“It…seems to be.” She ran her shaking fingers through her hair. “Effective at least. If you mean scaring and bewildering me. Though I don’t understand why it appears the threat is aimed specifically at me.” She met his eyes. “I think you might have it all figured out. I could feel the lightning striking all around you from the time you walked in here today.”
“Well, you’re accustomed to that, aren’t you?” he asked. “But you might remember that I’ve never let it strike you in all the time we’ve been together. Though it’s come very close.” He smiled crookedly. “But this time I might have to work harder at it. I can’t believe I really have to enlighten you why you’re a target. You were fighting MacDuff hard enough to protect him from maligning me. You just didn’t want to believe it.” He inclined his head mockingly. “Which is very kind considering how wary you are of me. I didn’t want to believe it, either. But I’m nothing if not a realist. These attacks have nothing to do with MacDuff except as a conduit for reaching you…and me. This last Donzolo attack points directly at Fiero and the attempts I’ve made to keep my family protected from any cults. And Palik said that there were more than two sets of footprints in that cave. The ground where the bodies were found had been trampled by over a dozen people.” He paused and then said flatly, “Which means that I’ve failed. The cult is back. I’ll have to go after them again.”
“I’d say they’re…going after you.” She was looking down at the photo of Donzolo pinned to the crucifix. “You hired Donzolo and they deliberately went after him to show you that you couldn’t stop them. My photo was probably only an afterthought.”
“Wrong. I agree that I’ll still likely be the main target this time. But you’re far more than an afterthought. They’ve been watching you. They want to make certain I’m fully engaged with the idea you’re in their sights, so that they can use you to play their games with me.” He tilted his head. “It all points to you. First the theft and murder at MacDuff’s Run, then the attack on you and Michael. They’d probably already committed the murders of Donzolo and his sons at Fiero Village by then. I’d think they’d almost be ready to make a major strike.”
“Against me?” She shook her head. “That doesn’t make sense. If they’ve been watching me as much as you think, they have to know that we’re past history. We’ve hardly seen each other for months, and then only in public. You haven’t been to my apartment or taken me out to—” She had a sudden thought. “Lisa!” she said, panic-stricken. “She’s your sister. It wouldn’t be me. They’d go after her, wouldn’t they? We have to call Lisa.”
“Easy. Lisa wouldn’t be a prime target for the cult. I’ve made sure of that. Besides, it’s already taken care of. She’s at the animal clinic on Summer Island in the Caribbean working with Margaret Douglas. Palik’s already sent someone to the research facility on the island to pick Lisa up and bring her back here.”
“Thank God.” She drew a relieved breath. “Margaret Douglas? Lisa didn’t mention her when she called me the other day. That’s strange, she knows what good friends we are.”
Caleb’s eyes flickered. “She called you? You didn’t tell me.”
“It was the same day you took me to MacDuff’s Run. I was a bit concerned about other things at the time.” She shrugged. “And it was a confusing call anyway. I don’t really know why she bothered to phone me. It was something to do with an apology that really wasn’t an apology. I was with Eve or I might have asked more questions.” She frowned. “She seemed her normal self. The call wouldn’t have anything to do with this…atrocity, would it?”
“No, if she appeared normal, I’m sure she was just pursuing her own agenda,” he said casually. “We all know that can be a many-splendored thing on occasion.”
“Good. But I’m glad you’re bringing her here.” She went back to something he’d said before. “And why wouldn’t she be a prime target?”
“Because the cult killed her sister only after trying to experiment with her blood and finding it didn’t have the power they wanted. Everyone in the cult knew that. It was natural for them to assume it was because she was female, and that using Lisa would have the same negative result.” He smiled sardonically. “While I was on the hunt for those sons of bitches, I might have dropped a few words to the effect of how incredibly stupid they’d been when I was the only one in the family who had the blood talent.”
“You used that persuasion thing?”
