Mind Game

by Iris Johansen

  “I should have guessed,” Eve said. “Margaret is as close to a Gypsy as anyone I’ve ever met.”

  “I know. I like her. You told me that she had a wonderful talent with animals.”

  Eve nodded. “She has friends at a special veterinary clinic on Summer Island, in the Caribbean. I’ll tell Joe to put out feelers there.” She smiled. “He’s not had an easy job. My friends appear liable to be in the four corners of the earth at any given moment.”

  “He’ll find them,” Cara said. “And you’re not the only one. He had his own list. He was also looking for someone named Venable and a Sean Galen.”

  “Then it’s good that you didn’t wait,” Eve said. “Venable is CIA and can be very elusive.”

  “I’m glad that you’re not upset with me,” Cara said. “I know that I can be annoying when I push too hard. It’s just so important that I take care of you and Michael. You sent me away to school, so I can’t do it all the time. But let me do it during the next week or so, okay?”

  “Okay,” Eve said gently. “But you’ll find plenty of other things to do here, Cara. MacDuff is close to finding his treasure. And Caleb’s sister, Lisa, is always trying to do too much.” She tilted her head. “I wonder how the two of you will get along. She’s not at all like you.”

  “I’ll just do what you tell me. I won’t cause you any trouble.”

  Eve laughed. “Not at all like you,” she repeated. She gave Cara another kiss on the forehead. “I’ll see you in an hour.”

  The sun was low on the horizon and casting a golden glow on the mist as Eve left the tent. She could see MacDuff, Lisa, and Jock coming toward the camp with Jane and Michael, who were following them at a slower pace. Lisa was walking stiffly, holding her shoulders very straight.

  She’s hurting, Eve thought. She had done too much. She was supposed to have had a light day, but she’d probably pushed herself and not let MacDuff see how tired she was getting.

  Then she saw Jock grab Lisa’s backpack, ignoring her protest, and then fall back to where Jane and Michael were walking. He was smiling as he said something to Michael and then lifted him on his shoulders.

  She saw Michael laughing as Jock trotted ahead of the others in the group coming down the bank. The sunlight fell on Jock’s shock of fair hair and burnished it as he moved.

  He has that wonderful shining inside.

  Cara’s words came back to her as she watched him. That beautiful exterior and the scars that sometimes hid that shining that Cara could see so well and that Jock refused to believe was there.

  Eve could see it now. She could see the strength and beauty in all of them. MacDuff, with his humor and tough drive, which hid a heart that made his people love him. Lisa, who was emerging from pain and struggle and yet would give her life for Caleb. Jane, her wonderful Jane, who had been through so much and was still battling.

  Eve suddenly had a sense of infinite rightness as she looked down at them with the lake of golden mist behind them. Her friends, her family, this place, this time.

  Did you ever feel like that, Cira?

  Somehow she thought that she might have.

  She kept her gaze fixed on those very special people enveloped in that golden haze as she slowly started down the hill to join them.

  JUMAIRA, DUBAI

  It was here!

  Teresa Romano quickly took the document from the FedEx envelope and turned and went back inside the villa.

  Gino was sitting by the indoor Moroccan pool and looked up with a scowl. “Only seven more days, Teresa. You promised me Santara would come through for us. I never should have believed you.”

  More complaints. She was sick to death of putting up with him. She’d increased the drugs she made available to him. She’d furnished him with different whores every day to distract him, but he still managed to get in her way. She had been nervous enough herself during these last days without having to soothe Gino.

  Just a little longer. Then she would be on that plane to Moscow and wouldn’t have to serve anyone but herself.

  “Santara will come through. He’s not clever, but he’s efficient. I can still work with him. He just had to be guided in the right direction.”

  “And if you can’t, we’ll lose everything we’ve invested in this crazy plan of yours. We’ll be paupers.” He added maliciously, “You’re not going to like living on the crumbs of all the people here in Dubai you so carefully cultivated. You think that those people who snubbed you when you were growing up were bad? It’s nothing like it is here in Dubai. Here the rich are rich and the rest are nothing.”

