Eve would never turn her phone off in an emergency like this. She’d be afraid not to be able to get word about Jane.
We should have been worried about Jane.
But they should also have been worried about Eve. The swirling puzzle pieces were taking form, becoming clear.
Every instinct had made Joe reluctant to leave Eve. The only thing that had made him feel safe was that Jane would be with her.
But Jane had not come.
Ben had a dream.
And Ben’s dreams were always about Bonnie.
Perhaps Bonnie was having some ghostly trepidations, too? He had only recently come to believe that Bonnie actually was an entity and not a figment of Eve’s imagination. He was hardheaded and a complete realist, but sometimes a knockout vision could change everything. He had to accept that if Bonnie was Eve’s hallucination, she was also his. Now it appeared Bonnie was somehow involved with all this.
And Jane’s being shot would make Eve forget everything but getting to her daughter.
She would be vulnerable.
“Something wrong, man?” Nelker said.
“Everything is wrong,” Joe muttered. He was torn between telling Nelker to go back to Miami and continuing to Summer Island. There was a slight chance that there was a phone malfunction, and Eve would not forgive him if he didn’t get to Jane as soon as possible.
But he didn’t think there was a phone or tower malfunction. He didn’t know what was happening, but he had a hunch it was all bad. Hell, he knew it was bad. He was on his way to Jane, who might not even be alive when he got there.
Eve …
He couldn’t think of Eve right now. Emotion always got in the way when he thought of Eve, and he had to make choices.
Eve was the choice, always and forever.
Even if he had Nelker turn around, he couldn’t get to Eve for another two hours minimum.
Okay, find a way to give Eve her best chance considering all the circumstances.
Venable.
He quickly dialed Venable’s number.
Voice mail.
“Listen, you bastard. You’ve been avoiding my calls since yesterday. I’m not taking it any longer. Call me back, or I’ll be coming for you.”
He hung up the phone and waited.
Three minutes later, the phone rang.
“I don’t take kindly to threats, Quinn,” Venable said sourly. “I was tempted to ignore you.”
“Like you’ve been ignoring me since you called me yesterday. It wouldn’t have been a wise move if you’d done it now. I’m a little tense.”
Silence. “I noticed.”
“That’s because you know me well, and you’re very observant. You’re also a conniving, ruthless, son of a bitch when it suits you. I’m beginning to think it may be suiting you right now.”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“You called me yesterday and made polite inquiries about me, Eve, Jane … and how the world was treating us. Very suspicious, Venable.”
“You’re paranoid.”
“Why did you call?”
“I hadn’t talked to you for a while. It’s not so unusual. Sometimes I think we’re friends.”
“Sometimes I think so, too. But not if it concerns the CIA. Then I think you’re a manipulator on the grand scale. Talk to me. Why did you call?”
Venable didn’t answer.
“Answer me.” Joe’s voice was low and tense. “Do you know where I am right now? I’m on a plane flying down to Summer Island in the Caribbean. I’m going there because Jane’s been shot, and I have to get to her. What a coincidence that you called and inquired about her only yesterday. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about this, would you?”
“Shot? Hell, no. How is Eve?”
“Strange you went straight from Jane’s being shot to Eve. Or is it strange, Venable?”
“Is Eve okay?”
“I don’t know. I can’t get in touch with her.”
Venable muttered a curse.
“Exactly how I feel,” Joe said. “No voice mail. She was supposed to call me from Atlanta International and hasn’t. So I’m putting it in your camp, Venable. I’m calling the police officer I had keeping an eye on her, but I want one of your people on the job, too.”
“I don’t know if we have any CIA agents in the area.”
“No? Then get them there. Fast.”
“Eve may be fine, Quinn. There could be any number of reasons why you can’t reach her.”
“Then find her, get her to call me.”
“I’m not arguing. I’ll look into it for you.”
“How generous.”
“It is generous. I don’t have to do it. You’ve no proof I have any involvement in any of this. So back off, Quinn.”
