“You were on a plane heading here anyway. We had enough to do without bothering to keep you in the loop. Kaskov’s man, Sakov, was killed today, throat cut. Bloody footprints leading to a car parked near the freeway.” He paused. “And it’s no coincidence that Eve got that call from Norwalk later on the same day. I’m sending you the recording, and you’ll see what I mean. Check it out while you’re on the road here. I want you up to speed by the time you talk to Cara … and Eve. Eve made a few decisions that—” He broke off. “Later. She’ll tell you herself. Just get here, and we’ll talk about possible damage control. The important thing to realize is that Norwalk isn’t hiding in the shadows any longer. He’s on the attack.”
“How can I realize anything until you let me hear that damn call that—” He stopped as his phone buzzed. “Hold on. I’m getting a text.” He punched the button for text access. “It’s from Benoit. I’ll be—” He started to curse. “Son of a bitch!”
“What’s wrong?”
“What could be wrong? Certainly not with your estimation of the current situation,” he said through his teeth. “Yes, Norwalk’s definitely on the move, and taking no prisoners. Benoit just got a report that Raoul Napier was found shot in his hotel room in Nice last night. And this morning, the Pierpont Funeral Home was blown up, taking father and son and any evidence that might remain with them to the Pearly Gates.”
*
He was here!
Cara was waiting on the porch when the headlights of Jock’s rental car speared the darkness of the risers of the steps as he pulled into the driveway. But she couldn’t wait anymore. She ran down the steps as he got out of the driver’s seat.
It seemed forever since she had said good-bye to him at the airport in New York. Just a few days, but too much had taken place in those days. She had been worried and sad and empty inside without—
“Jock!” She threw herself into his arms and held him with all her might. “I’m so glad you’re here. So many bad things … Joe said he told you, but there’s Darcy and Silvie and now Eve … Is it my fault that Eve’s going through all—”
“Shh.” His hand was over her mouth. “None of it is your fault. Norwalk is a crazy son of a bitch who wants to hurt Kaskov by hurting you. It was what I’ve been afraid would happen for years. As for the rest with Eve, I haven’t a clue. But we’ll find out and make it right.” He took his hand away and smiled down at her. “I promise.”
He was making it right just by being here and smiling that smile, she thought. She drew a deep breath. And it was okay that she wanted to touch him. He was touching her with affection and tenderness as he always did. Nothing had really changed. Best friends, she repeated to herself. Best friends forever. She took a step back and smiled at him. “I knew that. I just wanted to hear it from you.” She took his hand and pulled him up the steps to the porch. “Except about Eve. It could be that her taking me in caused Norwalk to target her, but she believes it’s something else.” She made a face. “I hope she’s right. It may be wishful thinking on her part, too. I’m in good company.”
“Yes, you are.”
“Eve wants to see you right away. But I wanted to see you more, so I waited out here until you came roaring up the driveway.” She chuckled. “I knew you wouldn’t be in any mood to give me anything but frowns after she talks to you about Kaskov.”
He stiffened. “Kaskov?”
She nodded. “She told Joe that telling you was her responsibility. But I’d bite the bullet for her if she’d let me. She’s had a really bad time with Darcy after that damn call from Norwalk.” Her lips tightened. “He killed Sylvie for nothing, Jock.”
“Or to make a statement.”
She shook her head. “It sounds like nothing to me. And I don’t need to tell you how it sounded to Darcy. She loved her, Jock.”
Jock’s gaze was on the door. “What’s it have to do with Kaskov?”
She nodded. “And you can’t get that out of your mind, can you? Go on. You’re not going to like it, but she was right, Jock. And don’t you give her a hard time, do you hear me? I’m not the only one that she has to worry about, that we all have to worry about.”
“She was right?” He repeated as he was heading for the door. “If you’re that defensive, I don’t think I’m going to agree.”
The door closed behind him.
She didn’t think he would agree either, she thought as she turned back to look at the lake. Particularly since he’d been proven right about the threat being targeted at her and Kaskov. Yet she could see how Eve would go to any lengths to make sure Michael was safe after that hideous threat to him. Cara felt the same way. She’d do anything to keep that monster who had killed Sylvie away from Michael.
“Cara.”
She turned to see Darcy coming out the door. “Hi, come and keep me company. Are you hiding out from all the flak flying around in there? Do I need to go in and throw Jock out?”
“No, Eve can take care of herself.” Darcy came out and stood beside her as she added absently, “Though I can see why you’d feel so protective of her. You love her. Defending her is also a way of defending your life with her. It’s almost a form of self-defense.”
“Good God.” She shook her head as she stared at Darcy. “Where did all that come from?”
“I took a few courses in psychology here and there. I was pretty messed up, and I had to learn how to sift through the bullshit.” She smiled without mirth. “Though I may have to take a few more lessons to see my way through what’s happening now. I’m having big-time trouble understanding that beast, Norwalk.”
“There’s no understanding. As you said, beast.”
“But I have to understand,” Darcy said fiercely. “I have to understand everything about him. You heard what he said on that call. Sylvie didn’t really exist. She was nothing to him. I’m nothing to him. But there had to be a reason that two people whom he thought had no value were still important to him. I’ve been thinking about that ever since Eve played back that call. I couldn’t think of anything else.”
Cara could see that. She had never seen Darcy so intense. She had been afraid that callous call might break her, but instead it appeared to have caused her to strengthen, totally focused. And Cara had to focus, too. Help her find an answer. “Twins,” Cara said. “He said he needed a twin.”
“But why?” Darcy murmured. “I was so upset and angry the first time I heard it that I couldn’t think of anything other than that Sylvie had been nothing to him. But then I played it again, and a few lines jumped out at me. When he was saying good-bye to Eve, Norwalk was telling her that talking to her made him feel like he was no longer alone. And that he always felt alone these days.”
“So?”
“That’s how I felt when I lost Sylvie,” she said simply. “I may have mentioned it to you. She was always with me, then she … wasn’t.”
Cara went still. “Because you were twins.”
She nodded. “Twins.” She looked out at the lake. “I know it sounds weird, but what I told you about the bond between Sylvie and me wasn’t limited to just us. Look it up. It’s been medically documented. There have been all kinds of tests, zillions of explanations why it occurs. The result is that nobody really knows why, it’s just there.”
“I wasn’t doubting you,” Cara said. “I didn’t understand, but I know that there’s too much going on in this world for me to question anything if I trusted the person saying it. I trust you, Darcy.” She paused. “So what are you saying?”
“I’m saying Norwalk needed a twin for his master plan, so he killed Sylvie. What did he say? Tit for tat?”
“That’s what he said.” Cara was gazing at Darcy’s face. “And that could mean because he’d lost a twin, he was taking another one away as some kind of revenge?”
“Sick. But that’s what he is, right? I don’t know why he did it. A statement? Whatever. But it meant something to him. A twin always means something. You have no idea how powerful that pull can be. Since Norwalk is clearly a psychopath, it might be a completely different dynamic than that between a normal set of twins, but the loss would still be mind-blowing.”
“Like yours?” Cara asked softly.
“Yes.” She glanced back at Cara. “But this isn’t about me and Sylvie right now. It’s about Sylvie and that devil who killed her. That’s what I’m trying to focus on now.”
She nodded. “And if he’s lost his twin, does that mean his twin is dead?”
“That’s what it meant with me.”
“Did you tell Eve?”