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“And I’m grateful. I love it here, even when he and Caleb persist in sparring off each other. I just want him to stop trying to adopt me.”
Eve laughed. “I believe you can handle MacDuff. So now tell me what unusual thing Caleb has done that made you run to tell me how usual he’s being.”
“A kind of difficult job with MI6.” Jane shrugged. “I told you, nothing that he’s in the least worried about.”
“Except where it concerns you,” Eve said. “Then he does worry. Like a tiger on the prowl.”
“He’s not prowling now, which must mean I’m safe here at MacDuff’s Run.” She smiled. “I just felt the need to talk to you. Maybe I’ve been bored this week and felt a little lost.”
“Now, that’s really unusual. I’ll have to think about why you’d feel like that. You haven’t been lost since the day I saw you bossing around all the other slum kids on the streets when you were ten,” Eve said. “You’re the one who could always take care of me. Want to come and help me with about fifteen of these reconstructions I have on my list?”
“Are you kidding? You’re the world-famous forensic sculptor. You know you wouldn’t let me touch them. I’ll pass.” She had to stop this right now before Eve actually started to worry about her. “But I would like you to tell me everything Michael is doing and how much you and Joe are enjoying the lake. Then I’ll tell you all about Fiona and what a bastard of a father she had. And you can tell me how lucky I am that you let me come home with you that day. Is it a deal?”
***
Jane shook her head and her smile vanished when she pressed theDISCONNECTbutton on the Skype screen thirty minutes later. She’d definitely messed that up, she thought ruefully. She should have known that Eve would have been able to see right through any attempt Jane could fabricate to hide any disturbance. They’d been too close over the years, and she’d never been able to mask the passion and emotion of her relationship with Caleb from her. It didn’t help that Eve always wanted the very best for her and had a tendency to try to solve all the problems of the universe plaguing her family. Jane would just have to call her back in a day or two and smooth it over.
But talking to Eve had made her feel better as it always did. She’d even discussed Fiona and for once she hadn’t experienced any feeling of antagonism connected to MacDuff’s ancestress. Which had even brought a strange sense of relief.
She picked up one of the Fiona journals she’d thrown down on the nightstand when she’d come into the bedroom. It was the book with the strange characters that MacDuff had not been able to identify. Well, as she’d told Eve, there was no way on earth she could help her with those reconstructions she had to do. Why not see if she could make heads or tails of Fiona’s puzzle? It would be nice if she had something to at least talk about with Eve the next time she called her back. She crossed to the window seat and sat down. It wasn’t foggy today and the courtyard was bright and beautiful. She saw MacDuff talking to a number of men by the fountain. His own employees from the village, or MI6? It had to be one or the other. She supposed it should make her feel safer, but somehow it didn’t. She was only grateful that it might mean no one would be hurt by her being here at the Run. Along with experiencing a deep frustration that she couldn’t do more herself to take charge of her own life.
Her gaze wandered to the large stable on the far side of the courtyard. Pristinely clean, and the storage rooms would probably be equally well kept. She’d known that no horses were kept in that old stable now. Perhaps she should go and take a look at Fiona’s belongings there and see if she had left any secrets…
Forget about it. She had no desire to go down to the courtyard and stumble over any of MacDuff’s sentries and have to be polite. She deliberately turned away from the fountain and opened Fiona’s journal. Start at the beginning and see what occurred to her as she turned the pages. Those dark marks that looked like dashes were odd. Maybe if she started to copy them into her sketchbook, they’d become more her own, and she’d be able to work with them…
She started to work…
***
Bell Helicopter
Somewhere North of Calais, France
Palik called Caleb at just before midnight. “Nice night for a jaunt across the channel. Enjoying yourself?”
“Not particularly. But there better be a good reason why you’re inquiring. I don’t recall discussing these plans with you. I can’t say I like the idea of you keeping such a close eye on me, Palik.”
“Just doing my job,” Palik said flippantly. “The autopsy report is in on the guy they fished out of the Tiber River. It was your MI6 friend, Jennings. Extensive torture, as suspected.” He paused. “How much did he know about you?”
“Not enough to make the effort worthwhile for Bohdan. I try not to become too chummy with other agents. It can be dangerous for them.”
“Like Jennings?”
“Exactly. That’s another reason why it’s better if I work alone.”
“Then Bohdan won’t be able to track you.”
“I didn’t say that. There are always ways, if I’m not careful. Agents talk to each other. Or someone at the MI6 home office could have loose lips.”
“You wouldn’t tolerate that and they know it. And I don’t believe any of the agents from MI6 are going to do any talking.”
“Then you’d be wrong. The guy they just fished out of the Tiber River probably told them everything he knew. We just have to hope that wasn’t much. Any word on Bohdan’s location?”
“Nothing definite. He owns several drug houses and meth labs throughout Europe. He might be checking on them. But we think he might be heading for Naples. There are rumors he owns a brothel there that he uses to house and train kids he imports from his contacts in the Congo. We’re checking on it.”
“Makes sense. He was partners with the general in several brothels in Central Africa before I removed his senior partner from the equation. Is that all?”
“One other item. I’ve assigned Sean Rodland to MacDuff’s Run. You remember Rodland. You’re the one who sent him to me.”
