“Okay.” Margaret took the journal. “But I want to read it cover to cover before we get there. It’s pretty rambling, but there may be something that will strike a note. Maybe not immediately but when I look back on it.”
“I should do that.”
“Because you have such a fantastic memory and can put everything together and come out with dazzling answers?” Margaret asked. “And I’m just a kid who you don’t trust to remember how to tie the laces on her own tennis shoes?”
“Yes.”
“Then pull over and let me drive. We’ll take turns at the wheel while the other one sleeps. Not that you’ll sleep right now. You can do the first read of the journal.” She smiled. “I don’t mind your being the dazzling one. Though I should tell you that I probably have a better memory than you do. You were trained by your blindness. I was trained by having to remember obscure trails and animals and having to put all of the signs together during very distracting circumstances. Often when I was on the run. Ever been chased by a bull moose?”
“No.” Kendra pulled over to the side of the road. “I’ve never had that privilege. I’m not looking forward to it in the future.” She smiled faintly. “And you almost had me convinced how superior you might be until I remembered what you said about my not thinking you could remember to tie the laces on your tennis shoes.” She came around the car and opened the passenger door for Margaret to get out of the car. “You’re not even wearing tennis shoes even though it’s cold as hell here in Colorado right now. You’re still wearing those stupid leather thongs.”
“Oops.” Margaret gazed ruefully down at her feet. “I meant to change. I just didn’t seem to have the time. Things were happening.”
“I’m sure they were.” Explosions and bullets flying and Margaret keeping calm and steady through it all. “But you have time now. Get those tennis shoes out of your suitcase and put them on before you start driving.”
“Good idea.” She reached into the backseat. “Thanks for reminding me.”
No resentment. Someone else might have been a little annoyed to be told what to do, Kendra thought. Yet there was no lack of self-respect or independence in Margaret’s attitude. She was beginning to realize that the girl was unique in a multitude of ways and possessed an inner strength that was fairly incredible.
Then why the hell did Kendra still feel the need to protect and guide her?
“There.” Margaret double-tied the second New Balance shoe and jumped out of the car. “That feels better.” She grinned knowingly at Kendra. “And it will make you feel better, won’t it?”
Kendra didn’t answer directly. “It’s much more sensible. I can’t see how you could stand traipsing around in this weather with feet that were practically bare.”
“I just close it out.” Margaret ran around the car and slipped into the driver’s seat. “And keep moving. That’s the trick. You just keep moving.” She looked out the windshield at the snow-covered mountains in the distance. “But it would be harder up there. I hope Eve isn’t…” She shook her head. “Wishful thinking doesn’t do any good. Jane says Eve is strong. She’ll do what she has to do.” She started the car. “And so will we. Right, Kendra?”
Kendra’s gaze followed hers to the mountains, then she glanced down at the journal on her lap. We. The inference of togetherness was both clear and deliberate. Margaret wanted a commitment. What the hell. Why not give it to her? It could be an uneasy partnership, but she was beginning to believe that Margaret would never fail her when the chips were down. “Right, Margaret. That’s the only thing we can do.”
She opened the journal and began to read.
Gwinnett Hospital
“MINERAL COUNTY.” JANE repeated with frustration, her hand tightening on the phone. “Where in Mineral County, Venable?”
“Kendra said she’d be in touch.”
“Great. She didn’t answer my calls. Neither did Margaret.”
“They still consider you on the disabled list. They didn’t want to worry you. Kendra didn’t like it one bit that I called you and told you about Goldfork.” He paused. “But I think that more happened there than she told me about. If you do get in touch with her, you might ask a few questions.”
“Count on it. And I’ll probably ask them in person. I should be discharged sometime before noon today. It would be sooner, but it’s hard to get hold of doctors early in the day. Caleb has been trying to get them here to check me, but it’s been like pulling teeth.”
“Wait a minute. Quinn will kill me if I caused you to break out of there.”
“I’m not breaking out. I’m getting a clean bill of health from my doctors. I’ve just got an okay from one of them. As soon as Caleb manages to get the other two specialists here, it will be all over. They’ll all talk and argue, then decide to let me out of here.”
“You seem very certain.”
“I’m certain. I feel great, and they’re not going to find any excuse to keep me here.” She paused. “But you might wait until tomorrow before you tell Joe I’ve left the hospital.”
“He’d come after me with a hatchet,” Venable said flatly. “I’ll call the hospital myself and get a report. If what you say checks out, I’ll wait for a few hours. Besides, I need to know what’s happening at Zander’s place in Vancouver.”
“Joe is in Vancouver? You didn’t mention that little fact, Venable.”
“Kendra and Margaret didn’t think I was protecting you, but there were some things you didn’t have to know.”
She tried to smother the surge of impatience at his words. The entire world seemed to be in a conspiracy to keep her safe and ignorant when her neck should have been on the line like the rest of their necks were. “I don’t like the idea that he’s trying to deal with Zander by himself. Joe is in aggressive mode. Can’t you call Zander and—”
“Zander’s not answering. This seems to be my day for being ignored. Though that’s not at all unusual for Zander.” He added, “Look, Quinn wants cooperation from Zander. He won’t be too violent.”
