“You don’t actually think Natalie Castino is genuine?” Jane asked quietly.
“No, but I’m trying to be unbiased,” Eve said. “We don’t know enough about her. Most of it is hearsay, and who knows what a mother would do to find her child.”
“You’re in a very vulnerable state where that concept is concerned,” Jane said. “You might not be thinking straight.” She shook her head. “It could be a trap.”
“That was my first thought.” Eve grimaced. “I tend to trust Joe’s judgment more than I do Natalie Castino’s motherly love. But if it is a trap, can we turn it against them? I’m supposed to call her if I decide to help her whisk Cara away into the loving arms of her grandfather. There has to be some way we can use that.”
“But we’d need help. You have to tell MacDuff, Eve.”
She nodded. “I know that. I just wanted to talk it out and get it straight in my head before I brought him into the picture. MacDuff can be overwhelming once he makes up his mind.”
“Tell me about it,” Jane said dryly. “But that doesn’t alter the fact that he’s the best game in town and certainly the one with the most cards he can play. Do you want me to talk to him?”
“No, I’ll do it.” Eve gave her a hug. “I have to check on whether he’s located a safe house yet and whether we can travel in this fog. My guess is a big negative. And I’m getting more and more nervous about having Cara out in this wilderness.” She moved toward the door. “I’ll get back to you.”
Jane followed her and watched until she disappeared into MacDuff’s tent. She stood outside surrounded by the fog, which didn’t appear to have abated at all. Then she turned to stare out at the lake.
The beginning or the end.
Today the lake appeared much more ominous than the day she had first seen it.
“You’re very tense. It’s not all that bad.”
She turned to see Seth Caleb coming toward her and automatically stiffened. “I have a right to be tense. I have more at stake than you do, Caleb.” She was suddenly aware of something different, charged, electric, about him. Not so different. She had seen him like this before when there was a threat, but it always disturbed her. “Or perhaps you haven’t heard that Salazar is on the move. You haven’t been around very much lately.”
“I was merely being sensitive to your feelings.” He was smiling recklessly as he came closer to her. “You were pedaling backward at top speed the last time I saw you, and I thought I’d allow you time to regroup. And I knew about Salazar at the same time you did. Perhaps a little earlier.”
“Earlier?”
“I feel things sometimes. A sort of primal instinct. And we all know how primitive I can be.”
“And how much you enjoy it.”
“I can’t help it,” he said simply. “And I won’t lie to you. If you expected me to stay close to the home fires and circle the wagon train, that wasn’t going to happen. It’s not how I operate. I took off for those hills and started hunting.”
She went still. “And did you find anything?”
“Maybe. I didn’t locate Salazar’s camp. They’re probably moving it every three or four hours. But there are only a couple ways they could cause us problems, and perhaps they won’t think of them. And I have the lay of the land now. I know where I’d strike.”
“I don’t want them to strike at all. I want Eve and Cara out of here.”
“So do I.” His lips twisted. “They’ll get in my way. Plus robbing the situation of any hint of fun. After all, I promised Eve I’d take care of her, and responsibility tends to be exceptionally boring.”
“How unfortunate,” Jane said. “No one asked you to take responsibility, Caleb. Eve is my responsibility.” She turned to go back into her tent. “And when she leaves here, I’m going with her.”
“Which means I’ll have to tag along.” He shrugged. “But I’ll try to make it interesting as well as worthwhile. In the meantime, I’ll go back to those hills and see if I can discover anything else of importance.”
Jane suddenly whirled on him. “Why,” she asked fiercely. “Do you just like to take risks? You’ve already found out what you wanted to know. Those bastards could be out there just waiting for a chance to—” She broke off. Why ask when she knew the answers? “Do what you wish. What do I care if you want to behave like a self-indulgent child?”
“But you do care,” he said softly, his gaze on her face. “Why, Jane? You try so hard not to give a damn about me, but it just keeps coming back, doesn’t it? Why do you suppose that happens?”
Her hands clenched into fists at her sides. “I’ll get over it.”
“Oh, no, I can’t allow that to come to pass.” He smiled. “I’ve worked too hard. Every time we come together, I get a step closer. I get to know you a little better.”
