Iris Johansen - Blood Game

“And did she?” Jane asked.

“No.” He looked out at the lake. “Givano was a member of the cult. He’d been sent to track down members of the Ridondo family, namely, female members: the males might have proved too difficult. There were still stories being repeated in the cult of the Ridondo brothers’ powers. They didn’t want a confrontation, they wanted a victim.”

“Why?”

“They were experimenting, trying to find the strongest bloodline to lead them to their resurrection. They thought it logical that since she was a descendant of the Ridondos, her blood would be almost magical. That it might even give them instant resurrection.”

“And Givano lured her to them.”

“Jelak was on the scene by then, and he couldn’t wait to get his hands on her. He paid Givano to give her to him.” His lips tightened. “He was clumsy. He wasn’t sure what he was doing. He kept her alive a long time before he realized she wasn’t going to let him win the game.”

“So you set out to find Jelak,” Eve said. “What about Givano?”

He turned from the lake to look at her.

He didn’t need to answer, she thought. It was all there in the stark brutality of his expression. She had seen what he had done to Jelak. What he had done to the man who betrayed his sister would have been equally horrendous.

She looked down into the coffee in her cup. “I’m sorry about your sister. I can see why you would have been so bitter.”

“Can you? Yes, you know what it’s like to lose someone you love.” He smiled. “Well, is your curiosity satisfied? Are you ready to let me go off into the sunset?”

“No.”

His brows rose. “No?”

She looked up at him. “You may have done it for your own purposes, but you saved Joe, and you saved me. I can’t forget that. I feel a certain bond.”

“What?” He shook his head. “You’re much more clear thinking than that.”

“Maybe I’m not.” She got to her feet. “But I don’t think that we’re through with each other, Caleb. I don’t know what you’re going to be to us, but we’re going to have to play it out to the finish.”

He suddenly chuckled as he stood up. “I told Quinn that you’d want to put a period to the episode. You’re not doing that, Eve.”

“Just a comma.” She smiled faintly. “I may have need of a hunter.”

He turned to Jane. “What about you? A period?”

“I’m taking it under consideration.” She added coolly, “I don’t appreciate ‘invasions.’ ”

“But you liked that one.” His lips indented at the corners. “I made sure you would.” He turned and started down the steps. “But I’ll respect your decision, whatever it is. That’s part of the code I’ve tried to teach myself. Good-bye, ladies.” He glanced at Jane, and he smiled. “It’s been an experience I won’t forget.”

Jane got up and joined Eve at the steps to watch Caleb climb into his car.

“Quite an experience,” she murmured. “I’m not sure that you were wise to make any commitment to him at all.”

“I didn’t make a commitment.”

“You didn’t cut him loose or turn your back. With Caleb, that could become a commitment.”

She shook her head. “I told him the truth. He knows all about truth and lies. Probably no one could differentiate better.” She glanced at Jane. “Could they?”

“No, I guess not.” She watched him drive away. “I’m going to be leaving tomorrow. I have to go back to Paris. I let Celene Denarve, a gallery owner, talk me into another show there. It’s scheduled for next week.”

Eve looked at her in surprise. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because then you would have tried to make me go back and made it difficult for me if I decided to cancel the show.” She made a face. “Almost as much as Celene would have if she’d had to postpone. She’s been a good friend to me, but she’s got a bit of a Gallic temperament.”

But Jane would have canceled it without a thought if she’d thought Eve needed her here, Eve knew. “You bet I would have made your life difficult. Dammit, you dropped everything to fly to my rescue.” She reached out and lovingly took Jane’s hand. “Thank you.”

“Don’t be silly,” Jane said. “I did it for me. I would have been a nervous wreck if I’d had to gnaw my fingernails worrying from across the Atlantic.” She added teasingly, “What? Do you think I like you or something?”

“I thought there was a possibility.” She reached down and patted Toby’s head. “Of course, it might be that you just missed Toby.” She smiled. “If this is going to be your last night here for a while, I’ll ask Joe to put some steaks on the grill. You always like to barbecue.”

Jane nodded. “I like the ambience more than the food. The sun going down over the lake, the smell of the charcoal, you sitting on a folding chair beside the grill watching Joe. When I’m away, I remember all those things.” Her gaze went to Joe standing by the lake. “It’s good that I’m going away right now. You need some time alone with Joe. Things are… different now.”

“I can’t deny that’s true,” she said. “When I picked you up at the airport, I never dreamed how different they were going to be. But Joe seems to be handling it well.” She glanced at Jane. “How are you handling it? We threw a lot of weird stuff at you. To your credit, you never threw up your hands and told us to go to the nearest psychiatrist.”

“What can I say? If you were nuts, I didn’t want to be sane. So I had to go along for the ride.”

“It was a rough, bumpy ride.”

“But we all came through it.”

Eve gazed at her searchingly. “But in what state?”

“You’re asking me if I believe in Joe’s ghost? I still don’t know. It’s hard not to believe in her after you got that call from the senator. Yet it defies everything that’s solid and sure in my life.” Her hand tightened on Eve’s. “But you’re solid, you’re sure, and so I have to believe everything you believe. Yeah, I believe in Nancy Jo, but I’d believe a hell of a lot more if I could see or touch her.”

Eve laughed. “That’s my practical Jane.” She released her hand. “Now I think I’ll go down and tell Joe that a barbecue is in order.”

“I’ll take the steaks out of the fridge.” She hesitated as she turned toward the door. “You told me about Nancy Jo. You didn’t tell me if you’d told Joe that you’d been seeing Bonnie.”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“It would have been difficult. Nancy Jo was enough of a problem for him to face without Bonnie being thrown into the mix.”

“For him to face, or for you to have to give up to him?”

“What are you talking about?” Eve asked impatiently. “Joe has grown almost antagonistic toward Bonnie in the past few years. It would have just added fuel to the fire for him to know that my obsession has grown to the point that I even dreamed about Bonnie.”

“ ‘Dreamed’?”

“It’s hard for me even now to admit she isn’t a dream. Imagine how hard it would be for Joe.”

“But now he has his own out-of-the-world experience with which to compare it. I’d think that would make a difference, don’t you?”

Eve looked away from her. “I’m not sure.”

“You don’t want to give her up,” she said softly. “I was wondering if you’d react like that. You don’t want to share her. She’s been yours all these years in a way that was incredibly secret and special. To tell Joe about it would be like giving her up to someone else. You can’t stand the thought.”

“Ridiculous. I love Joe.”

“That doesn’t mean you want to share Bonnie with him. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to treasure Bonnie. You just have to realize what you’re doing. It was difficult, but you understood about Nancy Jo. That must have meant a hell of a lot to Joe. This is the time when Joe might come close to understanding why you never shared Bonnie.”