Silencing Eve (29 page)

“We watch the sun go down. And then we say good night to Eve and Joe and we go home together.” She could feel a tightness in her throat. “And we talk the way we did tonight, not holding anything back.”

“Do we make love?”

She laughed huskily. “Of course, that goes without saying.”

“Oh, I think that should definitely be said. We do it so well.”

Yes, they did, she thought dreamily. They knew each other’s bodies and how to make them respond. Their passion tonight had been slow, hot, sweet, heady. Completely satisfying. “I agree. I didn’t mean to make such an important omission.”

“Understandable. It wasn’t the focus tonight.”

She had a sudden thought and raised herself to look down at him again. “Why wasn’t it the focus? Was it because of Caleb? Did what he did tonight interfere with—”

“Hush.” He kissed her and shut off the words. “It was necessary. Did I like it? Hell, no. But nothing you and Caleb could do together would interfere with what I feel for you.” She opened her lips to speak, and he put two fingers on her lips. “And the reason that sex wasn’t the focus was that it’s always there for us, and it’s always magic. The focus tonight was on the miracle.”

“What miracle?”

“Commitment. Barbecues and porch swings and family.” He kissed her gently. “Dreams. Love ever after.”

Love ever after.

Oh, yes, she did love him so much. Yesterday. Today. Tomorrow.

And Ever After.

If she was to keep from crying, she had to make a joke of it. “Ever After? It sounds like something from a Disney movie. That’s schmaltzy, Trevor,” she said huskily. “Nice, though.”

“I like the idea of Ever After. It means that all the things that have gone before are just the beginning, that all the mistakes and the happy times we’ve gone through are only building blocks.” He kissed the tip of her nose. “And I find I’m developing a tendency toward schmaltz, on occasion.” He pulled her down into his arms again. “But strictly sincere schmaltz. Did I embarrass you? You’ll have to get used to it.”

“I think that’s possible.” The rays of the sun coming into the room were stronger. Life was invading, she realized reluctantly. “It’s almost seven. I suppose we should get up.”

“In a little while.” He smiled. “I believe my focus is beginning to shift toward—”

Her phone on the bedside table rang.

She stiffened. Caleb?

No, Margaret.

She accessed the call. “Margaret, where are you?”

“In Caleb’s room. I’ve ordered coffee and breakfast for everyone. Thirty minutes?”

Jane looked at Trevor. “Maybe a little longer.”

“It’s important, Jane,” Margaret said quietly. “Things are breaking.”

“What—”

“Thirty minutes.” Margaret hung up.

“She said it was important,” Jane said as she pressed the disconnect. She lay there, gazing at him. Dear God, she loved him. She didn’t want to leave the cocoon that they’d built together in the past hours. “I guess we have to go.”

“You know we do.” He got up and scooped her up in his arms and turned in a circle. “And important can be good.” He kissed her before setting her on her feet. “There will be other miracles. They’ll be that much better if we go out and earn them.”

That’s right, they were just starting out. It was hard to remember that when she had just found out that all the paths they had traveled had come to this wonderful crossroad.

It was hard to remember and harder to believe.

No, she would not be negative. She didn’t even know from where that crazy thought had come. She would reach out and grasp that gold ring, and everything would be fine. She would find Eve. She would keep this love. There would be dreams and love and miracles.

“You take the first shower.” Trevor patted her behind as he nudged her toward the bathroom. “Then you can run down and talk to Margaret. I know you’re going to be on edge once you start thinking.”

He knew so much about her, she thought as she closed the bathroom door. That knowledge was a miracle in itself. She was already eager to find out what Margaret considered important. She moved quickly to the shower and turned on the spray.

Trevor said it could be good news. Please, let it be good news, Margaret.

*   *   *

“EAT YOUR BREAKFAST, JANE,”
Caleb said mockingly as he poured more coffee in her cup. “You have to keep up your strength. I’d hate to waste all my efforts.”

“Be quiet, Caleb.” Jane turned back to Margaret. “Clocks?” Excitement was sweeping through her. At least one answer in this hellish puzzle. “Bless Kendra. If we can locate those nuclear devices, then no matter what Harriet does, we’ll be in control. We could go forward with finding Eve without that hanging over us.”

“Not true,” Trevor said. “We have to do more than locate them—have them disarmed. Or at least prevent them from being detonated.”

