JANE’S PHONE RANG AS SHE was heading for the elevator to go down to the gallery. Joe Quinn.
She braced herself as she pressed the button. “I was just going to call you. I need you and Eve to go to MacDuff’s Run. There are some problems that may involve-”
“You mean a headless corpse and a danger that Eve might follow in her footsteps?” Joe asked bluntly. “Yes, I can see that would be a problem.”
“How did-” She stopped. “MacDuff phoned you.”
“Hell, yes,” Joe said. “He wanted to assure me that he’d be able to keep Eve safe if we came to him. He said he wasn’t only going to rely on his people on the estate. He’s hiring some of his buddies he served with in the Royal Marines to guard the castle. A very tough bunch.”
“So will you come?” She paused. “Will Eve come?”
“She’s in the middle of a reconstruction, but I had a hard time keeping her at the cottage after you called her the night of Celine Denarve’s death.” He was silent a moment. “She’ll come if she thinks you need her. I’d say that this latest murder constitutes a very real need.”
“And you’ll come with her?”
“I’ll come and check out MacDuff’s security arrangements.”
“Joe.”
“No, Jane. I’m not going to be walled up in that castle like a scared rabbit. As soon as I make sure the two of you are safe, I’m going to meet with Venable and see what I can do about catching those sons of bitches.”
“Joe, dammit, you’ll be a target, too.”
“Then let them try to take me down. They won’t find it easy going. I face scum like them every day of my life.” He paused. “I think you understand. You’re probably angry as hell by now. I’d say they’ve pushed you a little too far.”
Joe knew her too well. “I do understand,” she said. “But will Eve?”
“If it means keeping you safe. She’s lived with a cop too long not to know that I have to do what I have to do.” His voice became brusque. “When are you going to MacDuff’s Run?”
“Tonight.”
“Then we’ll see you there tomorrow afternoon. If we can tear through the red tape and get the skull Eve’s reconstructing through Security and Customs. Homeland Security is a little difficult these days about things like that.”
“You’ll breeze right through. I have faith in you.”
“And we have faith in you,” he said quietly. “We’ve always been a great team. Hold on until we can get there and give you backup.” He hung up.
She felt a surge of warmth as she pressed the disconnect. No sappy sentiment, just those final words of faith and support. Tough yet understanding. Joe. Her friend who had given her that same support and understanding during all those years since she’d come to live with him and Eve.
She should have known he’d choose to team up with Venable. Another thing for her to worry about. Well, Venable would just have to take care of him or she’d-
What was she thinking? Joe wasn’t only a detective, he was a former SEAL. No one took care of Joe but Joe. Unless she could find a way of doing it without infringing on his independence. That sounded familiar. Joe and she were a lot alike.
MacDuff was just hanging up the phone when she got off the elevator in the gallery. “You got around to calling Venable?” she asked. “But you called Joe first. Why?”
“I wanted to pave the way for you. And it’s the duty of the host to offer the invitation. I learned that at my mother’s knee.”
“And what did you learn from Venable?”
“Nothing good,” he said grimly. “Weismann’s running scared. He said he can’t trust Venable right now. One of his contacts with the agency set up a trap for him. He barely got away with his skin intact. He’s going underground until he decides it’s safe for him.”
“No!” Jane said. “He can’t do that. Who knows how many people could die before he surfaces again. Venable has got to find him.”
“He’s trying,” MacDuff said. “But Weismann has probably been preparing for his vanishing act for years. It’s not going to be easy trying to track him.”
“I don’t care about easy. He’s got to do it.”
“Weismann’s ended all communication with Venable. He told him not to come after him, not to try to reach him.”
“The hell we won’t go after him.”
“My thought exactly,” MacDuff said. “As soon as I get you to MacDuff’s Run, I’ll see what I can do. Jock may have some idea how we can trace him.”
“But Jock’s already said that he didn’t know that much about Weismann.”
“Jane, we have to systematically go down every path until we find the right one.”
“Systematically?”
