No! She felt an instant rejection at the thought.
But she wanted above all for Eve to be happy.
She sighed and laid her head back on the pillow. She obviously would have to work her way through this bewilderment before she talked to Eve …
* * *
“Are you sure you want to do this, Cira?” Antonio moved to stand behind her. He put his hands gently on her shoulders, and whispered in her ear. “You don’t have to say farewell to him here. We can go back to the castle and have the priest give the Gods’ blessings and bury him near us.”
“No.” She looked down at the small casket she’d had the carpenters craft with such care. “I want it to be here by the lake. Marcus liked it here.” She could feel the tears sting her eyes. “He told me someday he was going to go into that mist and bring me gifts of gold and jewels fit for a queen. I told him not to be foolish, that I had all the riches I could possibly want already.” She looked over her shoulder at Antonio. “It’s true, you know. This is a hard, wild land, but we’ve made it our own. I have everything I ever dreamed about in those days when I was a slave in Herculaneum. I have a husband I love who gave me five strong sons and two daughters who may be even stronger.”
“You would think that.” He kissed her temple. “You did not feel love for me when you were going through those birth pains.”
“It just seemed unfair that a woman has to bear all that pain. But I can see why the Gods didn’t trust having children to men. We do it so much better.”
“Whatever you say, love.”
She could feel his tears on her temple and knew he would not argue with her at this moment. He was feeling her pain at the loss of Marcus as well as his own. Marcus, eight years old, beautiful as the sun, who had been ravaged by the fever and fallen into darkness.
She couldn’t stand here, looking down at that small casket any longer. It was time to say farewell and send her son to take his final journey.
She stepped away from Antonio and gazed into the mist. “We’re lucky, you know. To have had him this long, to have him the only one of our children that the Gods wanted with them.”
“It doesn’t seem lucky to me.”
“No. At first, I wanted to rage and beat my head on the stones. But then I started to think of Marcus, and I was still angry, but there’s a kind of comfort in knowing that he’ll be here where he wanted to be. I can ride down here and imagine him running out of the mist and telling me how he’d just been hiding and playing in the caves and had great adventures to tell me.” The tears were running down her cheeks. “And now I believe we’d better go take him into that mist so that he can begin those adventures. Then we can go back to the castle and tell our other children that they must stop grieving and start living. Does that not sound like a good plan?”
“A fine plan,” Antonio said thickly as he touched her damp cheek. “A magnificent plan, my own Cira…”
A dream, Jane thought drowsily as she came out of the heavy mists of sleep. Mists? Strange that she had seized on that word. A dream. Only a dream.
But she had not dreamed about Cira for years. Why now? Why tonight?
She was suddenly wide-awake. Her eyes flicked open and she stared into the darkness.
For God’s sake, why was she even surprised that she’d had a Cira dream? She was at the castle Cira had built, MacDuff was constantly making comments about his belief that Jane was a descendant of Cira’s. Pure power of suggestion. It didn’t mean that Jane was back on that roller coaster of Cira dreams that had plagued her when she was seventeen.
And this dream had involved a child, a dead child, and that could have been triggered by her worry about Eve and her child. Or even her worry about Cara. She mustn’t believe it had anything to do with Cira. She would not walk down that path again.
Now go back to sleep, she told herself. She could see the faintest hint of gray in the sky, and she didn’t have long before she would have to get up and start to work.
Don’t think of Cira and her Antonio.
Don’t feel the pain that they’d felt when they’d carried their son into that mist.
It was all a dream.
And the tears that were running down her own cheeks had nothing to do with that little boy who had wanted to bring his mother gold and jewels fit for a queen …
CHAPTER
9
“I was right,” Manez said when Joe answered. “Natalie Castino got off the plane in Moscow but immediately took a flight to Paris. From there she disappeared off the radar. I don’t know where she went.”
“Scotland,” Joe said grimly. “I’d bet on it.”
“Is that where you sent your Eve and Cara? You could have told me.”
“You’re in cartel heaven down there. You have too many leaks. Hell, we have too many leaks here, too. I actually counted on them when I was waiting for that report on the bomb.” He paused. “I’m not going to tell you more than that they’re in Scotland for that same reason. Salazar and Franco know that’s where Eve and Cara have been taken. I hope that’s all they know. They’re probably scrambling like crazy to find out exactly where they are right now.” He added, “But I don’t know. I called a buddy at Scotland Yard to try to track them, but no luck yet. Who do you know over there?”
“I do have a few contacts.”
“A few? You know every narcotics cop here and in Europe on a first-name basis. I met several of them when I went down to the cartel seminar you gave last year. All I need is one who is smart and has the informants who can find out what Salazar is doing and if he’s getting close to finding out where Eve is.”
“But then I’ll owe him.”
“And I’ll owe you.”
“That’s right, it might be worth it,” he said. “And what are you doing, Quinn?”
“Trying to keep myself from going over there and doing a major cleanup before Salazar even gets close to knowing where they are.” He paused. “But I’m being watched.”
“Salazar’s men?”
