“Tonight.”

“Then we’ll see you there tomorrow afternoon. If we can tear through the red tape and get the skull Eve’s reconstructing through Security and Customs. Homeland Security is a little difficult these days about things like that.”

“You’ll breeze right through. I have faith in you.”

“And we have faith in you,” he said quietly. “We’ve always been a great team. Hold on until we can get there and give you backup.” He hung up.

She felt a surge of warmth as she pressed the disconnect. No sappy sentiment, just those final words of faith and support. Tough yet understanding. Joe. Her friend who had given her that same support and understanding during all those years since she’d come to live with him and Eve.

She should have known he’d choose to team up with Venable. Another thing for her to worry about. Well, Venable would just have to take care of him or she’d-

What was she thinking? Joe wasn’t only a detective, he was a former SEAL. No one took care of Joe but Joe. Unless she could find a way of doing it without infringing on his independence. That sounded familiar. Joe and she were a lot alike.

MacDuff was just hanging up the phone when she got off the elevator in the gallery. “You got around to calling Venable?” she asked. “But you called Joe first. Why?”

“I wanted to pave the way for you. And it’s the duty of the host to offer the invitation. I learned that at my mother’s knee.”

“And what did you learn from Venable?”

“Nothing good,” he said grimly. “Weismann’s running scared. He said he can’t trust Venable right now. One of his contacts with the agency set up a trap for him. He barely got away with his skin intact. He’s going underground until he decides it’s safe for him.”

“No!” Jane said. “He can’t do that. Who knows how many people could die before he surfaces again. Venable has got to find him.”

“He’s trying,” MacDuff said. “But Weismann has probably been preparing for his vanishing act for years. It’s not going to be easy trying to track him.”

“I don’t care about easy. He’s got to do it.”

“Weismann’s ended all communication with Venable. He told him not to come after him, not to try to reach him.”

“The hell we won’t go after him.”

“My thought exactly,” MacDuff said. “As soon as I get you to MacDuff’s Run, I’ll see what I can do. Jock may have some idea how we can trace him.”

“But Jock’s already said that he didn’t know that much about Weismann.”

“Jane, we have to systematically go down every path until we find the right one.”

“Systematically?”

“Not the word you want me to use, is it? I’d like to jump over all the hurdles, too. But we don’t have that option. We’ll just have to be patient.” He took her suitcases. “Jock is waiting outside in the car. Let’s get going.”

She didn’t move. He was talking about going to MacDuff’s Run and hiding away from those bastards. It had been a tolerable solution when she had thought that Venable could make strides in discovering what was happening. It was not tolerable now. “There has to be some way to-”

He shook his head. “No jump starts, Jane.”

“I heard you.” She headed toward the door.

Systematic. No jump starts. Be patient.

She stopped short as a thought suddenly occurred to her.

“What is it?” MacDuff’s gaze was fixed on her face.

“Probably nothing.” That was true. It was only a wild wisp of an idea that had occurred to her.

Or was it?

All it might take would be a phone call…

She went out the door and past the crime-scene tape to the car by the curb. Jock got out of the car and held open the passenger seat door for her. “Ready to go?”

She nodded and got into the car.

She was vaguely aware of MacDuff getting into the backseat.

Think.

Was it such a bizarre idea?

Bizarre, yes. But did it have a chance of working?

Consider all the choices. By the time they got to the airport she had to have an answer.

MacDuff had shifted over on the seat so that he could see her face, and she could feel his gaze studying her. He had caught her instant of hesitation, and his every sense was alert and trying to process it.

“We should be at the airport in about twenty minutes,” Jock said as he pulled away from the curb. “And we’ll be home by midnight.” He glanced at MacDuff. “I’ve missed the Run. It’s strange. No matter where you go, you wish to go back to your roots.”

“You could have come back anytime. It was your decision to stay away.”

“I leaned too heavily on you. I had to learn to stand alone.” He looked at Jane. “And Jane wasn’t there to protect me from your domineering ways.”

“I’ve noticed you do very well on your own these days,” Jane said. She fell silent again. Time was passing.

Think. Concentrate.

That wisp of an idea was taking on form and texture. But would it work?

And how to go about it if she decided that it had a chance?

“YOU AND MACDUFF GET ON THE PLANE,” Jock said as he pulled up in front of the hangar. “I’ll turn in the rental car.”

“Okay,” MacDuff said as he got out of the car. “Don’t waste any time. I want to get out of here.” He reached out to open Jane’s car door. “Come on. Let’s go.”

She braced herself. “No.”

He stiffened. “What?”

She didn’t move. “I’m not going. You get on that plane and go to MacDuff’s Run. I have something to do here.”

“No way,” he said with great precision. “You stay, I stay.”

“You can’t stay,” she said. “Eve and Joe will be there tomorrow. I promised them they’d be safe. You made the same promise. The Laird’s promise. You have to make arrangements.”

“Then you go, too.”

“I can’t do it. I have to find Weismann.”

“I told you that we’d find him. It will just take-”

“Time? Patience? I don’t have either one, MacDuff. I’m going to get my jump start.”

“How?”

“In a way you’d probably not believe and certainly not approve. But I’ve got to try it.”

“Try what, Jane?” Jock asked.

“I think I know a way I can find Weismann.” She gazed directly at MacDuff. “But it’s going to be a very delicate process, and I can’t have you getting in the way. So you get on that plane, and I’ll call you when I find him.” She turned to Jock. “Will you go with me? I know MacDuff’s not going to let me go alone, and I have to have him at the Run to keep Eve safe.”

“You’re taking Jock and leaving me out in the cold?” MacDuff asked roughly.

“You’d want to run things. Jock is more reasonable.” She asked Jock again, “Will you go with me?”

Jock glanced at MacDuff, then back at Jane. He was silent for a moment. “How could I resist? It’s not often that I’m chosen over the MacDuff.”

“This isn’t smart,” MacDuff said harshly. “Jock, tell her that as long as she stays out in the open, she’ll be a target. She’s obviously not listening to me.”

“She knows that she’ll be in danger,” Jock said. “But it’s worth it to her. She’s going to do it, MacDuff. We have to make adjustments to the situation.” He put the car in gear. “I’ll keep her safe. We’ll call you every now and then to keep you informed.”

“Every now and then?” MacDuff repeated in disbelief. “Damn you, Jock, you’ll call me every day, or I’ll break your head.”

“I can see why Jane chose me,” Jock said. “She’s right, you’re not at all reasonable.” He drove off before MacDuff could answer.

“You didn’t have to goad him like that.” Jane’s gaze was on the rearview mirror. MacDuff hadn’t moved, and his expression was forbidding. “He’s positively fuming.”

“It will be good for him,” Jock said cheerfully. “He gets his way far too often.” He glanced at her. “And you’re the one who started it. I didn’t initiate this particular rebellion. MacDuff doesn’t like to be left out of anything.”

“He’s not being left out. He’s going to take care of the people I love.”

“He would regard that as less than challenging.”