“And I don’t really know you at all, Caleb.”
His smile faded. “True. I’ve been very careful about that, but I might have to relinquish a bit of who I am to make you feel safer.”
“And would I feel safer?”
“I don’t know. It would be a risk.” The brilliance of his smile came back full force. “But then I like risks. You might learn to like them, too.” He turned and started back toward the path to the hills. “But not when it concerns your Eve.” He looked back over his shoulder at her, and she was again aware of that charged electricity, the suppressed excitement that was just below the surface. Dear God, she was beginning to feel that same reckless disturbance she saw in him, she realized. She wanted to follow him into that mist. She wanted to find the thrill of danger and adventure she could sense in him.
And he could see it. “Never Eve,” he repeated. “Never anyone you care about and protect. No risks there, I promise.”
And then he was gone.
But who was going to protect Caleb? Who had ever protected him?
Just another thing that she didn’t know about Seth Caleb.
And why was it hurting her to realize that he could have been vulnerable and in pain, and she would not have been able to help him?
Forget Caleb.
Go back into the tent. Finish packing, then go find Eve.
And keep all risk away from her and Cara and the child.
2:40 P.M.
SOUTHERN ATLANTIC CHARTER FLIGHT 1257
SOMEWHERE OVER THE ATLANTIC OCEAN
Three more hours, Joe told himself as he checked his watch. He’d land in Edinburgh in another two hours and catch a helicopter to Gaelkar.
Three more hours.
It was too long. He felt caught, helpless, in this plane above the Atlantic. He couldn’t get to her.
His phone rang, and he glanced at the ID. Manez.
“I trust that you’re winging your way across the Atlantic even as we speak,” Manez said when Joe answered. “You caused something of an uproar, you know. Toller was most upset that you slipped away from his agent. He didn’t find out that you weren’t on that plane until he managed to get a head count from the flight attendants right before the flight reached Geneva.”
“And how did you know?”
“I’ve been keeping my eye on you … and on Toller. Things are becoming … interesting. I assume you’re finding it necessary to go and rescue your Eve. Salazar is on the move?”
“He’s found out where Eve and Cara are.”
“A very determined man. But Toller is also determined. He wants no interference. If he finds out where you are, he’ll have you arrested, Quinn.”
“Do you think I don’t know that?” He paused. “And are you going to tell him where I’m headed?”
“I really should, in deference to international cooperation.”
“Are you going to do it?”
“I don’t actually know where you’re going, do I? Of course you mentioned Scotland, but you were careful not to pin down a location.” He was silent a moment. “And I don’t like the way Toller is handling this. As I told you, he’s not involving me in his investigations into Jenny Castino’s death. This is my city. No one knows more about the cartel bosses than I do, including Castino. My conclusion was that Toller wanted to remain in control and manipulate events to suit himself. That made me very curious, so I decided to dig very hard into Toller’s sources to discover who had given the tip that Jenny was Castino’s daughter.”
“And you found out?”
“It wasn’t Sheriff Nalchek or anyone in his office.”
“I didn’t believe it was Nalchek.”
“But you weren’t sure that it wasn’t one of his men. A reasonable conclusion. I looked there first.”
“And where else did you look?”
“In places that weren’t at all reasonable. I found an agent in Toller’s department who was a bit careless, and I have excellent hackers on my team. Would you like to know who tipped Toller?”
“Stop playing games, Manez.”
“I don’t play games. But Toller may think he’s going to do so,” he said grimly. “But the U.S. government can stay out of my business.” He paused. “James Walsh tipped off Toller that the body in the grave was Jenny Castino’s.”
“What?” His hand tightened in shock on the phone. “No way. Walsh killed Jenny. He wouldn’t have done that.”
“Unless he was trying to protect his ass if he thought Salazar was getting impatient and might try to take him out. Maybe he was trying to make a deal.” Manez added, “I’ve seen stranger things happen. It’s dog eat dog in the cartels down here. And there have been a lot of rumbles on the street lately. Something is going to happen. I can smell it.”
“Look, there’s no way I can concentrate on Toller or his plans that might be upsetting you right now. I owe you, and I’ll get around to it once Eve and Cara are safe. Later, Manez.”
