Gift of Gold (18 page)

“What’s the map for?” he asked.

“I’m going to visit Caitlin on Monday. Tavi just finished drawing me a little map so I can find the house.”

Jonas felt something clench in his stomach. He shot a glance at Evanger, who just looked back, at him with her cold, expressionless eyes. “Is that right?” he asked softly. “How are you going to manage the time away from the No Bull?”

“It won’t be a problem,” Verity assured him. “I’ll be back in plenty of time on Tuesday to open for lunch.”

Jonas tried a last ditch effort. “I thought you and I might drive up into the wine country next Monday.”

Verity raised her eyebrows, clearly surprised. Jonas couldn’t blame her. He was a little surprised himself. He hadn’t planned anything at all for next Monday until approximately sixty seconds ago.

“Maybe next week,” Verity temporized politely.

It was Caitlin Evanger who stepped in to resolve the situation. “Why don’t you come with Verity, Mr. Quarrel?” she suggested smoothly. “You could drive over to the coast with her and see some of the wine country en route. I have plenty of room at my home for both of you.”

Verity smiled enthusiastically. “That’s very kind of you, Caitlin.” She rounded on Jonas. “Isn’t it? Do you want to come with me on Monday?”

Jonas sorted through his limited set of options and then met Caitlin Evanger’s eyes. “Sure,” he said coolly. “Why not?”

Much later that night Tavi sat on the edge of Caitlin Evanger’s bed, massaging her employer’s ruined leg with firm, tender hands.

“So it worked,” Tavi observed with a sigh.

“I told you it would.” Caitlin adjusted herself on the pillows and sipped the glass of brandy she routinely used to help put herself to sleep. “I knew Quarrel would never allow Verity to visit me by herself. Not if there was an alternative. He doesn’t like me and he likes even less the fact that Verity and I are on friendly terms. But he knew tonight that he couldn’t stop her from spending the night at my home. He chose the only alternative he had.”

“The only alternative you offered,” Tavi clarified, her fingers working deeply into the atrophied muscles.

“I’ve told you, Tavi, that as soon as I saw the way he looked at Verity, I knew she was the key to manipulating him. The plan I’ve been putting together is almost complete.”

“Now you’ll have a chance to test him with the rapier.”

“I have to be certain. I have to know for sure that he still has the talent and that he can be made to use it when the time comes.” Caitlin shifted again on the pillows. “That’s enough massage for tonight.”

Tavi halted and looked at Caitlin in surprise. “You said your leg was hurting badly this evening.”

“It is. But the pain is good, Tavi.” Caitlin smiled her humorless smile. “Don’t you see? I use it to keep my attention trained on what I’m going to do. There is nothing like pain to focus one’s mind. Planning an execution takes a certain amount of fortitude, I’ve discovered.”

Chapter
Eight

The
nearest signs of human habitation were several miles away as Verity and Jonas drove through the tiny village indicated on Tavi’s map. They glided past a small general store and gas station, a post office, and a handful of gray, weathered cottages. A scattering of unprosperous looking fishing boats sat huddled in the microscopic harbor waiting for a tide that never seemed to arrive.

Verity, who had been in a relentlessly cheerful mood since she and Jonas had set out from Sequence Springs, found the village charmingly picturesque.

“I should have brought my camera,” she exclaimed, enchanted by the fishing boats. “Isn’t that a lovely scene?”

Jonas was distinctly unimpressed. “The whole place looks like it’s ready for the morgue.”

Verity’s good mood slipped. She had been tolerating his brusque, unenthusiastic comments most of the way from Sequence Springs, but enough was enough. “I don’t know why you bothered to come along,” she snapped. “It’s obvious you aren’t enjoying yourself.”

He took his steady gaze off the narrow, curving road long enough to give her a direct look. “I didn’t come along with the intention of enjoying myself.”

“Then why did you insist on coming along?”

“I didn’t have much choice. I couldn’t talk you out of it, remember?”

“I remember,” Verity muttered, “but that doesn’t explain why you felt you had to come with me.”

“I didn’t want you making the trip alone.” His voice was vaguely defensive.

“I’ve got news for you, Jonas,” Verity assured him in growing exasperation, “I’m a big girl and I’ve been traveling all by myself for ages.”

