“It wasn’t?”
“No, every day I’d get a few lines from her. Never demanding a comment or answer. Sometimes it was just to tell me what Luke was doing. Or that she’d heard from Hu Chang and Erin from that village in Tibet and what they were doing to help the villagers. A few times she shared a few memories of how she’d grown up in Hong Kong. Once she told me about a temple where she’d spent time with Hu Chang after she’d first met him and prayed for the soul of a young prostitute. She said that the priests believed the soul lived on, and she’d lit a candle to light the way. She said at the time she’d thought it couldn’t hurt. No preaching. Just touching base every day to remind me that she was there, and so was the rest of the world. It made me feel … warm.”
“Me, too.” Eve swallowed. “I had no idea.”
“No surprise. I’m sure she wouldn’t want you to know she’d reached out to me in such a personal way.”
“You wouldn’t think e-mails could be that personal.” Eve smiled faintly. “But I can see that it would be a medium in which Catherine would feel comfortable. She could touch without revealing her own vulnerability.”
“I was feeling pretty damn vulnerable myself, and I wasn’t analyzing Catherine’s motives. I was just grateful. I’m still grateful, and I’m not going to let anyone hurt her or you. I’m hopping into a rental car and I’m on my way. Okay?”
“It appears it’s going to have to be. Maybe Joe should come and—”
“Love you. Bye.” Jane broke the connection.
Eve turned to Joe. “You shouldn’t have contacted her. She has her own battles to fight. It’s pretty clear she’s still going through hell.”
“I thought a limited involvement could be good for her. It might take her mind off Trevor’s killing.” He grimaced. “But I meant for us to go to her, and then I’d make a call to Scotland Yard and get protection for—”
“Since when did Jane ever know the meaning of limited?” Her gaze went to the portrait of herself that Jane had painted last year and Joe had insisted on hanging on the wall. She had sketched Eve in her blue chambray work shirt with the sleeves rolled up, her head thrown back laughing. It was a wonderful example of Jane’s brilliant talent, and her agent had wanted her to show it. She’d been insistent because Jane was still a struggling artist, and she’d told her this could be a breakthrough. In spite of Eve’s arguments, Jane had turned her agent down flat. Joe loved that picture. And Eve loved it, too, because Jane had caught all the joy that she brought into Eve’s life. Jane had always been wary and afraid to trust because she’d bounced from foster home to foster home throughout her childhood. But when they’d come together, magic had happened.
No, love had happened.
And she thanked God she’d found Jane on the streets that day.
“You’re right, I suppose,” Joe said. “I should have known Jane would come running. I guess I was only thinking about you.”
She felt a melting deep within her as she looked at him. She was always first with him and had been all these years. “Not only,” she said softly. “As usual, you were trying to make everyone safe, everyone happy. Sometimes, we just don’t cooperate with you and go our own way. It doesn’t make what you do any less important … or less loving.” She moved across the room and into his arms. “And Jane knows that you’re doing what you think is right. She just has a few ideas herself on that score. We’ll have to work together to blend those solutions together.” She gave him a quick kiss. “She’s renting a car. Could you maybe call airport security and have someone follow her here?”
“Sure.” He reached for his phone. “But she should be safe. She doesn’t even know Catherine that well.”
“Better than we thought.” She frowned. “It makes me uneasy. Who knew that Jane would develop such an intimate long-distance connection with Catherine?”
“And did she?”
She nodded. “And all through the glories of e-mail…”
*
“E-mail?” Hu Chang repeated Catherine’s word with distaste. She had called him after they’d boarded the helicopter at the airport and gone over both Santos’s call and the possible ramifications on Kelly Winters. “I have no liking for such technology. We’ve always disagreed on this. It has a tendency to cause too many problems.”
“And it can be both wonderful and informative. Providing you don’t have a vicious killer trying to break into your Internet mail.”
“Which you do.”
She tried to hold on to her patience. “I don’t divulge FBI business. I don’t say anything personal that I would be uneasy about revealing. How was I to know that Santos would be monitoring—” She broke off. “But I suppose that clinches your argument. I didn’t know. I left myself exposed. I should cut off the e-mails.”
“No, I said we disagreed. I didn’t say that you should stop. Sometime, things that aren’t wise can be necessary for the soul. You have trouble reaching out, and this can be a healthy outlet for you. The chances of this happening again after we dispose of Santos is minimal.”
“Then I have your permission to continue?” she asked sarcastically. “How kind.” Then she added wearily, “But I believe I’d be afraid of reaching out again. I’ll have to think about it.” She changed the subject. “Is Erin there with you yet?”