“I’m not asking for help. I can handle my own problems. I just thought you should know that not everything is what it seems.” He paused. “And that you probably have only five or six more hours before Toller manages to track you down. He’s working hard, and he’s very clever. Not as clever as I am, but he doesn’t know that. Or he wouldn’t have made the mistake of trying to ignore me. Good luck, Quinn.” He hung up.
He might need good luck, Joe thought grimly. And he knew damn well that often nothing was as it seemed. But the information about Walsh had stunned him. But, as he’d told Manez, he couldn’t think about anything right now but getting to Eve and finding a way to get rid of Salazar and Franco once and for all.
Three more hours.
4:45 P.M.
LOCH GAELKAR
“We leave for Edinburgh in thirty minutes, Eve.” MacDuff had suddenly appeared at the entrance of her tent, and his voice was curt. “Get ready.”
Eve scrambled to her feet. “I thought we were waiting for the fog to lift. You said we couldn’t even drive through this muck.”
“We’ll manage somehow. We can’t wait any longer. I just got a report from Caleb, and it wasn’t good. He saw signs of Salazar’s force and activity in the hills. I don’t like the idea of having you and Cara stranded out here when we don’t know exactly where Salazar is located.”
“We could find out.” Caleb was suddenly standing beside them. “We know he’s out there in the hills, and he’s not alone. He’s moving fast, and I’d say he has at least nine or ten men with him. Hard to tell in this fog. You’d better warn your guards that they may be outmatched.” He smiled. “Want to go hunting, MacDuff?”
“It appears you’ve already gone hunting,” MacDuff said dryly. “And I’m not going to do anything until I get Eve and Cara safe. I checked with weather, and the fog is lighter in the valley beyond Gaelkar. It’s about seven miles, and we can hike there, and I’ll have a helicopter meet us. Where’s Cara?”
“At the campfire with Jock. Where else? I’ll go get her.” Jane left the tent and hurried toward the campfire.
“We all go. I promised Eve,” Caleb said quietly. “Though I’d prefer to take Salazar’s goons down ourselves. Between Jock and me, I believe we’d have a good chance. And you’re not too bad either, MacDuff.”
“I’m flattered,” MacDuff said dryly. “But I believe I’ll call in Ned Colin and a few more of my men to accompany us until we get out of this fog. Not that I’d want to insult your—”
A shot shattered the words!
“What the hell!” MacDuff pushed Eve down to the ground and turned off the lantern.
Caleb was already out of the tent and zigzagging toward the campfire.
But Jock had already knocked Cara down and covered her with his body.
Another shot.
And a scream!
“Stay here.” MacDuff was on his feet but crouching low as he ran out of the tent.
Eve rolled over and crawled toward the door. Let that scream not be Cara, she prayed. It had not sounded like a child, but it had been high-pitched.
Rat-a-tat-tat.
A rapid spate of bullets.
Another scream.
Not close. Somewhere in that gray mass of fog ahead.
She started to crawl across the ground toward the campfire. She caught up with MacDuff a moment later and rose to her feet.
“I told you to stay in the tent,” MacDuff said, not looking at her. “You don’t pay any more attention to orders than Jane.” His gaze was raking the terrain. “Damn this fog.” He took out his phone. “Don’t worry, I’ll call Colin and tell him to get down here.”
Don’t worry? “Do you see Cara or Jane?”
He was dialing rapidly. “Safe. Jock got them away from the fire and into those shrubs by the lake.” He listened. “No answer. That’s not good. I don’t—”
“MacDuff?” The voice on the phone was so clear that Eve could hear it. “Alfredo Salazar. I’m afraid your man, Colin, is indisposed. Is Eve Duncan close by? I really need to talk to both of you.”
MacDuff turned up the speaker. “I want to talk to Colin. What did you do to him?”
“I needed an example, and Franco ran across a prime candidate. He didn’t want to cooperate, but we managed to convince him. Franco is very talented in that area. Are you listening, Eve Duncan? All of this is really for you and that annoying child.”
“I’m listening.”
“That’s good. Then I can tell you that everything that happens from now on is on your head. Every scream, every death, is because you’re here and causing me trouble. Do you hear that, MacDuff? All of this could end if you’d turn her and the kid over to us.”