“Not the word you want me to use, is it? I’d like to jump over all the hurdles, too. But we don’t have that option. We’ll just have to be patient.” He took her suitcases. “Jock is waiting outside in the car. Let’s get going.”
She didn’t move. He was talking about going to MacDuff’s Run and hiding away from those bastards. It had been a tolerable solution when she had thought that Venable could make strides in discovering what was happening. It was not tolerable now. “There has to be some way to-”
He shook his head. “No jump starts, Jane.”
“I heard you.” She headed toward the door.
Systematic. No jump starts. Be patient.
She stopped short as a thought suddenly occurred to her.
“What is it?” MacDuff’s gaze was fixed on her face.
“Probably nothing.” That was true. It was only a wild wisp of an idea that had occurred to her.
Or was it?
All it might take would be a phone call…
She went out the door and past the crime-scene tape to the car by the curb. Jock got out of the car and held open the passenger seat door for her. “Ready to go?”
She nodded and got into the car.
She was vaguely aware of MacDuff getting into the backseat.
Think.
Was it such a bizarre idea?
Bizarre, yes. But did it have a chance of working?
Consider all the choices. By the time they got to the airport she had to have an answer.
MacDuff had shifted over on the seat so that he could see her face, and she could feel his gaze studying her. He had caught her instant of hesitation, and his every sense was alert and trying to process it.
“We should be at the airport in about twenty minutes,” Jock said as he pulled away from the curb. “And we’ll be home by midnight.” He glanced at MacDuff. “I’ve missed the Run. It’s strange. No matter where you go, you wish to go back to your roots.”
“You could have come back anytime. It was your decision to stay away.”
“I leaned too heavily on you. I had to learn to stand alone.” He looked at Jane. “And Jane wasn’t there to protect me from your domineering ways.”
“I’ve noticed you do very well on your own these days,” Jane said. She fell silent again. Time was passing.
Think. Concentrate.
That wisp of an idea was taking on form and texture. But would it work?
And how to go about it if she decided that it had a chance?
“YOU AND MACDUFF GET ON THE PLANE,” Jock said as he pulled up in front of the hangar. “I’ll turn in the rental car.”
“Okay,” MacDuff said as he got out of the car. “Don’t waste any time. I want to get out of here.” He reached out to open Jane’s car door. “Come on. Let’s go.”
She braced herself. “No.”
He stiffened. “What?”
She didn’t move. “I’m not going. You get on that plane and go to MacDuff’s Run. I have something to do here.”
“No way,” he said with great precision. “You stay, I stay.”
“You can’t stay,” she said. “Eve and Joe will be there tomorrow. I promised them they’d be safe. You made the same promise. The Laird’s promise. You have to make arrangements.”
“Then you go, too.”
“I can’t do it. I have to find Weismann.”
“I told you that we’d find him. It will just take-”
“Time? Patience? I don’t have either one, MacDuff. I’m going to get my jump start.”
“How?”
“In a way you’d probably not believe and certainly not approve. But I’ve got to try it.”
“Try what, Jane?” Jock asked.
“I think I know a way I can find Weismann.” She gazed directly at MacDuff. “But it’s going to be a very delicate process, and I can’t have you getting in the way. So you get on that plane, and I’ll call you when I find him.” She turned to Jock. “Will you go with me? I know MacDuff’s not going to let me go alone, and I have to have him at the Run to keep Eve safe.”
“You’re taking Jock and leaving me out in the cold?” MacDuff asked roughly.
“You’d want to run things. Jock is more reasonable.” She asked Jock again, “Will you go with me?”
Jock glanced at MacDuff, then back at Jane. He was silent for a moment. “How could I resist? It’s not often that I’m chosen over the MacDuff.”
“This isn’t smart,” MacDuff said harshly. “Jock, tell her that as long as she stays out in the open, she’ll be a target. She’s obviously not listening to me.”
“She knows that she’ll be in danger,” Jock said. “But it’s worth it to her. She’s going to do it, MacDuff. We have to make adjustments to the situation.” He put the car in gear. “I’ll keep her safe. We’ll call you every now and then to keep you informed.”