“Of course. Rumor can become truth if handled correctly. I had to make everyone believe that Lisa had no power whatever. And if she was being watched, they’d also realize that she’d displayed no powers all through her teen years.”
“Because you’d made her promise not to use them.” Jane had been present when Caleb had first let nineteen-year-old Lisa renege on that promise, and it had been a nightmare scenario for all of them. “Did you think she was being watched all through those years?”
“Not by those bastards. I hoped that nightmare was over when Maria was killed. But Lisa was just a young kid. I’d gone through enough to know how anyone different can be ripped apart.” His lips tightened. “I wasn’t going to let it happen to her.”
Jane had been aware there was no chance of that happening. She’d never seen a relationship as strong as the one between Caleb and his sister. “I know you always took care of her. “
“She belongs to me.” He grimaced. “Even if she can sometimes make life difficult.” He held out his hand for his phone. “Just as you can, Jane. Don’t let this be one of those times.”
She gave him the phone. “Are you threatening me, Caleb?”
“God, no. I wouldn’t dare at the moment. I’m feeling very humble that I made a mistake that put you at risk.”
She blinked. “Humble?”
“I know. Enjoy it. It will be gone soon.” He leaned forward and took her hand. “I’m just asking you to work with me and not against me, dammit. That murdering bastard will try to use you. You may not think that he’d believe we still have a relationship, but I do. He’s researched you. He’s watched you. He’s watched us together.” His hand tightened on hers. “And I guarantee he’d know that it’s not over for me.”
“You’re just guessing.” She should move her hand, but she couldn’t do it. Everything about him was alive and electric and so totally intense that she could hardly breathe.
“Maybe. I’m not Michael who gets psychic messages from these goons. But I know how I feel, and I’ve probably been transparent where you’re concerned. I feel as if I am. Look, just work with me. I’ll clear this up as soon as I can. It’s my fault, and I won’t let anything happen to you. I promise.” His voice was hoarse and fierce, his dark eyes glittering. “Palik will get me a name and I’ll find him. He’ll be very, very sorry that he decided to use you against me.” He released her hand and got to his feet. “Now I’ll get you checked out of this hospital and take you and Michael down to your tent. I’ll camp outside by the fire to keep watch and make sure that those grounds are as safe as you say they are.” He headed for the door. “And I’m feeling so chastened that I won’t even remind Michael he offered to lend me his sleeping bag and a place in your tent.”
* * *
“They found Donzolo a few hours ago.” Davron pressed DISCONNECT on his phone. “Pietro said that Caleb’s man, Palik, made a call to him from outside the cave. Then he went back down to the village to Donzolo’s sister’s house.”
“To break the sad news,” Luca said derisively. “And perhaps have her contact the police so that Palik and Caleb won’t be involved in the local investigation. Donzolo’s sons were only youngsters and their deaths could arouse a certain…indignation.”
“It might have been better to not kill the boys.” Davron was nibbling at his lower lip. “I didn’t see why you had to take them, too.”
Davron’s squeamishness was increasing steadily, Luca thought. He’d known it would happen as time went on, but it still made him impatient. “Of course you didn’t. You ne
ver see beyond the tip of your nose. I knew I’d need to make a show of taking their blood.” He frowned. “And Pietro and Alberto and the others needed to see me take it. For the past few years, they’ve only been playing at being what I wanted them to be. Going to their stupid cult meetings and pretending to have the guts to make that final step. It’s all very well to talk about making a sacrifice, but it’s another thing to see someone who has the guts to do it. They had to be fully committed, and killing those children would do that. As they stood there and watched, they became not only witnesses, but part of the process. They’ll never be able to go back. Now they know I’m the one they have to follow.” He added softly, “As you do, Davron, but I don’t appreciate you disagreeing with me. I hope you didn’t express those opinions to anyone else at that gathering.”
“No!” Davron’s eyes widened in alarm. “You know I’ll do anything you want me to do. Didn’t I help you with luring Donzolo to the cave?”
“Not without an argument.”
