Night and Day

  “Yes, it’s Michael.” Her hand tightened on Cara’s. “And sometimes the innocents of the world are given guardian angels to protect them. We’ve just got to hope that Jock is given one, too.”

  NASIM FEROZ’S RESIDENCE

  Joe dragged the man who had guarded the front gate deep into the bushes and quickly covered him with brush.

  Good enough.

  He’d already disposed of the other guard Kaskov had sent to protect Feroz. Now to head for the library and see if Caleb had disposed of Mehnar, Feroz’s personal bodyguard, yet.

  It was dark in the library. He warily slipped over the windowsill and stood there in the dark, listening.

  “It took you long enough,” Caleb said from the darkness across the room. “I grant you that you had two to take care of, but I—”

  “Where’s Mehnar?”

  “About three feet from you. Unfortunately, he fell down and broke his neck. Don’t stumble on him as you come toward me.”

  “I’ll be sure and watch out.” He moved across the room. “And why am I coming toward you?”

  “Because the door in back of me opens to a hall that leads to the lab where Feroz is working. He’s there right now.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Relatively. Mehnar told me he was there before he fell down and broke his neck.”

  “And did you ask Mehnar about the antidote?”

  “He didn’t know anything about it. He said that he was paid to guard Feroz, not help him in the lab.” He opened the door. “I thought we’d go ask the son of a bitch himself. This time I’m not going to be polite. I really don’t like what Feroz did to Eve. Very ugly. You’ll have to fight to keep me from doing something equally ugly to him.”

  “You don’t do anything to him until we know whether he has an antidote other than the one he gave to Natalie.” He strode quickly but silently down the hall. “And, if he doesn’t, how long it will take him to create another one. After that, you can do what you want to him while I get to Eve at that opera house.” He stopped a few yards from the laboratory door. “I don’t hear anything. Are you sure you didn’t—”

  “No, I’m totally innocent,” Caleb whispered. “I waited for you. Not that I wouldn’t have—”

  The laboratory door was thrown open, and Joe glimpsed the barrel of an AK-47; he hit the floor. “Down!”

  He rolled forward into Feroz’s knees, knocking him sideways as the Iranian let loose a spate of bullets that nearly tore apart the wall where Joe had been standing.

  He saw Caleb moving with gun drawn out of the corner of his eye. “Don’t shoot the bastard. I told you that he has to—”

  His hand closed on Feroz’s wrist holding the weapon, and he twisted it, then he butted his head into his stomach, knocked him down and wrestled the weapon away from him. He savagely struck Feroz’s jaw with the butt of the gun. Feroz took one look at his face and stopped fighting, his dark eyes wide with fear. “Don’t hurt me,” he said frantically. “I have money. I will share—”

  “And I wonder where you got that money?” Caleb said as he strolled into the lab. “And you’re speaking English. Have you been expecting us?”

  “Perhaps.” He moistened his lips. “She said that I might have a visitor.”

  “Natalie?”

  “I don’t know her name.”

  “Not a good answer.”

  “I hardly saw her.”

  “But you were on intimate enough terms that she told you that you should shoot anyone who tried to talk to you.”

  “You startled me.” He was suddenly defiant. “You don’t know whom you’re dealing with. I have powerful friends. You hurt me, and you won’t live another day. In fact, I have men to protect me outside this house. I expect them to rush in here at any minute.”

  “You’ll be disappointed,” Joe said.

  “You’re bluffing,” Feroz said. “Who do you think gave me that gun? I’m important to them. I’m not going to let you tell me what to do.”

  “Yes, you are,” Caleb said softly. He turned to Joe. “You don’t have time for this, do you? He appears to have gotten a small injection of courage, and it may be difficult to filter the truth from lies. We have to call Jock and tell him what he has to deal with.” He paused. “And it has to be the truth.”

  “It will be my pleasure to make certain,” Joe said.

  “Yes, but I’ll be quicker.” Caleb gazed appraisingly down at Feroz’s face. “Five. Ten minutes tops. You may need those minutes.”

