Iris Johansen - Blood Game

“Because you’re afraid to trust any relationship.”

“Maybe.” She smiled. “I trust Eve. I trust you… when you don’t act weird as you did when I first arrived here. Are you going to tell me what that was all about?”

“Probably. Someday.” He reached out and touched her cheek. “Don’t take chances, Jane. Not now. Not ever. You’re too important to us.” He turned on his heel. “There’s a gun in a case on the top shelf of the closet. Take it with you when you go out from now on.”

“I will.” She watched him go into the house before she turned and gazed out at the thick veil of rain. It was like being cocooned behind her own private waterfall. She used to love sitting out here in a rainstorm when she was a teenager. Sometimes she and Eve would sit on the swing and talk for hours.

Precious times.

Precious memories.

Someone was watching.

She was suddenly shivering.

Nonsense. If she couldn’t see through this veil of rain, no one else out there could see her. It was Joe’s talk of Jelak and warning her against taking risks that had spooked her.

Maybe.

She had always trusted her instincts, and they were sending up skyrocket signals now.

She took a step closer to the porch railing, then stopped. If there was a threat out there, she didn’t want to confront it blindly. It was enough to be on her guard and perhaps mention it to Joe to follow up tomorrow.

Joe believed in the power of instinct. He would understand.

JELAK SMILED WITH SATISFACTIONas he lowered the infrared binoculars. He hadn’t been able to see more than a flash of body heat on the porch, but it comforted him to know that he was still in contact, in control. Every instinct told him that it was Jane MacGuire, and she had moved toward the edge of the porch as if wanting to confront him. “I want to confront you too,” he murmured. “But you shouldn’t be so defiant. If I had a rifle, I could take you down right now.”

But he didn’t like guns. He always carried a Glock pistol because of the convenience, but he seldom used it. He preferred the might of his muscles and the clean stroke of his knife to claim the gift.

“Do you feel me, Jane MacGuire?” he murmured. “You’re standing so still I think you must. I was angry with you, but it’s going away. As soon as the rain stops, I think I’ll take a gift in your honor. Anger makes the hunger burn, and I have to keep up my strength.” He rolled the window of the car up and leaned back in the seat. “It will be difficult, but I’ll find a suitable-”

Fear.

No!

His heart was pounding, jerking, panic racing through him.

It was out there in the darkness, coming toward him. He was coming toward him.

He had to get away.

His hand was shaking as he started the car, backed up, and stomped on the accelerator.

Closer. He was closer.

His tires were skidding in the mud as he raced through the forest.

Get away. He had to be stronger before he could face him. More blood. More power.

He’d reached the road leading north to the highway.

How had he found him? The village of Fiero was a world away, and he’d been careful for years not to do anything that might trigger a search. The goblet? Possibly. Before this, he’d used the goblets very sparingly so that there would be no connection.

It could be his imagination. The fear was ebbing the farther he went from the cottage. He could barely feel that sense of impending threat.

It wasn’t his imagination. He’d felt that same fear all those years ago. He’d run then as he was running now.

But he was stronger now and would become even stronger after the next gift. He should strike boldly and show himself the master of the game.

It was time to stop running.

____________________

SKID MARKS IN THE MUD.

Seth Caleb’s lips tightened grimly as he knelt and checked the tire marks. Deep, tires spinning, lurching; Jelak had peeled out in a panic. Seth had hoped to track him down before he’d become aware that he was on the hunt. But the bastard had clearly known there was a threat near.

Caleb muttered a curse as he got to his feet.

Okay, he’d lost him tonight, but Jelak wasn’t going to give up Eve Duncan. When she had killed Kistle, it had placed her as a prime and immediate target in Jelak’s game.

All Caleb had to do was take control of the game and change the rules.

1:35 A.M.

THE WOMAN WAS SITTING INA chair in the living room talking on the phone. She was laughing, and there was a flush of color on her cheeks.

Jelak drew closer to the window. Good. It was always better to take them when they were at the height of emotion. Joy or terror, it didn’t really matter.

Now all he had to do was get in the house or get her out. It would be difficult to get her out in this storm. He’d probably have to go in after her.

But she was standing up and going toward another room.

Time to make a move.

You can’t go to bed. I have to have your gift. He’s coming closer, and I’ll need your strength to fight him.

He moved silently away from the window and down the stairs, carefully avoiding the hanging baskets decorating the porch.

The rain had not lessened, and he could hear distant thunder as he carefully opened the gate to the backyard. The lamplight from the house glowed cozily from the windows.

Light was always the enemy.

First came darkness, then came fear.

“LOOK, I KNOW IT’S EARLYbut I’m just acting as an intermediary, and he wants to see you right away,” Megan said, when Eve picked up the phone.

“Who wants to see me?” Eve punched up the volume on her phone as she sat up in bed and glanced at the clock: 5:40 A.M. “And why should he need an intermediary?”

“Seth Caleb. Renata says he’s a distant relation and that he may know something about those goblets. He saw the fax with the goblet and immediately flew in from Edinburgh. He called me at eleven last night and asked, no, told me to call you and tell you that he was going to come to see you. He wanted to make sure that you knew he was here to help and not one of the media.”

“We’ll be glad to talk to anyone who can tell us anything about Jelak.”

“I thought you would. But Caleb impressed me as being a little… I just thought I’d warn you. Renata said that he was a law unto himself and would have come whether we wanted him or not.”

“You’ve warned me.” She glanced at Joe, who was sitting up and listening. “And when should we expect him?”

“Seven.” She paused. “And he said to tell Joe Quinn that he should check the west side of the lake about two miles away from the cottage.”

She stiffened. “What?”

“He said the rain would have washed out most of Jelak’s tire prints, but there might be something he could use.”

“You’re saying Jelak was in a car parked outside the cottage last night? We had the police scour all the immediate area after we found that goblet.”

“Caleb said the car was set way back from the lake and well hidden.”

“If Caleb knew that, then he must have been out by the lake last night too.”

“Presumably. For a rainy night, those woods must have been pretty crowded.” Megan added, “That’s all I know. But evidently he figured it was a strong enough card to get your attention.”

Eve threw back the covers. “Oh, it got our attention.”

Joe was already out of bed and throwing on his clothes.

“What else can you tell me about Seth Caleb?” Eve asked. “Does Renata trust him?”

Megan hesitated. “I think she trusts his motives. I’m not sure that she’d trust his way of handling the situation. I’d say treat him as an unknown factor.”