Текст книги "Silencing Eve"

Автор книги: Iris Johansen

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Текущая страница: 20 (всего у книги 23 страниц)

Caleb’s eyes were narrowed, darting like those of an animal on the hunt. The sleek panther had returned. “Stay low. We want to see them before they see us.”

They crouched and moved through the grass. Only now did Jane realize just how close to the beach they were. She heard the crashing of waves and felt sand beneath her feet. She peered through the grass to see that a tall dune was all that separated her from the narrow beach. She started to move toward it when Caleb grabbed her arm. “Stop.”

Jane pulled away. “Like hell. What if there’s a boat beyond that dune? Or maybe Doane’s cottage? If they’re over there, I—”

“They could see you, and it would ruin everything. Let me run back to the road and come back from the other side of their car.”

Trevor nodded. “Good idea. I’ll circle around this dune and approach from the other side.”

Jane looked between them with exasperation. “What am I supposed to do? Sit here and do nothing?”

Trevor smiled. “I wish I could talk you into that, but I know better.”

“Damn right, I’ll go straight up and over and see if I can spot them on the beach.”

Caleb stepped toward her and handed her his revolver. “Stay low. There’s a good stand of grass on this side of the dune. Use it for cover. And if you see them, wait for us before you try to follow.”

She looked at the weapon in her hand. “I can’t take your gun, Caleb.”

He pulled a seven-inch LHR combat knife from his ankle sheath. “I prefer this. Messy, but quieter. I’ve never been one to attract attention to myself.”

“We both know that’s not true.”

“We’ll discuss it later.” He nodded to Trevor and sprinted back in the direction from which they’d come.

Jane put the gun in her waistband and turned back to Trevor. “Be careful,” she whispered.

He hesitated. For an instant, she wasn’t sure he would leave her. Then he gave her a quick kiss. “You, too.”

She watched as he ran down the length of the long sand dune. She dropped to her hands and knees and started her climb to the top.

She suddenly cocked her head, listening. Had she heard a woman’s voice?

Hard to tell over the sound of the pounding surf.

She continued slowly up the dune, an inch at a time.

She reached the top and drew a deep breath, listening.

No sound but the surf.

She raised her head to peer down at the beach.

A gun was leveled at her face from only a foot away!

“Welcome.” The man crouching there was one of the men who had met Harriet at her plane. “She’s been waiting for you. Now be very quiet, and you might live for another few minutes.”

Shit. If she tried to jerk her gun out of her waistband, he’d pull the trigger.

“That’s right, freeze.” He rose unsteadily to his feet, slipping on the loose sand. He turned to signal someone below.

Use the distraction. Move.

She hurled herself over the dune and toppled the man who was already precariously balanced on its face. She heard him cursing as they both tumbled down the other side toward the beach.

Rolling, twisting, turning …

She was struggling to grasp the revolver in her waistband. She grabbed the handle just as she hit the beach and rolled over to her feet. She leveled the gun at the man who was still flat on his back but struggling to sit up. He’d lost his gun on the way down, and it was several feet away. Don’t let him get near that gun again.

A shot rang out.

Pain seared the flesh of Jane’s lower arm and her own gun dropped from her hand. What the hell? Jane spun around.

“In the end, a woman always has to take care of things herself if she wants them done well.” Harriet was walking toward her. “Look what you’ve done to poor Craig. Of course, he deserved it for letting you take him by surprise.”

“She didn’t do anything. I … slipped.” The man Harriet had called Craig was scowling.

“Shut up, Craig. I should have known Cartland would send me two bunglers.” Harriet moved forward, her gun extended before her. “I’ll take care of this from now on.” She glanced at Jane’s arm and smiled with satisfaction. “Good shot. Just a flesh wound, as I intended. Hardly bleeding at all. Kevin taught me, you know. I didn’t want you to die before I could talk to you.”

“So talk to me.” The gun she’d dropped was only a few feet away. Could she reach it before Harriet pulled the trigger?

