Iris Johansen - Eight Days To Live

“I’m not arguing with you. I just want to make sure we’re on the same page. It doesn’t matter how we got there.”

Jock gave Caleb a cool glance. “It matters.” He turned toward the door. “But if he has a lead, let’s follow it. It’s more than we had before.”

“I’LL DRIVE,” CALEB SAID, as they reached his BMW. “You two can ride together in the backseat. As I said, it will take nearly an hour to get to Adah Ziller’s house. That should give you time to come to terms with my presence in your midst. Pretend I’m not here.”

Jane got into the car. “I will.” It was a lie. There was no way that Caleb could be totally ignored. But she wasn’t about to be less than blunt about anything connected to him when she was talking to Jock. “I suppose you researched Adah Ziller the minute you found out that she was Weismann’s bed partner. What do we know about her?”

“Good-looking, intelligent, grew up in Syria, one of seven children. Her father is a merchant and sent her to England to be educated. She’s ambitious and has been climbing the ladder in Med-Coast Oil for the last seven years. This move to Paris is a promotion. She’s head of the human resource department here.”

“Syria,” Jane repeated. “Didn’t you tell me that’s where Millet grew up, Jock?”

He nodded slowly. “Yes. Interesting coincidence.”

Caleb started the car. “And the word is that she slept with at least two vice presidents of the company to help herself get ahead.”

“As well as Weismann,” Jane murmured. “Busy woman.”

“Ambitious woman,” he said. “With connections.”

“And is that why Weismann slept with her? Or did Millet send him to worm himself into her confidence?” She frowned. “But why did she sleep with him? He was a criminal, for God’s sake. Did she know he had a connection with Millet? It would have been logical for him to have lied to her, but what could he offer her? Was it purely physical?” She turned to Jock. “Caleb said that Weismann is gay. Do you know if he swings both ways?”

Jock shrugged. “I told you, I didn’t have much to do with him once he managed to get me accepted into the group. I suppose most women would think he was very good-looking and his personality was pleasant enough, smooth. As I told you, I know Millet sometimes sent him as an advance man to scope out his jobs. Particularly when there were women involved. But I didn’t even know he was gay. He probably didn’t advertise it. Millet is a macho bastard, and he wouldn’t have accepted it very well.”

“Then Weismann could have had sex with her for the usual reasons.”

“As far as I know.” Jock frowned. “But I think it’s more likely that Millet sent him to her because he wanted something and couldn’t get it himself. Weismann is a manipulator, and the woman is ambitious. Put them together, and you don’t come up with a grand passion.”

“Right,” Caleb said. “We’ll have to ask the lady. I’m sure she’ll be cooperative.”

“Is everyone?” Jane asked curiously.

“Almost everyone. One way or the other.”

“What do you mean?”

“Sometimes… it’s difficult.”

“Difficult for whom? You or the person who’s mind you’re manhandling?”

“Both of us. And occasionally I run into someone that I can’t push at all. But it’s very rare.”

Jock was skeptically shaking his head.

“You might be one.” Caleb was gazing at him in the rearview mirror. “Jane is being very protective, almost maternal about you, but it might not be necessary. Sometimes when a mind is broken, it grows back ten times stronger.”

Jock smiled faintly. “Is that supposed to make me feel more secure? I never felt insecure with you, Caleb.”

“I can see that,” Caleb said. “You don’t feel insecure with anyone, do you? You’ve gone way beyond that place.” He was silent, then said to Jane, “I can work with him. I was concerned, but it will be fine.”

“But can I work with you?” Jock asked. “And do I want to? You haven’t proved to me that you can do anything but talk. Jane and I can get through this by ourselves.”

“But it will take longer. Jane doesn’t want to wait or she would never have called me.” He asked Jane, “How are Eve and Joe doing?”

The change of subject was definitely pointed and intentional. “Safe at MacDuff’s Run.”

“So far.”

“MacDuff will keep them safe,” Jock said. “Stop making her worry.”

“She’s already worried. That’s why we have to work together. I’d prefer not to do it either, but I can’t leave you out. She wouldn’t permit it.”

“Would you please stop talking as if I weren’t here?” Jane asked impatiently.

“Yes, soon. This is important,” Caleb said. “Gavin?”

He was silent, then slowly nodded. “Conditionally.”

“Good enough.” Caleb’s gaze left the mirror and focused on the street. “Now you can ignore me.”

“Not yet,” Jane said. “Why do you want to get there before dawn? What difference does it make?”

“Darkness heightens the senses and changes perceptions. Some things are done better in the dark.”

“I don’t like the sound of that. We don’t even know for sure if this woman is anything but an innocent dupe. What things are easier in the dark?

“Fear, intimidation.” He smiled. “I’m not talking about any particularly foul deeds. I just want everything to be on my side if I have to ask her a few questions. That way I can glide on the surface instead of going deep.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,”

“I know, and I won’t explain. You wouldn’t like it any more than you would anything else that I do.” He added, “But from the moment I met you, I knew that you could sense more about me than most people. You’re a little fey, as our Scottish Jock might say.”

“Ridiculous.” She didn’t speak for a moment. “But I’m grateful that you’re helping me. And it’s partly my fault that I’m finding this difficult. My instinct is to question, not meekly accept. Yet I knew what I was doing when I phoned you. That makes any argument I give hypocritical.”

“How extraordinarily honest and clear thinking of you.”

“But I’ll still argue anyway.”

He chuckled. “You should. Because you didn’t know exactly what you were doing. I only let you see the tip of the iceberg. It’s a form of self-preservation. I’m not like Gavin. I still have moments of insecurity.”

“Bullshit,” Jock said.

“Ditto,” Jane echoed.

“It’s a terrible burden not to be understood. Well, perhaps not insecurity. I suppose I just like the idea of feeling that sense of companionship I knew with you and Eve. It was very unusual for me. I was feeling quite wistful after I left the lake cottage.”

She wished he’d look back at the mirror so that she could see his expression. Wistful? Caleb?

It had to be mockery.

“You’re trying to make up your mind whether I’m telling you the truth or not. I can’t recall ever lying to you except by omission. I guess you’ll have to decide for yourself.”

“Or maybe she’ll just decide it doesn’t matter,” Jock said coolly. “The only thing she cares about is if you can find Weismann. So I can’t see her fretting about whether you’re mooning wistfully for old times.”

Caleb burst out laughing. “Mooning? What a sickly image that brings to mind. You do know how to deflate a man. Gavin, I believe I like you.”

“Caleb, I don’t give a damn.”

“I know. And that gives me still another reason.”

Jane was tired of their personal interchanges. Even when they weren’t edged with tension, the remarks seemed to breed an intimacy that she would rather stop before it took form. “How long before we get to Versailles.