“Every now and then?” MacDuff repeated in disbelief. “Damn you, Jock, you’ll call me every day, or I’ll break your head.”
“I can see why Jane chose me,” Jock said. “She’s right, you’re not at all reasonable.” He drove off before MacDuff could answer.
“You didn’t have to goad him like that.” Jane’s gaze was on the rearview mirror. MacDuff hadn’t moved, and his expression was forbidding. “He’s positively fuming.”
“It will be good for him,” Jock said cheerfully. “He gets his way far too often.” He glanced at her. “And you’re the one who started it. I didn’t initiate this particular rebellion. MacDuff doesn’t like to be left out of anything.”
“He’s not being left out. He’s going to take care of the people I love.”
“He would regard that as less than challenging.”
“It will be challenging enough. I told Joe and Eve I’d be at the Run. They’re not going to be pleased when they find out I’m not there.”
“And why aren’t you there? What is this all about?”
“I told you, I know a way to find Weismann.”
“What way?”
“Actually, I think I know someone who can find him.”
“With practically no information?”
“I think it’s possible.”
“Interesting. Who?”
“His name is Seth Caleb.”
“CIA? FBI?”
“No.”
“A private detective?”
“No.”
He looked at her inquiringly.
How to explain Seth Caleb? She had known it was going to be difficult. That was why she had not wanted MacDuff on the scene. Even with Jock, it was better not to go into great depth now. “He’s a hunter.”
“What kind of hunter? Animal? Big game?”
“Oh, yes. Very big game. He’s… unusual.”
“And how did you come to meet this… hunter?”
“Several weeks before I came to Paris, Eve and Joe were trying to capture a serial killer, Jelak. They thought he might have been the one who murdered her daughter, Bonnie, years ago. Caleb was after the same man. We formed a sort of uneasy alliance until they caught Jelak. Caleb was extraordinary.”
“Extraordinary. Unusual. Not common descriptions, are they?” His gaze narrowed on her face. “But you don’t want to tell me why this hunter is capable of finding Weismann.”
“Not until I’m sure that Caleb will help me.”
“Money?”
“No, Caleb has plenty of money.” She shook her head. “Just let me call him and talk to him. I don’t want to keep anything from you, Jock. Caleb is hard to explain, and I don’t want to waste time until I know that he’ll come.”
“Then I’ll try to be patient.” He smiled faintly. “One of those words that you don’t like again. But I have no quarrel with it.” He pressed the accelerator. “But I’d better lose the man who is following us so that you can make your call.”
“Someone is-” Of course she would be followed. She had just been so absorbed she had not thought of the possibility. “Can you lose him?”
“No problem. It will just take a little while. But it would be best if you don’t use your phone. The Sang Noir may have the souls of beasts, but they’re techno-savvy. We wouldn’t want your ‘hunter’ to be taken down before he could come to your rescue.”
“You’re telling me that they could be monitoring my cell?”
“They have the right equipment if they’re within a hundred yards.”
“And they could know that Eve and Joe are on their way to MacDuff’s Run?”
“Yes, but MacDuff has already arranged to have them watched until they’re safely within the gates.”
Relief surged through her. “Then get me away from them. I have to call Caleb.”
AN HOUR LATER JOCK PULLED into the parking lot of the Bleinart Inn, a small stone hotel some distance south of Paris. “This should be safe enough. We’ve lost our tail.”
“I’d say that you would have managed to lose anyone following us,” she said dryly. “I’m dizzy from all those blasted turns.”
“I’m very good at losing anyone after me. It was part of my training.” His lips twisted. “What good is an assassin if he can be traced?” He turned off the ignition. “This place looks decent enough. I’ll go inside and check us in. That will allow you to have privacy for your call.”
“Thank you, Jock.”
“The sooner you make the call, the sooner I’ll know what this is all about.” He got out of the car and grabbed the suitcases. “I’ll be back in fifteen minutes.”