  He was enjoying this too much. When things had gone sour for them, he had begun to fling her background at her. She had never liked him, but that’s when she had begun to hate him. She held on to her temper. Don’t strike out, she thought. It isn’t going to be that long. “That’s not going to happen. Caleb is still the key. I refuse to give him up when he’s so perfect. The plan is still the same. I just had to readjust it a little. I admit I was overconfident because I felt I knew Caleb so well. I started out with too little information.” She held up the envelope she’d just received. “No longer. Even a man as private as Caleb leaves footprints. What do you think I’ve been waiting for? I contacted Alex Nalari, one of the investigators you hired when you needed to use leverage on someone.” She opened the envelope and was scanning the report. “All I need is a weapon.…”

  His smirk vanished. “And you think that Nalari’s going to give you one?”

  Teresa was going quickly over the contents on the first page, then the second, then the third. Could it be? She went back to the first page and checked. Yes, she’d found what she needed. She felt excitement start to climb as she realized what she had in her hands.

  I’ve got you, Caleb.

  “Oh, yes.” She went to the desk and underlined a name on the second sheet. “I just have to tell Santara to look for an opportunity. Nalari has definitely given me the weapon I need.”

  LOCH GAELKAR

  12:40 A.M.

  Beautiful, Lisa thought drowsily as she roused from sleep.

  The wind …

  The mist …

  No, both of them …

  Surrounding her, becoming her …

  She shook her head to clear it. No, it was just music.…

  Just music?

  She sat up in bed and threw her blanket aside. It was a violin, so it must be Cara Delaney playing somewhere out there in the darkness. She hadn’t met her yet because Jane and Eve had ganged up on her after she’d arrived back at camp and made her go immediately to her tent after eating a light meal. She hated to admit it, but they’d probably been right, because she’d collapsed and been lost to the world five minutes after she’d reached her tent.

  Until the music.

  And it was still playing, luring her as the mist had lured her.

  Why not? She had to know what she had to deal with in terms of Cara Delaney. Just as she always took the measure of everyone else who came into her life.

  She put on her shoes but didn’t bother changing out of her nightshirt. Then she was out of her tent, listening, her gaze searching.

  The far bank, just before the woods that led into the mist …

  She could see the bright moonlight outlining the girl, gleaming on the violin she was holding as she sat there on the bank.

  Lisa was down the hill and moving swiftly around the campfire to the bank.

  The girl doesn’t even know I’m coming toward her, she thought impatiently. She’s so absorbed in the music that there’s no one else on her radar. Not smart. She’d been told that Cara Delaney had been on the run for most of her life. It was a wonder that she hadn’t been caught and killed before this. Someone should tell her that she shouldn’t be out here by herself and—

  The music stopped and Cara was looking at her. She lowered her bow and then the violin to her lap. “Hello, you must be Lisa Ridondo. I’m sorry, did I wake you?”

  “Yes,” Lisa said
curtly. “No big deal. It was fine once I figured out where the music was coming from. It was kind of pretty.”

  Cara smiled. “I promised I’d practice every day. It was the only way I was able to leave school before finals. There was a big furor, and the principal was threatening to kick me out.”

  “That’s happened to me a few times.” Lisa dropped to the grass a few yards away. “But you held your ground and called their bluff?”

  “No, I think they meant it. Juilliard’s rules are very strict. I told them that they had to do what they had to do.” She added simply, “And that I had to go to Eve.”

  “Then it was a bluff,” Lisa said adamantly.

  She shrugged. “It didn’t matter, did it? I like the teachers at Juilliard, but it’s the music that’s important. And they only asked me to promise to practice every day, so it was cool. I would have played every day anyway, so it’s easy to keep that promise.”

  Lisa’s gaze was narrowed on her face. “But you would have kept it anyway.”

  “Promises are important, even when they’re difficult to keep.” She changed the subject. “Are you all right now? Eve said that you’d been hurt.”

