“I didn’t mention names.”
“No, you didn’t. But Teresa and Gino left for Rome right before you scooped me up. Someone in that house drugged me. And you had to have had access to the house in some way to get me out of there.” She added unsteadily, “And not many people know that Seth might come after me if he thought I was in trouble. I haven’t seen him for a long time, but Teresa and Gino knew what he’d done when my sister was killed.” She shuddered as another wave of pain struck her, and she tried to get her breath. “But I don’t know why they’d do this. Why they’d let you do it. They didn’t care anything for me or Maria, but I didn’t think they hated us. It annoyed Teresa when I didn’t do what she wanted me to do, but she just ignored me and saw that I was away at school all year. I wasn’t worth her effort unless I got in her way. And Gino was always just a shadow figure. I hardly saw him at all.” She shook her head. “But that’s all changed, hasn’t it? Now Seth is worth her effort … so I guess I am, too. But why now? When they’ve ignored him all these years?”
“Profit. The name of the game. She tells me it’s a big score.”
She was silent, her gaze searching his face. “I notice you’re not denying that it’s Teresa and Gino. You wanted me to know it was them, didn’t you?” She moistened her lips. “Because you don’t want them to argue about your killing me later. Otherwise, I’d be a witness against them.”
“Very smart. Too bad you can’t keep your mouth shut. I decided after the second day with you that you weren’t going to last any longer than I had to put up with you.”
“Second day? I thought it was after the first day. I could see it whenever you looked at me.”
“I might change my mind if you make the call to Caleb.”
“No, you wouldn’t. It won’t happen.” She closed her eyes. “Now either keep on hurting me or go away and let me sleep. I don’t want to look at you any longer. It makes me want to break my promise, and I’m trying to hold on for a little longer.…”
*
“He broke Lisa’s thumb.” Teresa grimaced as she turned back to Gino. “He wanted me to say that he had carte blanche to do what he wanted with her. We may have to replace him. He doesn’t understand that Lisa has to be handled with great skill. She can be almost as stubborn as her brother. I never dreamed she’d be this protective of Caleb after being separated from him for this long.” She smiled as she poured tea into her cup. “He actually asked for a list of approved methods. Isn’t that amusing?”
“I don’t find it amusing.” Gino scowled. “I heard what Caleb did to some of those cult members who killed Maria. I’m not certain we should be using Lisa.”
“Of course we should. We had no choice.” She lifted her cup to her lips. “She was the perfect solution. Everyone knows that he doesn’t give a damn about anyone or anything. Except perhaps Lisa. If Caleb was to be used, we had to have a key.”
“Then we shouldn’t try to use Caleb.” Gino was hyper, too edgy, and she could tell he’d started using the coke earlier than usual today. “You should have listened to me. I told you that from the beginning.”
Teresa tried to hide her contempt with a smile. “And I told you from the time that his dear parents told me what a monster Caleb was that I could find a way to make that monster an asset to us. I’ve put in a good deal of effort to make that possible. I know Seth Caleb. True, there are certain risks, but I can use him.” She took another sip of her tea. “And if you hadn’t been so careless as to almost bankrupt us, I might never have seen fit to put that plan into action. Just two more years and we would have been able to find a way to tap into Lisa’s trust fund and none of this would have been necessary. But now I’ve tossed all my eggs into the golden basket and I have to see that I get everything that you’ve lost back in triplicate.”
He glowered at her. “It wasn’t my fault.”
“Of course not.” She added maliciously, “Did I say that? Oh, I did, didn’t I? Forgive me. I know how sensitive you are. Now, why don’t you get on the phone and check and see how Haroun is doing? It may affect how much more time I give Santara before I take over persuading Lisa myself.”
*
“I’m leaving,” Caleb said as he strode toward Jane that afternoon. “I’m heading for Rome to check out what’s been happening with the Romanos. They have to have something to do with this. It’s all too pat. I’ll call later to find out if Lisa’s managed any other contact with you.”
Jane hesitated. “Maybe I should go with you.”
“You’re not invited.” He stared her in the eye. “Not until I get that invitation you’ve been denying me to pay a visit with you to link with Lisa. You’ve forced me to go out on my own to try to find her. You can’t have it all your own way.”
“I’m trying to have it her way,” she said curtly. “You were on the phone most of the afternoon. Did you get any leads on Leon Santara?”
“Not yet. But it might be an alias. I’m looking into it.”
“Will you let me know if you do hear anything about him while you’re gone?”
He didn’t answer.
“Don’t you do this to me, Caleb. I know you’re angry, but I have to know about Santara. He’s hurting Lisa.” Her hands closed into fists at her sides. “I think he’s doing more to her than she’s telling me. I have to know if he’s crazy or vicious enough to kill her. I may not have your influence with her, but maybe I can talk her into toning down the rhetoric.”
“But you won’t let me step in and do it.” He didn’t speak for a moment. “I’d like to refuse, but I can’t do it. I’ll let you know what I find out about Santara. But I’m not going to forgive you if you make a mistake that causes me to lose her.”
“I wouldn’t forgive myself,” she said quietly. “Don’t you think that’s a possibility that’s haunting me? But I can feel how willful she is. I think she must be like you before you managed to become a little civilized. She could explode at any moment. I’m just trying to strike a balance between the two of you that will give her a chance.”
“Then change your mind, dammit. Let me do what I do best.” He turned on his heel and strode up toward the road where his car was parked.
She watched him leave. He was difficult as hell, but she couldn’t blame him for being angry. Lisa meant something to him that perhaps no one else on Earth did. Jane realized she was probably lucky he’d been as restrained as he had been with her. But that didn’t mean it made the situation any easier.
“He’s gone again?” Jock Gavin was strolling up the bank toward her. “I guess we were lucky to have Caleb as long as we did. He did a good job while he was here. He said he was off to Rome?”
“That’s what he told me.” She smiled at him. “Are you two done for the day?”
“Just breaking for lunch.” His gaze was still on Caleb. “He’s tense. Very tense. You wouldn’t care to tell me what’s between the two of you at the moment? Besides the obvious, I mean.”
She went still. “Obvious?”
He shrugged. “You want me to be blind, I’m blind. It’s between the two of you. But there’s something else stirring.…” His narrowed gaze shifted back to her face. “Isn’t there?”
He was too good a friend to lie to. “Yes.”
“And it’s bad?”
“Very bad.”
“May I help?”
“No.” She reached out, her hand closing affectionately on his forearm. “No one can help right now until we get a handle on this. I might ask for help later. So keep on helping MacDuff with his darned lights and I’ll yell if I need you.”
He grinned. “By that time, I’ll probably be ready for a long break. You may like communing with the spirits of the mists, but it gets a bit boring for me. If it wasn’t MacDuff’s passion, I’d be off to something a little more entertaining.”