“Yes, I spotted one of his men and ID’d him as Pauly Lomarto, who works for one of Salazar’s local distributors. There’s someone else, but I haven’t been able to ID him yet. He’s much better than Lomarto.”
There was a silence. “He might not be working for Salazar.”
Joe stiffened. There was something in Manez’s tone. “What the hell do you mean? What do you know?”
“I don’t know anything. I only suspect. That’s my job, right?” He paused. “But you should know that I’ve heard rumors that your Justice Department has been making inquiries in the past few days of several of our government departments about the kidnapping of the two Castino children.”
“What?”
“In particular, the older child, Jenny. Inquiries about the possibility of a body being found on American soil and if we knew anything about it. Nothing on an official level yet, but it’s heading in that direction. I found it curious that no inquiry was addressed to my attention. You were talking about leaks. There might possibly be a leak in the Sheriff’s Department, it was suspected that the skeleton in that grave in California was really Jenny Castino.”
“And you weren’t going to tell me?”
“It’s only rumors so far.”
“And you thought I wouldn’t be interested? You didn’t, by any chance, leak it yourself?”
“That would have been self-destructive. Why would I do that when I might have used the information myself to manipulate you? But I don’t want you putting down a state department investigator by mistake. It might be awkward for you. If the information was leaked about the skeleton, then it was probably also leaked regarding both yours and Eve Duncan’s involvement in the removal of Cara Castino from Child Services.”
He was right, Joe thought. “And they probably know by now about the explosion that was supposed to have killed Eve and Cara and my sending them out of the country. None of which was legal.” He muttered a curse. “They’re probably gathering evidence against
me and just waiting to step in.”
“Do you have any idea who leaked the information?”
“It could be Sheriff Nalchek, but I wouldn’t think so. Maybe someone in his department.” His hand tightened on the phone. “It doesn’t matter, I have to concentrate on damage control. Who did your ‘rumors’ say was heading the investigation?”
“Agent Jason Toller. What are you going to do?”
“Move on Toller before he can move on me.” He hung up. He drew a deep breath and sat there thinking. Direct attack or try to stave off Toller until he could better control the situation?
God, he wanted to go in now.
That was emotion and impatience. He knew what the right way was to handle it. He reached for his phone and called the FBI Headquarters at Quantico.
Thirty minutes later, he hung up and sat back in his chair to wait.
* * *
It was close to three hours later that there was a knock on the front door.
“Detective Quinn?” The man at the door was lanky, tall, with short, graying hair and a Southern drawl. “Agent Jason Toller. I understand that you wish to talk to me.” His voice never lost the pleasant intonation as he continued, “But I should tell you that I do resent your pulling strings to bring me here. You could have called me and invited me.”
“That would have taken time, and I don’t know how much time I have at any given point.” He gestured for Toller to come in. “I need to know where I stand with you. Are you going to cause me trouble, Agent Toller?”
“It’s possible.” He looked around the house. “Nice. Very nice.” He looked at Eve’s work area. “Is that where Ms. Duncan works? I’ve heard great things about her. I’m sure she’s a fine woman. I was very upset when I thought you’d blown her up.”
“Is that supposed to be a shock tactic?”
“No, I honestly thought you might have murdered her. I’m a suspicious man, and I usually believe the worst until I find out otherwise.” He smiled. “It was at the beginning of my investigation and the facts were a little confused. I was very happy to discover that you probably weren’t a murderer. Would you care to tell me where Eve Duncan and Cara Castino are now?”
“No.”
His brows rose. “May I ask why not?”
“What would you do with Cara?”
“Child Services, and then we’d have to start negotiations with the Mexican government. Considering the identity of her father, the situation is very delicate.”
“And she would probably be murdered before all the red tape had been cut.”
Toller nodded. “It might happen. But it’s not my job to make judgments. I’m only a lowly agent who is trying to do what’s right and still keep my pension.”
“Bullshit.”
Toller shrugged. “I can understand why you might be upset. But you might be a little more tolerant. I could have caused you a good deal of trouble. In fact, I was planning on it until I did my research on you.” He smiled faintly. “You’re respected by your captain and the other detectives. You do favors, but you don’t demand a return. It was the same when I investigated your years with the FBI and the SEALs. In fact, you were the golden boy at Quantico until you resigned and came to live here in Atlanta. You kept strong ties with them, even though you were dedicated to your job here.” He grimaced. “But you did ask a return favor from the Director of the FBI today. I’m flattered. It must mean a lot to you.”
“I can’t have you getting in my way.”
“But I will get in your way. It’s inevitable.” He tilted his head. “I believe you’re an honest man and trying to do the right thing, but unfortunately the right thing isn’t always the way the world works. So shall I tell you how this will play out?”
“I can hardly wait.”
“Since you’re clearly the key to our finding Cara Delaney, we’ll continue surveillance. The moment we get a clue as to where to find her, we’ll act immediately. At that point, we’ll proceed as I’ve outlined. And no strings you can pull will stop us from doing it. Understand?”
“Absolutely.”
“On the other hand, there will be no incarceration of the popular and influential Joe Quinn unless you do something that will cause me problems. At that point, I won’t give a damn if you rot in jail.” He turned to leave. “I’m glad that we had this chat. I was going to initiate a meeting anyway. I hope you’re equally satisfied?”
