Dark Tribute--An Eve Duncan Novel

by Iris Johansen

  She stared after him.

  Joe, again.

  He was not permitting her to forget her promise in this last moment.

  “He’s handling it well,” Catherine murmured. “So stop frowning, go do your job.” She opened the driver’s door for Eve, gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, and turned away. “Bye, Eve. I expect to hear the minute you find Cara.” She turned and walked back toward Luke and Michael.

  Eve hesitated for an instant, and then got in the car. Most people would have the same response as Catherine to Michael’s behavior. On the surface he was being a poster child of obedience and cooperation. But she could never be sure what was whirling beneath that surface.

  However, he had said she didn’t have to worry. That was something, wasn’t it? Well, it had to be enough. Follow Catherine’s advice and go do her job.

  She started the car, set her GPS, and pulled away from the curb.

  LOST CANYON 7:10 P.M.

  “Come out here.” Svardak had thrown open the door of Marian’s quarters and was glaring at Cara where she was sitting curled up on the floor, leaning against the vanity. “What are you doing? I haven’t heard a sound from you since I put you in there after dinner.”

  She braced herself. More punishment? Svardak had been savage most of the day. Cat and mouse. Then when she responded, he would strike her several times with vicious force before he’d let her alone for a while. But she had to respond, she couldn’t let him believe he could toy with her emotions or make her afraid.

  She glared back at him. “What could I be doing? My choices are limited.” She got to her feet. “But when your choices are limited, it doesn’t mean that you’re defeated. You just concentrate on what you have and what you are. I was sitting here remembering how I loved sitting by Lake Gaelkar in Scotland when I was there for Eve and Joe’s wedding.” She looked him in the eyes. “And suddenly I was there again. So you couldn’t take that away from me. I wonder if Marian did the same thing with her home in Toronto. Did she ever mention it?”

  “She was too frightened of me.” He disconnected her cuffs from the main vanity chain and shoved her through the door into the living room. “So I did take that away from her. Just as I’ll take everything away from you when I get a chance to concentrate more fully on you.”

  “It won’t happen,” she said quietly. “I’ll just go away from whatever you do, and you won’t be able to bring me back. You take away one joy, I’ll find another one.” She looked at the computer that he’d already hooked to the giant TV on the wall and set up for Skype. “Oh, it’s time to show me off for my grandfather? I know you’ve been eagerly anticipating it.” She smiled mockingly at him. “Would you like me to play a concerto for him? What about the Tchaikovsky?”

  “Shut up! I won’t have you spoil this for me.” He pulled her in front of the TV. “You’ll be quiet until I tell you to talk. All you speak is lies anyway.”

  “I speak the truth. It was Anna who lied. It must have been easy for her to get you to believe her. Children are gullible, and you never really grew up, did you?” She inhaled sharply as he twisted her wrist. “Is that going to be the rule of the night? I guess I’ll have to go back to my lake in Scotland.”

  “If you don’t shut up, I’ll send you straight to hell.” He pressed the Skype button, and Kaskov suddenly appeared on the screen in front of her. He was sitting at a desk in what appeared to be a library. “How nice of you to join us, Kaskov,” Svardak said. “Cara has been wondering if you care whether she lives or dies. I’ve been trying to reassure her.”

  Kaskov ignored him. “How are you, Cara? I’m sorry you’ve had to go through this.”

  “So am I.” She grimaced. “More than you know. But what can you expect? His crazy sister brainwashed him until he doesn’t know any better.” Her teeth sank into her lower lip as Svardak twisted her wrist again. “He said you killed her. She probably deserved it.”

  “I thought so at the time.”

  Svardak’s curse was low and vehement. “Both of you stop lying about Anna. This bitch is just like you, Kaskov.” Svardak’s lips were tight. “I was right to take her. None of the others were this bad. She won’t listen and nothing I do—”

  Cara stiffened. “None?” She had suddenly caught the meaning of that one word. “None of the others?” She whirled to face Svardak. “Marian Napier wasn’t the only one you killed before you took me? How many others were there?”