“I wanted to tell you that you’ve lost. That I had won.” Harriet’s face was full of triumphant malice. “And I wanted to see your face when you realized what a fool you were. You thought you were so clever. When Cartland told me that you’d followed me to my hotel, I had to wonder how you did it. When I got back to my room, I searched it very carefully and found all your little bugs. But that didn’t tell me how you’d followed me from Muncie.” Her lips twisted. “And then I thought about my Kevin’s wonderful letters and how you must have committed the final desecration by going through them. And had even planted a GPS bug in the lid of the box. Can you imagine how angry that made me?”

“I don’t really care.”

“You’ll care when I pull this trigger. Kevin and I beat you. We used your own trick to lure you out here. Kevin would have been proud of me.”

“I don’t doubt it. You’re two of a kind. I don’t know who is the more evil.”

“You thought you were going to stop me?” Harriet leveled the gun at her. “You’ve caused me so much trouble. I wish I could take more time with you. But I can’t afford to indulge myself.”

She was going to pull the trigger. Jane couldn’t wait any longer. She gathered her muscles to leap for the gun she’d dropped.

“Harriet.” Trevor’s voice. “Don’t touch her. Drop your gun.”

Harriet whirled, startled, at this new attack. Her hand tightened on her weapon as she saw Trevor with a gun in hand. “Keep back. I’ll kill you. I’ll kill both of you.” She was spitting venom. “You must be her lover, rushing to the rescue. How fitting that you’ll die with the little whore.”

“Get away from her, Harriet.” Trevor moved a step closer. “We both have guns, but you’ll be a dead woman the instant you pull that trigger. My gun is pointed at your heart, and you’ll be dead in seconds. I don’t think that’s what you want. You have all those grand plans. Or maybe you’re expecting help from that gorilla who was guarding the other side of the dune? He won’t be coming. I took care of him before I moved on you.” He glanced at Craig, who had made a motion toward his gun in the sand a few yards away and told him, “And there will be a bullet between your eyes if you’re not very, very still.”

Craig froze.

A flicker of uneasiness crossed Harriet’s face. “I don’t need him. I don’t need either of them.” She reached in her pocket and pulled out a large, clumsy-looking cell phone. “I don’t need anything but this detonator. I was saving it for the grand finale after I kill Zander, but I’ll set it off now if you don’t put down that gun. And, if you shoot me, I’ll activate it as I’m falling to the ground.”

Jane inhaled sharply, her gaze on that antique phone. Millions of deaths, she thought. One touch, and millions of deaths.

“So it’s a game of chicken? I won’t put down my gun,” Trevor said. “Don’t be foolish. I couldn’t be sure you wouldn’t use your gun to shoot Jane. That’s what this is all about. But I’ll let you walk away from here. We’ll be right behind you, but you’ll have a little head start.”

“You fool. Can’t you see as long as I have this detonator that I’m the one who gives the orders?”

“No, all I see is a danger to Jane.” He met Harriet’s eyes. “And I won’t risk her life no matter what you threaten. Look at me. I don’t care about anything else but Jane. Can’t you see that? Now turn around and walk away.”

She hesitated, staring at him. “You really mean it.” Then she shrugged. “It’s only a postponement. I swore on Kevin’s soul that I’d kill the bitch.” She moved away from Jane, toward the road. “And that’s what I’ll do. As quickly as I—” She suddenly whirled and the gun in her hand was belching fire.

Trevor flinched back as the bullets tore into his body.

Jane screamed.

Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion.

She jumped to her feet.

She had to get to Trevor.

Not fast enough.

Not fast enough.

He was falling …

The muzzle of Harriet’s gun swung toward Jane.

“No!” Trevor was stumbling toward Jane. “Get down. Let me do—”

Then, suddenly, Caleb was there on the scene, moving lightning fast. His knife sliced across the throat of Harriet’s henchman, Craig, who was scrambling for his gun. An instant later, he was knocking Jane to the ground and covering her body with his own.

“Good … That’s good … Caleb…” Trevor’s knees buckled, and he fell, his gun firing at Harriet.