“I’m not backing off. First, go find Eve and keep her safe until you put her on a plane to the island. Then call me and tell me how and why you’re pulling strings that caused Jane to end up with a bullet in her.”
Silence. “I’m sorry about Jane, Quinn. I hope she’ll be okay. If I can help, let me know.”
“I’ve told you how you can help us. Get Eve on that plane so that she can get to Jane.”
“I’ll do my best. I’ll call you as soon as I make contact with her.” He hung up.
Venable had sounded genuinely sorry. Hell, he probably was regretting that Jane had been hurt, and Eve—No, don’t think about what might be happening to Eve. He couldn’t be certain that she was in danger. Keep calm. He’d call Ron, the officer who had been on patrol at the cottage, then hang tight until he heard back from both Venable and him. By that time he should have been able to find out if Jane was going to survive and take charge of what was happening there on the island.
Keep busy, he told himself. It could work out. He was doing the right thing.
No, he wasn’t. There couldn’t be anything right about flying away from Eve no matter what the emergency on the other end. So what if it was what she’d want him to do? Eve was the center of his being. Ignore everything but that fact and tell the pilot to turn around and go back to Miami.
Jane.
Jane was the one known victim. How could he abandon her?
He drew a deep, harsh breath and started to dial Ron’s mobile phone. There was a chance the policeman had seen her leave or could reassure him she was safe.
Know something, dammit.
Tell me I’m jumping to conclusions.
Know something, anything.
* * *
INTENT DARK EYES STARING down at her.
A faint flicker of emotion in those eyes. Relief?
Strange …
Jane knew those eyes. They frightened her.
Or did they? She had never admitted that fear to herself. Perhaps it wasn’t fear of Caleb but wariness of the way he made her feel. He always knew too much. What would happen if she let him invade her space?
Too close. He always came too close …
“Stop frowning,” Caleb said roughly. “Stop pushing me away. I’m trying to help you. Are you hurting? Devon gave you a sedative. You shouldn’t be uncomfortable.”
Why should she be hurting? Yet she was aware of a dull ache in her upper right shoulder.
An explosion of pain, then darkness.
“I’m … all right. Bullet?”
He nodded. “Sniper. Shooting from one of the hangars. It happened a little over three hours ago.”
Sniper. It was like something from a war movie, she thought hazily. And it made no sense at all. She couldn’t comprehend any of it. “Why?”
“I don’t know.” His lips tightened. “I haven’t been able to go after the bastard. I couldn’t leave you.”
And it had made him angry, she realized. “Why? Am I dying?”
“No. Devon says that she thinks you’re going to be okay. The bullet went through your shoulder and didn’t appear to damage any organs. Devon doesn’t like or trust the local village doctor, so she’s arranging for an air ambulance
to take you to a hospital in San Juan. But you scared us. You wouldn’t stop bleeding. Devon had to give you a transfusion.” He smiled crookedly. “Margaret wanted to donate her blood, but I’m universal, so Devon took mine.”
“I would have preferred Margaret.”
He nodded. “I know. But you have to take what’s available. I’m very much available.” He stood up. “I have to go and tell Devon and Margaret you’re awake. They made me promise. They wanted to hover, but I told them that you’d do better to wake with someone you knew.” His dark eyes were suddenly gleaming. “I told them you’d feel safer.”
“You lied.”
“Yes, but it worked. I got what I wanted. They don’t understand the complications of our relationship. I brought you to the island, and, therefore, I’m presumably a man to trust.”
“Presumably.”
“But you don’t trust me. You don’t trust any man, do you?” He suddenly looked back and snapped his fingers. “No, there is a man you do trust, and it should comfort you to know that he should be arriving on the island at any moment.”
“Joe?”
He smiled. “You see? You knew exactly whom I was talking about. Tell him I’ll talk to him when I get back.”
“Wait.” She moistened her lips. “You’re going to try to track down that sniper.”