“Only because I thought it was a risk. You can trust me.”
Trust? As if Luca would trust anyone but himself when he was getting this close to the finish line. He could feel the excitement stir within him as he remembered that exhilaration and power he’d known in those final moments in the cave. Of course, the blood really meant nothing to him. It was only a symbol that he found fascinating, he assured himself. It was just a part of the plan he’d been carefully crafting over the years. The blood had its place, just as those fools in the cave did. He was nothing like those bloodthirsty savages. Just as he was nothing like this wimp, Davron, whom he was getting closer and closer to eliminating.
“I do hope I can trust you,” Luca murmured. “Because I think that I might let you have an even more personal involvement as we move forward toward bringing Jane MacGuire into the fold…”
Chapter
5
Kendrick Castle
Michael was asleep at last.
Jane gazed at him curled up in his sleeping bag across the tent. He’d been positively wired for the last hour after they’d left the hospital and arrived here at the encampment. He’d been chattering to Caleb and helping him build his campfire at the bottom of the slight slope on which their tent was located. Then he’d settled cross-legged beside it still talking to him. It was only when Caleb had sent him into the tent to go to bed that he’d reluctantly settled down for the night. Even then he’d tried to talk longer to Jane until the practically sleepless night he’d had before had caught up with him.
Jane was glad that Caleb’s presence had managed to give Michael that sense of adventure and excitement. After what he’d gone through in that car last night and the stress afterward, he might have gone into depression instead.
She had a sudden thought.
Unless he’d been prevented from falling into that pit by less-than-conventional means from Caleb.
She sat straight up in her bed. Would he have done that to Michael?
She was out of her sleeping bag and heading toward the tent entrance the next minute.
Caleb was lying on his back in front of the fire, with his arm beneath his head, still fully dressed in the jeans and black shirt he’d worn earlier in the day. “Is there a problem?” He studied her face. “Yes, I think so. What have I done now?”
“I don’t know. Maybe nothing.” Was this a mistake? She’d acted on impulse and now standing here gazing at him she was having second thoughts. “I’m never sure. I just had to check.” She moved closer to the fire. “Michael seemed so excited and happy tonight. Did you—” She stopped. “When I asked you to watch over him, I didn’t mean—Michael has enough problems without dealing with—”
“My corrupting the poor lad with my devilish talent?” he finished for her. “I don’t wonder that you’re suspicious. What a terrible thing that would have been.” He raised himself on one elbow and said softly, “To give the boy a few hours of pleasant distraction before he has to face cold reality again.”
“Did you use that damn persuasion?”
“No, I did not,” he said with cool precision. “Just because I’m able to do something doesn’t mean I automatically choose to do it. I’m very careful with that particular talent. The effects can be too lingering. I would never do it to Michael unless it was to save his life. When you put him into my hands, I told you that you had to trust me.” He shrugged. “But that didn’t last long, did it?”
Had she hurt him? She thought beneath the cynicism she might have pierced that armor. The thought brought a rush of guilt and regret in its wake. “I said I just had to check. I don’t know anything about that persuasion business I’ve heard you can do. I only know I feel responsible for Michael.” That wasn’t enough. “I’m sorry.”
“Was that difficult for you?” He suddenly smiled. “I’m sure it was, but you deserve it.”
Maybe she hadn’t hurt him. He’d recovered quickly enough. “I’m not entirely certain about that,” she said dryly. “If what you say is true about that persuasion, you weren’t equally careful about using it on me. I remember a few times that you had no compunction about exposing me to it before I told you I’d never put up with it.”
“Oh, I was exceptionally careful with you. That’s why I let you stop me before it really began. But then you were always special.” He sat up and linked his arms around his knees. “And since you were wrong this time, too, and I saw signs of genuine regret, I think I should let you make it up to me.”
She stiffened warily.
“I’m not a fool, Jane.” He chuckled. “But I find I’m in need of company. Will you sit down and have a glass of wine with me?” He nodded at his backpack. “I’ll even let you wait on me.”