“Not quite. I expected you to be more of a hard-ass toward me. Why weren’t you?”
“You don’t understand. My job is to investigate and, if possible, to smooth troubled waters. It’s my particular specialty. This situation has the potential to cause the U.S. government headaches for the next ten years even if Cara Delaney isn’t killed. She’ll be an international incident that will attract all kinds of fringe groups until her case is settled.”
“And I’m part of those troubled waters.”
“You could be. You certainly will be if you do anything that will make me look inefficient to my superiors. We have to maintain control of the situation. Don’t try to avoid surveillance, Detective.”
Joe didn’t answer.
Toller shrugged. “Have a nice day.”
The next moment, he was gone.
Son of a bitch.
Joe’s fists knotted at his sides. Toller had drawn the lines clearly, and it was going to be difficult as hell to work around him. He couldn’t afford to be tossed in jail, and there was no way he could risk leading Toller to Eve and Cara. Now he had to deal not only with Salazar’s men but Toller.
He called Manez. “I may be stuck here for a while, and it’s going to drive me crazy. When I do get out of here, I’m going to have to move fast. I need you to get me that help to locate Salazar.”
“You sound angry. A problem with Agent Toller?”
“He’s going to try to block me. He’s good, and he may be looking for a reason to throw me into jail. I’ll have to be careful with him and not take him down. Which means I can’t risk taking a chance on going to Eve yet unless I know Salazar’s already found out where they are. Then I’ll do what’s necessary no matter what the consequences. But there won’t be a risk to her if I go over and take care of business with Salazar. You can help me do that.”
“There’s a risk of an officer of the law breaking that law,” Manez said quietly. “You’re a hunter, and I recognize that you want to defend what is yours by going after the prey. But I can’t condone your being an executioner, Quinn.”
“Then don’t condone it, but will you tap your man in Scotland to get me information? I need to know where Salazar is and what he’s doing.”
Manez was silent. “I’ll ask Burbank at the Yard. He might be able to help.” He hung up.
Joe knew he had pushed him too far. Manez was torn between an obsession to take the cartels down at any cost and his ingrained respect for the law. Hell, Joe had the same respect, but he was also driven by the primitive desire to protect the good against the scum of the world.
And that good in his eyes was embodied by Eve.
So try to hold back if he could, but get ready.
Salazar. Franco. Natalie Castino.
They were probably all in a position to strike.
Well, so would Joe be as soon as Manez gave him the information he needed.
GAELKAR CASTLE
“You’re very quiet, Jane.” Eve looked up from the dirt she was shifting and studied her as Jane gave her a bottle of water from the tray she was distributing. “And you have circles under your eyes. Did you have a bad night?”
“Not good,” Jane said. “I was up late cataloging the day’s finds, then Caleb dropped by, and he’s never soothing.” She opened the bottle and took a drink of water. “But we’ve come to expect that, haven’t we?”
“Yes.” Eve’s eyes narrowed on Jane’s face. “And that’s all? Tell me that you didn’t hear Cara playing.”
“I heard her. She didn’t keep me awake.”
“It seems th
e whole camp heard her. The only one I haven’t heard from yet is MacDuff.” She made a face. “I promise you it won’t happen again. I’ve had a talk with her. She’ll be mortified that she might have disturbed you.”
“Then don’t tell her.” Jane looked away from her. “It was beautiful, I was only worried that she was out there alone. But then I saw Jock, and I knew it was all right.”
“That was my thought, too.” Her gaze went to Cara, who was working on the other side of the ruins near Jock and MacDuff. “Though I’m not certain now. I think Cara has adopted Jock.”
“What?”
“She thinks that he needs taking care of.” Her eyes were twinkling. “And you’re too busy.”
Jane looked at Cara. “She’s really extraordinary, isn’t she? I don’t know how Jock will take that.”
“I don’t either, but I don’t intend to interfere. I’ll leave it up to the two of them. It may be good for both of them.” She took another drink of water. “This tastes good. It’s cool here at night, but it heats up during the day. For the last half hour, I’ve been thinking wistfully about that lake Caleb took me to yesterday. All that cool mist.”
Jane went still. “Lake? You didn’t mention a lake when you came back yesterday.”
“You can appreciate it wasn’t my top priority,” Eve said dryly. “Joe blew everything out of my mind when he told me about Natalie Castino and that Salazar might soon be breathing down our necks.”
“It did the same thing to me,” Jane said. “You could have told me you went to Timbuktu, and I would have accepted it.” Her gaze slid away from Eve to the wall overlooking the hills. “Where is this lake?”
“Maybe ten miles north. Caleb showed it to me because he said the castle was vulnerable from that direction.” She took another drink. “Beautiful place. But weird, lots of mist. Caleb and I agreed it looked like either the beginning or the end of the world.”
“Interesting.” She looked back at Eve. “I’d like to see it.”
“Maybe after we finish for the day?”
“I’d like to go now.”
Eve paused in raising the bottle to her lips to look at her. “Why?”