  “I’m fine. I was just a little tired today.” She added testily, “Eve can be very determined. I didn’t need to go right to bed.”

  “Yes, you did. Or Eve wouldn’t have told you to do it.” Cara smiled. “And you’re stubborn, so you wouldn’t have done it if you hadn’t known she was right. It just gave you a reason.”

  “What do you know? I don’t need reasons.”

  Cara was silent.

  Lisa suddenly chuckled. “Okay, sometimes you have to build on what people expect you to be. You wouldn’t want to disappoint them.”

  Cara smiled back at her. “That seems to take a lot of effort.” She tilted her head. “And it sounds like something Caleb would say. I can tell that he’s your brother.”

  “You should,” she said fiercely. “I’m proud that he’s my brother. He’s wonderful.”

  “You don’t have to be defensive about him around me. He did me a big favor a couple years ago. I don’t know quite why he did it, but I’m grateful that he did.”

  “What did he do?”

  “He took me to see my grandfather when everyone else was telling me I couldn’t go.” She grinned. “It got him in trouble with everyone.”

  “The grandfather who’s some kind of mob boss?” Lisa shrugged. “Well, if Seth wanted to do it, why not?”

  “I think you’d say that no matter what he did. I’m just saying that he’s different. I’ve learned that people have the right to make their own choices. He made one that helped me and caused him a headache.”

  “Jock,” Lisa murmured. “He mentioned something about your grandfather’s being a danger to you.”

  “Jock wasn’t pleased. But he and Caleb are okay now.”

  “I’m certain that Seth wouldn’t have been worried about that.”

  “Then you’d be wrong,” Cara said quietly. “Caleb would be worried about anything that affects Jane, and she considers Jock family. It’s best that you know that.”

  Lisa looked at Cara in disbelief. “Is that a threat?”

  “No, I just want you to understand. I think you must love Caleb very much. I don’t want you to make a mistake.”

  Lisa was silent. “And you don’t want there to be any chance of Seth or me or anyone else hurting Jock. You’re trying to protect him.”

  Cara repeated gently, “I don’t want you to make a mistake.”

  Strength. Beneath Cara’s almost fragile gentleness was iron-hard strength. “I seldom make mistakes. Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve studied and learned so that won’t happen.”

  “Good.” Cara picked up the violin off her lap, her hand caressing the exquisite wood. “I did, too. But I had my friend, Elena, to help and keep me safe, until I lost her.” She tucked the violin beneath her chin. “I’m going to play now. I’ll try to make it soothing if you want to go back to bed.”

  She was being dismissed in favor of that violin, Lisa realized in amusement. She had an idea that Cara would have done the same to anyone unless it was Jock. None of them was important at this moment in comparison to the music.

  The music. The wind. The mist.

  Just the thought of that wisp of melody was beckoning, luring Lisa again. “But you shouldn’t be out here alone at this time of night, you know.”

  “Then neither should you.”

  “You’re just a kid. I can take care of myself.”

  “That’s how you got shot?”

  “Things are different with me now.”

  “Eve said there are all kinds of guards around the property, and Jock and MacDuff. All I’d have to do is call out. And Joe is beginning to teach me karate. I’m getting fairly good.”

  But Lisa had been older and stronger than Cara, and Santara had managed to take her.

  She looked down at her bandaged thumb. What would a broken thumb mean to Cara Delaney? What would it mean to her life and her music?

  She found her stomach clenching at the thought. Cara was probably right about her being safe. But bad things happened, and they both knew it. They had different ways of looking at how to face and handle things. Of course, Lisa’s was the intelligent way to do it. So she should just get up and go back to her tent.

  She didn’t move.

  Even though she was right, she had an idea that it would not help this worry go away. So why not give in to it? After all, it was purely selfish and had nothing to do with actually protecting Cara. If it made Lisa feel better, it wouldn’t hurt to stay and form a barrier against some of those bad things that might possibly be waiting for the kid.

  “Okay, okay.” Lisa waved an impatient hand. “Have it your way. But I might as well stick around until you finish. I liked that music you were playing when I came down here.” She stretched out and cradled her head on one arm. “But don’t be offended if I fall asleep.”