She hesitated and then sat down. “You can get it for me. I’m not that sorry.”
He sighed. “I should have taken longer to play you.” He got to his feet, went over to the backpack, and got out a bottle of wine and two glasses. “But I’ll take what I can get.”
“You came prepared.” She looked at the label on the bottle. “I don’t think you picked that up at the hospital gift shop.”
“Lady Kendrick was happy to supply it when I told her that it was to celebrate you getting out of the hospital. Though I was tempted to fib and tell her it would help heal your wound.” He poured her wine. “But she’s smart and would realize the cut on your head is only a scratch.”
“It frightened Michael.”
“It frightened me, too.” He sat down in front of her, cradling his glass in his two hands. “And I hadn’t even seen the wound when he told me about it.” He added, “That’s why it can’t happen again. I have such a delicate nature.” He looked down into his wine. “I’ve been thinking about it and I’m going to arrange to have MacDuff set up additional protection for you and Michael with Scotland Yard. It will please Eve and Joe, and it’s only sensible. I’ll be here, of course, but just in case there’s a slip-up and I’m not, it would be—”
“A slip-up?” Her eyes were wide with alarm. “Nothing’s going to happen to you. You said you’d be here for Michael. You promised me.”
“And I’ll keep my promise,” he said quietly. “This is just a backup.” He was silent. “I know these cults. They’re total fanatics. They won’t stop. I watched them kill Maria. I won’t watch them kill you. But there might be…problems.”
She stared at him in disbelief. She was feeling an icy chill. “You’re saying that those crackpots might be good enough to take you down? That’s bullshit.”
He laughed. “I appreciate the vote of confidence, but accidents do happen. I’m just acquiring additional insurance with you as beneficiary. After all, this is purely my battle. It wouldn’t even exist if I wasn’t who I am.”
“And I’m supposed to accept that?” she asked fiercely. “Don’t be crazy. Nothing can happen to you. So stop this nonsense.”
“I will. After I get MacDuff to do what I need.” He finished his wine with one swallow. “I just wanted to te
ll you so that you won’t get edgy if you see anyone following you.” He was studying her face. “It will be fine. Nothing is going to happen to you or Michael. I didn’t mean you to worry. But you’re always telling me that I’m such a secretive bastard.”
Her hand tightened on her glass. “You are. Look at this damn bottle of wine. Who else would con Lady Kendrick into doing this?” She lifted her eyes to his. “So that you could tell me that you might die and you have to have your blasted insurance?”
“It was a bit overdramatic.” He smiled. “Probably nothing will happen, and I admit it was done in my usual taciturn fashion.”
“Of course nothing will happen. Why would you even think of it now?”
“I suppose because of the cult,” he said simply. “When you’ve been told from childhood that you’re a monster whose fate is to be either killed or used, you tend to believe your destiny is carved in stone. And when a cult of crazies pops up that could hand you either fate, it strikes a certain resounding note. When I bring these sons of bitches down, I’ll be back to normal.” He smiled crookedly. “Whatever that is for me.”
“Heaven help us.” She held up her hand. “I’m joking.”
He was laughing. “And it just goes to show how much I’ve shaken you that you think you have to explain. I thought we’d gotten closer than that before I was thrown into outer darkness.”
“You didn’t shake me. Or maybe you did. I’ve grown to think of you as invulnerable. I like to think of you like that. So don’t start talking about having any Achilles’ heels. That’s for other people. And anyone who made you think anything else was an asshole.”
“If you say so,” he said solemnly. His eyes were twinkling. “I assure you it was only a temporary aberration. Maybe I just wanted to lure you back to bed. Did I play it solemn and desperate enough?”
And he could have been doing just that, she realized. When did she ever know if he was truly sincere? But the moment when she had thought about even the possibility of him dying had shocked and panicked her. “Caleb!”
The Persuasion Page 11