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“Because he’s the Hunter,” she said bitterly. “That doesn’t mean that he can’t be killed. Is there anything I can do? If he’s not quite alone, I assume Palik is with him. Will you take me to Kilgoray so that I can see Palik? He might listen to me.”
He shook his head. “It’s too late. It’s been hours since Caleb arrived at Kilgoray. Even if you could manage to involve yourself in the action, you’d endanger him.” He paused. “And maybe yourself. You wouldn’t want to do that.”
“No.” She felt that terrible sensation of helplessness. Not only couldn’t she help save Caleb, she might kill her baby if she tried. “How long before we know if he’s successfully extracted Campbell from those sons of bitches?”
He gave a half shrug. “Caleb told me he’d tell Palik to let us know as soon as Campbell’s safe.” He added, “You know that if anyone can pull this off, it’s Caleb. And he doesn’t make mistakes, Jane. No one would know that better than me.”
“I realize you’re his biggest fan. But accidents can happen. And we don’t know that this wasn’t a trap.”
He didn’t speak for a moment. “He’d take that in consideration. He’d just work to get around it.”
Rodland had hesitated too long, she realized. “Dammit, hetoldyou that he thought that he could be walking into a trap, didn’t he?”
He didn’t answer directly. “We discussed several possibilities. You picked up on that one right away yourself.”
“Because Bohdan isn’t stupid, and he’s already managed to attack this castle and kill people. I’m not going to let him kill Caleb.” Her hands clenched as she experienced that wave of helplessness again. “But if I get the opportunity, I might kill him myself. Why would Calebdothis?”
“You know why,” Rodland said bluntly. “I don’t have to spell it out for you. The same reason he made me come here and make sure that you’d have someone with you so you wouldn’t have to face this alone. Dr. Campbell is a good man, and he helped you. Caleb thought he deserved a chance to make it out of there alive. He decided to give it to him.”
At what cost?Jane thought. But she mustn’t think of that right now. “You’re right, of course.” She got to her feet. “And since Caleb gave you the job of seeing that I didn’t fall apart, I’ll let you continue. I don’t seem to have been doing too well. I’m going to dress and then I want to get out of here. Come with me.”
Rodland was immediately wary. “You can’t go to Kilgoray. It’s not safe for you.”
“Do you think I don’t know that? That entire area may be crawling with Bohdan’s men. If I was seen, Bohdan might try to kill or take me captive. I’d be much more tempting bait for him than Campbell.” Her hand touched her midriff. “So would my baby. I can’t run that risk. I just want to go for a walk along the seawall. I need to get out of this room. I have to have you with me because Caleb may call you instead of me.” She was taking her clothes from the wardrobe. “I hope that’s not true, because that would make me even more upset, but I can’t be sure, can I?”
“You can be sure that he only wants to do whatever is best for you,” he said quietly. “He didn’t want to handle it this way. Give him a break, Jane.”
“I can’t promise.” She slammed the wardrobe door shut.Strength. Maintain control. Don’t let the tears come.“How can I be sure I’ll even get the chance?”
“Because he’s Caleb,” he said gently. “And I’ll be glad to go for that walk with you. You didn’t do yourself justice, Jane. I think you’re doing very well, indeed.”
***
Kilgoray
Caleb reached the top of the hill and glanced at the sky to the north. It was turning the faintest pink and soon it would be dawn. He imagined that Jane would be awake and probably furious at him by now.
Which meant if Bohdan’s men didn’t kill him, Jane certainly would.
Their viewpoints were so radically different that he didn’t know if she’d ever agree his action was for the best. It would be a lie if he told himself anything else. Everything was different now and it always would be. Even at this potentially lethal moment, he felt a deep tug inside him that hadn’t existed before. She wasn’t the only one who was changing.
Stop thinking about what he’d left behind him at MacDuff’s Run, he thought impatiently. He put away his phone as he ran across the northern edge of the moor. If the GPS was correct, the shack was only a few minutes ahead. Right now, the only thing he should be thinking about was finding Dr. Campbell and getting him safely away.
In less than two minutes, he spotted the shack. It was on a remote plot of land that had clearly once been a farm. The shack was a two-story structure that didn’t look much stronger than the rickety boathouse he’d brought down the other day.
He raised his binoculars and surveyed the scene. There were no vehicles nearby and no movement in the area. A few fresh tire tracks pressed into the soft earth in front of him.
He activated the binoculars’ thermal imaging component. No body heat detected on the ground floor. But on the upper floor, there was…something. The heat signature was lower than he might have expected, but he’d seen cool temperatures in drafty environments wreak havoc on heat sensors before. There appeared to be someone in the back of the house.
He circled around the structure. No sign of booby traps or an ambush.
He pulled out his gun and approached the shack’s back entrance. He looked down at the door. No lock or even a knob.
He pushed it open a crack. No trip wires.
He slid inside. The sparse furnishings were from another era, now covered with dust. Wind whistled through cracks in the walls. Floorboards creaked as Caleb made his way to the stairs.
He climbed to the second level. It was a standard three-bedrooms-and-a-bath layout, with the open bathroom at the end of the hall. Next to it was the room where he’d seen the heat signature.