She hesitated as she pulled out her phone. It wasn’t a call that she wanted to make. Seth Caleb had always been an unknown quantity to her. She had known him for only a matter of days while he was on the hunt for a serial killer who had threatened Eve. Yet their time together had been filled with darkness and a disquieting fascination.
Darkness.
Yes, that described Caleb. The darkness of the unknown, of violence, of death, of power. A few weeks ago, when he had left Eve’s lake cottage, Jane had been glad to see him go. She had felt as if she had stood on the edge of an active volcano and looked down into the fiery depths. But then she had been permitted to walk away.
Permitted? Why had that word occurred to her? She ruled her own life. Caleb had no control of her.
But if she’d wanted him to go away, why had she kept his cell number in her phone?
Because there was sometimes a use for darkness and the people who dealt in it.
So stop analyzing my motives. I’ve already made my decision. Call Seth Caleb.
She dialed his number.
He answered the phone on the second ring. “Surprise. Surprise. What’s wrong, Jane?”
“Why do you think there’s something wrong? You told me you couldn’t read minds.”
“I can’t. But you’ve always been wary of me. And rightly so. It would take a serious problem to nudge you into calling. Is it Eve?”
“No. Yes. It may be trouble for Eve unless I can get a handle on this.”
“And you think I can help you. Why?”
“You’re a hunter. I need to find a man. Quickly.”
“I assume you want him alive?”
“Of course.”
“There’s no ‘of course’ about it. Most of the people I hunt I don’t allow to live.”
She smothered the tingle of shock at the carelessness of the statement. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t known that about him. “I need information, not for you to kill the bastard.”
He chuckled. “And I was looking forward to giving you a gift of that magnitude. Not his head on a platter? Since the moment I met you, I knew that it would take something extraordinary to impress you. Information is too easy.”
“Not this time. I’ve had enough of decapitated-” She had to stop as memories flooded back to her. She had to steady her voice. “All I want is for you to find Ted Weismann so that I can question him. Will you do it?”
He was silent a moment. “Decapitated… You picked up on that too soon. I wonder why? I think that perhaps there may be an opportunity in this to impress you after all.”
“No, I don’t want you involved in anything but the search. I don’t want to be responsible. It’s ugly, Caleb.”
“I’m used to ugly,” he said. “And I’m touched that you’re trying to protect me. And you won’t be responsible. If I want to do you a favor, then I’ll do it. It’s always my choice, Jane.”
“I don’t want a favor,” Jane said. “Favors always have to be returned, and I’ve never been able to trust you not to have a hidden agenda.”
“That’s because you’re so clever. Of course I do.”
“Set a price, Caleb.”
“I’ll think about it,” he said. “In the meantime, I think I should get to work and try to find this Weismann. What can you tell me about him that might help?”
“Not much. He belonged to Sang Noir, a murder-for-hire group, but he’s now on the run. He was with their cell headquarters in Rome until the past few days. He’s manipulative, money-hungry, and doesn’t give a damn who dies as long as he can squeeze enough cash out of Venable.”
“Venable. CIA?”
“You know him?”
“No, I’ve heard of him. But our paths have never crossed. Over the years I’ve dealt with any number of intelligence agencies. They’re a rich source to tap for information. I would probably have gotten around to Venable eventually.” His tone was thoughtful. “Sang Noir. I did have an encounter with them several years ago. I was forced to remove one of their members. Well, not exactly forced, it was a pleasure.”
“Then I’m surprised you’re not on their hit list.”
“They had no idea I had anything to do with it. I made sure it looked like natural causes. Poor man had a brain hemorrhage.”
She shivered. The casualness of his tone was chilling, but no more than the possibility that he could cause those hemorrhages. It shouldn’t have bothered her. Knowing what she did about the Sang Noir, she knew the man had probably deserved death.
“Get over it, Jane,” Caleb said softly. “You came to me. Accept me for what I am.”
“I do. Most of the time. Sometimes it’s harder than others.” She had to move on. “Where are you? How soon can I expect some word from you?”
