Nothing.
She drank half her bottle of water and then gave herself a moment before she took a photo of the latest sketch and texted it to Joe. Then she got up and went outside the tent and took a deep breath of the chilly night air. She gazed down at the lake and watched the mist move over the water. Tomorrow the lights would arrive and she would be down there helping to unpack them, getting ready to explore Cira’s world.
So different from Lisa’s bewildering, terrifying world.
“But you’d probably understand Lisa, Cira,” she murmured. “She might be a little like you. Not as seasoned, not as savvy, but she’s a fighter. You’d appreciate that in her.” She turned to go back into her tent. “I do.…”
*
The truck with the Australian lights and transformers arrived at noon the next day. The boxes were carried down from the road by four of MacDuff’s sentries and deposited on the shore leading to the north bank. Then MacDuff sent them away, and for the next four hours Jane, MacDuff, and Jock unpacked the contents, which resembled the light assembly on a high-tech movie set.
Complicated. Very complicated, Jane thought as she paused to wipe her forehead. “I hope these came with instructions, MacDuff.”
“A few.” MacDuff grinned. “We’re lucky they’re in English. Since I refused to let Carlisle come and set it up himself, he felt no qualms about making it hard for me. He did agree to accept my phone calls.”
“Thank heaven for small favors,” Jock murmured. He began to load the first of the lights on a dolly. “I’ll take these back to the north bank, to that rock formation where we set up the poles.”
“For those other super-duper infrared lights that failed miserably,” Jane said drily.
“But look on the bright side,” MacDuff said. “We already have the heavy work done. All we have to do is set up Carlisle’s power source and attach it.”
“After you figure out how to do it,” Jock said.
“There is that small hurdle,” MacDuff admitted. “But it’s going to work.”
“If you say so,” Caleb said as he came down the bank toward them. “But I hoped you’d have a little more accomplished by the time I got here.”
Jane went still and then forced herself to turn and look at him. The same. All force. All power. The same mocking smile and riveting charisma. “We might have accomplished more if you’d been here to help. As usual, you managed to bow out of the manual work, Caleb.”
“Hello, Jane. That dew of perspiration on you is very attractive. Sort of a glow.” He smiled. “And you know my expertise lies in other areas. Anyone can do common labor.” He turned to MacDuff and shook his hand. “Though I did mean to get here a bit sooner. I was out of the country.” He looked at the dolly Jock was loading and sighed. “But it appears that I’m still going to be forced to do my part. The poles by the boulders?”
Jock nodded. “You take the dolly and I’ll finish unpacking that final crate.”
“I’ll do it,” Jane said. “Take another dolly and both of you go, Jock. You’ll be able to unpack them faster and get back for another load. It’s starting to get dark, and we’ll want to get the rest of this stuff off the bank and where it’s supposed to go.” She glanced slyly at MacDuff. “We wouldn’t want a random crow flying around to grab one of MacDuff’s miracle lights to line her nest.”
MacDuff flinched. “Sacrilege.”
“I’ll make amends by going back to camp and putting on the coffee while you’re all bustling around in the mist.”
Caleb looked over his shoulder as he reached the trees. “That might not be an intelligent division of labor. You’re so good in the mist, Jane.”
The mist surrounding them, the cool dampness beneath her body. Caleb over her, his hands on her breasts, no breath in her lungs, wild eroticism everywhere.
She met his eyes. “Yes, I am. But it’s my choice if I want to go there.” She bent over the crate. “I’ll see you all back at camp.”
“Pity…”
MacDuff glanced at her as Jock and Caleb disappeared into the woods. “I’ll finish unpacking that crate. You can go back to camp now. You’ve worked hard today. That’s not why I want you here.”
“No, you want my invaluable vibes to soothe Cira.” She smiled. “But I don’t mind pitching in. You may not get much work out of Caleb.”
“You’d be surprised. He works hard when he chooses. That pose just amuses him. And he’s right: His talent lies in other areas. I just needed another man I trust to help with these lights. And Jock and he work well together.” His lips twisted. “They’re on the same wavelength.”
“It’s a wavelength you’ve been trying to keep away from Jock since you found him in that sanitarium.” She shivered. “He was an assassin, MacDuff. I would have thought you’d try to discourage him from being around a man like Caleb.”
“Jock runs his own life now. And there’re no other men like Caleb. They’re both deadly. I just have to hope that they’re not too explosive together.” He shrugged. “Hell, I’m only asking them to help me with those damn lights. It will be fine. Caleb shouldn’t be here too long. He warned me he couldn’t give me that much time.”
“Then all the more reason I should finish here before I go back to camp.” Jane pulled out another lamp from the box. “Now hush while I work up some more of that ‘glow’ Caleb was so sarcastic about.”
*
It was nearly ten that night when Jane saw MacDuff and Jock come out of the forest and walk toward the campfire.
She tried to make her tone casual as she hurried toward them. “It’s late. I was beginning to worry. What happened?”
“Nothing.” MacDuff smiled. “We just got caught up in the moment. Or should I say hours?”
“We got caught up in Caleb,” Jock interjected drily. “He was in a fever, and we became infected.” He went to the fire and picked up the coffeepot. “We only meant to start the job, but then we thought, Why not? So we went at it full speed.” He poured coffee in his cup. “As full speed as possible in that mist and dark.”
“We got a lot done,” MacDuff said. “We finished the attachment on the first pole and Caleb almost finished the second himself.”
“And where is Caleb?” She handed MacDuff a cup of coffee.
“He said he only had a little to finish on the second pole and for us to go back without him.” Jock finished his coffee. “Now I’m going to grab a sandwich and then hit the shower.”
“Should you have left him alone?”
“What’s going to hurt him? We’ve never run across any wildcats or any other large animals.” MacDuff grinned. “And if Caleb did, I’d bet on him. He’s one of the most nimble men in the forest I’ve ever seen, almost like an animal himself. And if he fell in the lake, we’d just laugh at him. No, he’ll be fine.”
He’s undoubtedly right, Jane thought. She was being foolish to worry about Caleb. She had seen him on the hunt in a forest in the Alps years ago and she knew what MacDuff meant about him resembling an animal. Wild …
But things could still happen. That mist remained a complete mystery to them. There could be sinkholes and underground currents in that lake. Agile or not, he could fall and break his stupid head open.
“He’ll be fine,” MacDuff repeated as he munched on a bacon sandwich. “Trust me. I wouldn’t have left him if I’d thought there was a danger.” His eyes were twinkling. “I might need him too much in the next couple days. He truly swept us along with him tonight.” He finished his coffee. “Now I think I’ll follow Jock and try to get this mud off me. It was a good first day, Jane.” He was moving away from the campfire. “If you and Cira have a nocturnal get-together, you might tell her about it.…”
But the day wasn’t over for Caleb.
She stared at the mist rising from the forest. Good God, she actually wanted to go after him. How dumb that would be. Caleb was no child and could take care of himself. He would only be amused if he knew she was worried about him.
And she would want to slap him.