“And you said Harriet denied she was going after the detonator this morning,” Margaret said. “But she’ll have to go get it sometime. Could you steal it, take it away from her?”

“We don’t even know if the detonator is here or in Seattle. And once she has it in her hands, the danger increases. If she panics, she might set it off before anyone could get near enough to her to take it away from her. It would have to be handled with extreme delicacy.”

“I can’t see her in a panic,” Jane said dryly. “I think she has a keen appreciation of her own value and a well-developed sense of self-preservation.” She added thoughtfully, “But Harriet wouldn’t like to risk defeat. She might set off those explosions from sheer bitchery. She’s supposed to meet with this Cartland. Perhaps we can work something through him.”

“Or call in Venable,” Margaret said quietly. She held up her hand at Jane’s expression. “I know that you’re afraid that he’ll sacrifice Eve to national security. It’s a legitimate concern after the way he almost got her killed in Colorado. But you have to consider that you may have to do it. You can’t let Harriet even get close to setting off those bombs.”

“I know that I can’t,” Jane said curtly. “But I’m not going to run that risk while there’s still a chance that we can take care of it ourselves. We still have some time. She’s not going to set off those explosions until after Zander is executed.” She moistened her lips. “And Zander isn’t going to be killed until Doane kills Eve. He wants him to see Eve die. It’s all connected.”

“Yeah, let’s see, we find out where the nukes are stashed here in Chicago and have them disabled,” Caleb’s lips twisted. “Then we follow Harriet when she heads for Seattle and joins Doane. We rescue Eve, kill the bad guys, then have the nukes in Seattle disabled. Piece of cake.”

“I know it’s a nightmare.” And his listing of those nightmare elements was causing her desperation to soar. “You can opt out, Caleb,” Jane said. “I’ve told you that before.”

“Same answer,” he said shortly. “But somebody had to outline the problems. Trevor is ready to leap tall buildings with a single bound for you. Well, I’m not Superman, but I’m damn good, and I have a few talents he lacks. There’s a job to be done, and I’ll do it.” He smiled recklessly as he glanced at Trevor. “I’ll even work with you to do it.” He looked down at the photos on Margaret’s phone. “Two very famous clocks here in Chicago. Which one do we try first?”

“Neither one,” Margaret said. “I’m heading for Wrigley Field right after breakfast to check out that clock at the stadium. You tend to Harriet Weber and let me do the advance work.”

“Advance work?” Trevor’s brows rose. “And that is?”

“Rats,” Margaret said flatly. “I took a look at that clock. It’s in the scoreboard and maintenance has to be done on the scoreboard and the clock. That means that there are places inside where a device could be placed. I don’t think it would take that much space.”

“Rats,” Trevor prompted.

“There are rats everywhere,” Margaret said. “Particularly around the rivers and lakes. Rats are always hungry and looking for food. They don’t care what it is and will try anything.”

“Even a nuclear cocktail?” Caleb asked.

“Anything,” Margaret repeated. “And they may remember the taste, or the death of another rat from ingesting, or location. If there were human food scraps in the area where the device was planted, it would be particularly memorable.”

“You mean if Kevin dropped a few bites of a McDonald’s Big Mac when he was planting the bomb, it might be a giveaway?” Jane asked. “That was over five years ago, Margaret. How long do rats live?”

“Wild rats can live from five to seven years.” She shrugged. “I’m not hoping for that kind of contact. But you can never tell. Rats tend to breed in the same area if food is readily available, and a baseball stadium and an office complex have that advantage. There might be places in either that they use as a pathway or—”

“And you expect to be able to pin those rats down to a location?” Trevor said skeptically.

“Possibly. It’s worth a shot. At least, I won’t attract much attention the way you would. Both you and Caleb are very memorable. People generally sort of take me for granted.” She made a face. “As for the rest, no promises. Rats aren’t really reliable.”

“Pity,” Caleb murmured. “If they were, I think you might pull it off.”

“Really?” Margaret tilted her head. “You mean it?”

“You’re remarkable,” Caleb said. “Annoying but definitely remarkable. And Jane told us about the way you charmed that wolf in the mountains.”

“You don’t charm wolves; you accept them and hope they accept—”

The machine on the table by the balcony doors pinged softly.

