Cara was very quiet as they left the church and walked toward the parking lot after the service.
“Okay?” Eve asked gently.
“No.” Cara’s eyes were glittering with tears. “She shouldn’t have died.”
The eternal protest, Eve thought. There was nothing to say, so she just gave her arm a comforting squeeze. “I’m sorry, Cara. She was a good woman.”
She nodded jerkily. “And God would be smart if he gave her some kind of special place or job to do. I told him so when I was praying for Elena.”
“And I’m sure he’ll pay attention.”
“I don’t know. He took Jenny and Elena. If he was paying attention, he’d know that was too much.” She shook her head. “Elena would say that’s not respectful. But … I loved them, Eve.”
“I know. But their memory will be with you forever. You’ll never lose that.”
“No, I’ll never lose that.” She moistened her lips. “I was kneeling there and trying just to think of Elena and pray for her. But I kept thinking of Walsh and what he did to Elena and Jenny, and that Franco, who smiled at me and wanted to kill me. Elena believed in Satan as well as God. They had to be sent by Satan. There’s so much evil in the world, and maybe God can’t keep up with it. Maybe we should help him.”
“Joe’s a detective, he goes after the bad guys every day. We all have to try in our own way.” She added gently, “But you have a few years before you have to find your way, Cara.” She had stopped beside her Toyota. “Give it time.”
“Things happen. Sometimes there is no time.” She got into the car. “So I’ll hope and I’ll pray, but, just in case, I’ll fight, not run. I won’t let anyone else be taken from me.”
“Do me a favor? Run to Joe or me before you decide to take on the devil?” She was negotiating her way toward the exit. “A little help doesn’t hurt.”
Cara suddenly smiled. “No, it doesn’t. Did I sound silly?”
“No, you sounded like someone who has been hurt and didn’t want to be hurt again. And we have to concentrate on doing that.” They had reached the exit and she waved at Joe, who was parked in a spot near the street. “And there’s Joe waiting to make sure that doesn’t happen. Now let’s go home and talk about how we’re going to go forward…”
“Wait!” Cara’s hand suddenly gripped Eve’s arm. “I think … Near the steps to the sanctuary…” Her gaze was on someone striding down the street. “No, he’s gone.”
Eve tensed, her eyes flying to the steps. “Who?”
“I think…” She was breathing hard. “I only had a glimpse, but I think it was the man you told me was Ramon Franco. No, I know it was.” Her voice was fierce. “I told you I’d know him if I saw him again. It wasn’t only his face. He had a way of moving, of cocking his head to the side.”
“All of that in a few seconds? No mistake? You were talking about him and Walsh only a minute before. You’re sure that it wasn’t—”
“It was him.” Her gaze was frantically searching the street. “He was in a hurry. He went down that side street. Believe me, Eve.”
She did believe her, and a chill was running through her. “I was just making certain.” She reached for her phone and dialed Joe. “Cara is sure that she caught sight of Ramon Franco a few minutes ago. What should I do?”
“Where was he?” Joe fired.
“He was coming from the church or maybe the parking lot. He went down a side street on the other side of the church.”
Joe cursed. “He’ll be gone by the time I get back there and chase him down. It might be what he wants me to do anyway. I’m not leaving you alone. Turn left and park on the street. I’ll be right behind you.”
Eve hung up and turned left on Danforth Avenue, and a block later, she found a place to park. A moment later, Joe parked and jumped out of the jeep.
He was beside the Toyota in seconds. “Get out. Go get in my Jeep. Keep off the street.”
Eve settled Cara in the Jeep, then ran back to him. “What are you going to do?”
“I’m checking the car. Franco was on foot when Cara saw him. He didn’t attack. He wasn’t positioned for a shot. He had business to do. And after he completed the business, he took off.” He carefully lifted the hood. “Nothing here. I didn’t think there would be. It wouldn’t be easy to rig anything in the engine without someone’s seeing him. I would have noticed him myself. I was watching everything going on while you were in the church. I just had to be sure.” He closed the hood. “But I didn’t see Franco, and there had to be a reason.”
“Rig?” Eve repeated. “Are you talking about a bomb?”
“It would make sense. It’s a pretty common method of disposal among the gangs in Mexico City. Manez mentioned Franco was good at all kinds of methods for putting down Salazar’s enemies. And a bomb would blow both of you to Kingdom Come with no trace evidence. Salazar would have been pleased with Franco.”
“Shit.”