“Go to hell.”
“Whatever you say,” Salazar said. “And you Eve? You appear to be such a gentle person. Do you want to see MacDuff and your other friends die? And what about Jane MacGuire? You’ve managed to draw them all into something that wasn’t your business in the first place.”
“I’d be a fool to think that you’d let anyone live if I let Cara go to you,” Eve said. “You’d never permit a witness to escape, Salazar.”
“I might. If the price was high enough to make it worth my while. I understand that you and your friends might be able to pull something out of MacDuff’s lake that would tempt me. Make me an offer.”
“I’m not a fool.”
“Oh well, first things first. Back to the example, MacDuff. We’re taking your guard, Colin, to a place in the forest several hundred yards from your camp. He’s still alive, but very frightened. Come and get him.” He hung up.
Another shot.
An agonized groan from the depths of the fog.
“It’s a trap,” Eve said. “You won’t be able to see them. They’ll pick you off.”
“I can’t leave Colin out there,” MacDuff said. “Salazar won’t be able to see us either. I’ll get Jock and Caleb to scout the area ahead, and I’ll go in and get Colin. Go and stay with Cara and Jane. I’ll call in the perimeter guards to protect you.”
Before she could speak he was gone.
EDINBURGH AIRPORT
One more hour.
Joe strode across the tarmac toward the waiting helicopter. Providing he could get to Gaelkar in this pea soup of a fog, he thought bitterly. The weather forecast said that the fog wouldn’t lift for that area for another eight to ten hours. Definitely not flying weather.
Screw it. He’d get there somehow. But first he’d check to see if MacDuff had managed to move Eve and Cara into a safe house here in Edinburgh.
His phone rang. Burbank. He’d asked Burbank to check on safe houses, too.
He accessed the call. “What’s happening, Burbank?”
“Nothing,” Burbank said. “Everything’s at a standstill. We have a bit of a fog.”
“So I’ve noticed. Why did you call?”
“You asked me to check on the specialities of the men Salazar hired from the Maitland Cartel. You seemed to think it important.”
“It might be.”
“Four of them are Afghani nationals and trained by the Taliban. Expert at explosives and setting IEDs.”
“Shit!”
“I take it you do think that it’s important.”
“I should have guessed. Franco has a fondness for bombs, and he’d gravitate in that direction.” And in this fog, you wouldn’t be able to see a booby trap even if it wasn’t set by an expert. “Thanks, Burbank.” He hung up and called Eve.
She didn’t answer.
He tried again.
She answered on the third ring. “Joe? I can’t talk now. Things are bad. Salazar has shown up, and he’s hurt one of MacDuff’s men. MacDuff has gone after—”
“IEDs,” he interrupted. “Tell MacDuff to be careful of IEDs. Salazar has imported some experts.”
“I’ll go and tell—”
She’d hung up.
He tried to get her back.
No answer.
And it scared him to death. The last thing he’d wanted was to have Eve running around in that fog after what he’d just found out.
He had to get to her.
He ran for the helicopter.
* * *
Eve was dialing MacDuff even as she ran toward the direction she’d seen him take.
No answer.
She hadn’t expected one.
He wouldn’t take time out to answer a phone when he was trying to save the man Salazar had shot.
Jock.
She dialed his number.
He answered. “Not a good time, Eve.”
“IEDs. Joe said to be careful of IEDs. Tell MacDuff.”
Jock muttered a curse. “No sign of anything yet. Caleb and I have been scouting all around, and I see MacDuff up ahead. And Salazar didn’t move Colin to this area until after we heard the shots. We may only have to worry about snipers.”
“Is that all?” Eve asked shakily. “That’s enough. But Joe said that Salazar brought in some Taliban specialists they could be using. It might be—”
“Taliban?” Jock’s voice was sharp. “Shit. No IEDs. That’s not what they’re doing. I was sent to one of their training camps, and they’d go another route. Hang up. I’ve got to get through to MacDuff. Hell. No time. I’ll go after him. He should be getting near to Colin.” He didn’t bother to hang up, and she could tell he was running. He shouted, “MacDuff! Stop! Now! MacDuff! Get away from—”
Kaboom.
