“You have to make up your own mind about me,” he said softly. “That’s the way it’s always been. I can’t help you with it.”
“You never have,” she said curtly. “And it’s no wonder that I don’t understand you. But how well do you understand me? Did you really think I was only concerned about Michael and myself? Maybe you did, how do I know?” She jumped to her feet. “Well, screw you, Caleb. I’m not going to have anything happen to you. I wanted a protector for Michael, not help for myself or a damn sacrifice. We’re all going to come out of this alive.” She headed for her tent. “And I’m not going to sit around twiddling my thumbs. You may think this is your battle, but I’m not letting those bastards take anything away from me. Understand?”
“Absolutely. You couldn’t be more clear.” She looked over her shoulder to see him sitting there, the glow of the fire touching his dark hair, his eyes narrowed on her. “And I know you don’t want to encourage me, but I’m afraid you have. I believe I actually detected a hint of possessiveness in that last statement. It was something of—”
His phone rang.
“Sorry.” He pulled the phone out of his pocket and glanced at it. “I’ve been expecting this call from Palik. Since I wouldn’t want to force you to twiddle your thumbs when you’re being so proactive, I’ll turn on the speaker.” He punched ACCESS. “How soon will Lisa be here, Palik?”
“There’s been a slight problem,” Palik said hesitantly. “I’m not quite sure what her ETA is at the moment.” He went on hurriedly, “But I’ll know within a very short time. As soon as I get a call from—”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Caleb said with soft violence. “I told you that I want Lisa here now. You were sending someone to pick her up on Summer Island and put her on a plane.”
Lisa? Jane slowly turned away from the tent and moved back toward Caleb.
“I didn’t think there would be any trouble, but we can’t seem to locate her. We knew she was at Summer Island until two days ago. But when I sent my agent to go pick her up, Margaret Douglas told him that Lisa had left the island to fly to Miami the day before and might be back soon. Damn casual. And we couldn’t trace her after she got off the plane. We’re still trying.”
“Miami!”
“We’ll find her,” Palik said quickly. “Do you think I don’t know what you’d do to me if we didn’t? My best man, Haverty, is on this. He said that he questioned the flight attendants, and your sister didn’t appear to be traveling with anyone. Though she could have met someone in Miami. I would have flown to Miami myself if I hadn’t been mired in big problems here.”
“You don’t have any bigger problems than this, Palik.”
“I had to delegate, dammit. You told me I had to search Fiero Village until I got a name for you. I had to make a choice. There’s no proof yet that your sister was taken by any of those ghouls.”
“Is there any proof that she wasn’t?”
“No, but Haverty thinks he has a lead. He promised to get back to me in the next hour or so. I’ll let you know as soon as I do.” He paused. “I don’t suppose you’d be interested that I’m close to getting the name of the man who nailed Donzolo to that cross?”
“Not until you can tell me that he hasn’t already butchered my sister.” He cut the connection.
Caleb was breathing hard. His face was taut and pale, the features knife-hard. She could almost hear the thunder crackle as he turned toward her. “A little more than I expected,” he said curtly. “You don’t want to deal with this. Go on to bed.”
“The hell I will.” She came to stand beside him. “I’d say it was a little less than expected. You were sure that Lisa would be here. You told me that earlier. How did it all go wrong? Can’t you phone her?”
“I tried earlier today to let her know I was bringing her home. She didn’t answer me.”
She frowned, puzzled. “But you can still always reach her when you need to. It’s part of that bonding thing you have between you.”
“I couldn’t this time,” he said curtly. “It didn’t worry me because she’s been a bit temperamental lately and I thought it might be a response to a disagreement we had. I knew Palik’s agent would be picking her up today anyway.”
“Then why couldn’t he do it?”
