“Do we?” She took another sip of coffee. She was getting steadier. “You went to a great deal of trouble to find someone you thought would make Caleb perform for you. Would you care to tell me what you need from him?”
“‘Perform’?” She threw back her head and laughed. “Now that’s a fitting word. No one’s better at performance than Caleb.” She leaned back in the chair. “Oh, I intend to tell you what I need from him, Jane. I want you to be able to know what’s going to save your life so that you’ll be infinitely persuasive with him. No matter how much you please him, Caleb can be very difficult to manage.”
“No one manages Caleb. But I’m curious to hear what you think you can make him do. He said something about the American Hospital.”
She nodded. “Yes, he’s guessed that he’ll be required to do a little blood adjustment, but I refused to tell him anything until I had him here in Dubai. I’ve no objection to sharing it with you, because you’re not going anywhere.” She smiled. “And when Caleb sees that I really do have you and you’re not ‘damaged,’ he won’t go anywhere, either.”
“Who is it?”
“Tarik El Haroun.”
“Why?”
“Because he may be the most important man in Dubai outside of the royal family, who are the sole rulers of the country.” She tilted her head contemplatively. “No, he has more power than some of the members of the royal family. Money is everything, isn’t it, Jane?”
“I’ve never found that to be true. He’s some kind of oil sheik?”
“No, oil provides only about seven percent of the wealth of Dubai. It’s such a magnificently rich city. I knew as soon as I started giving dinner parties for Gino’s clients from here that it was my kind of place. Then when Haroun was pointed out to me at a gala, I started to keep my eye on him.” She smiled. “Because eighty-six percent of the wealth of Dubai is tied up in real estate. And Haroun owns or controls most of it. He has a distant connection to the royal family, but he’s such a fantastic businessman, that has little to do with it. But he’s made Dubai flourish, and that’s made the royal family very happy.” She paused. “Except for one or two members who would prefer that his power and influence just go away.”
“And you’ve promised them that you’ll see that it does,” Jane said slowly. “With no way to detect that it was murder.”
She nodded. “It’s been an exciting project for me to develop from the moment I found out that Gino had been fool enough to send us close to bankruptcy.” She leaned forward, and for an instant her beautiful face turned ugly. “Do you know how I felt when I learned that bastard had ruined everything that I’d worked to achieve in the last twenty years? I should have kept a closer eye on him, but I thought even he couldn’t get rid of that much money on his whores and drugs.” Then her expression cleared and was once more serene. “But it will be fine once I’m able to get Haroun out of the way. I’ve negotiated an amount that will make me as wealthy as I’ve always dreamed of being. Far richer than the life Gino could ever provide me.”
“And what’s Caleb’s part in this?”
“Tarik El Haroun is having a heart procedure done two days from now. Only stents inserted, so no problem is expected.” She added softly, “But heart operations can always be iffy if not performed correctly, or even if they are. Of course Haroun has the best surgeons and staff available, absolutely above reproach. And, since the royal family regard him as something of a national treasure, they’re providing security to protect him while he’s in the hospital. So if anything were to go wrong, it would cause an uproar that would shake everyone at the hospital and the political hierarchy. An autopsy, investigations—everyone would be suspect. But in the end it will be found that his death was due to a ruptured artery not caused by poison, medicine, or the surgeon who performed the operation.” She smiled. “And that Allah just wanted to take his good servant off to paradise.”
“And how is Caleb supposed to get close enough to that ‘good servant’ to send him packing to Allah?”
“That’s up to him. I remember Caleb as being so very clever, and I’ll provide him with detailed maps of the hospital and any personnel records he might need.”
“He won’t do it.”
“For your sake, I hope you’re wrong. I believe you are.”
“Because you think if you threaten me that he’ll soften and do whatever you want?” She shook her head. “Soften? The only chance you had of Caleb softening toward anyone on this earth was when you kidnapped Lisa. When Santara lost her, it blew that for you.”
“I never mention softening.” Her smile deepened. “Quite the opposite. I agree Lisa is an anomaly in Caleb’s life. I’ve always found him to be both ruthless and manipulative. He doesn’t allow anyone that close. But closeness isn’t necessary to influence him. He’s a sexual animal and he evidently has developed an obsession for you. I have reports that he constantly seeks you out.”
“Coincidence.”
She laughed. “That’s what he said. But he eventually told me himself that he finds you pleasing and wouldn’t want you damaged.”
Jane felt a ripple of shock. “You’ve talked to him?”
She nodded. “He’s on his way here. I thought it time I put plans in motion.”
“If they include me, you’re going to be disappointed. You’re completely wrong about Caleb’s attitude toward me.”
“I won’t be disappointed. I’ll just make adjustments if I need to do that.” She was gazing at Jane critically. “But he might be disappointed if you look like that when he gets here. Dreadful. Finish that coffee and get into the shower. I’ll get you something to wear that doesn’t make you look like you’ve been upside down in a vehicle.”
“Which I was.”
“And I was thinking about leaving you in this condition, but it would be counterproductive. My entire plan for you is based on the fact that you don’t arouse Caleb’s sympathy, but another emotion entirely.” She got to her feet. “So you will be presented to him in as pleasant packaging as possible, something that reflects what he will be missing if he makes me dispense with his toy. And my generosity in allowing him to keep you.” She looked back at Jane as she reached the door. “You will shower and take care of doing that, or I’ll send Santara in to assist you. You won’t like that, but he would.”
“I’ll do it myself.” Jane put down her coffee cup. “Because I’m filthy and not because I’m complying with your orders. I dealt with Santara on the plane. I’m not afraid of him.”
“You should be. He went easy on Lisa. Because I told him he had to.” Her gaze narrowed on Jane. “But you’re annoying me. And you’re beautiful, but I can’t see why Caleb’s obsessed with you. You’re nothing like—” She turned away. “I might have to observe him closer when he gets here.”
“And you’ll find out you’re totally wrong,” Jane said. “You formed all those wild, unsubstantiated assumptions because you were frantic to—”
“I don’t like the word frantic any more than I do desperate,” Teresa said. “You’re digging a deep hole, Jane.”
I probably am, Jane thought. She was still bleary and disoriented, and everything that Teresa had thrown at her in the past few minutes had bewildered and frightened her. “I’m just trying to tell you that you’re mistaken. And I don’t understand why you think you know Caleb well enough to jump to those conclusions.”
Teresa’s brows lifted. “Why, who would know him better, Jane? After all, we were lovers.”
The door shut behind her.
Jane was frozen, staring at that door.
Lovers. That possibility had not occurred to her. Caleb had never given a hint there was a sexual relationship between them.
But then, she never knew anything about Caleb except what he wanted her to know.