“Nothing. Not a damn thing. But I have to find out what they think I’ve done. Couldn’t you have asked one of this core group questions? Then I wouldn’t have had to find Weismann.”

“But I wasn’t in your confidence to that extent, was I? I had my orders.” He nodded. “I explored that possibility after I talked to Sevelli, but I couldn’t get any of them alone to have a discussion. They’re very close-knit. I didn’t have time to arrange another opportunity. But Sevelli did give me one piece of information he thought interesting. Weismann had been flying to Paris frequently to visit a woman. Sevelli saw him twice at the airport with her when he was on jobs for Millet. Tall, beautiful woman. And a very affectionate couple. He was curious and did a little digging to find out who she was. I think he was considering blackmailing Weismann if the opportunity presented itself. But he decided to share the information with me. After all, family is more important than money.”

“Family?”

He smiled. “Why, Sevelli thinks of me as a brother.”

Why had she even asked the question? But that weird gift he possessed was still too new to her to accept easily. “And what else did your ‘brother’ tell you?”

“The woman’s name is Adah Ziller, age twenty-nine, a citizen of Syria. She’s a human resource executive for Med-Coastal Oil.”

“And you think she might know where he is?”

“It’s worth exploring.”

“Then why aren’t you doing it? Why waste time coming here?”

“Because I knew you’d be on edge about having to spin your wheels waiting for me to come through for you. I got to know you very well while we were in Atlanta together. I didn’t want you to have to suffer through all that angst unnecessarily.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I thought you’d prefer to come with me to see Adah Ziller. She has a house in a subdivision near Versailles. It shouldn’t take us more than an hour to get there.” His brows lifted. “If you want to go.”

Yes.

“Of course, I want to go. Weismann might even be with her.”

“There is that possibility.”

She jumped to her feet. “Wait here while I shower and dress.” She stopped as she reached the bathroom door. “I have to tell Jock.” Then she had a very satisfying thought. “No, you knock on his door and tell him.”

His gaze narrowed on her face. “Are you throwing me to the lion, Jane?”

“Yes, you’re being so condescending about Jock’s being so ‘complicated.’ You deal with him. I think you’ll be surprised at how simple and direct he can be when he chooses.” Then she looked him in the eye. “And I don’t want you to do anything that’s even a little off kilter. Jock is not your brother, and I don’t want even a hint that he’s feeling like ‘family.’ ”

“You won’t. That wouldn’t be in the least clever on my part. Besides, it’s not according to code. I’ll just brave Jock Gavin and try to survive until you get out of the shower.”

She gazed at him searchingly. Could she believe him?

“Don’t worry.” He said softly. “I won’t let your lion eat me, but he’ll be the same lion when you see him again.”

She nodded slowly. “Jock was almost destroyed by a bastard who tried to twist his mind to suit himself. I’d never forgive anyone else for doing it.”

“I know you wouldn’t. That’s why you should feel perfectly at ease.”

Would she ever feel perfectly at ease with Caleb? Did he really want her to be comfortable with him? It was clear he was accustomed to power, and sometimes you had to give up one for the other. “I don’t know you well enough to be at ease with you, Caleb.”

“I’m trying to rectify that.” He started to turn away. “How long will you be?”

“Not over twenty minutes, tops.” She suddenly turned back to him. “But do you think going to see Adah Ziller will really do any good? Just because she had sex with him doesn’t necessarily mean Weismann would confide in her.”

“No, that’s very true.”

“Yet you said that you thought she was an avenue worth exploring. Why?”

“Because I’m curious as to why Weismann went to bed with her at all. So was Sevelli. That was why he thought the relationship might have the potential for a cash return for him.” He opened the hall door. “When one other interesting fact that I found out from Sevelli was that Weismann is gay.”

WHEN JANE CAME OUT OF THE bathroom fifteen minutes later, she found Jock and Caleb both in the bedroom.

Her gaze flew to Jock’s face.

Tension. Edginess. Exactly what she should expect to see.

Caleb shook his head as he studied her face. “I told you I’d be good. You have no trust.”

“I’m sorry, Jane,” Jock said. “I let you down.”

“What?”

“He got into your room. That means it could have been someone else. I should have-”

“Oh, for goodness sake. What could you do? Sleep across my threshold? I was safe, Jock.” She glanced at Caleb. “From everyone but him. I’ve been thinking about it, and I don’t usually sleep that hard. I should have heard someone coming into the room. You did something to make sure I didn’t do that, didn’t you?”

“How suspicious you are.”

“Didn’t you?”

He shrugged. “I didn’t want to frighten you. It was just a little stroking.”

“Don’t you ever do that again. I don’t want to be stroked by you.”

“Now that’s a challenge.”

She looked back at Jock. “You can see that there was nothing more that you could have done tonight. I don’t believe the Sang Noir would be able to produce a cat burglar who was also able to shuffle perceptions around.”

He shook his head. “No, I can’t see that, Jane. All I see is that I didn’t do my duty to you. Because I can’t believe that Caleb can really do that.”

Of course he can’t, she thought helplessly. She had confronted him with a situation that would have been rejected by anyone. To make it worse, she had given him all of fifteen minutes to dress, pull himself together, and come to terms with his guilt about neglecting what he considered his duty. Then she had thrown Caleb into the mix to increase the tension.

“Do you want me to prove it to him?” Caleb asked her.

“No, leave him alone.”

He held up his hand. “Don’t get upset. Just offering.” He turned toward the door. “But if you don’t want my help, then we’d better get going. I want to be at Versailles before dawn.”

She didn’t move. “Jock, did he explain everything to you about Adah Ziller?”

“Yes, but there were other ways he could have found out that information. Bribery, intimidation…”

“I’m not arguing with you. I just want to make sure we’re on the same page. It doesn’t matter how we got there.”

Jock gave Caleb a cool glance. “It matters.” He turned toward the door. “But if he has a lead, let’s follow it. It’s more than we had before.”

“I’LL DRIVE,” CALEB SAID, as they reached his BMW. “You two can ride together in the backseat. As I said, it will take nearly an hour to get to Adah Ziller’s house. That should give you time to come to terms with my presence in your midst. Pretend I’m not here.”

Jane got into the car. “I will.” It was a lie. There was no way that Caleb could be totally ignored. But she wasn’t about to be less than blunt about anything connected to him when she was talking to Jock. “I suppose you researched Adah Ziller the minute you found out that she was Weismann’s bed partner. What do we know about her?”

“Good-looking, intelligent, grew up in Syria, one of seven children. Her father is a merchant and sent her to England to be educated. She’s ambitious and has been climbing the ladder in Med-Coast Oil for the last seven years. This move to Paris is a promotion. She’s head of the human resource department here.”

“Syria,” Jane repeated. “Didn’t you tell me that’s where Millet grew up, Jock?”

He nodded slowly. “Yes. Interesting coincidence.”

Caleb started the car. “And the word is that she slept with at least two vice presidents of the company to help herself get ahead.”


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