“I didn’t see him.” He started for the rear of the car. “He would have had to stay low and out of my line of vision. Back of the car…” He knelt on his hands and knees and looked at the undercarriage beneath the car. “Nothing here.” He crawled to the side. “I don’t see— There it is!”
“What?” She knelt beside him. “I don’t see—” Then she saw it. Near the left rear wheel, small, fastened with duct tape, with a blinking light. She gasped. “We should call the bomb squad.”
“Maybe.” He was wriggling beneath the car. “Give me a minute.”
“Joe.” Her throat was so tight, she could barely speak. She knew he’d been trained to both set and deactivate bombs when he was in the SEALs, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t blow himself up. “Get out of there. You are not going to disarm that bomb yourself.”
“I’m only looking at it. Very powerful but basic design. No remote-control switch. Just a timer.” His hands were on the bomb, doing something to it.
“Joe, you’ll set the damn thing off.”
“No, I told you, it’s basic. No problem. If I’d been worried, I would have made you go back in the Jeep with Cara when I first caught sight of it.”
“Well, I’m worried. Get out of there.”
He crawled from beneath the car. There was a streak of oil on his cheek and on the collar of his shirt. “It was set to go off in thirty minutes, about the time you’d get back to the house.”
“You turned it off?”
“No, I reset it to allow for the time I spent here examining it.”
“What?”
“We’re going to let the bomb go off,” Joe said. He handed her the keys to the Jeep. “You drive the Jeep. I’ll meet you when you get off the freeway. I’ll need you and Cara to be seen driving the Toyota as far as the property. Don’t worry, the bomb’s set for fifteen minutes leeway.”
“What are you up to?”
“I’ll explain later. No time now.” He got into the driver’s seat of the Toyota. “Trust me.”
Trust him to drive home with a ticking bomb on the undercarriage of that car?
Trust his word that she and Cara would be safe for that last stretch in the Toyota?
No question.
But she was going to kill him later for scaring her like this.
She turned and jumped into the Jeep beside Cara.
“Don’t ask. I don’t know all the answers yet.”
* * *
The Toyota was parked in a layby off Quinn Road a mile from the freeway when Eve exited and stopped beside it.
Joe rolled out from beneath it. “Get in. Quick. We lost five minutes.”
“What were you doing?” Eve asked as she gestured for Cara to get into the Toyota. “Something wrong?”
What was she asking? The whole situation of a ticking bomb was wrong.
“No, I just wanted to check the undercarriage for any other explosive I might have missed before I let you drive it.” He ran to the Jeep and jumped into the driver’s seat. “Get out of the Toyota the minute you’re on our property and the road is surrounded by trees. Jump out, and you and Cara hit the closest ditch. Don’t wait until you get to the house.”
“Why?”
“The house and driveway are open and can be viewed easily by a telescope. That’s where the bomb was set to go off, and Franco will want to see it. The road in the woods when you first enter the property can’t be clearly viewed or accessed. When the bomb blows, he’ll think he just miscalculated by a few minutes.”
“A few minutes?”
“Three, tops. Move!”
She moved. Her foot stomped on the accelerator, and the Toyota jumped forward.
She could see Joe in the Jeep in the rearview mirror. She was passing cars and houses as she drove through the neighborhoods bordering the lake property.
Three minutes.
“Eve?” Cara said softly.
“It’s okay.” She didn’t take her eyes from the road. “We’re handling it. Just move when I say move.”
Cara nodded and fell silent.
Trees.
In a minute, they’d be on the lake property.
It was a long, long minute.
Trees. Shadows. Lake in the distance.
She braked, hard. A screech of metal. The Toyota turned sideways as it halted.
“Out, Cara!” She threw open the door. “Run for that ditch on the other side of the road.”
Cara didn’t question. She was already running. She was at the deep ditch before Eve, sliding down the muddy side.
Eve followed her.
One more minute.
“Crawl.” Joe was in the ditch beside them. “Get as far away from the car as possible.”
Eve nudged Cara ahead of her. “Hurry!”
Thirty seconds.
Eve was panting as she moved through the mud and rocks of the ditch. She could feel Joe behind her.
“Head down!” Joe shouted.
Kaboom!
Deafening noise. Glare of fire. Flying metal hurled into the air.
She was vaguely aware of heavy weight. Joe had sprung forward and covered Cara and Eve with his body.
She struggled to move, to sit up.
“Be still. Not yet. There’s still flying metal.”
