Not herself. Caleb. “I’ll keep him safe. He’d laugh at that, you know.”
She smiled shakily. “Yes, but that doesn’t matter, does it?” She paused and then said awkwardly, “I … thank you, Jane MacGuire.”
“Say that when we get you out.”
“Don’t tell me what to do. I wanted to say it now.…”
*
Darkness.
Velvet.
Caleb’s dark eyes were looking down at her, she realized vaguely. His eyes were so like Lisa’s. She should have realized that sooner.…
“You didn’t even know I had a sister.” He was stroking her hair back from her face with that gossamer gentle touch. “You did well. Ever since this started you’ve done everything you could do. I’m proud of you. You should be proud of yourself.”
Why did it mean so much to her that he said that? She had thought she had been wandering around in a daze, getting nowhere. Even with Lisa tonight, it had—
But she wasn’t with Lisa any longer, she realized suddenly. She was lying on that white wrought-iron bed with Caleb holding her.
She stiffened and pushed him away. “There’s nothing to be proud of until we get Lisa out of there.” She sat up in bed and ran her hand through her rumpled hair. “I suppose you did a little eavesdropping?”
“I thought it would save time.” He raised himself on his elbow to watch her as she got off the bed. “And I didn’t hear anything that you wouldn’t want me to hear.”
“Well, I heard a few things I didn’t want to hear,” she said jerkily. “Though I think I knew it all along. That’s why I wanted so desperately to get her out of there. I knew she was going through more than she was telling me. Dear God, she has courage.”
“Yes. She always did.” His voice was without expression. “From the time she was a little girl.”
But there was something in his tone that caused Jane to turn to look at him. His face was as hard and without expression as his voice had been. “You had an idea Santara was putting her through this.”
“Operatives like Santara can be very determined. Yes, I thought there was a possibility. I deliberately kept myself from dwelling on it. The confirmation tonight wasn’t pleasant for me.” He met her eyes. “That was why I’d lie and cheat and kill to get her away from him. That’s why I’d even lie to you if I had to do it. Without either hesitation or question.”
And the cold mask he was wearing wasn’t hiding either his hurt or the terrible rage. He might be able to hold everything inside, but she had known him too long not to see it. Well, she shared that rage and she wasn’t going to pretend otherwise. “Then let’s stop talking about it and go do it.” She went to her suitcase, which was tucked in one corner of the room, and pulled out her Beretta pistol and tucked it into her jacket pocket. Then she turned toward the door. “But you’d better start worrying about that locked door and the fact that Santara will still be in the house.…”
SAN LEANDRO
11:35 P.M.
“No one will be able to see the boat unless they’re on the beach itself,” Caleb said as he pulled the speedboat onto the sand. “The overhang on the wall of the cliff will hide it from anyone above.” He reached in his pocket, brought out a key, and handed it to her. “Skeleton key. It’s specially crafted and it’s very good. You should have no trouble. I’ve used it many times before.”
As the hunter stalking prey. How many houses? How many kills? “I’m sure you have.” Her hand closed tightly on it. “No wonder you weren’t worried about the lock. I hope you have an answer for all the other problems.”
“All it would take is one for which I don’t have the answer. But I don’t believe that will come up.” He was out of the boat. “It will probably take at least forty minutes to an hour for me to take care of securing the perimeter and then get back here.” He handed her a slim silver cylinder. “Press the button on this if you see anything that worries you, and I’ll be back in a heartbeat. Otherwise, don’t get impatient if I’m a little late. I’m going to have to do a little rigging.…”
With that, he was gone.
She could see only a shadow as he moved up the twisting path toward the top of the cliff. Sleek and lithe and purposeful, and he was probably enjoying himself.
No, that wasn’t fair. Caleb was dead serious and driven tonight. It was just that she had watched him before on the hunt and knew the instincts and barbaric pleasure that took over when it drove him.
Seven men. Three guarding the house, four guarding the path to the mountains.
He might not be worried, but for her this hour would be excruciatingly long.
Try not to think of what Caleb was doing right now, she told herself.
Think about Lisa.
Her hand closed on the gun in her jacket pocket.
Think about what you have to do to that monster Santara if he gets in your way.
12:58 A.M.
He was back!
She hadn’t heard Caleb come down the cliff, but he was suddenly there. His dark eyes were glittering and his face held that same wild exhilaration she had been expecting to see. “Come on.” He swung her out of the boat and was pulling her toward the path leading up the cliff. “I want you in position in the next few minutes.”
“‘Position’?” She was running to keep up with him. “What do you mean? I’m supposed to go inside that house. Lisa is expecting me.”
“And she’ll get you. I just don’t want either of you to get anyone else there as company.”
“Did you manage to take out those sentries?”
“The ones I wanted to take out.” He’d reached a shelf in the cliff wall twenty yards from the top. “Now we do the cleanup.” He pulled Jane onto the shelf and pushed her against the cliff. He reached in his pocket and pulled out a small graphite device. “And a slight deterrence for Santara to keep him busy. I don’t want him phoning and checking on his men and not getting an answer.” He leaned against her as his finger went to the black button on the device. “Hold on to me. We’re going to rock.”
She instinctively grabbed hold of him. “What are you—”
Kaboom.
The earth shook and boulders and earth rained down over the sheer face of the cliff.
Caleb held her steady as the shock waves rippled through the ground above them.
“What—did you do?” she gasped.
“C-4. A present for the sentries closest to the mountains.”
“So that’s what you meant by rigging.”
The rumbling had lasted only a couple minutes and then he was nudging her back on the path.
“Why?” she asked as he pulled her up toward the top of the cliff.
“Why not? I believe that should catch Santara’s attention and get him out of the house, don’t you?” He was smiling recklessly as he moved up the final twenty feet to reach the top of the cliff. He put out his arm to keep her behind him and stop her from joining him as his gaze zeroed in on the house. “Front door wide open and ajar.” His eyes shifted to the burning inferno of fire in the trees leading to the mountains and the tall sandy-haired man disappearing into the smoke. “Oh, yes. That did it. He’d have to go see who was attacking that sentry outpost.” He turned and pulled Jane the rest of the way up the path. “Go get Lisa. I’ll stay down here on guard. Just in case Santara changes his mind and turns back.”
Jane was already flying toward that open front door. Until this moment, she had not been certain that Caleb wouldn’t go himself at this last moment in spite of what she had told him. No time to try to analyze anything Caleb would do or not do. Just get Lisa out of here.
She was inside the house, running up the stairs.
An oak door at the top of the steps.
She twisted the knob.
Locked.
Her hands were shaking as she pulled the skeleton key out of her pocket and inserted it in the lock.
It didn’t work!
Don’t panic. Caleb said it would work.
She inserted it again and slowly, carefully turned the key.
It clicked!
She threw open the door.