Iris Johansen - Eight Days To Live

“Restless. He’s going to join Venable in Rome tomorrow. He said he told you he would.”

“Yes, but I thought I was going to be there to take-”

“Care of me?” Eve finished for her. “Then you can’t blame me for feeling the same about you. Come as soon as you can.” She paused. “You know, I like this place. It’s very grand, but there’s a kind of ageless comfort about it. Ever since I stepped inside the gates I’ve been feeling a sense of… rightness. As if there was a reason why I should be here. Crazy, huh?”

“No, you should be there so MacDuff can keep you safe.”

“That’s not what I meant. I just feel… it’s as if there’s something here or something coming. Something… unfolding, and I have a part in it. Did you know there’s a painting of one of MacDuff’s ancestors who looks like you?”

Jane sighed. “Fiona. MacDuff would have to show it to you.”

“He didn’t. I noticed it myself. Too bad there’s not a portrait of his many-times great-great-grandmother Cira. She might look even more like you.”

“Don’t mention that to MacDuff. He’s insistent enough now that I’m part of his blasted family. I can’t convince him I’m done with Cira and her treasure chest and everything else connected to MacDuff’s Run.”

“Evidently not. Considering that I’m here right now. Well, it will be nice to look at the portrait since I can’t have you here.”

“Then for the first time I’m glad I look like Fiona,” Jane said. “But don’t let MacDuff try to persuade you that it’s anything but a coincidence.”

“MacDuff is too busy making phone calls and talking to all these guards he has tripping over each other around the estate to try to convince me of anything.” She chuckled. “And he probably realizes I wouldn’t give a damn anyway. It doesn’t matter who you are to him; it’s who you are to me that’s important.”

“Thank God.”

“Yes, I do thank him very frequently for bringing you into our lives. Call me as often as you can. Bye, Jane.”

“She wasn’t angry?” Jock asked, as Jane hung up.

“No, I didn’t really think she would be, but I had to explain. I never take our relationship for granted. It means too much to me.” She stood up. “Let’s go for a walk. I need to expend some energy. Eve said Joe was restless, and I feel a definite empathy.”

“I can see that you do.” Jock got to his feet. “You’ve been prowling this room like a tiger cub all morning. Your Caleb had better work fast, or you’ll be a nervous wreck.”

“No, I won’t. We’ll walk, we’ll have dinner somewhere, then I’ll come back and sketch you. Working always relaxes me, and I haven’t sketched you for years.”

“Since the first time you came to MacDuff’s Run,” he said quietly. “You gave me one of those sketches, and I sent it to my mother. She could never understand the monster I’d become. I told MacDuff that he had to tell her what I’d done. She couldn’t be allowed to think that there was no reason I couldn’t come back to her. But how could she comprehend a son who killed? She had done her best, raised me to believe in hard work, God, and the Ten Commandments. All the things to which a good Scottish lad should adhere. After MacDuff brought me home from the hospital, he kept telling me that she’d understand. That she’d only think of that time as a terrible sickness.” He shook his head. “I couldn’t go back to her. It would only have hurt her. But I think she liked the sketch.”

“I’m sure she did,” Jane said gently. “And I’m sure she still loved you.”

“Maybe. Mothers are pretty helpless about things like that.” He smiled crookedly. “I’ll be glad to have you sketch me again, Jane. It will be interesting to see the difference the years have made, won’t it?”

EVE SLOWLY PUT HER PHONE in her pocket after she had hung up. She had been alarmed when she had first learned what Jane was doing, and she was still just as frightened. Caleb might be able to find this Weismann, but he was probably a more ruthless and dangerous man than the man he was hunting.

Blood.

She shuddered as she remembered what she had seen him do to that serial killer, Jelak, only a few weeks ago. Yes, Caleb had saved Joe’s life and perhaps her own, but it had still been shocking. The blood running from the killer’s eyes, the screams as his brain hemorrhaged. It had been hard to accept that anyone could have the power to do that. She would never have believed it if she hadn’t seen it herself.

But she had seen it, and the memory wouldn’t leave her. Had she somehow known that Caleb would be back in their lives?

But not like this. Not this horror involving Jane. She had wanted to keep Caleb away from Jane. She had sensed something between them, a sort of bonding, that had made her uneasy. Dammit, she didn’t want Jane drawn into the darkness surrounding Caleb. Yet Jane was walking toward him like a moth to a flame.

No, she was insulting Jane. Jane was doing what she thought was right, and she was no helpless moth. Even Eve could see that Caleb could be the answer to finding Weismann. It was Eve who was feeling helpless and wanting to step in and whisk her away. It had taken all her will not to leave this haven Jane had set up for them and go after her.

Not now. Not yet. Jane didn’t need her attention diverted because she was worrying about Joe and her.

So she’d do what she could from MacDuff’s castle until it was time to make a move. There were a few things here that were making her uneasy, and she had to get clear.

She left her room and strode down the hallway toward the grand staircase.

MacDuff was coming through the massive fourteen-foot front doors.

She paused on the top step and looked down at him. The hall was all stone and rich tapestries, and simple chests. It had none of the dated furniture pieces she’d seen in other old manors. It looked as if it was a place one of MacDuff’s wild, robber-baron forbears could have walked into at any moment. And though John MacDuff was dressed in dark trousers and rolled-neck sweater, he fit effortlessly into that ancient setting. Yes, she thought, he belongs to this place in spirit as well as birth.

He looked up as Eve came down the grand staircase. “You’ve talked to Jane? Did you convince her to come here?”

“I didn’t try,” Eve said. “There would have been no use. She’s doing what she thinks is right. I’m the one who will have to go to her if I think it’s necessary.”

“It’s not necessary,” he said curtly. “If she needs someone, I’ll be there for her. I promised to keep you safe.”

“Why?” She gazed at him searchingly. “You’re turning your life here upside down. All for Jane.” She smiled faintly, “And I don’t think it’s entirely because you have this idea that she’s family.”

“She helped Jock when he needed her.”

“And that’s admirable, too. But you’ve been trying to coax her back here for at least two years. I’ve been standing in the background looking on, but I’ve wondered…”

His gaze narrowed on her face. “You’re a brilliant woman, Eve Duncan. I’d wager that you’ve done more than wonder.”

“Well, I’ve made a few guesses.” She paused. “You’re a driven man, MacDuff. You love this property. It represents your roots, your family. Jane told me that you’ve almost lost this estate several times to taxes and exorbitantly expensive upkeep but managed to save it at the last minute.”

He smiled. “Are you thinking I want to make a rich marriage to save it? I’m afraid Jane doesn’t qualify. She’s only a struggling artist.”

“No, marrying for money wouldn’t suit you at all. You’re too much like your ancestors who preferred to rob and pillage. I’m talking about the chest of gold coins hidden by the first MacDuffs that you’ve been searching for all these years. At one time you thought Jane could lead you to it.”