Blood blossomed on Harriet’s shoulder. Then she was gone, running toward the road.

Jane didn’t even look at her as she struggled to get from beneath Caleb’s weight.

Trevor …

Agony tore through her.

Three shots. Three bullets.

She ran to him and fell to her knees.

Blood. Dear God, so much blood. Stomach. Chest.

So much blood.

“She’s gone?” Trevor was looking up at her. He whispered, “You’re safe?”

“She’s gone.” He was alive. She had to keep him alive. “I’ll call 911 and get someone out here. Don’t talk. I have to stop the blood, Trevor.” She was so scared. The tears were running down her cheeks. “You hold on, okay? I have to find a way to stop the blood.”

“I’ll … hold on.” He smiled at her. “It’s not yet, Jane.”

Not yet. Those two words scared her more than she had been before. “Not ever, Trevor.”

“Ever … After,” he said. “You shouldn’t be afraid.”

Today. Tomorrow. Ever After.

“Of course, I’m afraid.” She started to unbutton his shirt. “I will be until I get you well. Be still. I don’t want to hurt you.” She pushed aside his shirt. “I hate that she did this. I want to—” She gasped as she saw his chest and abdomen. Three wounds and so much blood she couldn’t see where one ended and the next began.

“Do you want me to try to help?” Caleb asked quietly. She hadn’t known he’d come to kneel beside her. “I don’t know how much of the blood flow I can stop, but I can try to direct it somewhere in his body.”

“Yes, help him. Do something.” She grabbed her phone and called 911 while she watched Caleb place his hands carefully on the wounds.

Was the flow slowing? Make it slow, she prayed. Caleb knew so much about blood. He had said he was no healer, but just this once let him be able to heal Trevor.

She waited, holding her breath.

And her prayers seemed to be answered. “See, it does seem to be slowing,” Jane said, relieved. “Thank you, Caleb.”

“Don’t thank me,” he said harshly. “I couldn’t stop—” He took his hands away from Trevor. “Don’t thank me.”

She looked at him in bewilderment.

“Then I’ll thank you, Caleb,” Trevor whispered. “You gave me a little time, didn’t you? Precious gift…” His gaze was on Jane’s face. “Listen … I have to go away now. I don’t know much about this, but I don’t think it’s forever. But you have … to go on as if it is forever.”

“Trevor?” She couldn’t understand what he was saying. She wouldn’t understand. Because if she did, it was the end of everything.

“Caleb stopped everything but the internal bleeding.” His voice was unsteady. “He couldn’t … stop that. She … did too much damage.”

“No.” She shook her head. The panic was rising. The darkness was moving closer. “Stop talking like that. You’re not going to die.”

“I don’t know what death … is, but I’m mad as hell I’m not going to be able to be with you and Joe and Eve at the barbecue on the lake. Maybe the … second time around.” His voice seemed to be failing. “And I won’t be there to take care of you and make sure that you’re happy and safe and that everything—” He stopped. “That worries me.”

This couldn’t be happening, Jane thought dazedly. Where the hell was that ambulance? Surely someone could save him. He was so good, so special, someone had to save him. “I can take care of myself,” she said brokenly. “But I want you here. You have to stay with me. Do you hear me?”

“Shh, love. You’ll get through it. You’re so strong.” He reached up and touched her cheek. “My own love.” His glance went past her to Caleb. “You know … what’s necessary…”

Caleb stiffened. “No,” he said emphatically. “I won’t do it. You can’t do this to me. I won’t be used.”

Trevor smiled. “Yes, you know…” He turned back to Jane. “Now just hold my hand and tell … me you love me. Okay? I think that’s all we have … time for.”

“I do love you.” She kissed him, the tears running down her cheeks. “And I’ll love you forever. You gave me … so much. I just wish you’d stay so that I could start giving back. Please. Please do that.”

