Night and Day

by Iris Johansen

  “But you didn’t tell Cara?”

  “It didn’t seem the time to tell her that it was her mother who had probably murdered her sister,” Eve said bitterly. “How do you tell a child something like that? She was safe with me. I thought I could keep her that way. And she was having enough to face at the time.”

  Jane was silent. But now Cara was going to have to face that truth and make her own judgments … and mistakes.

  “I know.” Eve was reading her expression. “Hindsight, Jane. I should have prepared her. I left her alone and vulnerable. I just have to trust her and hope for the best.”

  Eleven years old, Jane wanted to tell Eve. Cara was only eleven years old, and she was up against a woman Eve had called a monster. She didn’t say it. “Cara’s very smart. She’ll get through this. We just have to—”

  “Burbank just called me.” Joe Quinn was striding down the slope toward the campfire. “They’ve located Natalie’s helicopter. They think it’s heading for Liverpool. Natalie will probably be switching to a private jet there. Let’s go.”

  Eve jumped to her feet. “Can’t Scotland Yard intercept them? After all, it’s a kidnapping.”

  “It would be difficult. Proof. Family rights. Natalie is her mother.” Joe took Eve’s elbow and headed toward the road. “It’s probably going to have to be us.”

  Jane felt powerless. “What can I do to help?” Jane called after them. “Should I come along?”

  “No, stay here and hold everything together,” Joe said over his shoulder. “The local police aren’t pleased at those booby traps on the road. They’re asking a lot of questions I don’t have time to answer. The first thing that came to their mind was terrorists. They’re going to ask a lot more if they find out we’ve blown up the top of one of those scenic hills, and there may be bodies to deal with.”

  “How are you going to get to Liverpool in time?”

  “I parked the helicopter about seven miles from here when I arrived in that heavy fog. We’ll grab one of the cars and drive there and hop on it. Try to cover for us, Jane.”

  “I’ll do what I can.” She gazed after them as they hurried up the slope toward the road. “But I’d rather be with you. Be careful, Eve…”

  * * *

  Be careful …

  The time for being careful was over if they could manage to reach Liverpool in time, Eve thought, as she waved back at Jane in response and turned to Joe. “What are our chances?”

  “Natalie’s pilot is bound to reach there before we do,” he said curtly. “They have a big head start. But they may not be able to pick up a private jet right away. Burbank said they’d checked the rental companies, and there was no advance rental to Natalie or any Russian company or entity. We have a chance of getting there before they find one to rent.”

  “That’s not like Natalie,” Eve frowned. “She planned everything else out to the last detail. Why would she slip up there?”

  “Maybe it wasn’t up to her.” Joe’s brows rose as he glanced at her. “You’re very sure. You seem to be on the same wavelength as Natalie Castino.”

  “Heaven help me if I am,” Eve said. “There’s no way I’d want to have any bond or similarity with Natalie Castino.”

  “But you believe you know how she thinks.”

  “Yes.” She and Natalie had only shared phone calls and one traumatic meeting that had ended with Natalie’s shooting Joe and giving him that flesh wound before taking Cara. But there was no doubt that Eve knew the woman in a very real and terrifying way. “And she knows how I think.” Her lips tightened. “Though she believes I’m a sentimental fool and will try to use it against me to get her hands on that chest of coins she wants so desperately.”

  “Which she won’t be able to do if we can stop her at Liverpool. Then we can—” He stopped short as they reached the road. “Shit.”

  Eve’s eyes flew to his face and then followed his gaze to a black limo that had parked a good distance down the road behind the yellow tape put up by the local police. A man in a brown suit and graying hair had gotten out of the car and was walking down the slope toward the camp. “What is it? Who is he?”

  “Agent Jason Toller. Justice Department. Bad timing.”