“I’m not going to try. If he’s still on the island, I’m going to get the bastard within the next few hours.” He added coldly, “If he’s found a way off, it may take a little while longer.”
“I’m not asking you to—”
“Be quiet, Jane,” he said softly. “I’ve been thinking about my reward all the time I’ve been sitting here playing the sturdy, solid friend in need. This has a little to do with you but more with what and who I am. I want him.”
Before she could answer, he was gone.
And she was left to remember how savage and violent Caleb could be when he went on the hunt.
Dammit, and she was wounded and too weak to go after him. Yes, Caleb had a primitive and barbaric desire for revenge, but this was really all about her. He wouldn’t even be on the island if she hadn’t asked him to come here.
“He upset you.” Margaret was standing in the doorway, her gaze on Jane’s face. “I told Devon it was taking a chance to let him stay with you. He’s one of the wild ones. Even if he meant well, he is what he is.” She came forward and sat down beside the bed. “What do you want me to do? Go after him and bring him back?”
“No, that’s impossible. You couldn’t do it. I told you about—you don’t know what he is.”
“Yes, I do.” She shrugged. “I told you, he’s one of the wild ones. I know all about them. It’s true I haven’t run across anyone quite like him. It would be hard, but I could bring him back to you if you want him.”
“You don’t know all about Caleb,” Jane said dryly. “I guarantee that you don’t. I didn’t give you more than a hint. There’s no one like him.”
“I can get him.” She was holding Jane’s gaze. “Say the word.”
“So then I’d have two people to worry about?” Jane said in exasperation. “No, I won’t say the word, dammit.”
“Now I’m upsetting you, too.” Margaret suddenly smiled. “You’re ill, we should all leave you alone to heal and deal with everything else ourselves.”
“I’m not ill. I’ve been shot. There’s a difference.”
“Cause and effect.”
“That should affect only me. And perhaps whoever is in charge of law and order on this island. Not Seth Caleb and not you.”
“There’s only a constable and his assistant in the village. Devon will probably tell him about the shooter in case he might be a danger to the locals. But I don’t think he would be a danger to anyone but you, do you?”
“I don’t know,” she said in frustration. “Maybe. Why would I be a target?”
“Caleb may find out … if he doesn’t decide to kill him instead of question him. I only know the shooter was stalking you. He was in the woods outside, and he was at the airfield.”
Margaret had been coolly analytical about Caleb’s potential actions and apparently completely without judgment. “You have no objection to Caleb’s … going that far?”
“Why? It’s his nature. Besides, it’s justice. The man tried to kill you, now he has to pay. I told you I believe in revenge.”
“Yes, you did.” But lying here looking at Margaret, it was difficult for Jane to accept. The young girl was so full of life and that youthful joyousness that it was hard to make the connection. “But this is a little more final than going after the man who poisoned Toby to punish him.”
She shook her head. “Justice is justice.”
“Yet you said that you’d go after Caleb and bring him back.”
“Because I didn’t want you to worry when you’re not well.” Her smile held a hint of mischief. “But I didn’t say I wouldn’t go after that man who shot you myself after I got Caleb back for you.”
“Oh, for God’s sake.”
She laughed. “But I’d have to do it. Payback, remember? You saved my life. You took that bullet for me. I owe you a debt. Debts have to be paid.”
“No, I don’t remember it like that. Everything happened too fast. You don’t owe me anything, Margaret.”
“You’re wrong. I don’t know quite how I’ll do it, but it will come to me.” She got to her feet. “We won’t argue about it right now. Maybe when Caleb comes back, he’ll have some answers, and it will all become clear to us. You rest now, and I’ll bring Joe Quinn in to see you as soon as he gets here. Caleb did tell you that he was on his way?”
“Yes, but he didn’t mention Eve. Is she with him?”
“No, he’s flying in from Miami. I think the plan is for her to arrive a little later.”
