Silencing Eve (17 page)

The edge of her hand shot out in a karate chop to Jane’s arm blocking her way.

Jane blocked it and grabbed Harriet’s arm and twisted it behind the woman’s back. “Talk to me.”

Harriet’s heel shot back and struck Jane’s knee.

Pain.

Her grip loosened, and Harriet tore away from her. She whirled, and her fist punched into Jane’s abdomen.

Jane’s breath left her, but she recovered and delivered a karate chop to the side of Harriet’s neck.

Harriet staggered back, her eyes glazing over.

Not good enough, Jane thought. If she’d done it the way Joe had taught her, it would have put the woman out.

But it was enough to stop her for a moment. Jane dove forward, brought her down, and straddled her. Harriet struggled with ferocious strength, and Jane had all she could do to fight off several vicious blows to the head and body. “Give up,” she said through her teeth. “Admit that this ‘soft little thing’ was enough to beat anything your Kevin taught you.”

“The hell I will.” Harriet’s fist shot up and connected with Jane’s lip. Then she rolled to the side and jumped to her feet. She snatched up her suitcase and started running down the hall.

Jane was only a few yards behind her as she ran out the front entrance to the Jeep Cherokee parked in front of the building.

“Stay away from me,” Harriet hissed as she jumped into the Jeep. “Or so help me God I’ll kill you.”

“I won’t stay away. I’ll follow you to hell and back.” Jane ran around to the passenger side. “Lock the door, and I’ll break the damn windows.”

“No, you won’t.” Harriet was fumbling in the glove box.

Jane caught a glimpse of metal. A gun.

The glass of the passenger side window shattered.

Jane felt the heat of a bullet whistle past her cheek.

She dodged to the side and fell to her knees.

Another bullet sparked the concrete beside her as Harriet pulled away from the building and raced toward the street.

Close. Both bullets had come very, very close, Jane realized.

And Harriet Weber had not only tried to kill her, but she was getting away!

She jumped to her feet and ran toward her car.

And was almost run over by Caleb and Trevor as they drove into the apartment parking lot.

“For God’s sake.” Trevor screeched to a halt. “You look like you’ve been through a train wreck.” He jumped out and ran over to her. “Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine, but she’s getting away. I have to—” She stopped and drew a deep breath. Get control. The violence and heat of the last minutes were still with her, and she had to think. “It’s too late. She was driving fast, and I won’t be able to catch her.”

“Harriet Weber?” Caleb asked as he got out of the car. His gaze was raking over Jane, taking in the bruises and cuts. “She did that to you?”

“I’m fine.” She ran her hand through her hair. “She wanted to leave, and I didn’t want her to. I came off better than she did until she decided to grab a gun out of the glove box and try to shoot me.”

“I’d say that would qualify as an unfair advantage,” Caleb said. He gently touched her lip with his index finger, and it came away bloody. “I saw photos of her in the apartment, and she looked pretty tough. The fact that she was taller and stronger than you might be considered—”

“No excuses. She was good,” Jane said curtly. “Why not? She told me her dear son had taught her self-defense. He must have also taught her to shoot if she couldn’t talk her way out of a jam.” She added, “But I’m good, too. I almost had her. That gun was not—” She stopped. “Okay, she’s gone. Forget everything but the fact that she as much as admitted to me that she’d seen and interacted with Kevin during those years. It wasn’t only letters.”

“And she decided to take it on the lam when you confronted her with the possibility that she might be under suspicion.”

Jane nodded. “She was already on her way out when I came over. Why? She could have tried to bluff it out. She impressed me as being very confident of her powers of persuasion. But for some reason, it wasn’t worth it to her to go to the trouble to fight that battle.” She added thoughtfully, “Maybe because she had another battle that was more important to her … and to Doane.”

“No evidence of a connection with Doane,” Caleb said. “Wishful thinking?”

“Shall I tell you what her connection with Doane is?” Jane said. “Violence. I had a taste of it today. Harriet Weber is full of venom, and she’d go to any lengths to get what she wants. Does she want Doane? Does she want revenge? I don’t know. But she’s a lead we have to follow. It may take us to Eve.” She turned to Trevor. “I noticed Harriet Weber’s Jeep was packed to the gills before I went in to see her. You said that you had planted some bugs in the apartment.” She asked tensely, “Please tell me you managed to plant a few among her possessions.”

