Eight Days to Live

by Iris Johansen

  “You’re discounting him. You’re saying he doesn’t give the impression of being a force to reckon with. That’s an asset in itself.”

  Eve nodded slowly. “Yes, I guess it is.” She looked at Jane. “This is the bastard who sent your photo to Millet? He just threw you to that maniac like a fish to a shark?”

  “You could choose a kinder comparison,” Jane said. “Millet may be a shark, but I’m no helpless, flopping fish. But, yes, Roland sent my photo to Millet.”

  Eve’s lips tightened. “Then the bastard is totally without a conscience.” They had reached the edge of the steep cliff that bordered the back of the castle, and she was gazing thoughtfully down at the waves crashing against the limestone over a hundred feet below them. “It always surprises me when I run into people like Roland. It shouldn’t, I suppose. It’s not that I haven’t dealt with my share of monsters.”

  “I know.” Jane had watched her battle against those monsters while searching for the killer of her child, Bonnie. She’d had to stand by, wanting desperately to help and not being able to do anything. “But you’ve always had hope. You want people to be good, to do the right thing.”

  “Yes, I do. And I have to believe that most people are good. Life wouldn’t be worth living if I didn’t.” She changed the subject. “I do like this place. I never realized why they called this place the Run.” Her gaze wandered around the rough rocks that formed a theaterlike circle around a stretch of green grass. “MacDuff told me that once a year his ancestors hosted games here and invited all the warriors in Scotland to participate. I can almost see those strong, bare-chested lads in kilts running across the green.”

  “So can I.” Jane sat down on one of the rocks. “It was my first thought when I saw it a few years ago.” She smiled. “I should have known you’d feel the same way.”

  “Yes, we generally have the same response.” Eve sat down beside her and linked her hand with Jane’s. “From the time you were a kid fighting everyone on your block. But I’m surprised that the MacDuffs built this castle on the edge of the cliff. It’s a beautiful view, but you’d think that they’d want an escape route since they were a warrior clan.”

  “You’re right, the MacDuffs always thought about the safety of the clan first. But they managed to get around the problem of this cliff. They wouldn’t have built the castle here if they hadn’t worked out an escape route. But I’m sure they were relieved they could have their fortress here and enjoy having this to look at every evening.”

  The rays of the setting sun were burnishing the waves far below them, and Jane could feel the cool breeze touch her cheeks. Peace was flowing over her, and she was aware that all the tension and desperation of the last days was beginning to ebb away. How many times had she sat on the porch at the lake with Eve, enveloped in this same sense of peace and contentment?

  And love. Whenever she was with Eve, there was always love and the belief that as long as they were together, everything would be all right.

  They were silent, enjoying the sound of the surf and the wind. No need to talk. Being with someone you cared about was like being by yourself, with no stress, no need to force the words.

  It was minutes later before Jane asked, “How is your reconstruction going?”

  “Slowly. Maybe he doesn’t want to be found.”

  Jane’s brows rose. “That’s the first time I’ve heard you say that.”

  “Just because I want to bring him home is no sign that his parents would welcome him.” She wearily shook her head. “Hell, maybe they’re the reason he ended up in that hole in the ground. Sometimes the parents are responsible either directly or indirectly.”

  “But you’ve always told me they’re in the minority.”

  “And they are. I suppose I’m just being negative.” She smiled. “By tomorrow, I’ll be back to normal and working my butt off to finish and ship him home.”

  “But why are you being this discouraged now?” She gazed at her searchingly. “Is it my fault? I’ve disrupted your life and torn you away from Atlanta.”

  “You did no such thing,” Eve said brusquely. “And you know it. It wasn’t your fault that there are crazies out there.” She was silent. “But maybe it has something to do with you. I’m afraid for you. I guess I’m wondering why I’m trying to bring home this poor dead child when I can’t bring you home safe and sound. It’s not a great exchange.” She shrugged. “But we’ll work it out.”

  “You’re right, we will.” Her hand tightened on Eve’s. “And you’re not really wondering. You’ve spent years giving solace to hundreds of families of lost children. What you do is damn wonderful.”