“I’m at my house in Switzerland. After I left Eve’s lake cottage, I had a desire to go to my villa on Lake Lucerne. In many ways it’s probably even more beautiful than your lake in Georgia.” He paused. “But it was the company, not the scenery that I found lacking. I missed sitting on that porch with you.”
She had a sudden memory of Caleb sitting on the top step of those porch stairs. Dark, intense eyes gazing out at the water, high cheekbones, sensual, beautifully shaped lips, the faintest indentation in his chin. Though only in his late thirties, dark hair slightly threaded with gray at the temples, his body relaxed but still radiating strength and power. Everything about him had always been high-impact. That impact had stunned her when she had first met him and was affecting her right now even though she couldn’t see him. She repeated, “When will I hear from you?”
“I’ll get to work right away. I’ll head for Rome and see what I can find out. I still know where to find a few of the members of the group. As I recall, there was nothing complicated about them. Neanderthals with high-powered weapons. It shouldn’t be too difficult. Where are you?”
“I’m at the Bleinart Inn outside Paris, but I don’t know how long I can stay here before I have to move on.”
He was silent for an instant. “That sounds remarkably as if you’re on the run. Are you?”
She ignored the question. “Get back to me as quickly as you can.”
“Oh, I will. But I don’t like the fact that you’re not telling me everything. You know how curious I can be.”
“No, I don’t know that much about you. Except that you’re manipulative and have no compunction about doing exactly what pleases you.”
“Not true. I’ve told you before, I have a kind of code. If I didn’t have some compunction, then I’d be the same kind of monster as the people I hunt.” He chuckled. “But since you’ve chosen to bring me back in your life, it’s inevitable that you do get to know me very well indeed. I’m looking forward to it.”
“I’m not.”
“I know. As I said, you’ve always been wary of me.” His voice lowered to velvet softness. “Do you want me to take away all that wariness and make you look forward to it, too?”
She felt sudden scorching heat move through her. “Hell, no.”
He sighed. “I do hope I can keep from breaking my code and going ahead anyway. You’ve always been a temptation, Jane.” He didn’t wait for her to reply. “I’ll call you when I have something to report. It will be soon. I’m very, very eager.” He hung up.
She drew a deep breath as she hung up. It was done. But what had she gotten herself into?
Nothing she couldn’t handle.
Caleb was her best bet in this insane situation. If it was inevitable that they get to know each other as he had said, then it would happen.
She had a sudden memory of the searing instant of heat she’d experienced a moment before. That undercurrent of sensuality had been present every since they’d first met, but she’d tried to ignore it.
Well, she could handle that, too.
“Finished?” Jock was walking toward her across the parking lot. “You weren’t long.”
“No?” She glanced at the clock on the dashboard. Less than ten minutes. It had seemed a much longer time. “Were you able to get us rooms?”
“Yes, no problem.” He opened the car door for her. “I sent your bags up to your room. No room service, but there’s a coffee bar in the lobby, and I arranged for a to-go order. I’ll pick it up when we get inside. Coffee and a couple sandwiches. Okay?”
She nodded. “I’m not hungry.”
“You should eat. When’s the last time you had anything but coffee?”
She smiled. “I had that bowl of cold cereal you set out for me at the apartment.”
“Good.” He took her elbow. “But that was a long time ago. Let’s see if you can get down a sandwich. We’ll take them up to your room, and you can eat.” He paused. “And then satisfy my appetite for information. I hope everything went well with your Seth Caleb?”
Had it gone well? She couldn’t be sure. She was as disturbed as she usually was after speaking to Caleb. “I suppose that it went as well as could be expected. He’s going to help me find Weismann.”
“Promising. But I want to know a good deal more about your friend, Caleb. MacDuff will cross-examine me without mercy. If I’m to keep him at the Run acting as guardian, I’ll have to have answers.”
“You’ll have them.” She entered the Inn. “But I’m warning you, he’ll still have problems with my using Caleb. That’s why I chose you and not MacDuff to come with me.”