He nodded. “But they were all audio bugs for eavesdropping.”

“Shit.”

He smiled. “Except for one device Caleb insisted on including.”

“What device?”

“A micro GPS device,” Caleb said. “I thought it might come in handy.”

“But would she have taken it with her?”

“Oh, yes. She would definitely have taken it with her. And she’ll keep it with her.”

“Why?”

“It’s inserted on the inner lining of the box where she keeps her son’s letters.” He held up his phone. “And I can monitor it from my cell.”

Jane breathed a sigh of relief. There was no doubt that Harriet would keep those hideous letters with her. “Then let’s get on the road and see if we can find out where she’s going.”

“I’ll drive.” Trevor opened the passenger door for Jane. “Caleb, you can concentrate on tracking.”

“Margaret.” Jane suddenly realized Margaret wasn’t with them. “None of you were supposed to be here, but I can’t believe Margaret stayed behind.”

“Caleb suggested that she call Kendra and fill her in on the letters Kevin sent to his mother and see if Kendra could find something else in the journal that could have a connection with Harriet Weber.” Trevor raised his brows. “I was surprised that she did it.”

“I’m not,” Jane said. “She didn’t want Kendra to feel left out.”

Trevor nodded. “We left while she was involved with Kendra.”

“Margaret will punish you both,” Jane said. “I don’t know how. But it will happen.”

“I figured the two of us could take care of any emergency you might run across. Though you managed pretty well on your own.” He smiled at Jane. “But now you can sit back and concentrate on resting and recovering from what looks like the battle of the century.”

“Trevor, I told you not to try to—” She broke off. She had fought that battle before, and he wasn’t going to listen. She leaned back in the seat. “No comment from you, Caleb?”

“I don’t have to tell you that you need to rest,” he said quietly. “You’ve probably done damage. Your shoulder is going to start throbbing if it’s not already.”

“No serious damage.” But she didn’t tell him that he was right, and the healing wound in her shoulder was throbbing. She would be all right, she told herself. But now that the adrenaline was ebbing away, she was suddenly limp and exhausted. She didn’t want to argue with anyone at the moment.

Except Harriet Weber.

If Harriet were back on the scene, Jane knew that she would be ready and able to take her on. The woman was corrupt in a way that was different from Doane but might be even more evil. She was feeling a rush of strength and rage at the thought of her.

But not now. As Trevor said, she needed to conserve her energy.

“Okay?” Trevor asked softly.

She nodded. “Tired.” She smiled wearily. “But I found out one thing from my little dustup with Harriet Weber.”

“What’s that?”

“You were wrong, Trevor.” She leaned back and closed her eyes. “So wrong. I definitely have the killer instinct.”

CHAPTER

9

Denver International Airport

“IT’S TIME FOR YOU
TO
leave me now,” Zander said as he got out of the helicopter. “It’s been delightful, but I’m getting a bit bored with you, Catherine.”

“Liar.” She smiled as she jumped to the ground. “You may be feeling a bit claustrophobic, but you’re not bored. You just want to clear the decks while you go after Eve and Doane.” She looked around the private hangar facilities. “What did you tell Stang when you called him? Where is he? Which plane did you lease to take us to Seattle?”

“Stang went on ahead and is meeting me in Seattle. I’m not going into the city blind. I have a few contacts who can help me find Doane, and Stang will start the ball rolling.” He smiled. “And he arranged for that Gulfstream over there to take
me
to Seattle.”

“It’s a nice-size plane.” She started across the tarmac. “I don’t take up much space.”

“I mean it, Catherine.”

“I know.” She looked over her shoulder. “And you’re intimidating me a little. You have that ability in abundance, Zander. But I’m betting that I have an ace in the hole.”

“And what is that?”

“I’m Eve’s friend, and I care about her. She cares about me, too. I don’t think that you’d harm me when you know I’m fighting for her.”

“Of course, you could be wrong,” he said softly.

She nodded. “I’ve been wrong before.”

She held her breath as he stared at her without speaking for what seemed like a long time.

“I suppose I can tolerate you for a little longer.” He turned and strode toward the Gulfstream.