  Eve gazed out at the horizon. “Wonderful or not, I have to do it. It’s what I am.” She fell silent again. “Now we’ll stop talking about me. We have to go back to the castle soon, but I want you to fill me in on every single detail of what’s been happening to you.”

  “I haven’t been keeping anything from you. I tried to be honest with you all the way, Eve.”

  “But you were in a hurry, you were in shock, things were happening too fast. Little things get lost when you’re traveling at light speed.” She smiled. “But now you’re slowing down. You can take a deep breath and let yourself remember all those little things. I hate it that I wasn’t there to help you. Maybe if we share, it will make it less painful for both of us.” She urged softly, “Take that breath, Jane.”

  “THERE YOU ARE.” Jock was coming down the staircase when Jane and Eve entered the castle. “I was just coming after you. MacDuff said you were watching the sunset at the Run.” He looked at Jane quizzically. “I thought it a bit odd. You haven’t been in the mood for staring at scenery lately.”

  But she was still feeling that inner peace and serenity that had surrounded her while she was sitting with Eve on the cliff. “I was in the mood today.”

  “I can see that.” His gaze shifted to Eve. “Your influence? Good for you. She looks as if she’s been on vacation.”

  “We needed a little downtime. We’re both better now.”

  “How is Lina?” Jane asked.

  “She couldn’t wait to settle in her room and start to work.” His lips quirked mischievously. “I put her in the Laird’s suite. MacDuff doesn’t use it any longer. It’s too formal for his liking. I wanted her to get a taste of grandeur.”

  “Why? She made it plain that she likes to live simply.”

  “I couldn’t resist. She informed me very curtly that she didn’t like castles, but she’d put up with it until she finished the translations.”

  “I like her,” Eve said. “She has thorns, but you’d always know where you were with her.”

  “No doubt about that,” Jane said. “Did you get my books, Jock?”

  He nodded. “They’re in your room. Two boxes of Bibles and reference books as requested.”

  “Good.” She started for the grand staircase. “I’ll shower and hit the Internet first, then dive into the books.”

  “You’re in a great hurry,” Eve said quietly. “You’re safe here. Why the frantic pace?”

  She grimaced. “I guess I’m still operating under Millet’s countdown. I can’t believe those bastards are going to let me live past April 1. I feel as if the only way to stop it is to stop them.”

  “I wish I could disagree with you,” Eve said soberly. “I’d like to tell you to stay here and let Venable and Joe hunt down Millet and Roland.”

  Jane shook her head. “And let those murderers go after everyone I care about? Joe would be a target. Anyone I love will be a target. I can’t hide away.”

  Eve nodded. “That’s why I’m not arguing with you. They have to be stopped.” She stopped as she saw the housekeeper coming down the steps. “I was just going to call you, Mrs. Dalbrey. I’m hoping you can persuade Jane to eat something before she starts to work. You know each other, don’t you?”

  “Of course, we do.” Nora Dalbrey’s smile lit her plump face. She was dressed in a black skirt, sensible shoes, an
d a white blouse that should have made her appear serious and practical but somehow didn’t. Her light brown hair was pulled back from her face, but rebellious frizzy ringlets had come loose and hung about her temples. “We met the last time she came to the Run. It’s good to see you again, Ms. MacGuire.”

  “You’re looking well. How is your son?”

  She made a face. “Sixteen and won’t leave those Nintendo games alone.” Then her face softened. “But my Ian’s a good boy and doesn’t give me any trouble.” She turned to Eve. “I’ll take her a tray with that stew I made for dinner. Don’t worry. I’ll make sure she doesn’t starve herself. I remember the last time she was here, she didn’t eat as well as she should.” She started down the hall. “You have the same room you had before, Ms. MacGuire. I’ll be up there with your dinner quick as the shake of a lamb’s tail.”

  “It seems I’m having dinner,” Jane said as she gazed after the housekeeper. “How quick is the shake of a lamb’s tail?”