  Joe gazed down at Feroz, the rage pounding through him. This was the man who had deliberately created the poison that had put Eve and his child at risk. In the past, the man had been not only a conscienceless torturer but also a killer. Now that killer for hire had targeted Eve.

  Never in his life had he wanted more to kill a man.

  “No time,” Caleb said. “Leave it to me.”

  And Caleb was angry, too, and would not be easy on Feroz.

  Joe got to his feet and picked up Feroz’s gun.

  “Get those questions answered,” he said harshly. “And make it five minutes, Caleb.”

  “I’d prefer to stretch it out as he did with his victims. But if you insist.” He dropped to his knees beside Feroz and put his hand on Feroz’s chest. “Your chest a little tight? Yes, your heart is starting to beat harder. I can feel it.”

  “Get your hand—off me.” Feroz’s eyes were bulging, his lips drawn with agony. “What are you doing to me?”

  “We’re going to have a little talk. I’m going to ask you questions, and you’re going to answer … And, if you tell me the truth, it won’t hurt … excruciatingly. No, that was a lie. I really do want you to suffer. But you might live a few minutes longer. Or I might be kinder and let you die. Now let’s talk about the antidote…”

  NOVAKO OPERA HOUSE

  9:20 P.M.

  “Now!” Jock was suddenly beside Eve and Cara behind the column. “Intermission is in five minutes. I want you in that lounge anteroom when Kaskov leaves the box.” He took Cara’s hand and was pulling her across the luxurious stretch of crimson carpet toward the door of the box. “Eve, intermission is only twenty minutes. We have our best chance of leaving this place undetected if we mix with the audience before they return to their seats. I have an exit strategy through the rear of the bar on the first floor. But try to make that twenty minutes work for you.”

  “Nothing like a little pressure,” Eve said. “Have you heard from Joe yet?”

  “Not yet. It’s just as well. I’ve been a little busy.”

  She stiffened. There was no guard in front of Kaskov’s box. “I can see that. Would you like to tell me where that guard is now?”

  “In a stall in the men’s restroom. He became suddenly ill, and I had to get him there very quickly.”

  “And the guard in the anteroom?”

  “He’s behind the bar in the lounge.” He glanced at Cara, whose gaze had flown to his face. “Just peacefully sleeping. I didn’t believe you’d like anything more permanent at close quarters.” He opened the door. “Sit down, and I’ll go get your host.”

  Eve put her arm around Cara’s shoulders and shepherded her toward the elaborately curved beige-velvet couch that looked like it might have originated at the turn of the last century. “It’s going to be all right, Cara. No matter what happens, you’re not responsible for anything or anyone.”

  “Yes, I am.” Cara’s voice was a little breathless. “Because I chose to do this. Jock told me once that I had my own soul that had nothing to do with Natalie, and I was responsible for my choices. I think … this is a big one.” She tilted her head as she heard applause break out. “I think it’s intermission. Kaskov will be here soon. I’m a little scared to face him.” She took Eve’s hand. “But I won’t be for long. It’s like playing the violin. You’re a little afraid to break the silence, but then everything comes together.”

  “I’m a little afraid, too.” Eve smiled. “But only for Michael. It will be?
??”

  “Eve Duncan, I presume?” Sergai Kaskov was standing in the doorway of the box with Jock close behind him, a gun in his hand. Kaskov’s cheeks were faintly flushed, his eyes glittering. “You do know that you’ll be a dead woman even sooner than my daughter planned after this little scenario.” His gaze shifted to Cara. “Or are you trying to trade your life for Cara? It’s too late. You’ve caused both me and my daughter, Natalie, a good deal of trouble. Plus threatening to kill my granddaughter. No one takes anything from me without paying for it.” He looked over his shoulder at Jock. “You’re Jock Gavin. You have to be very talented to take out my men and corner me like this. She must have paid you well. I’ll pay you double to point that gun at Eve Duncan and pull the trigger.”

  “No.” Jock gestured for Kaskov to enter the lounge. “But if she’d asked me to point the gun at you and pull the trigger, I would have done it. It appears that Eve just wants to have a talk with you … about the antidote.”