“Our Harriet’s moving.” Caleb rose swiftly to his feet. “It may take her a while to shower and dress, but I’m not going to take a chance. I’ll go down and watch the suite until she takes off to meet Cartland.” He glanced at Jane. “Stay here. The last thing we want is for Harriet to see you. I’ll call you when she’s left the hotel.”

The next moment the door closed behind him.

Stay here?

Jane got to her feet. She did not want to stay here. She wanted to be on the move, part of the action. But there was no doubt it was the sensible thing to do. At least, she was here in the same hotel as Harriet, close to the action and not parked “safely” a block away.

“Jane,” Trevor said.

“I know, I know. I’ll do what’s smart and discreet.” She turned to Margaret. “Okay. But I’ll go with you to Wrigley Field. Maybe I can do something to—”

“Perhaps we’d do better to stay here and explore that driftwood thread that Ben Hudson—” He stopped as he saw her expression. “Problem?”

“I’m not going to stay cooped up in a hotel room doing computer research on driftwood. I’ll leave that to Catherine and Joe. I spent all those days in the hospital doing the same kind of research to find that place in Colorado where Doane was keeping Eve.”

“And you found it,” Trevor said softly.

“I only did it because I wasn’t strong enough to go after Doane myself. I had to rely on others to do my job.” She met his eyes. “I won’t do that again. I’m strong, Trevor. Thanks to Caleb, I’ve never felt stronger.” She grimaced. “Damn him.”

“But that isn’t all, is it?” Margaret was studying Jane’s expression. “You don’t believe Ben Hudson?”

“Of course I believe he’s telling the truth as he knows it. Who wouldn’t? When I was drawing that sketch of Doane from Ben’s description, it was like looking into a crystal-clear pool. He’d never intentionally lie.”

“Intentionally seems to be the key word,” Margaret said quietly. “You’re saying that his dreams are hallucinations? Yet you’ve evidently had some very strange dreams yourself. Were your dreams of Cira and her Anthony hallucinations?”

“Maybe. I’ve never ruled that possibility out.”

“Because you have problems accepting anything that’s not strictly black-and-white.” Trevor smiled. “But I believe that Cira managed to suspend your disbelief on occasion.”

She was silent a moment. “But I never claimed that she was a ghost who talked to me and told me how to run my life.”

“Ah, there we have it,” Trevor said. “The crux of the issue is Bonnie. I had a few reservations myself when I heard the story, but I was willing to go along since Quinn appeared to be taking it seriously. He’s a cop, and I thought there might be minimal substance.” He tilted his head. “He believes in ghosts?”

“I don’t discuss it with him.” She saw him gazing quizzically at her. She would not lie to him even by omission. “I don’t know about ghosts in general. I think he believes in Bonnie. I
know
that Eve believes in her.”

“But you can’t bring yourself to do it?” Margaret asked.

“It doesn’t have anything to do with me. If they want to cling to Bonnie even beyond the grave, if it brings them peace or happiness, why should I mind? All I want is for Eve to be happy.” She tried to steady her voice. “And safe. I want her to be safe. And I can’t go chasing off on a wild-goose chase that could waste time and kill her.”

Margaret nodded. “Then you shouldn’t do it. Let Kendra and Catherine work on it.” She chuckled. “That’s actually funny. There aren’t two more hardheaded women that I know and I’m tossing a ghost at them.” She got to her feet and gave Jane a hug. “Personally, I don’t know if you’re right or wrong. But it doesn’t matter. I’m here for you no matter how you want to handle this. By all means come along to Wrigley Field and we’ll play hickory dickory dock. Only substitute rat for mouse.” She glanced at Trevor. “You can come, too.”

“Thank you,” he said dryly.

“You’re welcome. You can keep an eye on Jane while I’m busy up behind the clock.” She smiled. “You’ll like doing that. You can hardly stop staring at her anyway.”

Trevor’s gaze shifted to Jane. “Yes, I will like that very much, Margaret.”

Jane was caught, held. She could not look away from him.

Today. Tomorrow. Ever After.

“We’ll leave right after we get the call from Caleb that Harriet has left the hotel,” Margaret said. “In the meantime, I’ll call Kendra and see if she’s come up with anything else.” She pulled out her phone. “I’m feeling a little
de trop
at the moment. You’re practically glowing, and Trevor is … I don’t know what.” She waved her hand as she started to dial. “But go ahead, continue. It’s interesting, and I think I like it. It’s kind of … warm.”