The earth shook, throwing Eve to the ground.
The thick fog ahead was lit by flames.
An explosion, she realized dazedly. Jock was wrong. There had been an IED …
She lifted herself on her elbow.
Or maybe not, she realized in horror.
MacDuff!
She jumped to her feet and ran toward the fire.
She had only gone several yards when Caleb appeared beside her. “No.” He grabbed her arm. “You don’t want to go there.”
“Salazar strapped explosives to Colin’s body, didn’t he?” she asked shakily. “He was the trap.”
“Yes, that way they didn’t have to stay close and risk being attacked by MacDuff’s men. They just pressed a button when their infrared showed MacDuff was close to the body.”
“Dear God.” Eve felt sick. She tried to shake off Caleb’s hand. “Let me go.”
Caleb’s grip tightened. “No way. We can’t be sure that Salazar didn’t stash a sniper in those trees just in case he might get lucky if one of the targets showed. Go back to the camp.”
“The hell I will. I have to get to MacDuff.”
“No, you don’t.”
Her gaze suddenly flew to Caleb’s face. “What do you mean? Is he dead?”
“I don’t know. The blast got him, but I don’t know how bad. Jock was examining him when I got there. He told me to secure the area and make sure you were all protected.”
“Maybe I can help him.”
“Not now. I promised you, I promised Jane, I promised Jock. You stay alive. No one touches you. I don’t want to hurt you, but I will. We go back to camp.”
He meant it.
“Then hurt me,” she said fiercely. “Because I won’t leave MacDuff without—”
“You don’t have to leave him.” Jock was coming out of the fog carrying MacDuff’s limp figure. MacDuff was a strong, tall man, but Jock seemed no more aware of his weight than if he were a child. “I’m bringing him back to camp.”
“Is he—”
“Dead? No, but I don’t know if I can keep him alive. I don’t know what’s wrong with him yet.” His eyes were glittering with unshed tears. He seemed to be in shock, the agony twisting his features was stunning to see. “I probably shouldn’t have moved him, but I couldn’t leave him there.”
“No, of course not,” Eve said gently. “Get him back to camp, and we’ll take care of him.”
“I will. They made a mistake hurting him. He’s my friend, almost my brother. It was a bad mistake.” He started toward the camp, then turned to look over his shoulder at Caleb. “There was someone in the trees when I got to MacDuff. He had a sniper rifle. After I was sure MacDuff wasn’t dead, I decided I had time to take care of him. I broke him, but I didn’t kill him. I thought that you might be able to get information out of him that might help.”
“I’ll do that.”
“You don’t have to hurry. I like the idea of his hurting.” His tone was completely without expression. “If he doesn’t talk, just leave him. He has to die anyway. They all have to die.”
He disappeared into the fog.
Caleb gave a low whistle. “I believe Jock may be right. Salazar made a very bad mistake.”
* * *
Eve called Joe the moment they got MacDuff back to his tent and settled.
“Thank God,” he said when he heard her voice. “Are you safe?”
“I have no idea. Salazar is out there somewhere, and he’s just blown up one of MacDuff’s men. MacDuff was hit by the blast, and we still don’t know if he’s going to live. But right now I guess we’re as safe as we can be. Salazar is trying threats and intimidation rather than going into attack mode.”
“That sounds like attack mode to me,” Joe said grimly.
“Where are you?”
“On my way. But I won’t be able to land anywhere near Gaelkar. You’re still fogged in. Can you get out?”
“I don’t want to leave MacDuff, and I have no idea—” A call waiting buzzed on her cell. She stiffened as she looked down at the ID. “I’d better take this call. It’s Salazar.” She put Joe on hold and accessed the call. “You failed, Salazar. I know you’ll be disappointed. You didn’t kill MacDuff.”
“I’m not sure I believe you. He must have been very close, or Franco would never have pressed the button to blow up Colin. It was a pity you didn’t see it, Duncan. His remains were scattered all over the clearing.”
“You’re a monster.”