“Maybe. I’ll call him once I’m on the road and talk to him.”
Silence. “You’re not fooling yourself that you’re well because you want to get into the action?”
“Yes, I want to get into the action. No, I’m not fooling myself. Call the hospital in a few hours and check for yourself.” She added, “Blick. What are you doing about him?”
“What I’ve been trying to do all along. Get my hands on him.”
“From what you told me, he might want to get his hands on Kendra and Margaret. Which means that we should get to them as soon as possible.”
“I’m on it, Jane.”
“So am I. Call me if you get a lead on Blick.” She hung up.
Mineral County.
She’d start doing computer checks on the mountain territory as soon as possible. Why hadn’t someone told her that Kendra had mentioned those radio stations?
She knew the answer. Why tell her when she had been so damn weak and ineffectual? Well, she wasn’t weak now. She had never felt stronger and more full of energy.
Blood? Caleb’s blood running through her veins? No, she wouldn’t accept that. He had obviously managed to do something that had an amazing effect, but she was her own person, and she would not have it any other way.
“I couldn’t believe it,” Mark Trevor said grimly. He was standing in the doorway, studying her. “The nurse at the station said they may be ready to discharge you sometime today. When I left you, you looked so fragile that you might break if someone blew on you. Now you’re … electrified. What happened?”
“What did they tell you happened?”
“A miraculous recovery the doctor said. But I think that he was quoting Seth Caleb. I saw Caleb going down the hall talking to him.” His gaze was narrowed on her face. “What happened?”
“I decided I had to leave here. Kendra and Margaret were almost killed at Goldfork doing a job that I should have been doing.” She went over to the c
loset and pulled out her suitcase and threw it on the bed. “We’ve been spinning our wheels trying to find an area that might not even exist. I have to go another route.”
“What route?”
“Mineral County in Colorado. That’s where Kendra and Margaret are headed. They must think there’s something there that will give them a lead.” She glanced at him. “Did you find out anything from the Georgia-Pacific office?”
“No, but that seems to be unimportant to you at the moment.”
“Unless you made a breakthrough. I’ll take any break I can get.”
“That’s clear. What I want to know is how you made this particular breakthrough. It’s fairly mind-blowing.” He came toward her. “Talk to me, Jane.”
“The body is a wonderful machine. It takes its own time healing.”
“I’m happy as hell to see you better. I’m not happy you didn’t call me and tell me you were on your way to leaving the hospital.” He added softly, “And I’m not happy that Caleb seems to be running things and looks like a cat who just devoured a quart of cream. Did he have anything to do with all this?”
She didn’t answer.
“I told you that I’d heard some weird things about him after I had him investigated when I found out he was in your life. Most of it I didn’t believe, but I’m leaning more toward doing so with every passing minute.”
“What? Do you think he sucked my blood and gave me a high? He’s not a vampire, for God’s sake.”
“I don’t believe in ridiculous myths. I do believe Caleb is … unusual. How unusual, Jane?”
He wasn’t going to give up, so she might as well tell him. “Unusual enough.” She began putting her belongings into the suitcase. “He can control the blood flow in the body of anyone when he’s close to them. It’s a sort of gift passed down through his family. Eve said she once saw him kill a murderer by doing that.”
“Handy. What else, Jane?”
“Bringing the blood up to a wound and keeping it circulating is very healing. He said that medical researchers are exploring the benefits by using laser treatments to accomplish manipulating the blood flow.”
“But Caleb wouldn’t need a laser, would he, Jane?”
She looked him directly in the eye. “No, he didn’t need a laser. He asked me if I wanted him to help me get functioning and out of this hospital. He gave me the choice. I said yes.”
He drew a deep, ragged breath. “I can see how you would. He was in the right place at the right time.”
“With the ability to give me what I needed.”
“And did you give him what he needed? What did he do to you, Jane?”
“It’s none of your business, Trevor. I’ve told you more than I had to tell you.”
“Did you screw him?”
“What do you think?”
“I don’t know. I’m just jealous as hell and probably saying all the wrong things.” He was silent a moment. “If you did, I’d understand. I might kill him, but I’d understand.”
“You don’t have the right to—” She stopped. Trevor was on the edge of an explosion, and the last thing she needed at that moment was a confrontation between him and Caleb. She couldn’t count on Caleb not to exacerbate any conflict. “No, that didn’t happen.”
“What did happen?”
“He just … touched me.”
“And that’s all?”
“That’s all.” Swirling pulsing, heat, tingling arousal of every sense in her body. She turned away and closed the suitcase. “It seemed to work.”
“Yes.” She looked up to see his eyes narrowed on her. “But for how long? Is it permanent?”
“Maybe. If I start getting weak, Caleb said it might be necessary to do it again.”
“Oh, I bet he did.” He took her suitcase from the bed and put it by the door. “We’ll just have to make sure that you get enough rest so that that won’t happen.”