“I’ve already had a sample of the kind of trouble you get into when you’re traveling by yourself. I saw you in action down in Mexico, remember?”

Verity was about to tell him what she thought of his lousy logic but something stopped her. “Jonas,” she finally said more gently, “why did you feel you had to accompany me today? The real reason.”

He startled her with the blunt honesty of his response. “I don’t know. Something to do with Caitlin Evanger. The woman gives me the chills. I didn’t want you driving over here and staying with her alone. End of subject. Find another topic of conversation.”

Jonas had made it clear several times during the weekend that he wasn’t looking forward to visiting Caitlin Evanger, which had only reinforced Verity’s determination to make the trip. She had fully expected that at the last minute he would tell her to go by herself. But he hadn’t.

On Monday morning, Jonas had resignedly thrown a few things into his duffel bag, tossed the bag into Verity’s car, and then climbed into the front seat and held out his hands for the keys.

Verity had toyed with the idea of telling him to stay behind and go fishing with her father. But in the end, eager to be on her way, she’d handed him the keys.

Now, as they drove the winding road that led to Caitlin’s house, she wondered if she had made a wise decision. Jonas showed every sign of putting a real damper on the occasion.

But what really bothered her was his illogical insistence on accompanying her. He couldn’t explain it even to his own satisfaction, let alone to hers.

Ghosts, Verity thought suddenly. Jonas was having problems with his private ghosts again. She wondered what she had to do with those ghosts.

Then they saw the house. It was huge, dour, and astonishingly ugly, clinging like a large, faceted-eyed insect to the edge of the cliff, defying the frothing white sea that surged relentlessly below. It wasn’t until one got close to it that it became clear the insect-eye effect was created by the oddly designed windows that bulged outward.

“That house looks like some do-it-yourselfer went crazy with a bunch of concrete and steel left over from some other do-it-yourself project that failed,” Jonas commented. He halted Verity’s compact at the side of the road for a better look.

“I think it’s an example of some architect’s idea of modern art,” Verity suggested. “It’s not quite what I expected. It doesn’t look like the sort of place that would appeal to Caitlin.”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Jonas said laconically. “I think it suits her just fine. All that concrete and steel compliments her personality perfectly, if you want my opinion.”

“When I want your opinion, I’ll ask for it.” Verity surveyed the gloomy, windswept scene. The day had been warm and bright back in Sequence Springs, but here along the ocean the sky was overcast. The sea looked like hammered gray metal stretching out to the horizon. A glance over the edge of the cliffs revealed that it was a long way down to the water.

Definitely not a California surfing beach, Verity thought. Anyone foolish enough to try riding those waves would find himself beaten to a pulp against the rocks at the base of the cliffs. The dark, wild setting represented the flip side of the state’s brilliant sun-and-sand image.

“Seen enough?” Jonas asked as he restarted the car. “We can always go back to town and phone her to say we can’t make it today.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. I’m looking forward to visiting Caitlin.”

“I don’t know what you see in the woman.” Jonas glanced over his shoulder to check traffic, then swung the wheel of the car. “She gives me the creeps.”

“I’ll tell you what I see in her,” Verity said quietly. “I see a strong, lonely woman in need of friendship. Why shouldn’t I be her friend? After all, Caitlin and I have a few things in common.”

“You
what?
”
The car whipped around a curve in an arc that was a little too tight. Jonas corrected the maneuver with a disgusted oath. “Are you out of your tiny little mind? You’ve got nothing in common with Caitlin Evanger. Nothing at all.”

Verity leaned back into her corner. “I’m not so sure. Oh, I’ll admit I don’t have her artistic talent. My skills are a lot more mundane. But there is something about her and the way she lives that has a familiar feel to it. Have you ever had a glimpse of the future and discovered that it looked familiar?”

“No.” The single word was clipped as Jonas concentrated on the narrow road. “Only the past.”

Verity wrinkled her nose in a question. “What do you mean by that?”

Jonas stifled a soft curse. “Nothing much. Just that I guess it’s possible to say the past has a familiar feel. After all, it exists. Has existed. It has tentacles that reach into the present. We’re all victims of it. But it makes no sense to say the same about the future.”