“He wasn’t important. MacDuff was important. Aren’t you tempted to give yourself and that kid up and save anyone else you care about from being blown up? You’re trapped, you know. If you try to go through the hills, we’ll be on the lookout and catch you. If you try to take that road to escape, you’ll end up like Colin.”
“You’re bluffing.”
“Am I?” He spoke to someone over his shoulder, then was back on the phone. “Look up at the road. On the count of three. One. Two.” He paused, then said softly, “Three.”
A shot.
And an explosion at the side of the road at the top of the hill!
“Trapped,” Salazar repeated. “IEDs. Think about saving the people who tried to save you.” He hung up.
She drew a deep breath as she gazed at the fire burning the grass at the side of the road. Then she went back to Joe’s call. “I guess we got an answer. No, we can’t get out. Salazar has planted IEDs on the road that leads out of Gaelkar.”
Joe muttered a curse. “How much time do you have before Salazar makes a move?”
She tried to think. “I have Jock. I have Caleb. I still have MacDuff’s men who are in the hills. But I don’t want to bring all of them here to make them sitting ducks. I’d rather they stay in the hills and be a constant threat to Salazar. I think maybe the reason Salazar hasn’t come after us yet is that he doesn’t have enough men to make it completely safe.”
“Then I have to clear that road fast,” Joe said. “I’ll take the helicopter as close as I can, then hike the rest of the way. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“Joe…”
“Can you think of any other way?”
“No.” But she didn’t want Joe to have to fight to disarm those IEDs when it was impossible to see anything more than a couple feet in front of him. She felt sick at the very thought. “Damn this fog.”
“Don’t be too eager to condemn it. It may turn out to be a good friend to us.” His voice was suddenly rough with feeling. “You take care of yourself. I’ll call you when I get close to the lake.”
* * *
“How is he, Jock?” Jane whispered as she came into MacDuff’s tent two hours later. “Has he regained consciousness yet?”
Jock shook his head. “Not yet. He has a broken left forearm and at least two broken ribs. I don’t how much internal damage. Blasts can—” He stopped. “It can be bad. I might have hurt him myself by moving him.”
“You couldn’t do anything else. He was helpless. You had to get him to safety, or those bastards might have decided to strap explosives on him, too.”
“That wouldn’t have happened. I wouldn’t have left him.” He gently touched MacDuff’s temple. “He never left me. No matter what I did, he fought for me. I remember when I was in that mental hospital because I kept trying to commit suicide, he found me and he took me home. He was there for me until I healed.” He shook his head. “No, I never really healed, but he was there until I was strong enough to face what I’d done and live with it.”
“It wasn’t you who did it,” Jane said. “You were a victim. You were just a boy, not even twenty years old, and those brainwashing chemicals they fed you made you helpless to think. You had no idea what you were doing. How many times do MacDuff and I have to tell you that?”
“I was a victim? That bastard, Reilly, proudly counted my kills at over twenty-two. All executed perfectly. I was an assassin par excellence. What about those victims?”
“MacDuff wouldn’t like to hear you talk like that.”
“And I don’t, when he’s around. I keep it inside so that he won’t feel that he’s failed me in any way.” His lips twisted. “He hasn’t failed me, Jane. You haven’t failed me. But I have to work my way through this hell, and no one else can help me at this point.” He looked back at MacDuff. “I love him, you know. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for him. I’d die for him. Every bit of sanity and humanity I have left, I owe to him.”
“No, that’s not true. You were born with a soul, and, somehow, you were robbed and hurt. Even if MacDuff hadn’t been there, I think that, somehow, you would have survived.”
“We disagree.” He smiled without mirth. “Right now, I’m leaning toward the thought that without MacDuff, my soul would have vanished in a puff of smoke. So I have to keep him alive, don’t I?”
“Will you trust me to sit with him?” Jane asked. “I’ll call you the minute he stirs.”
He shook his head. “I trust you, Jane. But what if he doesn’t stir? I have the foolish idea that if he starts to fade away from me, I might be able to bring him back.”
“That’s not such a foolish idea.” She cleared her throat to rid it of tightness. She had felt like that when her Trevor had been dying. It had seemed impossible that he could leave her when she had wanted so badly for him to stay. “I’ll be outside. Call me, if you need me, okay?”