  Worse than bad timing, Eve thought. Joe had told her that Agent Toller had been investigating Jenny Castino’s death after he’d received a tip the skeleton found in California was the daughter of drug Czar Juan Castino. He’d not been pleased that Joe and Eve had taken Cara, Castino’s other daughter, and hidden her away from both the Mexican and U.S. governments. So displeased that he’d threatened to toss Joe into jail for interfering with an international immigration case if he got in the way of his investigation. He would definitely consider Joe’s leaving the U.S. and rushing here to help Eve and Cara as getting in his way.

  “We don’t have time to make excuses or try to talk him out of anything.” Eve added with frustration, “And, dammit, we can’t have him chasing after us.”

  “And what do you suggest?” Joe asked. “He’s not a bad guy, just a hard-ass. I’d really prefer not to shoot him.”

  “No choice. You go and try to stop Natalie.” She turned on her heel and started back down the slope. “I’m not going to let him grill Jane when she doesn’t have any idea what’s happening. I’ll try to delay him myself. Hurry. Get out of sight and on the road.”

  He started up the slope. “I may get to Liverpool too late, you know.”

  “And you might not. Call me, Joe.”

  He didn’t answer.

  When she looked back, he was gone.

  And Toller was heading toward Jane, who was still standing by the campfire.

  Eve increased her pace as she glanced over her shoulder.

  No sign of Joe. Good.

  Jane was always careful and discreet, but Eve hadn’t mentioned Joe’s trouble with Toller to her. Still, there was no way Jane would say anything, and in a few minutes, Eve would be there.

  And hopefully Joe would be halfway to that helicopter he’d parked several miles away.

  She wanted to be with him. She wanted to be there when he tried to stop Natalie. As she had told Joe, she knew her. If Natalie panicked, Eve might be able to talk to her, deal with her.

  And keep Cara safe.

  But she had made the right decision, she realized reluctantly. Toller was far more likely to be antagonistic and interfere with Joe than with her.

  And Joe could fly the helicopter.

  Trust Joe.

  And pray he got there in time.

  * * *

  “Here you are, Eve.” Jane smiled and turned to her as Eve reached her. “I was just telling this gentleman I had no idea where you’d disappeared. He was looking for either you or Joe.” She gestured. “Agent Jason Toller with the Justice Department.”

  “Well, here I am,” Eve said. “And I’m sure Joe is somewhere about.”

  “Exactly where, Ms. Duncan?” Toller asked.

  “I saw him down by the lake several minutes ago,” Jane said quickly. “I think it’s something to do with our Cara, Eve.”

  “Our Cara?” Toller repeated sourly. “You do know, Ms. MacGuire, that Cara Castino has been held illegally by Joe Quinn and Eve Duncan and that your knowledge makes you an accomplice?”

  “She knows no such thing,” Eve said bluntly. “Jane only knows that Cara is going to live with Joe and me on a trial basis before we commit to adopting her. I brought her on this trip to the Highlands so that Cara could get to know Jane. I’m sure you’re aware that Jane is my adopted daughter.”

  “Yes, I’m aware of everything about Ms. MacGuire,” Toller said curtly. “Including the fact that she’s friends with John MacDuff, Lord of MacDuff’s Run, who organized a hunt for a lost family treasure that included her and a few other intimate friends of the earl. Let’s see, they were Jock Gavin and a Seth Caleb … It’s very convenient that you suddenly felt the urge for a family reunion and joined them. Particularly since the hunt was to take place in the wilds o
f the Highlands.” He looked at the surrounding rugged hills that plunged down to the large crystal blue lake. “A very good hiding place, wouldn’t you say? I might have to have a talk with MacDuff.”

  “You will not,” Eve said. “MacDuff is presently in the hospital, as you probably know. He was injured during the hunt and had to be airlifted out of here. You won’t bother him or Jane or anyone else to try to get information from Joe or me.” She turned to Jane. “Will you excuse us, Jane?”

  “Are you sure?” Jane was gazing at Toller. “Stop worrying about me, Eve. If he’s trying to intimidate me, he’s not succeeding.”

  “I know that. I just don’t like for you to have to fight my fight.”