“I think it does. I look at Caitlin and I see the woman I may be in another couple of years. Minus the artistic genius, of course. She has carved out a space for herself and she occupies it completely. She’s strong. I know she employs Tavi to handle the day-to-day problems of life, but you always have a sense that Caitlin would do just fine without Tavi if it was necessary.”

“Verity, Evanger is one cold fish. Trust me. A man knows that kind of woman when he sees one.”

Verity shrugged. “You see that because she makes it clear she has no need for a man. What’s wrong with that? It gives her a kind of freedom that many women will never know. She’s not dependent on a man for anything, least of all her own happiness. She takes care of herself and finds satisfaction in doing so. I should think you would admire a woman like Caitlin. She’s the kind of woman who would never make demands on a man. She would never try to tie him down or turn him into something he’s not. In short, the perfect female.”

“Don’t put words in my mouth, Verity. It’s obvious you’ve got a bad case of hero-worship, but don’t try to drag me into the congregation.”

“It’s not a question of hero-worship. I like her. I think she needs friends and I have no objection to being her friend. That’s all there is to it.” Verity smiled wryly and stared out the window. “Maybe we’d better change the subject.”

“Maybe we’d better, since you’re not making much sense.”

“Jonas, I’m warning you, if you don’t behave yourself I’m going to fire you on the spot.”

“Yes, your majesty.”

She opted not to respond to that piece of provocation. Jonas had been in an unreadable mood ever since he had told her he had decided to give her time.

It was very ,thoughtful of him, Verity had decided. The problem was, she was coming to the conclusion that she didn’t really want any more time. With a man such as Jonas, a woman had to accept the fact that she wouldn’t have him around for long. It was beginning to occur to Verity that it was a shame to waste what time she did have with him. Like her father, he would take off one of these days. And it was, after all, her father who had taught her to enjoy what life offered when it was offered because there were never any guarantees.

She developed a queasy feeling in the pit of her stomach every time she thought of how much Jonas and Emerson had in common. Several times a day she told herself it was better if the brief affair she had begun with Jonas was nipped in the bud. The last thing she needed in her life was a relationship with a man who shared none of her own values.

On the other hand, given her advancing age and future prospects, surely she had a right to at least one interesting sexual fling, she decided wryly.

“Well, here we are,” Jonas announced as he parked the car in a wide, graveled drive. “I don’t see anyone rushing out to greet us. Maybe no one’s home.”

“Don’t sound so hopeful.” Verity opened her door and got out. The wind off the sea whipped her hair into an instant tangle. The jeans and plaid shirt she had put on that morning in Sequence Springs were not proof against the crisp, snapping breeze, so she reached into the backseat for the bright yellow windbreaker she had brought along.

As she fastened her jacket, the door slammed on the other side of the car. Jonas stood, one arm resting casually on the roof of the car while he eyed the forbidding structure in front of him.

“One half-expects someone named Igor to open the door,” he said dryly.

Before Verity could respond, Tavi Monahan opened the wide, gray door. She stood at the top of the concrete steps leading up to the house and looked at them with an unreadable expression.

“Caitlin will be pleased to know you’re here,” Tavi said very quietly. Tavi herself looked a little less than pleased. Verity thought there was a sense of anxiety beneath that serene, elegant facade.

“I’m glad somebody is pleased,” Jonas muttered as he pulled his duffel bag and Verity’s small suitcase from the backseat.

Once again, Verity decided to pretend she hadn’t overheard the crack. Sometimes the only thing a woman could do with someone like Jonas was ignore him.

They followed Tavi down a hallway paved in gray and black stone. Everything in the house seemed to have been finished in gray and black. Verity silently decided that Jonas was right. Some designer had gotten a little carried away with the theme of concrete and steel. The unusual windows at the front of the house that had looked so much like insect eyes from a distance allowed light in on three levels.

Caitlin’s home was large and as untraditional inside as it was out. The floor plan of the three-story home did not seem to follow any familiar pattern. A steel-banistered staircase connected the various levels, but the rooms Verity saw as she followed Tavi to the top floor seemed strangely shaped. Walls curved and assumed odd angles.