“Not this … time. I want to give you … anything you want. I can’t … do it, love…” His eyes were closing. “Maybe … Ever After…”

CHAPTER

18

“THE MEDICAL EXAMINER IS HERE, Jane,” Caleb said gently. “There are things to do. You have to let them take him.”

She looked up at him dully. She’d been aware of the flashing lights and the techs, but it was as if they had been on another planet.

She didn’t want to let go of Trevor’s hand even though she knew he was no longer in that body. It would be the final parting, and she didn’t think she could bear it.

“Jane,” Caleb said. “Dammit, what can I do? I’ll do anything you want me to do. Tell me.”

He was angry. No, that wasn’t it. His eyes were glittering with moisture. Strange …

“Jane.”

They were all waiting, she realized. Waiting for her. She had to do what the world judged right and normal.

She had to let him go.

She closed her eyes. It’s not really good-bye, Trevor. You said I was strong, and I’m not right now. But I have to be strong for you. They’re right. It’s not finished, not for you, not for me. She opened her eyes. She tried to steady her voice. “I heard you, Caleb.” She put her lips for the briefest moment on Trevor’s hand, then slowly, slowly released him. Stop the tears. They would only get in the way. “I’ll see you later … Trevor.”

Later, my love.

She got to her feet and turned away. She couldn’t stand to see them take him away from her. “It’s okay, Caleb.” It was a lie. Nothing would ever be okay again. “Tell them to do their job.”

She stood there, vaguely aware of Caleb’s voice, the voices and movement of the ME ambulance techs, and the slamming of the ambulance doors.

“Jane.” Margaret was standing beside her. Jane had been vaguely aware of her reaching out in silent sympathy from the moment she had run down to the beach when she had heard the shots. But she had been careful not to intrude on Jane’s grief until now. “I’m not going to talk about Trevor right now. You’re not ready. But there are things I have to tell you. I think Venable knows what happened here. You said he’d be monitoring what we were doing and would step in if he thought he should.” She made a face. “I’d say death and Harriet on the loose would qualify. The police didn’t bother you when they got here, but they started to question me and Caleb. Then the detective got a telephone call, and they suddenly backed off and just started the forensic stuff. I think Venable pulled strings to keep them off us until he could get here.”

“You’re probably right,” she said dully. She had to concentrate on what Margaret was saying. “And that should be pretty soon.”

“Yes.”

“That’s not good.” She forced herself to turn and look at the flashing lights of the ambulance as the driver got back in the vehicle.

“They’ll be gone in a minute,” Caleb said quietly as he came back to her. “Hold on, Jane.”

She was holding on. It’s better now, Trevor. I can do it.

“Go with them, Caleb. You, too, Margaret.”

He turned to face her. “We’ll follow them in the car with you.”

She shook her head. “I’m not going with him. Not right now.”

He went still. “Why not?”

“I have something else to do.” Keep your voice even. Don’t break down. Every minute that passed, she was getting stronger. You were right, Trevor. I can get through this. I can do what has to be done. “You said you’d do anything. Well, I’m asking you to go with Trevor, take care of him, and do all those things that have to be done. I can’t stand the thought of his being alone.”

“He’s dead, Jane. I know you can’t think straight, but try, try.” Caleb cursed beneath his breath as he saw her expression. “I know what you think you have to do. You want that bitch dead? You go with Trevor and let me do it.”

She shook her head.

“My God, look at you, you’re a basket case. Trevor wouldn’t want you to do this. You know that, Jane.”

“He would want me to be strong. She killed him, Caleb.”

“Let me do it.”

“I can’t do that. Evil. She’s so evil. She killed him to get to me. She didn’t care that he was good and fine and everything that her monster of a son could never be. She just … destroyed him because he was in her way.” She gazed at the ambulance. “She’s never going to kill again. I’m going to send her to hell to join her son.”

“I’m not going to be able to talk you out of this, am I?” His eyes were burning in his taut face. “I’m tempted just to knock you out until you’re thinking clearer.”

“Everything is very cIear to me, Caleb. It couldn’t be more clear.”

“Look, if I get close to Harriet I can—”

“You said you’d do whatever I wanted you to do.”