“If I knew that, I wouldn’t be ready to kill Palik,” he said harshly. “He should have found a way to learn what Lisa was doing. No one is permitted on Summer Island but the employees of the research facility, so I couldn’t have anyone watching her on the island itself. I thought that might also be a safety factor, because no one else could get in. But no one can prevent anyone leaving there, either. If the lure was enticing enough, Lisa could have been persuaded to go to Miami. But why would Margaret Douglas make a decision like that so casually?”
“Why wouldn’t she?” Jane asked. “I’ve known Margaret for years, and unless she’s changed considerably she’s closer to being a Gypsy than anyone I know. She wouldn’t think of questioning Lisa about a little jaunt to Miami—it would probably be exactly what she’d do herself. That’s why they always got along so well.”
Caleb muttered a curse. “Letting the two of them cohabit even in the same hemisphere was a gigantic mistake.”
“Not usually.” Jane frowned. “Maybe this time. At any rate, you had nothing to say in her decisions. She’s not a child any longer.”
His dark eyes were glittering. “She’s my sister.”
“And Palik said that he’ll get back to you soon. You said he was very efficient.”
“Not efficient enough.” He turned away from her. “I told you to go to bed.”
“Yes, you did.” Why didn’t she just walk away as he’d told her to? She’d been trying to back away from him for months, and this might do it. But she couldn’t do it this way, not when he was in pain, not after all they’d gone through together. “And very rudely.” She crossed to the bottle of wine that was still lying by the fire. “But I might forgive you considering the circumstances.” She filled his glass with wine and brought it back to him. “Though you definitely need mellowing.” She held the glass out. “I’m not sure this is going to do the job, but it’s the only game in town. It might help a little. Drink it.”
He was staring at her without expression. Then he took the glass and drained it. “Satisfied?”
“No.” She handed him the bottle, then went over to the fire and dropped down before it. “It didn’t touch you. Maybe if it was vodka or whiskey.”
He stared at her for another moment. “That wouldn’t touch me, either.” He walked over to stand before her. “I don’t want you here. I want to be alone. I’m very upset. I don’t want to take it out on you, but I will. Get away from me, Jane.”
She shook her head. “You’re stuck with me. So you might as well sit down and talk, instead of growling at me.”
“I don’t want to talk.”
“Because it might reveal you have a few feelings tucked beneath all that fire and brimstone?” Her glance shifted to the fire. “You’re safe with me. I’d never tell. Because as far as I’m concerned, the next couple of hours aren’t going to exist. When they’re done, we’ll be going right back to where we were before. But, one way or another, we’ve been together a long time, and I can’t leave you when I can see you’re hurting. So suck it up, Caleb.”
He stood there for another instant, then dropped down on the ground beside her. “Pity?”
“Shut up. Nothing is ever black and white. No one should know that better than you. Your life has been all the colors of the rainbow, but mostly black and blue. I need to be here, whether you need me or not.” She paused. “You think you made a mistake. You think those creeps went after Lisa because they thought she had the power they needed, or they wanted to use her to get to you. You believe she wasn’t as safe as you thought, that she was a prime target after all.”
“Are you finished?”
“Except to say that you’re very smart and you wouldn’t ma
ke a mistake like that if there was any way to prevent it. It’s not as if Lisa has ever been easy. She’s a rebel through and through, and the only person she’s ever paid any attention to is you.”
“Then it seems I didn’t handle her well, doesn’t it?” His lips twisted. “Maybe I should have furnished a luxurious dungeon for her at my place in Scotland instead of letting her roam the world.”
“Yeah, that would have worked,” Jane said sarcastically. “She would have found a way to get a truckload of C-4 and blow the place up.” She added, “Though I did wonder why you didn’t keep her closer to you after that day she saved my life in the desert. She was terribly upset when she was forced to stop the heart of that killer, Santara. Even I could see it.” Jane could still see it, feel it. Lisa tackling Santara, her body covering him, pulling him close, her expression fierce, intent, as she concentrated on exploding his heart. And then afterward, broken and numb as she’d gazed in horror down at the man she had killed as Caleb lifted her to her feet and gently held her.