A minute later, Joe moved off her. “Okay?”
She nodded as she sat up and looked at Cara. The girl appeared unscratched but her eyes were wide with disbelief as she stared at the fiery inferno just yards from them. Eve glanced at Joe. “You?”
Joe didn’t answer as he reached for his phone. “Get in the woods and hike toward the far end of the lake. Wipe out your footprints as you go. Now. Franco may turn up any minute. I’m calling the police and fire department and bringing them on the scene so he won’t be eager to do any in-depth search.”
Eve grabbed Cara’s hand and pulled her into the woods. She called over her shoulder. “You’re not coming?”
“I’m going to stay here and appear properly devastated by the tragedy. I’ll find you after midnight tonight. Get going.”
She was already running. She grabbed a branch from beneath a tree, then another for Cara. “You heard him. Erase the footprints.”
Cara didn’t question but set about brushing the leaves over the faint indentations on the earth.
The air smelled of oil and smoke and burning rubber. It was hard to breathe.
Joe was alone. Would Franco get there before the fire trucks and police? No, she could hear the sirens now.
And Cara was now by her side, her expression intent, and Eve could almost feel the aura of protectiveness she was emitting. It’s not supposed to be like that, she wanted to tell her. It should work the other way around. But she still felt the warmth and companionship of that protectiveness, and she would take that gift. She was feeling bewildered and had no idea why Joe had staged this explosion. All she could do was be patient and take one thing at a time.
Protect Cara from all dangers.
Get to the far end of the lake.
Erase all signs of their passing.
And wait for Joe to tell her what the hell was happening.
* * *
“It’s kind of cold, isn’t it?” Cara huddled closer to Eve beneath the shelter of a boulder beside the lake. “I think the fire from the Toyota has finally gone out. I don’t see the glare any longer.”
Eve nodded. “It’s been hours since the explosion.” She drew the girl closer to the warmth of her body and leaned back against the boulder. “It shouldn’t be long until Joe gets here. You’ve been very patient, Cara. Not one question.”
“I didn’t think you’d be able to answer them.” She wrinkled her nose. “You seemed very frustrated with Joe. And there wasn’t much time for explanations.”
“You’re right there,” she said ruefully. “On both counts.”
“But you’re not angry with him?”
“I’ll let you know that when the explanations start coming in.”
Cara looked up at Eve thoughtfully. “But I don’t think you’ll be angry with him then either. You wouldn’t have done what he wanted if you thought he was wrong.”
“Right and wrong is often a question of opinion. Joe and I aren’t always on the same page.”
“But most of the time?”
She nodded. “Most of the time.”
“And you trusted him to do what was right for us.”
“Yes, and I always will. It just may not be the way I would do it. Joe has great instincts, and he’s sometimes way ahead of the curve.” She paused. “And you can trust him, too. If the time comes when he wants you to do something crazy like blow up a Toyota, you go ahead and do it. He’ll have a reason.”
She chuckled. “But you still thought it was crazy to blow up the car?”
She sighed. “I loved that Toyota. It was like an old friend.”
“But you know he’ll be able to convince you it was the right thing to do.”
“We’ll see when he—” She broke off, her head lifting. “Shh, I heard something…”
Cara stiffened. “Maybe I should—”
“It’s Joe.”
Joe had moved out of the shadows behind them. He pulled her to her feet, and his arms went around her. “Everything okay?”
“You tell me.” She gave him a quick kiss. “We didn’t run into any trouble, did we, Cara?”
“No.” Cara scrambled to her feet. “Hello, Joe.”
“Hello, Cara.” He took off the backpack he was wearing. “I want you to know getting your violin into this backpack posed major difficulties. Everything else had to go around it.” He set it on the ground. “But I figured I might not be able to get you to budge unless it went with you.”
“Went with her where?” Eve asked.
“Edinburgh.”
“What?”
“I called Jane and told her you’d made your decision, and you’d be flying out tonight.”
“Wait a minute. My decision?”
“Well, I let her believe that you were in agreement. And when she heard what was going on, she was in agreement, too. All you have to do is say no, but it would spoil all my plans.”
“Which involved blowing up the Toyota,” she said grimly. “And causing me to almost have a heart attack while you were driving all the way back here with that bomb underneath it. Not to mention sending Cara and me into the woods while you did your fancy staging for Franco.”
“Guilty of all of the above.”
“Then tell me why.”