He stared at her in helpless fury. “Shit.” Then he turned on his heel and strode toward the ambulance. “I’ll take care of your dead lover. And then maybe I’ll have to come back and bring your body back to the same morgue.” He jumped into the passenger seat and motioned to the driver. “At least make a token effort to keep me from having to do that.”

“He’s right, Jane,” Margaret said gently. “But it doesn’t matter if he’s right or wrong. You won’t let me stay with you?”

She shook her head.

“I’m not going to force it. I want to do it, but I’d probably feel the same way if it was someone I loved.” She gave her a quick hug. “Take care,” she whispered. “And move very fast. Venable should be roaring up anytime now.” She turned and moved toward the ambulance.

Jane watched the taillights of the ambulance until the vehicle disappeared around the curve in the road.

“I have to do it, Trevor,” she whispered. “You’d understand. You always understood.” But Caleb was right, Trevor wouldn’t like it. He always wanted to keep her safe.

But her safety didn’t matter any longer. Nothing mattered but Harriet’s death. By Caleb’s last words, she knew he had known that, and it had added to his frustration.

Move.

If Margaret was right, Venable might be here and get in her way.

Harriet had at least an hour head start, but she would not be hiding. She would be going to Driftwood Cottage to accomplish her final act of revenge for Kevin’s death. She had a destination.

And so did Jane.

As soon as she reached her car, she pulled out her phone and called Catherine.

“I’ve been trying to reach you,” Catherine said. “We were worried. You hung up, then there was no answer when I called back later.”

“Some things were happening. The last thing that I heard you say was that you thought you’d found that Driftwood Cottage. Did you find it?”

“Yes, we’re on our way there now. We’re about thirty minutes away at a powerboat-rental facility at a town near there. Joe Googled it, and the cottage is on the beach, surrounded by hills, but he says that there’s too much danger of being spotted as you approach the cottage. It’s better that we come in from the sea.”

“The sea?”

“That’s what he says. I trust him to know what he’s doing.”

“Then you’d better hurry. Harriet is on her way, too. And she’s not going to care if Doane spots her coming toward the cottage.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure. But she’s wounded. She’s bleeding. I don’t think it’s serious, but it could delay her if she has to stop the bleeding. I can only hope it does.”

“Wounded?” Catherine was silent. “Jane, what the hell happened?”

If she told her, it would break the fragile balance. “I’ll tell you later. Look, maybe I’m closer to the cottage than you. Give me the location.” She typed in the location on the GPS. “I am closer. I’ll get on the road right away.”

“Wait for us. Don’t do anything on your own.”

“I won’t be on my own.”

Catherine was silent. “Jane, is everything all right with you? You sound…”

“Nothing is wrong.” Except that her world had ended. Except that Trevor was in the back of that ambulance and would never come back to her. “I’ll call you when I reach Driftwood Cottage.” She hung up and buried her head on the steering wheel.

Take just one minute.

Get control again.

One more call. She sat up and dialed Venable.

“You blew it, Jane,” Venable said harshly as he picked up the call. “Stay where you are. I’m coming after you.”

“I know you are. I don’t care. Shut up a minute. I have to tell you something. Harriet has the detonator. I wasn’t sure before, but I saw her with it. She has it, and she’ll use it.” She paused to steady her voice. “So do whatever you can to locate those devices and defuse them.”

Silence. “We’ve already located them. They’re in the clock towers as you said. Our flyovers picked up the plutonium signatures. I’ve already got a team headed inside. Very discreetly, as we agreed.” His tone hardened. “But there’s nothing discreet about what happened with you and Harriet Weber tonight.”

“Forget being discreet. It’s too late for that. By the time they get to those nukes, it will be settled one way or the other.”

She hung up the phone as he started to fire questions.

She’d done what she could.

Now all that was left was getting that detonator away from Harriet and trying to save Eve.

Hurry.

Even if Harriet had been delayed by doing first aid on that wound Trevor had inflicted, she was probably close to the cottage now. When she got there, it could be only a matter of minutes until Harriet and Doane decided to make their kills.