  “I’m not interested,” Kaskov said curtly. “Natalie said that we’d get Cara back if we held that capsule over Duncan’s head. It appears that she was right.” He turned back to Cara. “You’re safe now. Natalie told me all about how Duncan is trying to hurt you. She can’t hurt you any longer.”

  “Eve was never trying to hurt me,” Cara said. “She just wanted to keep me safe from Natalie.”

  Kaskov’s brows rose, and he glanced at Eve. “A little selected brainwashing? I don’t like that. I may not let Natalie negotiate for that antidote. Now that Cara is back in Moscow, the power is all on my side.”

  “I never brainwashed Cara,” Eve said. “I just wanted to keep Natalie from killing her … as she did her sister, Jenny.”

  “Liar.”

  “I’m not a liar,” Eve said. “I can prove it, if you’ll listen to me. If you’ll listen to her.”

  “I’m not interested in your lies. You’ve done everything you can to hurt Natalie and her daughter. That means you’ve tried to hurt me. I won’t tolerate anyone who does that to me or my family.”

  “Because it’s all you have?” Eve asked. “I understand about families and how you have to protect them. I’m carrying a child that Natalie is trying to destroy as she did her own children. I have to protect my son.” She held his gaze. “Please, let me protect my child. All you have to do is listen to this disc I have in my evening bag.”

  He didn’t speak for a moment. “You’re very convincing. Natalie said you were clever.” He shook his head. “But I won’t waste my time. I think you’d better call my daughter and tell her that you’re in town and ready to negotiate.”

  “I’m sure she already knows. You’re the only one who didn’t know that I was coming to Moscow tonight,” Eve said. “Ask yourself why.”

  “More lies.” His lips tightened. “I’m finished talking with you. You think you have me? Your Jock Gavin may be lethal, but at occasions such as this, I always have an arrangement with a friend in the local police department. If my personal guards don’t check in every thirty minutes, they send someone to make sure that I’m not having problems. You could kill me, but you can’t force me to do anything. And no one will give you that antidote if I’m dead. Now I’m going to take my granddaughter home, and, if you try to stop me, there will be no antidote coming from any source.” He smiled coldly at Eve. “Tell me, how much time do you have left?”

  “No!” Cara was suddenly on her feet and running across the room to him. “You listen to her.” She stood before him, her eyes blazing, her hands clenched into fists. “All she wants is for you to listen. You’re blind where Natalie is concerned, and you have to see her as she is.”

  He frowned. “Don’t be disloyal. She’s your mother.”

  “No, she isn’t. A mother doesn’t kill her children like she did Jenny.”

  “Brainwashing.”

  “I’m not the one who was brainwashed.” She was gazing up at him, frantically trying to make him understand. “It’s you. She’s always used you. I think you know that, but you won’t admit it. Sometimes I’d watch the two of you together, and I could see it. You had no one but her, and that’s the way she liked it. You had Jenny. Jenny died. You had your son, Alex. Alex died. How long do you think I’d last if you made me come with you tonight?”

  He was silent. “Such passion. You’re quite a surprise. You’ve not spoken more than a few sentences to me since the first day Natalie brought you to me.”

  “I had my orders from Natalie. I had to protect Eve. She didn’t want me interfering with her relationship with you.” She took a step closer. “I was a danger because of the music. Like Alex, your son, was a danger. She killed Alex. I was supposed to die that day in the park.” She moistened her lips. “But Jock and Eve saved me.”

  He shook his head. “You have to be confused. Natalie loves me. She’s my family.”

  “She’s not your family. She doesn’t … feel like other people. You want family? I’ll be your family. I think you feel something for me. Though it may just be the music. I’ll do anything you want if you just look at that disc that Eve wants to show you.”

  Jock took at step forward. “I don’t like where this is going,” he said harshly.

  “And I like very much where it’s going,” Kaskov said, his gaze holding Cara’s. “It’s all probably lies and nonsense, but I’ve always been one to hedge my bets.”

  Cara nodded. “Like when that guard broke your hands and you had to go in another direction?”

  “Very clever for you to compare and make that connection. The violin may not be your only talent.”

  “Please.” Cara’s desperation and intensity were almost frantic. “Just watch the disc. Listen to what Natalie is saying.”