  “I won’t.” Cara smiled into her eyes. “But you won’t fall asleep, Lisa.”

  She started to play.

  * * *

  Music.

  Cara was playing, Jane realized drowsily. How good it was to have her here. What a beautiful way to wake …

  The strains of music streaming through the night, touching everything around it. Rippling over the lake, caressing the mist, creating a fragile rhythm on the path as she walked along the bank.

  Soon she’d be there. Soon she’d be with him.…

  * * *

  “You’re certain about this?” Antonio asked. “It will be difficult to retrieve the chest if we ever have to flee here as we did Herculaneum.”

  “Then the solution is never to have to flee,” Cira said. “I’m done with running away. We’ve built our home and we’ll fight to keep it. Here is where we stay.” She looked at Antonio. “Where I stay. I hope you’ll stay with me.”

  “How good of you to include me, since I’ve given you a number of fine sons and daughters to start your dynasty.” He reached over and gently kissed her cheek. “I’m content in this land. I’m just trying to be sensible in case I have to defend my family in the best way I can.”

  “You will do it very well right here,” she said unsteadily. “And I’m glad that you don’t choose to leave me. I would feel very much alone without you.”

  “And I would feel as lost in the world as I do in this damnable mist. The torch helps a little, but not nearly enough.” His gaze left her to strain to see through the thick mist ahead. “I can’t understand how Marcus ever found his way through it. It’s a wonder he didn’t end up in the lake. I’m surprised you let him play down here without you.”

  “He was full of dreams and he felt at home here. Me? I was just glad he had his dog, Galo. I could call Galo’s name and he’d come running.” She felt the tears sting her eyes. “And then Marcus would come running. So happy. So eager…”

  “He’s still here, Cira.” Antonio’s hand closed
on her own. “You’ve told me that you feel him sometimes.”

  “Yes. But it’s hard for me not to be able to see him.” She wiped her cheeks with the back of her hand. “I think perhaps Galo sees him. Every now and then I see him cock his head and stare at…” She paused and shrugged. “Nothing. It doesn’t seem fair that a dog should be able to see my son and not me.”

  “Imagination, love?”

  “Maybe. How do I know? Perhaps Marcus needed his playmate and I couldn’t go where he goes. Galo didn’t want to leave him when we brought him to his final home here. And he’s always eager to run back to the cave whenever I bring him with me to visit Marcus.” She swallowed. “And I may think it unfair, but I pray that Marcus does still have his friend.”

  “As do I,” Antonio said gently. “But may I suggest that you call Galo to come and get us and take us the rest of the way? Because we’ve reached the point where I can’t see a thing now.”

  Cira laughed. “Nor I. But that means we’re very close. Galo!”

  Barking.

  Then the lean tan hound was dashing through the mist toward them.

  He stopped short, his gaze on Cira.

  Then he turned and moved slowly ahead of them, looking back to make sure they were following.

  A few minutes later, the cave loomed ahead of them.

  Antonio went forward and rolled the boulder aside.

  Darkness.

  It took Cira a moment to light the torch affixed to the wall.

  Marcus’s beautifully carved wood and bronze casket with its polished granite inlay rested on a rock shelf directly ahead.

  Cira closed her eyes for a moment.

  “Hello, my dear love, I hope all is well with you.”

  She opened her eyes and saw Galo lying contentedly beneath the stone shelf, his head on his paws. “You think it is? Then I will, too.” She said over her shoulder to Antonio, “Bring it in. I think over there in the cavity in the cave wall, don’t you?”

  “As good as anywhere.” Antonio lifted the chest off the crude wagon they had been wheeling down the bank. He paused a moment, gazing at the casket. He blinked rapidly and then carried the chest over to the wall that Cira had indicated. “We have a duty for you, my boy. Duty is good. Not always enjoyable, but good.” He slid the chest deep in the cavity and then started to pile rocks up against it. “But I think you might want to help us in this way.”