversation together. I was sound asleep, but I seem to have a built-in alarm for things I need to hear. Thelma and Louise?”

  “It’s an old movie. I’m not sure you were even born then, but it’s kind of a classic.”

  “I like classics but more in the Frank Capra vein. That was a happier age. Anyone who drives a car into the Grand Canyon strikes of craziness or despair. Not my cup of tea.”

  “I can see that. Not mine either. Which is why Venable’s comparison annoyed me.”

  “One reason,” Margaret said quietly. “The main reason is that you’re still having trouble with my coming with you. You’ll get used to me, Kendra.” She smiled. “You might even be glad I came. I know that you like to work by yourself and be totally independent, but that can also be lonely.”

  “I’m used to being lonely. I was blind until I was twenty.” She paused. “That sounded as if I was sorry for the way I grew up. I didn’t mean it like that. I had my mother, who was completely supportive and wonderful. I had a best friend, Olivia, and a few other friends who managed to tolerate my rather abrasive personality. The loneliness was my fault. There were times when I drew into myself and lived there.” She chuckled. “Because I was damn good company.”

  “Really?” Margaret murmured demurely. “I haven’t noticed.”

  “Ouch.” Kendra glanced at her in surprise. “That was a sharp little jab. Not what I was expecting from Miss Sunshine and Light.”

  “Expect it. I’m only human. I believe in being cheerful and looking for the sun. But I also believe in being honest, and you left yourself wide open.” She straightened on the seat. “You can be abrasive, but I like it. It’s … stimulating.”

  “I’m so glad I meet with your approval,” Kendra said dryly. “And I hope I’ve put your worries about my loneliness to rest.” She tilted her head. “What about you? Did I detect a hint of empathy? You appear to be something of a loner yourself.”

  She shook her head. “No, I like people. I like to be with them and interact and feel their energy flow to me. The human race is a wonderful thing. Are you asking me if I need them?”

  “Well, you seem to be leaning toward the animal kingdom.”

  “I like animals, too. And they can be very restful in comparison to people. They have simpler motivations. Food, shelter, procreation are central. But they also have emotional responses and often a sense of humor.” She smiled. “It took me a while to be able to read those responses. After I ran away from home when I was eight, I lived off the land for three years. I was almost totally without human contact. That’s when I learned the most about them.”

  “You ran away from home?”

  “I didn’t have a wonderful, supportive mother like you. She died when I was born. My father … was not kind. I decided it was time to go away and cheat him of the welfare check he was getting for me.” She smiled cheerfully. “The only other attractive option was to persuade the Doberman down the street to tear his throat out.”

  “I … see.”

  “No, you don’t. You’re a little shocked that I’d say something like that much less think it.
You’re getting a glimpse of my dark side, which pops out now and then.”

  “I’m not shocked. I’m sorry that you were abused as a child. I hate it when children or animals are being hurt. That Doberman idea didn’t sound all that bad to me.”

  “It was just a passing thought. I wouldn’t really get a helpless dog into trouble like that. I just couldn’t think of a way to do it myself.”

  “Three years living off the land is a long time.”

  “I enjoyed it. I was almost sorry when I decided I wanted to learn things that I couldn’t in the woods. But then I found this wonderful couple, Bill and Laura Skanner, who lived on a farm in the next county, didn’t believe that the law was always right, and thought that kids shouldn’t be caught in the middle. They liked me, and I liked them, and I stayed with them for two years.”

  “And your father?”

  “I don’t know.” She met Kendra’s eyes. “I never looked back.”

  The words were clear and bold and yet held a hint of poignancy, Kendra thought. Or perhaps she was reading something that wasn’t there into them. Maybe that was Margaret’s philosophy of life.

  “And what happened to the couple that you lived with during those years?”

  “Bill and Laura had a few problems, but we straightened them out, and now they’re living happily ever after.”

  “Do you see them?”

  “Sometimes. But they’re better off without me. I’m not cut out for happily ever after.” She took out her cell phone and glanced at it. “I got another call from Jane while I was asleep.” She didn’t listen to the voice mail as she gazed at Kendra. “I’m not going to ignore another call just because it’s hard for me to deal with. I only did it because I was hoping that maybe no one would tell her about Goldfork since she was in the hospital and couldn’t do anything about it.”

  “Well, evidently Venable wasn’t in a protective mood when he heard about the blowup there. He wanted answers, and he went to Jane to see if she could get them for him.” Kendra frowned. “And he didn’t believe me when I told him we hadn’t found anything. So we’ll probably have him on our trail right away.”

  “But you told him where we were going anyway.”

  “That was about Eve. I didn’t have a right to keep anything about the search from him. The journal … I don’t know. That may be another story and not one Venable was entirely honest about.” She glanced down at the journal. “And I think we should get this out of our hands and into a safe place as soon as we reach Mineral County. It may not only be Blick who wants to get hold of it.”