She let the breath she’d been holding escape. First blood. She ran to catch up with him. “You’ll have to do more than tolerate me,” she said. “I’ve been thinking on the way from Casper, and I’m going to have to start moving on all fronts.”

“You mean I’m not to receive your exclusive attention?” He wasn’t looking at her as he reached the steps of the Gulfstream. “Thank God.”

“Oh, you’re the primary item on the agenda. I still have to make sure you’re still alive at the end of the game.” She climbed the steps and entered the plane. “But the situation is becoming tense, and I can’t let you dominate it. Venable told you about those nuclear devices, right?” He didn’t answer, and she continued. “I know he did. He might keep certain things from you as a power play, but he’s scared shitless about those ramifications. He’d hope that you’d be willing to give at least minimal assistance.”

He sat down in a leather seat and fastened his seat belt.

“I’m not that optimistic. So I’ll probably have to take care of it myself.” She sat down across from him, fastened her belt, and took out her phone. “But since I have to stick to you, I might need help. We have all kinds of information spread all over, and it’s time to tidy up.”

“Tidy up?” Zander repeated. “I hope you don’t mean what I think you do. I won’t have anyone get in my way.”

“They’re more likely to get in your way if they don’t know where you’re going to be at a given time.” She paused to gaze at him before dialing. “Look, last time Eve was found in those mountains against all odds because the people who cared about her worked together to make it happen. Personally, I wish we had an army, but I’ll take the same people with the same motivation. Am I going to tell them that Eve is possibly in Seattle? Yes, but I’m also going to tell them that Chicago is also a target, and there could also be leads to her there. For all we know, Doane might be trying to trick Eve.”

“Eve didn’t think that she was being tricked,” Zander said. “I don’t either.”

“No, but we have to look at all possibilities.” She added, “And I believe that Jane hasn’t been telling me about something that Kendra and Margaret found in Doane’s safe house. Kendra would never discuss it with Venable because she didn’t trust him. She didn’t talk to me about it either. I’m CIA, and she was probably a little nervous about my connection with Venable.” She started dialing. “So I’m going to come clean with Jane and ask her to come clean with me.”

“You’ll excuse me if I go up to the cockpit and talk to the pilot,” Zander said as he got to his feet. “I’m finding all this new broom and cleaning jargon slightly nauseating.”

“By all means. I’m more at ease if I don’t have you glaring at me.” Catherine spoke into the phone as Jane answered. “Jane, Catherine Ling, I’m in Denver and there are things that you should know…”

*   *   *

THE GULFSTREAM HAD TAKEN OFF
and been in the air for over forty-five minutes when Zander came out of the cockpit.

“Finished?” He sat down in the seat across from her. “Is everyone on the same page?”

“We’re getting there.” She frowned. “What do you know about Doane’s ex-wife?”

“Not much. Except that after investigating her, the percentages were good that she wouldn’t cause me any trouble.”

“Your percentages may have been crap,” Catherine said bluntly. “She changed her name to Harriet Weber and moved to Muncie, Indiana, but she evidently didn’t change her affections when it came to her son, Kevin. She kept in contact with him by letter and possibly saw him on occasion. All in secret. Very ugly letters…”

“And Doane?”

“No sign of contact with him yet. Harriet Weber flew the coop when Jane confronted her, and Jane, Caleb, and Trevor are following Harriet in hopes she’ll lead them to Doane.”

Zander’s lips twisted. “Don’t we all have that same hope?”

“It’s a lead,” Catherine said firmly. “And we wouldn’t have it without Kendra and Jane and everyone else who are working to find Eve. You can sit on your mountaintop alone, but I’ll be slogging along and getting things done.”

“‘Slogging’? What an ugly word. And you’re not an ugly person, Catherine. It doesn’t suit you at all.”

“It suits my attitude.”

“But how are you going to ‘slog’ if you have to protect me on my mountaintop?”

Was there a hint of humor in those words? It was hard to tell. But she found herself smiling anyway. “I’m good at multitasking.”

“I imagine you are,” he murmured. “I’d like to relax. Are we through with all this cleaning and bonding and such?”

“Not quite.” She took out her phone again. “I asked Jane to phone Joe Quinn and fill him in, but I have one more person I have to call.”