Hunting Eve

“The car has stopped. I don’t hear it any longer.”

“Yes.” Doane strolled to the window. “He’s getting a little ahead of me. As I said, eager. I must join him and make sure that everything is as I want it.” He headed for the door. “I’ll be back soon. Now, you keep Kevin company.”

The next moment, he had left the barbershop, and she heard his footsteps on the wooden sidewalk.

Why the hell was Blick here? And why was she even wondering, she thought wearily. Contending with Blick couldn’t be worse than dealing with Doane. Blick was an unknown quantity, but she knew what a monster Doane could be.

For a moment, she had hoped that car might be salvation, or at least a passerby who might possibly change the equation. Deal with the disappointment.

And deal with the fact that she was handcuffed only scant inches from Kevin’s skull.

Panic. There was no sense to it when she had been working this close to him all day. But she hadn’t been chained and helpless before this. It made a difference. Her heart was pounding, and she could feel the chill and nausea starting.

It was like being stretched on an altar to be sacrificed and not be able to escape.

Block him out. Doane would return soon.

Block Kevin out.

*   *   *

BLICK WAS JUST COMING OUT of the saloon when Doane strolled across the street from the barbershop. “You’re very prompt, Blick. I trust you did exactly what I told you?”

“You say that as if you have the right to tell me what to do,” Blick said sourly. “You had nothing to do with it. It was what Kevin would have wanted.”

“You’re right. We’re both doing what my son would do if he were here.” He looked beyond Blick at the door of the saloon. “Inside?”

“Yes,” Blick said. “And it wasn’t easy. Where’s the Duncan woman?”

Doane jerked his head toward the barbershop. “She has a duty to do before I bring her here. But she’s almost finished.”

“You put me through a lot of trouble. It had better be worth it. How can you be sure that she wasn’t safe up at the factory?”

“I’m not sure. But when she pulled a knife out of nowhere, I just had a hunch that things weren’t as they should be.”

“A hunch?”

“Kevin would know what I meant. And approve. Did you learn so little from him, Blick?” Doane could see that the barb struck home. He should really pull back, but he didn’t give a damn. “But then you were more of an acquaintance, not kin. You couldn’t understand Kevin.”

“That’s not true.” Blick’s face was flushed with anger. “He trusted me, he taught me.”

“But I didn’t need teaching,” Doane said. “He was my son, one soul, Blick.”

“No, he thought you were a fool. He used you.”

Doane felt a bolt of pure rage and struggled to control it. “I’ll forgive that poison from you, Blick. We mustn’t have a break now, when we’re so close to the goal.”

“I don’t need your forgiveness,” Blick said roughly. “I’ve done my job, and now I’m going up to those trees in the foothills and set up. And you’d better be right, Doane.”

“You’re not going anywhere yet,” Doane said. “Not until you show me how well you did your job. I’ve got to make sure you haven’t made any slips.” He strode toward the door to the saloon and threw it open. “After that, you can do whatever you want to do.” He glared back at Blick over his shoulder. “Coming?”

Blick hesitated.

Doane waited. He’d said enough to play on Blick’s pride. Don’t say any more.

Come on, you son of a bitch.

Then Blick was moving toward him. “I didn’t make any slips.”

“Perhaps I wasn’t being fair.” Doane smiled as he stepped aside for Blick to enter the saloon ahead of him. “But I’m ready for show-and-tell, Blick.”

Southern Colorado

“HOW ARE YOU DOING?” TREVOR glanced sideways at Jane in the passenger seat as she charted their course on her tablet computer. “You seem to be holding up pretty well. We’ve been on the road a long time since we left Atlanta.”

“Good. Better than good, actually. Amazing.”

She shot a glance in the rearview mirror at Caleb, who met her eyes and smiled. The smile was subtle and carefully not too self-satisfied but she knew exactly what he was thinking. She wanted to slap him. If only she didn’t feel so wonderfully alive. Is this how it always felt to be him? Was Caleb’s blood so different that even the little he had given her would serve to give her this exotic sense of excitement and exhilaration?

“I daresay she’s never felt better, Trevor,” Caleb said quietly. “I do good work.”

“That remains to be seen,” Trevor said. “If it’s true, then I couldn’t be more happy. I just don’t trust quick fixes.”

“Neither do I. But I’d rather fix the problem and go back and do it again if there’s a breakdown. I’m far from perfect, but I can usually piece together a successful outcome.” He tilted his head. “While you are probably close to perfect but not nearly as interesting.” He thought about it. “Except to people who like the idea of safety and happily ever after. There are those rare souls who cling to that scenario and can’t be pried away from it. Tell me, Jane, how do you feel about it?”

“I feel that we should be getting close to our destination,” Jane said. “And that I’m in no mood to think about anything but getting to that hotel where we’re supposed to meet Kendra and Margaret.”

“Then let’s think about them.” Caleb leaned forward and rested his crossed arms on the front car seats. “You said we were close?”

“Yes.” She checked the GPS app on her tablet. “The hotel is just ahead.”

After another couple minutes, they rounded a bend in the highway to see the welcome sight of the Iron Peak Hotel. But as they pulled into the parking lot, Jane suddenly stiffened in shock.

“What’s he doing here?”

Venable.

He was standing next to a dozen men attired in standard-issue, black, assault-team garb: flak jackets, baseball caps, and boots.

“What the hell? Stop the car!”

Trevor hit the brake, and Jane was out of the Jeep before it even stopped moving. She was standing before Venable with clenched fists seconds later. “What’s going on?”

Venable’s eyes widened at the sight of her. “Jane. It’s good to see you looking so well. Your doctors told me that you were being released, but I had no idea that you were this far along.”

“I’m fine,” she said curtly. “Now what’s happening here?”

“We have reason to believe Doane may be nearby with Eve.”

“And you also believe that steamrolling in with a small army is your best bet? Doane is insane. Who should know that better than you? If he feels trapped, who knows what he’ll do.”

“Do you have a better alternative?”

“How about the alternative I’ve been suggesting.” Kendra Michaels appeared from the other side of the black-paneled vans. “Leave the battalion behind and go in stealth with a smaller team.”

Jane moved toward her. “Did you bring him into this?”

“No, there’s no way we’d refuse help if it was a reasonable offer. I told him this wasn’t the way to handle it, and I thought he was listening.” She gestured to Venable. “Margaret and I woke up to find them here using the lobby as a staging area. Kind of a nasty way to start a day.”

“Only doing my duty,” Venable said sarcastically. “Fu

Jane stared at him in bewilderment. “Not every means. Not if it’s this risky. I respect you, Venable. You’re not stupid. Why are you doing this?”

“We have a different opinion. Mine is based on more experience than you’ll ever have.”

Jane gave up and turned to Kendra. “Is Margaret still with you?”

“She’s bringing the car around. We were pla

“Why?” Venable asked. “You weren’t pla