“I decided that Margaret was right, hiding in plain sight was too dangerous. I could do all the scouting and take all the safety precautions, and there still might be a slip. You and Cara would be squarely in the bull’s-eye. I checked those cars for possible explosives when they were sitting in front of the cottage. When Franco couldn’t safely get near them, he waited until you left the property and went to a place where he could access them.” His lips tightened. “That can’t happen again. You won’t be safe, and I won’t be able to concentrate on getting Salazar or Franco because I’ll have to be standing guard.”
“So you staged that bonfire to make Franco think he’d managed to kill Cara and me.” Eve shook her head. “But they’ll find out that there were no bodies in that car.”
“Not for a while. That bomb was very powerful and meant to make it very difficult to obtain either dental records or DNA. In short, there would be a possibility of vaporization, or at least huge difficulty finding body parts. You can be safely in the Highlands before anyone realizes you’re alive and gone.”
“And where will you be?”
“Wherever Salazar is. He controls Franco. I need one to get the other.”
“Mexico City.”
“Maybe.”
“Dammit, we’re going to be at opposite ends of the world from each other.”
“Not quite. And only if Franco and Salazar stay on my side. The minute one of them steps toward you, I’ll be there.”
“I don’t like it.”
“Neither do I. But it’s how it has to be right now.” He said roughly, “Do you think I like the thought of sending you over there without me? It’s the safest thing for you and Cara. Why do you think that I was asking who was on that hunt? MacDuff was in the 45 Commando of the Royal Marines and won a hell of a lot of medals. He’s something of a folk hero in Scotland. Jock Gavin is young, but he might be the deadliest man I’ve ever met. Caleb is bound to show up, and you know what he is.”
Yes, she knew. She had seen Seth Caleb in action and still had nightmares about it. “You’ve been thinking about this since last night.”
“I was searching for a way out for you. This is it. It’s the best I can do. It will be like having a Special Forces unit to protect you.”
“And who is going to protect you?”
He didn’t answer directly. “Manez and the Federales want that coalition of cartels broken up. He wants Salazar and Castino dead. He’ll help all he can.”
“If you ask him. Not if you think he’s going to get in your way.”
“I’ve already started to use him.”
“For the time being. But you want Salazar and Castino put down regardless if you get the Mexican police to go along with you.”
He glanced at Cara. “So do you, Eve.”
“I don’t want you dead.”
“Neither do I.” He smiled. “I’ll see that doesn’t happen. I have something very special to live for at the moment.”
She wasn’t going to be able to talk him out of it, she realized in despair. “I didn’t want Jane involved in this, Joe. She’s just beginning to be able to cope with her life again.”
“We have no choice. She gave us no choice. I told her all the dangers. I’m calling MacDuff and Jock before I put you on that plane and make sure they’re on board with this.”
She made a face. “You really meant it when you said that you’re forming a Special Forces unit.”
“It’s already in place. You have to be safe. Don’t give me a hard time, Eve.”
“Why not? As usual, it seems like it’s all for me and nothing for you.”
“Look, you have to protect Cara. I have to deal with Salazar. We both have our jobs to do. We can’t do them together.”
She knew he was right, she just didn’t want him to be right. She drew a shaky breath. “You call me. You keep me informed. I want to know what’s happening to you. Do you hear me?”
“I hear you loud and clear.” He kissed her. “Under the circumstances, I’m not likely to let you run around those hills without my knowing what’s happening.” He turned to Cara. “You take care of her.”
“I will,” she said gravely. “Don’t worry, I know that’s what I have to do.”
He reached out and gripped her shoulder. “And you might take care of yourself, too. Make it a package deal.” He turned back to Eve. “I rented a jet, and you’ll board it out of the Gainesville Airport.” He checked his watch. “It should be ready for takeoff in an hour. I’ve arranged a rental car to meet us about a mile from here, and I’ll drive there and see you on board.”
“That’s not necessary. I can get there myself.”
“It’s necessary. I waited until most of the hubbub about the explosion was over before slipping out of the house and coming here. I don’t believe that Franco is still hanging around but I have to be sure you’re safely away.” He grabbed the backpack he’d set down earlier. “And I’ll call MacDuff and ask him to set up the arrival in an airport where you can be under the radar.”
“Illegal,” Eve translated dryly. “Margaret would approve.”
“There are times when Margaret and I agree on the basics of self-preservation. I don’t want Salazar to tap his contacts and find that an Eve Duncan arrived anywhere in the United Kingdom. We’d have to do a cover for Cara anyway. She has no documents.” He took Eve’s elbow. “Come on, Cara. We need to go.”