  Jane smiled. “It’s always my pleasure.” She turned and walked toward the lake. “If you need me, call.”

  “Very loyal,” Toller said. “But she should be intimidated. She’s involved herself in a tangle that’s of concern to our government.”

  “Back off,” Eve said. “You’d have a hell of a time proving Jane was doing anything but being a good daughter and extending hospitality to me and Cara. As far as questioning MacDuff, you’re in his country, and he has more influence here and in London than you’d ever dream. He’s a war hero and something of a folk hero, too. You’d find yourself very unwelcome if you push him.” She added, “But that was probably a bluff. Joe said you were smart and efficient and wanted to avoid international incidents. You wouldn’t go up against MacDuff.”

  He was silent, staring at her. He shrugged. “No, I wouldn’t.”

  “Then why did you try to bluff me?”

  “Because I’m pissed off that Quinn made a fool of my agents and skipped out of the country. By doing it, he also made a fool of me. I warned him against that. I could tolerate his hiding you and the kid away. I knew we’d find you eventually. But I warned him that I’d toss him into jail if he made a move that would hurt my investigation. He did it anyway.”

  “To save Cara’s life, to save my life.”

  “I have no proof of that. And he made me scramble to find him. But not too hard, he wasn’t covering his tracks when he decided to go to you. He was just in a hurry. Which let me piece together a little of what was happening with you.” His lips tightened. “Very little. There are too many blanks. MacDuff is in the hospital with broken bones, but they examined him for internal injuries that might have occurred from a blast. Would you like to tell me what happened to him?”

  “Not unless you prove to me that it would help Cara.”

  “And those local policemen on the road up there brought in an explosives expert to disarm IEDs. Same answer?”

  “Same answer.” She paused. “But aren’t you curious why someone would be so determined to kill an eleven-year-old girl that they’d plant IEDs to keep her from escaping?”

  “All the more reason why you should turn her over to us to keep her safe.”

  “And you’d turn her over to Child Services and start negotiating with the Mexican government to return her to her loving parents. Isn’t that right?”

  “That’s the law.”

  “And someone would be worried that she knew too much, had seen too much, and she could end up dead. Joe and I aren’t going to risk that.”

  “You have no choice unless you intend to stay on the run.”

  “We’ll find a way.”

  “Look, I told Quinn that, good as his intentions were, Cara Castino is a Mexican citizen who could cause us boundless red tape and years of diplomatic problems if we let her stay in the U.S. She’d be the focus of all kinds of activists on both sides of the border.”

  “He told me,” Eve said coldly. “Screw your red tape. We’re not sending her back to Mexico. She’d be surrounded by the worst elements if we did. The Mexican citizen who was her loving father was Juan Castino, a drug dealer who was high up on the Mexican government’s list of killers and criminal kingpins. You’ll notice I say ‘was.’ We were informed that Castino was killed early this morning. I assume you heard the same thing?”

  “I did. But I’d be curious to know your source. The story hasn’t been released to the press yet. I’ve been told the coalition of cartels down there is in a turmoil. The word is that Salazar, one of his rivals in the drug trade, took out Castino because he was afraid Castino had found out that he was responsible for his children’s kidnapping eight years ago.” His gaze narrowed on her face. “You wouldn’t know anything about that?”

  “I know that with Castino dead, Cara is safer, and your red tape has dwindled enormously.”

  “Not necessarily.” Toller smiled. “Castino’s wife, Natalie, is still alive, and I’m sure that the members of his cartel will support her claim for her lost child. On the other hand, Salazar will probably be denying any knowledge of either the kidnapping or the killing of Castino.”

  “I don’t agree,” Eve said. “I don’t think you have to worry about Salazar.”

  Toller’s gaze narrowed on her face. “And why is that?”

  Eve had a fleeting memory of Salazar’s dead body torn and broken by the blast Joe had set at the top of the hill not more than an hour’s walking distance from here. She forced herself to keep her gaze on Toller and not glance at that hill. “You told me yourself, the cartels are in turmoil. If Salazar is guilty of Castino’s assassination, then it would be smart of him to keep a low profile.” She paused. “But I would look closer to home than Salazar, Toller.”