  “Evidently pretty quick,” Eve said. “I’d hurry with that shower if I were you.”

  THE LAIRD’S SUITE WAS THREE doors down from the room Jane had been assigned.

  Jane hesitated as she went past it, then stopped and knocked on the door.

  “Come.”

  Jane opened the door. “I just wanted to make sure that you were comfortable.”

  Lina looked up from her pad. “I’m not comfortable. This place is splendid, and splendid is cold. But I’ll be fine. You don’t have to worry about me.”

  “I’m not worrying.” She looked around the room. The huge four-poster bed and other massive furniture dominated the room. “It’s just that this room is a little overpowering. I could have Mrs. Dalbrey switch you.”

  “No, thank you.” There was the slightest glimmer of humor in her expression. “That would disappoint Jock. I’m sure he’s enjoying thinking of me here.”

  “His mother was housekeeper before Mrs. Dalbrey. He lived in the village, but he practically grew up here. He can’t understand anyone not loving it.”

  “I know he can’t.” She looked back down at her pad. “But I think he tries. Now, please leave. I have to get back to work.”

  “How is it going?”

  “Well,” she said absently.

  Lina had already closed her out, Jane realized.

  “I’m three doors down, and Eve is in the tower room. If you need us, just call.”

  Lina nodded impatiently, not looking up.

  Jane shook her head as she quietly left the room. Lina might be prickly as Eve said, but she was displaying signs of vulnerability. Lina had been married to a wealthy man, and she had experienced all the splendor connected with it. She had been a frightened child, and that splendor must have seemed like an ice palace. No wonder she wanted nothing to do with it.

  Yet there had been that slight flash of humor when she had been talking about Jock.

  Jane opened her door and looked around her high-ceilinged chamber. It looked the same as the last time she had stayed here. Ancient tapestries, large-scaled, comfortable furniture. Lina was wrong. Rich, yes, but there was nothing cold about this room or any other room at MacDuff’s Run.

  Cold was generated by the people who lived in a place. The MacDuffs who had lived and loved in this castle had never been cold. Lina would just have to learn that truth.

  And Jane would have to stop fretting over Lina and take her shower before Mrs. Dalbrey got here with her meal. As she headed for the bathroom, she noticed the two boxes of books that Jock had mentioned against the far wall. She felt a surge of anticipation.

  She had work to do.

  CALEB KNOCKED ON EVE’S door a little over an hour later.

  Her brows lifted when she opened the door. “To what do I owe this pleasure, Caleb? I thought you were busy sparring with MacDuff over security arrangements.”

  “It didn’t take that long. MacDuff isn’t going to listen to anyone’s opinion or suggestions about his castle and his people. I knew that the minute I met him. But I had to know what the setup was, and it was a way we could take each other’s measure.” He shrugged. “But his security appears to be top-notch. You don’t have to be concerned. May I come in?”

  She hesitated. “Why? I’m working.”

  “I want to talk to you. I thought it was a good opportunity. Jane is busy on the Internet and Lina is barricaded in that Laird’s chamber, translating.” He smiled. “And it doesn’t surprise me that she doesn’t appreciate castle life.”

  “It’s really not my cup of tea either.” Eve hesitated, then stepped aside and gestured for him to enter. “But MacDuff has been very gracious . . . in his way.”

  “You bring that quality out in most people,” Caleb said as he came into the room. “Even I feel the stirrings when I’m with you. Amazing.”

  “Bullshit. You’re a chameleon. You’re what you want to be. And I don’t mean that freakish gift of yours. You study the situation and adapt. Now sit down and tell me why you’re here.”

  “Blunt and insightful.” He grinned as he dropped into a chair. “I’ve missed you, Eve.”

  “You barely knew me. We were only together for the short time we were forced to work at finding that serial killer that we were both after. And it was Jane who drew you like a moth to a flame. It worried me.” She stared directly into his eyes. “It still does.”

  “Do you want me to reassure you?” He thought about it. “No, I won’t lie. You should be worried. If it’s any comfort, I’m worried about it, too. I don’t like the thought of destroying her, even hurting her.”