“You’re going to Colorado with us?”
“I wouldn’t miss it. I’m sure that Caleb won’t mind another passenger.” He turned to Caleb, who had just walked in the door. “Will you?”
“Not at all. Why should I?” Caleb smiled. “This isn’t about us; it’s about finding Eve.” He glanced at Jane. “I’ve been to the office and arranged to have the dismissal papers and paperwork made out in advance of the final approval you’ll get when those other two doctors show up. All you have to do is go in now and sign the papers. That will save some time. I thought you’d want it handled like that.”
“I do. I want out of here the minute I get the final okays.” She grabbed her briefcase. “While I’m waiting, I want to check out the landscape of Mineral County.” She added grimly. “And try to reach Kendra or Margaret again.”
“Don’t try to do too much. I mean what I said.” Trevor took the briefcase from her. “Let me help.”
“She looks just fine,” Caleb said. “Look at the roses in her cheeks. How do you feel, Jane?”
She had an idea he knew exactly how she felt. His black eyes were glittering, and that smile …
Darkness and flame and something else.
“Good. Lots of energy.”
He gazed at her searchingly. “And nothing else?”
Your blood has become … accustomed to responding to me. It may continue to have a residual effect on your body responses.
She had thought that final idea he had implanted might have been merely to make her uneasy. Was it happening? Analyze, don’t accept mere suggestion.
Heat, heaviness in her breasts, a faint tingling and breathlessness. Not like the searing sensuality when he had been lying next to her, with his hands on her body. But the sensation was there, and it was coming from Caleb.
And that knowledge was making her annoyed and faintly apprehensive. It was like being tethered to him. Block it out. Break it.
She turned away and started down the hall. “Nothing I can’t handle. Come on, let’s go, Trevor.”
Rio Grande Forest
Colorado
IT WAS GOING TO RAIN.
That’s all she needed, Eve thought, as she looked up at the sky as she hurried up the path from Zander’s campfire toward the trail that led to the factory. There was still intermittent moonlight, but the cold wind already felt damp against her cheeks. When the rain started, it was going to be icy, and she couldn’t afford to stop and shelter. That smoke would eventually draw Doane, and she had to get past the factory and start down the mountain toward the ghost town while Zander kept him occupied.
Occupied. What a bland word for what Zander intended for Doane.
The sheath of the bowie knife felt heavy and awkward on Eve’s calf, and she stopped to pull up her pant leg to adjust it. The metal glittered in the moonlight, and it reminded her of how it had shone in the reflection of the campfire as Zander had put it on her.
Strange moment. Strange night. Strange man.
She pulled her pant leg down and continued quickly through the forest toward the trail that led to the coin factory. She had left Zander fifteen minutes ago, but she still felt as if he were with her. She could feel the lingering heat of his body in the vest he had fastened on her. The movement of that sheath on her leg was an even greater reminder. It was an odd combination. Protective warmth, cold aggressiveness. But no more odd than the hours that had preceded those actions.
Why had he done it? He had told her himself that he was not a sentimental man. He had also told her that he was her father. The first she had believed, the second she had found totally impossible. Even if she had believed it to be true, she could not have imagined that Zander would let it affect his hunt for Doane.
Yet he had let her go, made sure the elements would not harm her, and given her a weapon to guard herself from Doane. She must not read too much into those actions. She had no idea what forces drove a man like him. Curiosity, he had said. Perhaps he had only been telling the truth. What would it be like to be so drained of normal feeling that your prime emotion was something as rem
ote as curiosity?
Remote? She had to admit that she, too, had been subject to curiosity during those hours, and she had not felt remote. She had experienced suspense, soaring hope, intense interest, and other less easily defined feelings. Zander was too powerful a personality to radiate anything but equally powerful emotions. In spite of her rejection, she had found herself considering the possibility that perhaps …
Stop thinking about it. Move. Get to that ghost town, get her hands on the phone that would be her salvation.
The phone that was a gift from Zander.
If he’d told her the truth, if he hadn’t sent her on a wild-goose chase.
No, he wouldn’t have lied to her.
She was startled at the instant mental denial. Why wouldn’t he lie to her? He was a hired assassin, a man who cared only for himself and lived by a philosophy that was totally alien to her. He was familiar with most facets of her life now, but he was still a total mystery to her. He cared nothing for her.
But somehow she knew that he wouldn’t lie to her and the phone and gun would be where he said they would be. It was his safety net, the extra weapon and cell phone that could save him as a last resort if he, too, was caught in a Doane trap.
And he had given it to her.
Not that he was vulnerable. Not that she should care.
She would not care. Even though Doane was the common enemy. She probably would not have been involved with Doane if Zander had not killed Kevin and started this macabre payback. She owed Zander nothing. Let them kill each other, dammit. She didn’t—
A sound in the shrubbery up ahead.
She froze.
Doane?
She was close to the trail that led to the factory. She could still smell the smoke from the campfire wafting on the night air in this direction. Doane could have detected it and left the trail to investigate.