Eve.

Panic shot through her, piercing the agony.

Eve could die.

They were so close to saving her, yet all that bitch, Harriet, had to do was to pull the trigger, and she would die.

As Trevor had died.

No, Harriet, not again. Never again.

Her foot stomped on the accelerator, and the car jumped forward.

Driftwood Cottage

“SHE’S NOT HERE.” DOANE’S EYES were glittering with anger as he stormed back into the cottage. “Harriet promised me that she’d be here by this time. The arrogant bitch is probably keeping me waiting on purpose. I wouldn’t put it past her. She’s always played games like that.”

“You mean she’s not eager to witness the grand execution,” Zander said mockingly. “What an insult to me.”

“And to you,” Eve said to Doane. “Do I detect a lack of trust?”

“Shut up, both of you.” He was dialing his phone. “I won’t have her spoiling everything. I’m not going to let her—” He spoke harshly into the phone as she came on the line, “Where the hell are you? I’m not going to wait any longer. You can’t do this to—” He broke off, listening. “I don’t care what happened to you. I don’t believe you anyway. Fifteen minutes. You’d better be here. I won’t wait a minute longer.” He punched his finger savagely down on the disconnect. “Excuses. She said that she’d been hurt and had stopped at an emergency clinic to get the blood stopped. Bullshit.” He headed for the door. “She told me she was nearly here, that she’d just started over the hills. If she’s telling the truth, I should be able to see her headlights from the beach.” He glared at them over his shoulder. “If I don’t see them in ten minutes, I’m coming back here.” He smiled savagely. “And all the bitch will see when she gets here will be two corpses.” The door slammed behind him.

“I believe it’s time we got out of here,” Zander said. “It appears that Doane isn’t going to wait until Harriet darkens his door.”

“I got that impression,” Eve said. Her heart was pounding hard. She hadn’t thought she’d be this frightened. She had known this moment was coming. “By all means, if you can pull a rabbit out of your hat and get us free, I’ll be interested to see it.”

“No rabbit. But you’re in the right ballpark.” His brow was furrowed with concentration. “I’m working on it. These handcuffs aren’t easy with this broken arm.”

Eve stared at him. “You really think you can pick the lock?”

“No. Not in a reasonable amount of time, anyway.” Zander shifted, and suddenly both hands popped up in front of him. His left hand was entirely free of the cuff.

Eve’s eyes widened. “I thought you said—”

“I didn’t pick it.” He showed her his hand, which looked horribly malformed. “I dislocated my thumb and little finger. It’s something I learned a while back from a very talented escape artist in Thailand who had aspirations to be Houdini.”

“It looks painful.”

“Not nearly as painful … as popping them back.” He used his other hand to move his thumb and finger into their joints.

He winced. “Now for the other one. The right hand is a little more difficult because of the swelling due to the cast on my arm.”

Eve watched in amazement as he did the dislocation on his other hand and slid off the remaining handcuff. He popped his thumb and finger back, then flexed both hands like a master pianist who had just finished a challenging concerto.

He grimaced. “Not pleasant. But in my profession, it comes in handy on occasion.”

“I can imagine.” She pointed down to his leg cuffs. “But I doubt if you can dislocate your toes.”

“Even if I could, it wouldn’t help. But fortunately I can easily access these locks.”

Zander reached behind him and yanked sharply on the carpet. It separated from the floor. He felt the underside of the edge and pulled up a single carpet staple, which he proceeded to bend in two places. He inserted it into the lock of his left leg cuff.

“These look daunting, but larger locks are often easier to pick than smaller ones. More room to work in.” He frowned in concentration. The left cuff fell to the floor. He repeated the motion with the right leg cuff. It was off even faster.