  “Oh, that shook you.” His eyes were narrowed with pure malice. “I never said she was the only one. I was keeping the others for a surprise. You’d become so fond of Marian. Why don’t you ask Kaskov? He has all the photos.” He paused. “Except one.”

  She turned back to Kaskov. “How many?”

  “Four. He wanted to make a statement and impress me.”

  She felt sick. “All of them so young and talented like Marian?”

  “Very close,” he said quietly.

  She was having trouble comprehending it. “Because you killed this Anna?”

  “He had a little more reason. I also killed his father and brother. Unfortunately, I missed ridding the world of you, Svardak. You’ll be glad to know I’ve been profoundly sorry I was so careless. I was hoping to make it the same type of family affair that you created for me.”

  “What are you talking about?” Cara asked.

  Kaskov held up his hands. “Ten minutes to change a life. They all found it both satisfactory and amusing. When my turn came, I preferred to put an end to your family and not just change it as you did mine, Svardak.”

  She stared at those scarred, crooked fingers. “It was them? They did that to you?”

  “He deserved it,” Svardak spat out. “Anna had to win that competition and get us all out of that labor camp. My father might have been a guard, but he was only a step above being a prisoner, and do you know how they treated us? They threw us in with the children of the prisoners for most of the day and let us fend for ourselves with that vermin. Kaskov was like you, he would have been able to fool the judges into thinking he had some kind of special talent. So we showed him he couldn’t do that to us.”

  “By trying to destroy him?” Kaskov had mentioned the event that had changed his life to her almost casually, and it had still shocked her. Now, facing the sheer ugliness of the act itself, it was filling her with horror. “He did nothing to deserve that kind of treatment. He was only a young man trying to survive in that place.”

  “He deserved to be destroyed,” Svardak said. “He killed Anna, he killed my father and my brother.”

  “After you did that hideous thing to him. Yes, killing should not be excused, but evil begets evil.” So much evil that it was smothering her. Her gaze went to the photo of Marian on the wall. Not alone. Four innocent lives. “And you’re such a coward. You didn’t go after him. You chose to find four young girls to torment and kill who had done nothing to you. They had their entire lives before them, and you took them away.”

  “Not four. Five.” His lips drew back in a feral smile. “You’ve forgotten yourself, Cara. And they didn’t matter, they were only tribute for Anna and a notice to Kaskov of what was coming.”

  “Tribute?” The word suddenly triggered the rage that had been simmering since she had learned of those other women who had suffered at his hands. “Lives to be laid on the altar of your sister who had so little talent that she had to cheat to even be considered a decent musician?”

  “One more word, and I’ll break your neck,” he said hoarsely. “That’s not why I wanted to bring you to Kaskov.” He twisted her to face the TV again. “Look at her, Kaskov. Your granddaughter, your blood. I might let her live for a week or two if she amuses me. But I’ll more than likely kill her before that time. She’s really the best tribute of all because she’s such a complete bitch. But I promise I’ll give you a daily report on what I’m doing to her.”

  “I suppose you wouldn’t accept ransom for her? That would be a form of tribute.”

  Svardak c
huckled in disbelief. “Not the kind I have in mind.” He lifted Cara’s cuffed hands to display them to Kaskov. “I’ve been thinking about doing the same thing to her hands as we did to yours. That would be a true tribute to Anna.”

  Kaskov stiffened. “That wouldn’t be—”

  “You monster.” Cara couldn’t believe it. He was reaching out, searching for the ultimate way to make her his victim. Then the anger exploded, she could feel the heat burning in her cheeks as she jerked her hands free and whirled to face him. “You’d do it just to hurt Kaskov? Because it wouldn’t hurt me.” She thrust her hands at him. “Go ahead and do it. Take away the music. I’ll find something else to make life worth living. I told you that whatever you take from me, I’ll find a way to cheat you. I won’t let you win.” She glared into his eyes, feeling as if her entire body was blazing as she said softly, “Not one victory. Not one damn tribute. Go ahead and try to—”

  His hand had shot out and struck her across the mouth with all his strength. She fell to her knees, but she was still glaring up at him.

