She laughed. “But I’d have to do it. Payback, remember? You saved my life. You took that bullet for me. I owe you a debt. Debts have to be paid.”
“No, I don’t remember it like that. Everything happened too fast. You don’t owe me anything, Margaret.”
“You’re wrong. I don’t know quite how I’ll do it, but it will come to me.” She got to her feet. “We won’t argue about it right now. Maybe when Caleb comes back, he’ll have some answers, and it will all become clear to us. You rest now, and I’ll bring Joe Quinn in to see you as soon as he gets here. Caleb did tell you that he was on his way?”
“Yes, but he didn’t mention Eve. Is she with him?”
“No, he’s flying in from Miami. I think the plan is for her to arrive a little later.”
“That would make sense.” She couldn’t wait to see Eve. Whenever Eve was on the scene, everything seemed right with the world. Though she doubted if even Eve could make all the ugliness that had happened lately seem normal or right.
And she still had that niggling feeling of uneasiness about that last phone call with Eve. “Where’s my phone? I’d like to call her.”
She shook her head. “Devon wants you to rest. You lost a lot of blood.”
“I hear you offered a bit of your own. Thank you.”
“It didn’t happen. Caleb won that round.” She headed for the door. “He seemed intrigued at the prospect. I didn’t understand.”
“That doesn’t surprise me. Not many people understand Caleb. His background makes him unique.”
“We’re all unique.” She smiled back over her shoulder. “You, me, Toby, Devon. Isn’t nature wonderful? It’s like a kaleidoscope that never shows the same picture twice.” She opened the door. “Rest, Jane. I’ll send your phone in when Joe Quinn gets here.”
Jane stared after her with bewilderment. She wasn’t sure exactly how wonderful nature could be, but she was beginning to believe that Margaret was a brilliant kaleidoscope of character in her own right. She would actually have gone after Caleb if Jane had asked. And it wasn’t because she underestimated the danger he represented. Totally extraordinary.
But she wasn’t up to analyzing Margaret right now, she realized. She was feeling weak and exhausted, and the temporary adrenaline rush was fading rapidly.
Blank out the bewilderment, the unfathomable questions, Caleb and Margaret. She would deal with them later with Joe.
And then Eve would come, and they would be able to get through this nightmare as they got through everything else.
Together.
* * *
VENABLE.
Zander didn’t hesitate as he saw the ID. He punched the access. “Has your agent got a report on Doane?”
“He got into the house. No disk. He snatched the computer, but all the data had been erased. We’re having to restore it. We should know something by tomorrow.”
“That should tell you something. He’s covering his tracks.” He paused. “And he doesn’t want us to know where those tracks are going to lead. Are they going to lead to me? Or to Eve Duncan?”
Venable didn’t answer.
Not good. “Answer me, Venable. Just why did you call?”
“There have been a few developments that have disturbed me. I thought it only fair to put you into the loop.”
“Disturbed?”
“Okay, scared the hell out of me,” he said bluntly. “Jane MacGuire was shot by a sniper. We don’t know whether she’s going to make it or not.”
“Jane MacGuire … Not Eve Duncan? Where? At the lake cottage?”
“No, Jane was on an island in the Caribbean. She was supposed to be with Eve at the cottage, but she flew down there to the island because of an emergency. Joe Quinn is on his way down there right now. He was in Miami giving evidence at a trial, and he took off immediately.”
“He wasn’t with Eve either? Curious.”
“Not really. They lead independent lives.”
“And so does Jane MacGuire, but both Quinn and MacGuire revolve around Eve Duncan. Do you think I haven’t studied her world? MacGuire’s a weakness in the armor, or that’s what Doane would think, anyway.” He was thinking quickly, putting the pieces together. “But why shoot Jane MacGuire? That wouldn’t be necessary and Doane is smart enough to realize—” He stopped. “Quinn is going to the island and not Eve? That doesn’t compute. Where’s Eve Duncan?”
“She may be okay. We haven’t been able to reach her after she told Quinn she’d call him from Atlanta International. Quinn is calling Atlanta PD to go out to the lake.” He paused. “I sent one of my agents, Tad Dukes, out there last night to keep an eye on Eve. I’m trying to reach him now to check out if there was any problem. I can’t contact him.”