  He was silent. Then he nodded slowly. “I’ll watch it.” He held out his hand to Eve for the computer and disc, his eyes still holding Cara’s. “And we’ll talk later, Cara.” He took the small laptop to the bar and plugged it in. He gazed quizzically down at the guard slumped behind the bar. “Dead, Gavin?”

  “No. I had Cara to think about.”

  “I appreciate you considering her delicate feelings, but I’m beginning to believe she might be tougher than either of us guess. She has my genes.”

  “No,” Cara said. “That doesn’t mean anything. I belong to myself.” She turned to Eve again. “And I make my own choices, don’t I, Eve?”

  She smiled. “Yes, you do. And some of them are not—”

  Jock’s phone rang. He glanced down at the ID. “Quinn. Let’s hope he’ll tell us something that will make all this completely nonessential.” He answered the phone. “Are you on your way? What did you find out?” He listened for a moment. “We’re secure. I’ll see you when you get here.” He looked at Kaskov. “I hope that you don’t convince yourself that disc is a forgery because you’re going to be in a very tight corner in about twenty minutes.”

  “What did Joe say?” Eve asked.

  “That Feroz couldn’t duplicate that antidote in less than four days.” He met Kaskov’s eyes. “But Feroz never turned over the first antidote to Natalie. She never authorized Feroz to make one. She wasn’t interested in anything but the poison capsule. She never meant to give Eve a chance.”

  “Natalie appeared to be very angry,” Kaskov said. “But, then, so was I.”

  “But Feroz did create an antidote,” Jock said. “Since Kaskov paid the money, he called the shots.”

  Kaskov shrugged. “As I said, I always believe in hedging my bets. You can never tell when you have to initiate an alternative plan.”

  “That’s why you demanded that Feroz create and give you an antidote … just in case.”

  “As you said, I was paying; therefore, I was in control.”

  “So you have the antidote?” Eve asked.

  He nodded. “And you will never see it if you stand in the way of Natalie’s getting Cara.”

  “She will see it,” Jock said. “I’d make sure of that myself, but Quinn’s right. As I said, he’l
l be here in about twenty minutes and—”

  “Jock, just let him see that disc,” Cara said. “Stop all this talk. You can’t make him afraid. Can’t you see that threats aren’t going to do any good with him?”

  “Very wise,” Kaskov said. “I’m more and more impressed. I can see how much I missed if it’s true that Natalie was suppressing all that fire.”

  “It’s all true. Everything I’ve told you is true.”

  He gazed at her for a long moment. “Then perhaps I’d better look at this disc and judge for myself.” He sat down at the bar and punched the PLAY button.

  Eve studied Kaskov’s face as he watched and listened to Natalie during that last phone conversation. She had almost forgotten how ugly and incriminating those words had been. Yet she could see no change in his expression as he heard both the insulting arrogance and the revelations that Natalie was spitting out. Hard. She had never met a harder man. It was clear that Natalie had manipulated the death of his son, but he wasn’t showing pain or anger. Did it matter to him? Would it be enough to save Michael?

  Finally, he turned off the machine and sat there staring at the blank screen. “Interesting.”

  “It’s the truth,” Eve said. “No forgery.”

  “No, I’d know the difference.” He was silent again. “It seems I’m faced with a decision I never thought I’d have to make.” He closed the lid of the computer. “But that’s been my life since I was a boy. I should be accustomed to it by now, but it seems that I haven’t reached that point yet. Not with Natalie.”

  Cara was suddenly standing before him again. “Forget about Natalie,” she said fiercely. “Now that you know what she is, you’ll be able to control her as you do everyone else. But you have to stop her from trying to hurt Eve. If you have that antidote, you have to give it to her right now. Tonight.”

  “Do I?” He tilted his head. “Tell me why?”

  “I don’t know why you’d do it. Sometimes I think I know you. Sometimes I don’t. But I know that Eve has to live. Her child has to live. And you can make it happen. So do it.”

  His lips twisted. “Are you giving me orders? I thought I’d made it clear that I’m always the one in control. I’d hardly accept orders from a child.”