“That would make sense.” She couldn’t wait to see Eve. Whenever Eve was on the scene, everything seemed right with the world. Though she doubted if even Eve could make all the ugliness that had happened lately seem normal or right.
And she still had that niggling feeling of uneasiness about that last phone call with Eve. “Where’s my phone? I’d like to call her.”
She shook her head. “Devon wants you to rest. You lost a lot of blood.”
“I hear you offered a bit of your own. Thank you.”
“It didn’t happen. Caleb won that round.” She headed for the door. “He seemed intrigued at the prospect. I didn’t understand.”
“That doesn’t surprise me. Not many people understand Caleb. His background makes him unique.”
“We’re all unique.” She smiled back over her shoulder. “You, me, Toby, Devon. Isn’t nature wonderful? It’s like a kaleidoscope that never shows the same picture twice.” She opened the door. “Rest, Jane. I’ll send your phone in when Joe Quinn gets here.”
Jane stared after her with bewilderment. She wasn’t sure exactly how wonderful nature could be, but she was beginning to believe that Margaret was a brilliant kaleidoscope of character in her own right. She would actually have gone after Caleb if Jane had asked. And it wasn’t because she underestimated the danger he represented. Totally extraordinary.
But she wasn’t up to analyzing Margaret right now, she realized. She was feeling weak and exhausted, and the temporary adrenaline rush was fading rapidly.
Blank out the bewilderment, the unfathomable questions, Caleb and Margaret. She would deal with them later with Joe.
And then Eve would come, and they would be able to get through this nightmare as they got through everything else.
Together.
* * *
VENABLE.
Zander didn’t hesitate as he saw the ID. He punched the access. “Has your agent got a report on Doane?”
“He got into the house. No disk. He snatched the computer, but all the data had been erased. We’re having to restore it. We should know something by tomorrow.”
“That should tell you something. He’s covering his tracks.” He pau
sed. “And he doesn’t want us to know where those tracks are going to lead. Are they going to lead to me? Or to Eve Duncan?”
Venable didn’t answer.
Not good. “Answer me, Venable. Just why did you call?”
“There have been a few developments that have disturbed me. I thought it only fair to put you into the loop.”
“Disturbed?”
“Okay, scared the hell out of me,” he said bluntly. “Jane MacGuire was shot by a sniper. We don’t know whether she’s going to make it or not.”
“Jane MacGuire … Not Eve Duncan? Where? At the lake cottage?”
“No, Jane was on an island in the Caribbean. She was supposed to be with Eve at the cottage, but she flew down there to the island because of an emergency. Joe Quinn is on his way down there right now. He was in Miami giving evidence at a trial, and he took off immediately.”
“He wasn’t with Eve either? Curious.”
“Not really. They lead independent lives.”
“And so does Jane MacGuire, but both Quinn and MacGuire revolve around Eve Duncan. Do you think I haven’t studied her world? MacGuire’s a weakness in the armor, or that’s what Doane would think, anyway.” He was thinking quickly, putting the pieces together. “But why shoot Jane MacGuire? That wouldn’t be necessary and Doane is smart enough to realize—” He stopped. “Quinn is going to the island and not Eve? That doesn’t compute. Where’s Eve Duncan?”
“She may be okay. We haven’t been able to reach her after she told Quinn she’d call him from Atlanta International. Quinn is calling Atlanta PD to go out to the lake.” He paused. “I sent one of my agents, Tad Dukes, out there last night to keep an eye on Eve. I’m trying to reach him now to check out if there was any problem. I can’t contact him.”
“Strange. And curious that you sent out an agent when you were trying to convince me that you doubted if Doane had made a connection to Eve Duncan.”
“I believe in insurance. I’m on my way there myself.”
“It may be too late. She may be dead. It depends on whether he wants instant gratification.”
“You son of a bitch. You wouldn’t care either way, would you?”
“I might care. It depends on how it would affect my having to transfer my operations. I’m finding your slipup very inconvenient, Venable.”