“Now let’s get you out of these ropes.” He jumped to his feet and ran behind her chair. He worked at the complicated knots for a moment, then was quickly unwinding the ropes from her body. “Come on.” He grabbed her hand and jerked her to her feet. She almost fell as the blood rushed back to her legs. He grabbed her by the waist and half carried her toward the door. “You’ll be okay in a minute. We’ve got to move. We don’t know how long we have before Doane decides to give up on Harriet.”

He might have already done that, Eve thought. He had been angry and impatient and ready for the kill. The beach wasn’t that far away from the cottage.

He might be on the other side of that door with a gun in his hand.

Oregon Coast

JOE CUT THE POWERBOAT’S ENGINE and raised his high-powered binoculars toward the shore. “That’s the cottage. We can’t risk taking the boat any closer.”

Gallo stood up, his gaze on the shore. “We’re still miles away.”

“If Eve is there, and Doane sees us coming, it’s all over. We can’t risk it.”

Catherine took the binoculars and looked for herself. “Those objects on the beach … that’s driftwood?”

Joe nodded. “Some of those pieces are probably ten, twelve feet tall. Amazing, aren’t they?”

“Disturbing. They look like giant talons clawing up from the sand.”

Joe pulled a package from a canvas bag and placed it over the side of the boat. He yanked the pull cord and a gray, six-foot raft inflated. He tied the raft to a cleat and started loading weapons into it.

Gallo studied the raft. “Quinn, I don’t see how there’s room in there for us and all that artillery.”

“There isn’t. We’re swimming.”

“Interesting. You’re not joking?”

“No joke. We’d be too easy to spot in there anyway. I’ll attach a towline to my belt and drag it in. You and Catherine can drag yourselves in.”

“We weren’t Navy Seals like you, Quinn.”

Catherine unzipped her jacket to reveal a wet suit that accentuated her sleek, toned figure. “Stop giving him a hard time, Gallo. You swam nearly that far when we were trying to reach that sub off the coast of China.”

He smiled. “But I had you standing by to aid and assist.”

“If you think I’m towing you into shore, you’re crazy.”

“Too bad. It would have been fun. I suppose I can manage it by myself.” Gallo turned toward Joe. “But I have to point out that one phone call from Catherine, and we could have an entire squadron down here backing us up. Providing you want to trust Venable again.”

“I do not,” Joe said curtly. “We’ve already been down that road. It almost got Eve killed. If you’re not in, Gallo, just stay here. Catherine and I can handle it.”

“I think you know better than that,” Gallo said quietly. “I felt I had to state the options. It’s too important to rush in because that’s what we want to do. Do you think I don’t feel the same way you do, Quinn?”

Joe met his eyes. “No, you don’t feel the same. You couldn’t. But I’ll grant that you may feel something approaching it.”

“I won’t argue with you. I’ve told you how I feel about Eve. She’s my friend and the mother of my child.” Gallo pulled off his shirt and slid into a blue wet-suit top that matched the bottoms he was already wearing. “One way or another, we’re getting her back today.”

Joe nodded. “Damned right we are.” He finished packing the raft and jumped into the water. He clipped the tether to the belt of his wet suit as Catherine and Gallo joined him. Joe started toward shore with long, powerful strokes. “Let’s go get her.”

*   *   *

“THIS WAY!” ZANDER PULLED Eve left as they hurtled out the cottage’s front door.

She pointed to a path that extended down the other direction. “That one runs parallel to the beach. I think Doane’s car is—”

“No cover there. Hurry.”

They ran up the hill and almost immediately found themselves in the midst of an area populated by tall rock formations. “Do you know where we’re headed?” she whispered.

“No idea at all. How could I? But if he comes after us, I can take care of him.”

“Without a weapon?”

“Hands and mind are weapons. Sometimes conventional weapons only get in the way.”

“I still like to have them available,” she said dryly.

“Okay, if you prefer.” Zander moved toward a half-buried chunk of driftwood and tore off one of the branches. He held up the sharp, jagged end, about eighteen inches long, and looked at her questioningly.

Eve shook her head. “That’s not going to do much good against his gun.”

“Complaints. Complaints. It’s all we have.” He handed the branch to her. “This one’s yours.”