  “Damn you.” He fumbled at the remote and turned off the Skype. He kicked her, and she crumpled backward onto the floor. Coppery taste. Blood. Her lip must be split, she realized dazedly. He kicked her again.

  Pain.

  His face was contorted above her as he dragged her toward Marian’s quarters by the chains of the cuffs around her wrists. He threw her into the bathroom. “You made a mistake. You’ll never win.” His voice was shaking with fury. “I’ll show you later tonight how much you can hurt. But I can’t touch you right now, or I’d kill you. I won’t spoil my pleasure of having Kaskov watch how far down I can take you. He has to see it.”

  He slammed the door.

  She lay there, breathing hard, the anger still searing through her. She had gone too far. She had lost control. But when she had been told about those other women, the shock and fury had been too great to suppress.

  Those poor women he had broken and killed. Victims. All of them innocent victims. And that’s what he had considered her. A victim. But isn’t that what she’d considered herself? She’d fought him, but she’d never thought she’d be able to overcome him. She’d just wanted to stay alive.

  Calm down. Breathe deep and regain control.

  It was several minutes before she was able to obey that self-admonishment. But the time allowed her to think. She must never lose her temper like that again. She had to be clever and begin to plan and watch for the right time. Because as she lay there, she had realized that Svardak had to be stopped any way possible. He couldn’t be permitted to ever do this again.

  She was done with being a victim.

  It was time to go on the hunt and kill the bastard.

  * * *

  The instant the Skype disappeared from the screen, Kaskov spun toward Jock who was sitting in the far corner of the library. “My God, you’d better be able to get her away from him soon. She was on the attack from the minute he turned on the Skype. I wasn’t expecting her to be the problem.”

  Neither had Jock. Cara had been all flame and boldness and reckless defiance. It had scared the hell out of him. When she had held up her hands and dared Svardak to try to destroy her, it had been his worst nightmare. And when Svardak had struck her, he had nearly exploded. “We don’t know what she’s gone through. We’ve just got to hope that she won’t challenge him like that again until I can get to her.” He jumped to his feet and headed for the door. “You be ready if I need you,” he said harshly. “I’ll probably need reinforcements at some point. I don’t know what I’m going to run into tonight.”

  “You’re sure that she’s in that canyon?”

  “I saw Edding in a sleeping bag at that second campfire on the cliff trail. Why else would he be there?”

  “Then I could send Nikolai and some men with you now.”

  “No way. If Svardak feels overwhelmed, the first thing he’ll do is kill Cara.” If he hadn’t already done that after the screen had gone blank, Jock thought desperately. The memory of her falling to her knees with Svardak standing over her was chilling him to the bone. “I’ll take Joe Quinn. I spent the afternoon on that ridge and cliff, and I have an idea how we can work it if Svardak doesn’t have too many men stationed in that thicket at the top. I need him to either be totally surprised or feel he has a chance to escape with her. Or both.” He looked over his shoulder. “I’ll take anything I can get. What I won’t take is your screwing up if I call you.”

  “If I didn’t need your services, I’d make you pay for that insult,” he said with silky menace. “I don’t screw up, Gavin.”

  He opened the door. “The hell you don’t. You left Svardak alive.”

  “True.” The threat was gone. “I stand corrected. It won’t happen again.”

  “You won’t get another chance,” Jock said as he strode down the hall. A moment later, he was out of the house and heading for his car. He called Joe as he reached it. “I’m on my way to pick you up.”

  “Is she okay?”

  “No. But she was alive when the Skype ended. It depends on how angry she makes him whether she stays alive. We have to get her out of there tonight.” He pressed the disconnect.

  Ten minutes later, he pulled up in front of the Holiday Inn Hotel and jumped out of the car. Joe was walking toward him across the parking lot. His expression was not pleased.

  Shit.

  Eve was two steps behind him.

  “No, Eve,” he said flatly, as they reached him. “Go back inside.”

