“And is that what you thought?” His lips twisted. “Am I going to do that, Cara?”
“No, you’re going to hate it, but you’ll find a way to do what you think has to be done without damaging what Eve has set up with Kaskov.” She met his eyes. “Because you wouldn’t want to take the chance that she might be right, and you’d run the risk of spoiling a way of winding this up quickly.” She smiled faintly. “Is that what you told her?”
He was silent a moment. “No, I wasn’t that generous. I was too pissed off. I told her what she’d done was dangerous, and it might be hard to pull her out of the fire.”
She nodded. “But she’d recognize that as a tacit acknowledgment that you’d accept it and be ready to do the extraction.” She added, “So she felt comfortable about leaving you and going to put Michael to bed.” She nodded. “And you thought a stiff drink is what you needed to bring that frustration and anger down to a low simmer. Too bad MacDuff isn’t here. He’s your favorite drinking partner. He would have been glad to join you.”
“You think you can read me so well?” he said softly. “In this particular situation, I’m finding that particularly annoying.”
“Of course I can read you. Not as well as you can read me. You sometimes say one thing and mean another. I’m clear as glass, and I never try to hide anything from you.”
“Yet I’ve been feeling lately that you might be trying to do that.” His gaze was narrowed on her face. “I believe I mentioned that before. Now isn’t the time for secrets, Cara.”
She suddenly couldn’t breathe. She wanted to reach out and touch him. She had made a mistake and blundered into that area that was causing her to—
Back out. Don’t reach toward him. But don’t run away, that would be worse.
Distract him.
“Hiding something? Because I know that you and MacDuff usually have a drink when you’re together?” She looked at his whiskey. “Though how the two of you can stand that stuff, I’ll never know. Perfectly foul, Jock. The one time I ordered one, I nearly choked.”
“Ordered one?” He tilted his head. “Just where did you order a whiskey?”
“Phoenix. We went out after a charity concert to a party at the home of one of the benefactors, and I ordered one from the bartender. So it was kind of legal.”
“Were you with Darcy?”
“No, that was before I knew her. She doesn’t drink much anyway. But she does believe in experimenting. So I should probably go with her if I try anything else. Right?”
“You could wait awhile. You’re only eighteen.”
“But I told you, it was almost legal. These days there are all kinds of exception laws about liquor in private homes.” She looked at the whiskey again. “I have to find out what I like, and I don’t like. Experimenting is important. The older I get, the more aware I am that I should experience everything. Don’t you agree that—” She stopped as she met his gaze. She had been rattling on, but she suddenly realized she was in deep waters. She inhaled sharply. Too far? “Jock?”
“Not the time for this, Cara,” he said quietly. “I don’t know quite what you’re doing, but I believe that you’re playing me. You know I’m very protective, and what you said would send up red flags. If you recall, my own experiments when I was even younger than you almost destroyed me. I want everything for you, but I prefer a controlled environment.” He tossed back the rest of his whiskey and set the glass on the bar. “We’ll discuss experimentation later.” He moved toward the door. “But right now, I intend to set about ‘doing what has to be done’ to safeguard us all from Kaskov.”
“Now? You just got here,” she said. “And I meant to tell you that Darcy thinks that Norwalk had a twin who perhaps was killed. We were going to tell Eve and Kaskov.”
“Don’t bother with Kaskov. I’ll tell him myself.”
The door shut behind him.
Kaskov?
She stood there a moment, her hands clenched into fists. She had rushed forward with the first thing that she thought might distract him from seeing too much, and it could have been the wrong way to go. He’d been in an explosive mood anyway, and she might have driven him to be more reckless.
No, she knew he would do whatever he intended to do anyway. And when he did it, there would be no recklessness, just cold, precise efficiency. The exact response she had been hoping never to see in him again.
But it had been a foolish hope in a situation like this, she thought wearily. The trigger was there, and Jock would pull it. All the more reason to get this over and everyone safe.
The twin.
She started across the living room and down the hall. She had to tell Eve about the twin who might have been the reason for all this madness.
And break the news that Jock was going to see Kaskov to inform him himself.
BELLE GRACE MORGANA, LOUISIANA 4:40 A.M.
The last move.
Jock slid out of the secret compartment in the hall wall and closed it behind him.
He glided silently down the hall toward the bedroom.
No security alarms on the bedroom door itself.
But it was Kaskov who was behind that door, and that was always the principal danger, Jock thought.
He soundlessly opened the door and slipped inside into darkness. He could see the king-size bed across the room. And the shape of a man beneath the covers in that bed.
Enough.
He had reached his objective. He dropped into a brocade chair beside the door. “Kaskov,” he said softly.
The man on the bed was instantly awake. His body language changed, became tense, ready. “You’re dead, you know.”
“No, I don’t know.” Jock turned on the lamp on the table beside him. “But the attempt might have been enjoyable enough to be worth it. Hello, Kaskov.”
“Gavin.” A little of the tension left Kaskov’s muscles. “I should have known.” He sat up in bed. “I’m glad we found the means to keep you entertained. How did you get into the compound?”
“With difficulty.” He smiled. “And I have no intention of telling you how. I might need to use it some other time. But you’ll be glad to know that your men were all alert and fairly competent. I only had to put one down, and I didn’t have to make it permanent.”
“Thank you,” he said dryly. “Since I had Nikolai put on extra guards today, I wouldn’t want to feel the effort was wasted.” He paused. “The man you put down wasn’t Nikolai by any chance?”
“No, I remember from our former encounter that you have a fondness for him. I didn’t want to start off on the wrong foot.”
Kaskov stared at him, then chuckled. “You don’t think invading my turf … and my bedroom is starting off on the wrong foot? Nikolai would say that such a show of disrespect could have only one ending.”
“But I didn’t kill you,” Jock said. “He might agree that you should grant me a pardon.” He leaned back in the chair. “And I’ll let him know most of the weaknesses in his compound defenses, and that should please him. You can tell him that I was just doing a test run.”
“You locked him in the trunk of my limo in Moscow. He’s not likely to believe me.”
“We were on opposite sides at the time.” He met his eyes. “I understand that’s changed.”
Kaskov gave a low whistle. “You’re angry. That’s what this is about.” He studied him. “You don’t trust me. You don’t like the power I can wield. You’re afraid I’ll take a step too far and get Cara killed.”
“All of the above,” Jock said. “Or get in my way and keep me from stopping that son of a bitch from killing her.”
“Serious concerns.” He was silent. “I wish to get out of bed. I have a gun in the drawer of the nightstand and a knife in that drawer in the table you’re sitting beside. Those are my most obvious weapons. The others I will have more difficulty getting to. May I get a cup of coffee from my automatic coffeemaker across the room on that buffet?”