“Of course she was upset,” he said roughly. “It was her first kill. She’d never used the blood talent before.” He paused. “And she’s never used it since.”
Her gaze flew to his face. “What?”
“Surprised? All that passion and self-will…I was shocked, too. I tried to help her through the aftereffects of the kill, but I admit I expected that after she became accustomed to the idea, it might begin to intrigue her. All that power…” His smile was bitter. “After all, that’s why the Ridondo family became hunters when they gave up the darker…amusements. It helped to stave off the temptation. And look who she had for a brother. But evidently she didn’t feel the pull—or if she did, she resisted it.” He added harshly, “That’s another reason why I was certain she wouldn’t be targeted. Only the one kill that I made sure was kept secret, and no pattern that would lead anyone to doubt the entire scenario I’d set up to keep her safe.”
“The entire scenario…” Her eyes widened. “That’s the reason you didn’t keep her close to you. Lisa adores you, she would never have left you voluntarily. You sent her away so that there would be no chance she’d be thought guilty thanks to her association with you. It was another way of protecting her.”
“Nonsense,” he said coolly. “She was nineteen and it was only natural she’d want to explore everything the world had to offer. I just encouraged her to do it.”
“She would never have gone. But she was used to doing whatever you wanted her to do.” Jane was ignoring what he’d said and trying to work her way through to the truth. “You weren’t just her mentor, but also the only family member she trusted. You’d taken care of her and kept her safe since her sister was killed.” She repeated deliberately, “You did send her away, Caleb.”
He shrugged. “Think what you like. At the moment, I’m not in the mood to argue with you. I just thought you might like to know that Lisa had only the one kill. Things like that tend to mean something to you.”
“But that one kill was the one to save my life,” Jane said slowly. “I’m glad she never had to kill again, but if it traumatized her to that extent I’m wondering if it hurt her even worse than I imagined.”
“First you worry about her having to kill to save your life. Then you worry about Lisa being traumatized by not being able to kill anyone else. There’s something very bizarre about you embracing that contrast.” He added mockingly, “Be careful, maybe you’re being drawn under the spell of my wicked influence.”
“We’re not talking about you, we’re talking about Lisa. And I didn’t really mean…” She gave it up. It was all too complex. He was being his usual enigmatic self. Besides, she had found out entirely too much tonight about Caleb…and Lisa, and she didn’t know where it was leading her. “But anything that will keep her from being noticed now would be a good thing.” She glanced at him. “And maybe no one did notice her. Maybe all that stuff you did worked, and Lisa just went to Miami to get a suntan.”
“Maybe she did.” He added grimly, “However, suntans are no longer considered healthy.”
“Okay, then you’ll have to lecture her about that when you see her.” She yawned. “But I’m tired of arguing with you and I won’t do it any longer. If you did make a mistake, then we’ll fix it and get her back. But I doubt you did. You’ve kept her safe all these years; I can’t see you screwing up now. That man Palik will probably be calling you and telling you that soon.”
“I didn’t say I’d made a mistake. I believe those were your words.”
“I stand corrected.” She shifted over beside him and put her head on his shoulder. “But all the rest is true. You know Lisa, and you shouldn’t have panicked. So we’ll just sit here and wait.”
He went still. “By all means, make yourself comfortable.”
“I will. I’m tired. I just got out of the hospital.”
“Then go to bed.”
“We’ve already gone down that path.” She yawned again. “You were never really angry at me. Maybe a bit annoyed because you weren’t getting your own way and you were scared about her. But I think you’ve got some of that frustration and worry out now. Can’t we just sit here and be quiet for a little while?”