“Okay.” His gaze shifted back to MacDuff. “Thank you, Jane.”
She stood there, looking helplessly at him for an instant, then left the tent.
She didn’t move for a moment, trying to rid herself of this feeling of discouragement and sadness. She had known MacDuff for years and Jock for almost as long. They were part of her past, part of her life, and she couldn’t bear the thought of what was happening to them. There had to be something she could do.
“Is he still alive?”
She looked to her right and saw Cara sitting on the ground, leaning against the tent, her legs crossed, her face shimmering pale in the fog. “What are you doing here? I thought you were with Eve.”
“She knows I’m here. She said it was okay. She wouldn’t tell me, but I don’t think she wanted to bother about me right now. She’s worried about Joe.” She paused. “Is the Laird still alive?”
“Yes.”
“But Jock thinks he might die.”
“How did you know that?”
“I saw his face when he carried him into the tent. It … hurt me.”
“And you’ve been sitting out here ever since?”
“You were with Jock. He didn’t need me.”
“Well, evidently he didn’t need me either.” She wearily rubbed the back of her neck. “He told me to go about my business.”
“Then is it all right if I go in and sit with him?”
“It’s not the time, Cara. He won’t want you either.”
“May I try?”
Jane gazed at her. What could she say? The strain she saw on Cara’s face was almost an echo of Jock’s. “He might say things you won’t want to hear. He’s in pain.”
“I know.” Her lips were trembling. “And it’s my fault.”
Jane looked at her, shocked. “No!”
Cara nodded. “Salazar and Franco wouldn’t have come here except for me. The Laird wouldn’t have been hurt. Jock wouldn’t have lost … It’s my fault.”
“Nonsense.” She tried to make her voice firm. “It’s Salazar and Franco who did all this. MacDuff and Jock had a choice. Eve had a choice. I had a choice. Sometimes you just have to fight the bad guys when you run across them. It’s the way the world works. None of this was your fault, Cara.”
She didn’t speak for a moment. “May I go in to Jock?”
Jane wasn’t sure she had gotten through to her, but she didn’t want Cara sitting out here by herself. “I guess. I’ll be in my tent or Eve’s if you need me.”
Cara nodded, and the next moment, she was on her feet and running into MacDuff’s tent.
Jane shook her head and turned to go to find Eve, who was probably in just as much pain as the two people she had just left.
* * *
“What are you doing here?” Jock asked Cara, without looking away from MacDuff. “This is no place for you. You shouldn’t be here, Cara.”
“Yes, I should.” She came closer to his camp chair and sat down on the floor at his feet. “I have to stay with you.”
He shook his head. “Why? Do you want to see him die? That’s what might happen. Go away.”
“No. You need me.”
“I don’t need anyone.” He looked away from MacDuff and down at her. “You’re just a kid. Why should I need you?”
“I don’t know. But you said some things … I think you do.” She moistened her lips. “And I have to be here if you do.”
“You were upset. I wanted to make you feel better.”
“And you want to make me feel better now. You don’t want me to be here if the Laird dies.” She paused. “But I remember what you said when you told me you had to go to the Laird after he heard that MacTavish had been killed. You knew he needed you. If only to keep him company, or be someone to drink with to say good-bye to an old friend.” She tried to smile. “I can be company, Jock. If you want, I’ll even drink to the Laird if he doesn’t make it. But I’d rather pray that he does.”
He looked at her for a long moment. “I’d rather you pray, too,” he said gruffly. “Eve would have my head if I contributed to the delinquency of a minor.”
“I can stay?”
“God, yes.” He closed his eyes for an instant, then opened them and looked back at MacDuff. “Maybe I do need you.” His hand touched her head at his knee for the briefest instant. “Stranger things have happened in my life. Just don’t blame me if things don’t go the way we’d like them.”
“You’re not the one to blame,” she whispered. “I tried to tell Jane that but she wouldn’t—” She stopped. She had gotten what she wanted, and he would probably argue as Jane had done. None of them understood. Jenny and Elena dead. Salazar hovering over them, ready to pounce. “I’ll be quiet now. You won’t want me to talk.” She leaned her head back against his chair. “Thank you for letting me be with you, Jock…”