“YOU DIDN’T EAT VERY MUCH,” Jock said. “I know the bread tasted like cardboard but it-”
“It was fine,” she interrupted. “I had enough.” She lifted the paper cup containing the hot coffee to her lips. “This is all I need.”
“It’s good coffee.” Jock stretched out his legs in front of him. “Perhaps to make up for those atrocious sandwiches.” He looked around the room. “This is pleasant. I like all those purple and white flowers on the bedspread. Restful.”
“It’s too pretty.” She glanced at the windows draped in sheer white chiffon. “It looks like something from a ten-year-old girl’s wish list.”
“When you were ten, would it have been on your wish list, Jane?”
“No, I was always suspicious of anything that was too pretty. I was a tough little kid.” She braced herself. “And now that you’ve tried to put me at ease, hadn’t you better start the interrogation?”
“Interrogation? You make me sound like a cop.”
No, he was nothing like a cop. His gentle persistence was much more insidious. He would just sit there, smiling that beautiful smile and waiting for her to speak.
“You want to know about Seth Caleb.”
He nodded. “Will it be easier if I ask you questions?”
“I don’t know. Maybe.”
“The main thing I want to know is why you think Caleb can find Weismann when Venable is having trouble?”
“It’s what Caleb does. He has a passion.”
“For hunting. What kind of hunting, Jane?”
“He finds people who can’t be found.”
“For whom?”
“He works principally for the Devanez family, who are his relations, but he takes other assignments if they interest him. I know he spent years hunting down a cult that was responsible for the death of his sister.”
“Ah, vengeance. Good punishing evil?”
“In a way. It’s not that simple. Yes, as far as I know, the people he hunts are slimeballs who deserve to be punished. But Caleb doesn’t pretend to be the sword of justice. He’s not that hypocritical.”
“And by what means is your wonderful hunter able to find those people?”
Dammit, she had known that question would come. “He’s… unusual.”
“You said that before and in just that tone. I’m intrigued. Are you going to explain?”
“Yes.” She might as well stop stumbling around and just come out with it. “Caleb has certain talents. One of them is an ability to change people’s perception.”
“You mean he’s very persuasive.”
“No.” She shrugged. “I mean that give him a few minutes alone with anyone, and he can convince them that they want to do anything he wants them to do. He can turn hatred into friendship. If he asks anyone questions, they’re going to answer him. Which would help enormously if you’re on the hunt for someone.”
“I imagine it would,” Jock said absently, his gaze studying her face. “Let me understand you. You’re talking about a psychic ability?”
“I know that it sounds weird.”
“Oh, yes.”
“You don’t have to believe me. That’s why I didn’t want MacDuff coming along. I knew I’d have trouble with him thinking I was off my rocker. I wouldn’t blame him. I’m not sure I believe it. I’m a realist, and what I ran across with Caleb was out of my comfort zone. But I saw him do it with the grandfather of my friend, Patty. He changed him from a bad-tempered bastard to someone almost pleasant. He didn’t promise that it would be permanent, but even Patty could see the difference in her grandfather.”
“One case.”
“I was skeptical, too.” She paused, then said reluctantly, “He gave me a personal demonstration.”
“Personal?”
“Don’t ask. I was ready to murder him.” She added, “But he can do it, Jock. If anyone can find Weismann, it will be Caleb. He’s spent most of his life hunting down people.”
“And what does he do when he catches them?”
Her grasp tightened on the paper cup. “I imagine his death count may be as high or higher than yours, Jock.”
“Really?” He leaned back in his chair. “You do seem to draw us lost souls to you, don’t you, Jane?”
“But he’s not like you,” she said sharply. “It wasn’t your fault. You were sick. You had no choice. He decided on the path he was going to travel.”
“There’s always something that triggers that decision. What was his trigger, Jane?”
“He had… other talents. His background is very dark. For hundreds of years those psychic gifts were passed down through his family. Back in the fourteenth century his family used their talents to inspire fear and dominate the small village in Italy where they lived.” She moistened her lips. “According to Caleb, they balanced on the edge of becoming monsters.”