She could feel his breath move beneath her cheek as a little of the tension left his body. “Why not?” He pulled her into the curve of his shoulder. “I guess we could do that, Jane…”
* * *
“Shh!” Caleb’s hand clamped down abruptly, covering Jane’s lips and jarring her from sleep. “Not a sound.” His gaze was searching the darkness, focusing on the tents down the hill and to the left. “I don’t like this…”
Jane had frozen. It was more than clear Caleb didn’t like what he sensed was out there in the darkness. Every muscle in his body was sleek, tense, powerful, ready for attack. She shook off his hand, her eyes straining to see what had alerted him. “A couple of the students?” she whispered.
He shook his head. “One person. Moving carefully. He doesn’t want us to know he’s heading this way.” He reached in his jacket pocket, pulled out his Glock, and handed it to her. “I think I’ll have to go ask him why. So much for how safe you are in this encampment. Stay here and take care of Michael.”
Before she could answer, he’d faded out of the glow of the campfire into the darkness.
And she had his gun in her hand, she thought in frustration. He might not need it if he got within arm’s distance of the man, but what if he didn’t and that other man was armed?
Stop worrying. Caleb was the Hunter, an expert. Her job was to protect Michael. She moved closer to the entrance of the tent, but she was still staring desperately down the hill. Caleb must have reached that lower tent area by now, but she didn’t hear anything.
No sound of struggle.
No outcry.
She didn’t want to stay here tucked away with Michael. She wanted to be there for Caleb.
She went still. She had just heard…something…
“Son of a bitch!” A black-garbed body was tossed like a sack of garbage on the ground beside Jane and rolled down the slope toward the fire! “That wasn’t necessary. You hurt me, Caleb.”
Lisa! Jane knew that voice very well. She stared in shock as the girl rolled over and glared at Caleb, who was now striding down the slope toward her.
“I could have killed you.” Caleb was glaring down at his sister. “Which is what I’m tempted to do now. What the hell do you think you’re doing here, Lisa?”
She lifted her chin. “I wanted to come. You said it might be time I came back the last time I talked to you.” She added defiantly, “Not that I cared what you thought. I make my own decisions now. I was just getting bored on the island and wanted a change.”
“You almost got more than you bargained for,” he said grimly. “Why did you just hop on a plane without letting me know? And why didn’t you answer my calls?”
“I didn’t want to talk to you yet. I would have gotten around to it. You always want ever
ything your own way. You might have decided to send me back.” She scrambled to her knees. “And stop standing over me as if you were going to tell an executioner to lop off my head.”
“It’s a thought.”
“A very bad one.” Jane couldn’t take this any longer. She was striding down the slope toward them. There was something very poignant and vulnerable about Lisa in this moment. It had been a long time since she’d seen Caleb’s sister, but she didn’t look any older than that lovely dark-haired nineteen-year-old who seemed to light up every room. And the half-defiant, half-pleading way she was gazing up at Caleb was also the same. It was making Jane’s heart ache for her. “Give her a break, Caleb. She’s here now and no damage done. She’s right, this was really entirely her own business.”
Caleb didn’t look at her. “Damage could have been done.”
“Then it probably would have been your fault for keeping her in the dark all the time. Stop blaming her.” She thrust the Glock he’d given her at him. “You’re lucky you didn’t have this to shoot her with.”
“It wasn’t his fault.” Lisa suddenly turned fiercely on her. “Don’t be stupid. He was trying to protect you. He’d never shoot me. Didn’t you see how good he is? He took me down so quietly that no one down there in the tents even knew what was happening.”
“Lisa,” Caleb said quietly.
“Well, it wasn’t all your fault.” Lisa drew a deep breath. “I knew you weren’t going to like it when I came here.” She turned back to Jane. “Thank you for trying to step in and keep him from being angry with me, but you should have kept out of it.”
“I’ll remember that next time,” Jane said dryly. “Along with the fact that the two of you are so close that you can almost finish each other’s sentences. Forgive me for trying to even out the playing field a little.” She took a step closer and started to examine Lisa’s arms. “You said you were hurt. Where?”
The Persuasion Page 12