Eve hesitated, then started with them down the trail. It wasn’t a foolproof plan, and some aspects scared the hell out of her. But it was the only game in town, and Joe had made it as safe as he could under the circumstances.
Except for himself.
She knew how he operated. He was clever and he could function in conditions that were intricate and complex … and dangerous as hell. He’d done it as a SEAL, and he thrived on it. Some of it was planned, other parts were pure instinct. All of it caused Eve to be afraid every minute that she knew what was happening.
But she wouldn’t know, unless he told her.
And that scared her more than anything else.
“Relax. It’s not going to be easy, but this is the way to handle it,” Joe murmured, sensing that disturbance. “It’s only the start of the game. Franco moved forward, and we checked him. That means we’re ahead.”
She nodded. “Just let me know what you’re doing,” she repeated unsteadily. “I don’t want you to be alone.”
“I’m not alone. That ended a long time ago. You’re always with me…”
* * *
The pilot, Jeff Brandel, smiled down at Eve and Cara as Joe turned and walked away from the steps of the jet and headed back toward the rental car. “It should be a smooth flight. Is the little girl a nervous flyer?”
Eve shook her head. “She hasn’t done much flying, but she’ll handle it well. Right, Cara?”
“It’s very interesting. And all the statistics say it’s safe.” She looked back down at her laptop. “And Joe wouldn’t have chosen you if you weren’t a good pilot, sir.”
“Smart,” Brandel said. “Yep, I’m pretty good at my job.” He turned toward the cockpit. “And you’re right, Quinn is tough. No excuses.” He grinned. “A little like my wife. I just got married, and she’s making me toe the line.” He glanced over his shoulder at Cara. “But having a sweet kid like that one might be worth it.” He closed the cockpit door.
Eve watched from the window as Joe got into the car. He sat there, and she knew he wouldn’t drive away until the plane was in the air. Joe was nothing if not thorough.
She didn’t want to go, dammit.
But the plane was already taxiing down the runway, then lifting off. She could see Joe start the car and drive away.
Cara’s hand was suddenly covering her own. “If you don’t want to go, tell the pilot to turn around and take us back. You’re both doing this for me, aren’t you? I don’t want you to be unhappy. It hurts me. Go back.”
“It’s partly for you.” Eve squeezed her hand. “But Salazar would go after me anyway. I know too much. The minute I finished that reconstruction of Jenny and started to try to find her killer, I was on his hit list.”
“But it’s mostly for me.”
“Or Jenny. She gave her life for you, Cara. She wouldn’t want it to be in vain.” Her lips tightened. “I won’t let it be in vain. You’re going to live and be happy. And we’re going to punish all the people who are trying to take that away from you as they did Jenny.”
“But you’re scared about Joe. I feel it.”
Eve gazed at her curiously. “Do you?”
She nodded. “Jenny said that I’d feel what you feel just as she did. It’s happening.” She paused. “Why, Eve? I don’t understand it.”
“I don’t understand it, either.” She had been trying to avoid confronting this subject with Cara. But she would not lie to her. “I can only guess.”
“She’s … not a dream?”
“Not for me. I don’t know about you,” she said. “I never felt a connection like that before with one of my reconstructions. I knew Jenny, I saw her. We had a … bond. I don’t know why. We both thought it might be because she was sent to me because she needed help to save you.” She added quietly, “But I grew to love her as you do. I was sad when she said she was leaving me.”
Cara was silent. “It sounds kind of— Do things like that really happen?”
“You’ll have to decide for yourself. It took me a long time to admit to myself that I wasn’t having hallucinations when my daughter, Bonnie, came to me several years ago. She had been killed when she was only seven, and it almost destroyed me as well.” She smiled gently. “And does it really matter as long as the love is there? Dreams or spirits or hallucinations. Whatever brings you peace and love. I like to think that Jenny and I are better for the time we spent together.”
Cara nodded slowly. “She loved you, too.”
“In your dream?”
She didn’t answer directly. “She loves you. That’s why I have to keep you safe.” She leaned back in the seat. “But I’ll go anywhere with you, do anything. We don’t have to go to this Edinburgh.”
“I’m afraid we do.” She made a face. “Joe has set it up and he’s probably right that it’s the safest way to handle it. If there is a safe way. I just wish we didn’t have to bring Jane into it.”