“What other talents?”
“Blood. I didn’t see it, but Eve did. She watched him kill a man without touching him. Most of it has to do with the flow of blood through the body.”
“Blood.” He chuckled. “Good God, he sounds like a vampire.”
“No,” she said curtly. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
“Is it ridiculous?” His smile faded. “Then what or who is he, Jane?”
“I don’t know. I think he believes that he’s inherited that bad gene that’s been passed down through his family. He said he became a hunter to keep himself under control. Maybe he thought if he was going to kill anyway that he might channel it. The hunting provided a sort of release.” Jock was asking questions she had asked herself and still had few answers, she realized in frustration. “He said it helps him maintain his code.”
“And what is his code?”
“I don’t know him well enough to know that,” she said impatiently. “For all I know his so-called code could change with every shift of the wind.”
“You appear to be saying that you don’t know quite a bit in this conversation. But it’s not like you to trust anyone without a substantial reason.”
“Then this has to be an exception. Do you think I wanted to have to contact Caleb? I told you, I’m not comfortable with him. But I have to find Weismann.”
He took a sip of his coffee. “You’re right, MacDuff would not have made it easy for you to pull Seth Caleb into the search. He’s a practical man, and he’d not appreciate the whimsy of your action. On the other hand, I have no difficulty with dealing with your psychic friend. I embrace whimsy. Reality can often be too cruel.”
“He’s not my friend.”
“Yet he’s coming to help you. There must be some connection.” Connection.
Searing sexuality. Heat. Her naked body moving feverishly beneath Caleb’s.
No, it hadn’t happened. That had been Caleb’s damn demonstration of how he could influence her perception. It had been just a second’s sensation that had shocked and angered her. She had wanted to murder him then, and the resentment was still white-hot. But so was the memory, and it wouldn’t leave her.
“I don’t know why he’s doing it. He does what he wants to do. He wouldn’t tell me what he wanted in return.”
“That’s always dangerous,” Jock added with hushed melodramatic theatricalism. “What if he wants to drink your blood, my beauty?”
“I told you he wasn’t-” She stopped. Jock was joking, but she was having trouble responding with any kind of humor. “Caleb isn’t dangerous to me.”
“No, he won’t be a danger,” Jock said. “Your blood is safe. I’ll be here to watch over you.”
“I didn’t ask you to watch over me. You’ve given up enough to help me.” She grimaced. “And now I’m asking you to swallow something that there’s no way you can believe.”
“It’s true that I have trouble with thinking anyone could possess those kinds of psychic abilities. My instinct is that it’s pure trickery.”
“Me, too,” Jane said. “I understand perfectly.”
“But when I was under medication and being brainwashed, I believed what I was being told without question. Could that be part of it?”
“No medication.”
“Then I’ll be interested in meeting Seth Caleb.” He smiled slightly. “Since we appear to be members in the same club.” He rose to his feet. “I’ll let you get to bed now. I’m right next door. Lock your door. Call me if you need me or if you just want to talk.”
“Are you going to call MacDuff?”
“Tomorrow. He won’t expect a call tonight.”
“And are you going to tell him about Caleb?”
He nodded. “The bare bones. No need to tell him that Caleb is a vampire. It would only upset him.”
“I told you, Caleb is not-” She saw his indented lips and realized he was joking again. This time she smiled in return. “Tell him what you like. MacDuff will probably tell you to kidnap me so that he can find a pleasant little funny farm to stash me in.”
“He wouldn’t do that,” Jock said. “He never even thought about putting me in an asylum when I was going through my patch of hell. He cared for me himself.”
“I know,” Jane said gently. “So let’s not make him think he’s going to have to straighten my thinking out, too. Once is enough.”
“Aye.” He nodded as he turned toward the door. “More than enough. I swore I’d never cause him trouble like that again. That’s why I think I’ll forget to mention any details about Seth Caleb.”