  “Go away, Caleb. You’ve done what you promised Jane you’d do. Now leave her alone.”

  “I can’t,” he said simply. “The moth to the flame. You’re right, she draws me. I don’t know why. Or maybe I do, and I don’t want to admit it.”

  “Hurt her, and I’ll kill you,” she said quietly.

  “I know.”

  “Why are you here, Caleb?”

  “The dreams.”

  “What?”

  “She has dreams, not the usual dreams. She dreamed about the man in the Guilt painting. I need to know everything there is to know about those dreams.”

  “Then go ask Jane.”

  “She won’t talk to me about them.” He smiled sardonically. “You’d think that she didn’t have complete trust in me, wouldn’t you? I don’t see why. Do you suppose it’s because she can see more than I want anyone to see? No, she’s not going to tell me anything. She thinks I’m weird, and she doesn’t want to be grouped under the same umbrella. She’s fighting admitting that those dreams are a little on the fey side.”

  “Yes, she would. Jane has problems accepting anything that’s not solid and completely no-nonsense.”

  “But you have no such problem,” he said softly. “That’s why I came to you.”

  “And why should I tell you something that Jane wouldn’t?”

  “Because I believe the dreams are the key. I can’t help her until I can unlock the puzzle.”

  Eve was silent, gazing at him. “Jane is right, you are weird, and I’m not sure that I should give you any keys. You find out entirely too much on your own.”

  “But I haven’t broken the code and gone in and made Jane tell me. That should count for something.”

  “Since I have an idea that your code is superflexible, I haven’t got much faith in it.”

  “I didn’t yield to temptation. I was tempted, Eve.”

  “And I should give you a reward?”

  He smiled. “Please.”

  She shook her head. “You’re a formidable man, Caleb.”

  “But you’re going to help me. For Jane’s sake.”

  “Is it for Jane’s sake?”

  “Yes,” he said quietly. “That I can promise you. It’s all for Jane, Eve.”

  She believed him. He was complex, convoluted, and the chameleon she had called him; but he was telling the truth about wanting to help Jane.

  And Lord knows
she wanted Jane to have all the help that she could get, no matter where it came from.

  She turned away and looked out the window. “I don’t know a lot about the dreams. You’re talking about those special dreams. Right? Jane didn’t confide much, and I didn’t push her. Some of it I found out later, and some I’m sure she’s never told me.”

  “When did they start?”

  Eve had no trouble remembering when she’d first become aware of them. “She was seventeen. She began to have dreams that were different from the usual run that most of us experience.”

  “Like a story unfolding.”

  She glanced at him. “It seems she did tell you a little about them. I’m surprised.”

  “And suspicious. I did push a little, but I backed away. And I told her I’d done it.”

  “How admirable,” she said ironically.

  “I thought so. What were the dreams about?”

  “Cira, an actress who lived in ancient Herculaneum. The dreams were so real that Jane started to investigate the possibility that Cira had actually existed. She thought that she might have run across something in a book or the Internet that could have triggered the dreams. She was a student, and that made the idea at least plausible.”

  “That sounds like Jane. Explore every possibility based in reality before even considering anything psychic.”

  “It’s what I would have done. Jane and I are a lot alike.”

  “Yes, but there are differences that make both of you fascinating. Was there a Cira?”

  “Oh, yes. She was quite famous in her day. There were even statues sculpted of her.” She paused. “And she looked remarkably like Jane.”

  “Really? That must have shaken her.”

  Eve smiled. “Not Jane. Or at least she wouldn’t admit it. She says everyone has a double somewhere.”

  “But she was interested enough to search out everything she could find about this Cira?”

  “She had no choice. She’d opened a can of worms when she started probing. Cira had possessed a chest of ancient gold coins that would have been worth millions, perhaps billions. When Jane started the search, it attracted the attention of a criminal, Thomas Reilly, who went on the attack. Jane had to dig in and find out everything she could just to survive.”