  “Go to hell.” She got into the backseat. “I’m not arguing with you, Jock. I’ve done enough of that with Joe since I got here. I’m not going to be crawling all over that canyon and risk getting in your way. But I am going to be sitting in this car if you need a driver to get Cara away while you two are busy trying to keep that monster at bay.” Her lips thinned. “And from what you told Joe, it sounds like you don’t have time to do anything but say yes and thank you.”

  Jock muttered a curse and got into the car. “You don’t move from this car once we get to the canyon.” He glared at Joe, who was getting in the passenger seat. “And you concentrate on Cara and what we have to do and forget Eve’s here.”

  “Not possible,” Joe said. “But she’ll keep her word, and we might need her.” He made a face. “Either way, we’re stuck with her. I did everything I could. She won’t budge.”

  “Stuck with me?” Eve said coolly. “I won’t address that at present, but I will later. Right now, it doesn’t seem as important as getting to Cara. Suppose you focus on doing that, Jock.”

  But he was already backing out of the parking space and driving off the hotel parking lot. “No, nothing is more important,” he said curtly. “Remember that, Eve. I like you, I don’t want anything to happen to you. But I’m not going to let you get in my way.”

  “Fair enough. Now tell me what to expect so that won’t happen. Joe said that you’re almost sure she’s being kept in some kind of shack or cabin in the thicket at the top of that cliff bordering the north end of the canyon. How do you get her down?”

  “I go up the cliff trail and take out the guards at the first encampment, then I move on to the second. That’s where Edding is located. I take out his partner, but I make sure I keep Edding alive to get information about the number of guards in that thicket and exactly where Cara is being held. Joe is going up the mountain trail to locate the two camps there.” He paused. “Then, depending on what Edding tells me, Joe will either cause a major diversion on the mountain to draw Svardak away from Cara while I take her down the cliff trail, or I’ll go in and get her while Svardak is still there.”

  Eve’s gaze flew to Joe. “What kind of diversion?”

  He smiled. “Stop worrying. Nothing close-range. Jock managed to get a few very powerful and efficient explosives from Kaskov that should do the trick. Explosives are never a problem for me.”

  “I know they aren’t. But it sounds to me like a problem however it’s ha
ndled,” Eve said curtly. “Can’t you delay it just a little longer and find another way?”

  “Not a chance,” Jock’s voice was clipped. “Not after what I saw on that Skype tonight. I have to get her away from him.”

  “That bad?” she whispered.

  Jock eyes were fixed on the canyon looming ahead. “Aye, every bit that bad.”

  * * *

  Cara slowly sat up and pushed the hair out of her face. She took a deep breath as she leaned back against the vanity. She had to prepare herself. She might be able to talk her way out of the punishment Svardak was going to inflict, but she doubted it. She could force herself to endure it, but she wasn’t sure that she might not break and say something to make it worse. The fury inside her was violent and still seething.

  The only other way out was to take the route that she’d already chosen. He had to die.

  She had never realized she could be that calm and cool about a decision to take a life. Even when she had been hunted and growing up with danger around every corner, the idea had never occurred to her as an option. Life was too precious a gift to destroy it.

  But the thought was here before her now. And Svardak’s life was not too precious to destroy. Marian and his other victims would have had no problem if they’d had the opportunity.

  But how to do it? He was far stronger. She had the basic skills Joe had taught her, but he was keeping her cuffed. She had no weapons.

  But neither had Marian Napier. She had taken his punishment until she could take it no longer. Then she had made her move.

  Cara looked over her shoulder at the splintered corner of the mirror. Suicide? Or weapon? She still couldn’t be sure of Marian’s intent. But she knew what her own intent would be. “Help me out, Marian,” she whispered as she got to her knees and pulled herself to her feet. “You got that splinter started, I’ll take it the rest of the way…” She grabbed a washcloth from the shower and climbed awkwardly onto the vanity. Balancing on her knees, she could just reach that shattered corner. She used the bracelet of the handcuffs to work at the broken lower edge of the glass.