“The daughter you adopted. She’s the one who painted the picture of you. Will she be angry that I’m causing you trouble?”
“No, she’d never blame the innocent. You’ll like Jane.”
“But will she like me?”
“Count on it. I’m only worried because Jane has had such a rough life lately. She was engaged to be married, and Trevor, her fiancé, was killed. It was … difficult.” Understatement for the heartbreak that had almost destroyed Jane. “But Jane is coming back to us now. I was glad when she decided to go on this treasure hunt.”
“Treasure hunt,” Cara repeated with a smile. “It sounds like pirates and that National Treasure movie. Sort of fun.”
Eve nodded. “It does, doesn’t it? But it’s been on the horizon for Jane since she was seventeen. She’s just been putting it off.”
“Why?”
“I almost hate to tell you.” Eve’s eyes were twinkling. “Dreams again.”
Cara’s eyes widened. “What?”
“When Jane was seventeen, she was having dreams about a young actress, Cira, who lived in Herculaneum in ancient Italy at the time of the eruption of Vesuvius. I won’t go into detail, but the dreams were so real that Jane became obsessed. She thought she must have seen something on the Internet or read something somewhere that might have triggered those dreams. She started to do research and found there actually was a Cira who had survived the eruption and fled to Britain, taking with her a chest of gold coins that in today’s market would be astronomical in value. Cira settled there in the Highlands of Achavid, what they used to call Scotland, and founded a new dynasty. But after she arrived there, there were no tales, nothing written, about what happened to the treasure chest. It was as if it vanished once Cira reached Scotland.”
“But Jane won’t admit it?”
“Jane couldn’t care less about the treasure. All she wanted was to have the dreams stop and find out the end of Cira’s story.”
Cara’s eyes were fixed in fascination on Eve’s face. “And the dreams about her did stop?”
Eve nodded. “But she wasn’t happy about the end of the story.”
“Why not?”
“It turned out the dynasty that Cira founded was the MacDuff family. And the current Lord of MacDuff has wanted to find that treasure for many years. He’s tried to persuade Jane to go treasure hunting with him.”
“Because of the dreams she had?”
“Partly. But also because a statue of Cira was found in the ruins of the theater in Herculaneum, and she resembled Jane. Also, there was a portrait of an ancestress, Fiona, in his family art gallery who looked identical to Jane. MacDuff tried to convince Jane she was a member of his family who had emigrated to the U.S. He even wanted to investigate and try to prove it.” She shook her head. “Jane didn’t want any part of it. She told him she was happy with who she was, and she didn’t want to be a MacDuff, thank you.”
Cara laughed. “Because she was your daughter. I can see why she’d feel like that.”
“Well, anyway, MacDuff has been trying to get her to go on that treasure hunt for Cira’s gold ever since. Maybe he thought because of her connection with Cira it would bring him luck. Jane finally gave in.”
“Cira … I wonder what she was like.”
“According to what Jane found out about her when she was researching, Cira was unique. Born a slave and fought her way from the gutters to fame and fortune. Loyal to her friends, tough to her enemies, honest when she could be.”
“It’s like a wonderful story,” Cara said softly.
Eve could see how she might think so without knowing the harsher details. “Not really. Jane met her Trevor while going through it, and they fell in love. But it wasn’t a happy ending. Trevor was killed recently trying to protect Jane.”
Cara was silent. “Dreams or nightmare…”
Eve nodded. “Perhaps a little of both. If you accept them, you have to accept the risk.”
“As you did with your Bonnie?”
“It wasn’t risk with Bonnie, it was my salvation.”
Cara was silent. “Dreams … You and me and now Jane. It’s strange, isn’t it?”
“Only because we’re talking about it. I imagine everyone has their secret dreams. We just have to be sure we don’t let them get in the way of living our lives. Mother Teresa once said, ‘Life is a dream … realize it.’” She reached out and touched the silky hair at Cara’s temple. “And that’s enough talk, period, for the time being. It’s going to be a long flight, why don’t you try to sleep?”
“Okay. Will you be able to sleep? You’re not going to worry about Joe?”
She probably would, but there was no use troubling Cara. “It’s early days. If Joe managed to fool Franco, he’ll give it a little time before he starts after him and Salazar.” She hoped she was telling the truth. “We may be in a holding pattern.”
“You didn’t answer me. You’ll sleep?”
“Little nag.” Eve closed her eyes. “I’ll sleep.”