  He stiffened. “What are you talking about?”

  She shouldn’t say this. It wouldn’t do any good until they could gather evidence. She should let it go right now.

  To hell with letting it go.

  Tell him and let it simmer.

  “Natalie Castino.”

  “What?” He shook his head in disbelief. “I know you’re reaching because you don’t want Cara to return to Mexico, but there’s no suspicion that Natalie Castino is involved in her husband’s murder.”

  “There’s suspicion,” she said grimly. “Joe, me, and Detective Manez with the Mexican police. Don’t believe Joe and me, but check with Manez.”

  “And does Manez have proof?”

  “No one has proof. Natalie Castino is very careful about leaving evidence about. She pays attention, and she makes sure that she dots every i.”

  “I understand she isn’t even in Mexico at the present time. She’s visiting her father in Moscow.”

  “That’s the story.” She couldn’t risk telling him much more. The situation was too volatile, and anything, even a call from this agent from the Justice Department might cause repercussions with Natalie that involved Cara. “Or it might be a fairy tale. Why don’t you find out?”

  He was silent a moment, gazing at her. “Because my job isn’t to investigate Castino’s death. It’s to keep our government out of a knock-down drag-out fight for custody of a child that would be bad politically no matter how it turned out.”

  “Why do you think that she’d arouse such a hullabaloo? She’s just a kid.”

  “This kid.” He reached in his jacket pocket and pulled out a wallet and flipped it open to the photo section. “A kid with that face. Big trouble.”

  She glanced down at the photo. Cara. Winged brows, pointed chin, hazel eyes looking out of the picture with the intensity and wistfulness Eve knew so well. A face to touch the heart.

  “And I hear the kid plays the violin, too,” Toller said as he took back the wallet and put it back in his pocket. “Her teachers reported that she’s a phenomenal talent. Put it all together, and she’s an activist’s dream.”

  “Put it all together, and she’s a sweet, remarkable child who deserves the good life she’s never had,” Eve said. “Don’t try to take it away from her, Toller.”

  “I’m just doing my job.” He shrugged. “And the lifestyle she’ll be exposed to in Mexico City may not be pristine, but she’ll have a mother to care for her.” He held up his hand as she opened her lips to protest. “Which she hasn’t had for the last eight year
s. And I’m not buying that Natalie Castino killed her husband. They seem to have had an ideal marriage. What’s the motive?”

  “What’s the motive everyone is laying at Salazar’s door?”

  He went still. “My God. Her own kids? You expect me to believe she was the one who—No way.”

  “I don’t expect you to believe anything. I’m just throwing the truth out there and hoping it will take root.” She looked him in the eye. “And hoping that you’ll let Joe and me keep trying to save Cara. Because if you don’t, if you interfere, you may be responsible for getting Cara killed. You have that photo. How are you going to feel when you pull it out and look at it on the day you hear Cara has been murdered?”

  He was silent for a moment, then gave a low whistle. “You’re a very passionate woman. And very convincing, Ms. Duncan.”

  “And did I convince you?”

  “You’ve convinced me that I’d better stop listening to you and do my job.” His gaze was still on her face. “No hard feelings. I had great respect for you before I came here. I have even more respect for you now.” His glance shifted away from her to the lake, then to the road. “Would you care to tell me what the hell has been going on here?”

  What would he say if she told him that Salazar and Natalie had tracked Cara and her down, and they’d had to fight for their lives in the last twenty-four hours? That MacDuff had been injured in a blast that could have killed him. That they were all still fighting to survive since Natalie had taken Cara. She was tempted to do it. She was tired of fighting, and maybe he would believe her.

  Too much risk.

  “No, I wouldn’t. You’re an investigator, so investigate. If you can manage to get clearance from MacDuff, who owns this property. Which I very much doubt.”