“Anything else?”

“It’s hard to get beyond the atrocities.” She tried to think. “There were a few references to Pakistan, but no names that might have been valuable to al-Qaeda.” She paused. “But there was a mention of his dealings with the CIA. Double dealings, according to him. A lot of money exchanging hands.”

“That’s not unusual. An embedded agent would pretend to be on the take.”

“I don’t believe he was talking about the embedded agents. He was talking about a specific CIA agent. And he was confident he’d persuaded the agent to go rogue. He was very happy about that. He said that he needed someone in a trusted position to pave the way to the project.”

“Project? What project?”

“He never spelled it out. I assumed it had something to do with Bin Laden. That’s who Venable told us was the target.”

“Maybe.” Joe frowned. “Maybe not.”

Jane’s gaze narrowed on his face. “Kendra didn’t want me to give the journal to Venable. Now you have doubts about him?”

“I don’t want to have doubts. I’ve worked with him a long time.” He nodded curtly. “Hell, yes, I have doubts. He’s not been listening to anything I’ve been telling him since this started. And I don’t like the way he gave the okay for that attack team to tear down the mountain and start shooting up that saloon.”

She could see his mind turning over, working through the facts and theories. “Anything else?”

“Venable was in the Middle East at the time. He knew what was happening in Pakistan. He was the connection to General Tarther and Kevin’s assassination. But he was also the agent who offered Kevin’s father sanctuary and provided him with a safe house and an income for five years.” He paused. “And Venable told us that it was a disk that was the blackmail that Doane was holding over everyone’s head.”

“The disk may still be out there.”

“But we have a journal mentioning CIA corruption.” His lips tightened. “No, I don’t believe we’ll turn the journal over to Venable just yet.”

“And there may be something in it that we can use. What if it’s invisible ink or something?”

“Invisible ink? I doubt if even a madman would be quite that amateurish, Jane.”

“You know what I mean. Things aren’t always what they seem.”

“No, they’re not. But we don’t have to rely on the labs at Langley. The labs at Quantico are just as sophisticated, and I have friends at the FBI.”

“Then let’s get it to them right away.” She moistened her lips. “I feel as if we’re spinning our wheels. We’ve been relying on Venable to keep up the search for Eve. If Venable is crooked, then what—It’s been five days, Joe. Where is she?”

“I haven’t totally relied on Venable. I’ve made him give me copies of every report from his guys in the field.” Joe put his arm around her shoulders. “Could they be faked? Sure. I don’t think they were. He’s exploring every avenue that I would have ordered explored and done it with much less chance for leaks.” He added, “And Venable’s actions at that ghost town indicated he wanted Doane. Maybe too much for Eve’s safety. But if we find Doane, we find Eve.” He kissed her on the forehead. “After tonight, I’m going to go into seclusion, as would be natural in a grief-stricken man. I’ll be in touch.”

She had known this was coming. She had just hoped that they would have had something more to go on before the hunt began again. “Where are you going?”

“Vancouver. Venable is going to give me false papers and have me flown into a small airport north of the city. According to Venable, Zander’s place appears to be deserted, but I’m hoping to contact Howard Stang, his assistant. He disappeared at the same time as Zander, but he may be the weak link.” He shook his head. “Though I’m not sure how weak Stang will prove to be. He’s something of an enigma.”

“So is Zander,” Jane said. “I can’t forgive him for not saving Eve when he had the chance up in the mountains.”

“Neither can I. He doesn’t care about our forgiveness.”

“He’s her father, dammit.”

“Neither one of them would say that had anything to do with their relationship. He never acknowledged her during her entire life. She doesn’t want or need a father at this stage.”

“Unless he can do something to save Doane from killing her. She needs him for that.”

“And she’ll have him as soon as I find the bastard,” he said grimly. “Believe me, I’ll serve Zander up to Doane on a silver platter if it will keep her alive.”

She did believe him, and she was going to be as worried about Joe as she was about Eve. Zander was one of the most expert assassins on the planet. It wouldn’t be easy even for a man as tough as Joe to overcome that skill. “I’m going to go with you.”

He shook his head. “Not now. A mass exodus from here would definitely be suspicious. I’ll call you as soon as I find Stang.”

“You expect me to stay here and wait? It’s not going to happen, Joe. I’m through with waiting.”

“It would be suspicious,” he repeated. “I’m not going to blow everything we’ve done to keep Doane off guard.”

His jaw was set, and she knew he wasn’t going to be persuaded. Frustration seared through her. “I won’t blow anything, dammit. Do you think I’d do anything that might hurt Eve? Okay, I’ll give you one day. Then I’m going to come after you. I’ll ask Caleb to file a flight plan to London, and we’ll leave Atlanta for Vancouver tomorrow afternoon instead. It will seem perfectly natural that I go back to London where I came from before this nightmare started.”

“I’m not going to let Venable give you papers.”

She smiled recklessly. “Screw Venable. I’m going, Joe. I won’t risk Eve, but I won’t sit here and do nothing. You go after Stang. I won’t get in your way. I’ll find my own way to Zander.”

Joe muttered a curse.

“It’s not the way I wanted it.” Jane could feel the tears sting her eyes as she turned and started back toward the cottage. “I’ve put the journal in the last drawer of Eve’s worktable. You’ll want to get that up to Quantico before you leave. Keep safe, Joe.”

Her eyes were so blurred, she almost ran into Margaret when she stepped out of the trees.

“Too bad that all the photographers have left,” Margaret said quietly. “They’d get some wonderful shots. You’re looking completely … lost.” She gazed past her to Joe, still standing by the lake. “I was wondering if he’d try to keep you here.” She shrugged. “When you’re losing everything important to you, it’s not unusual to try to salvage what you can.”

“He’s telling himself that he’s being perfectly logical. I’m not needed; therefore, I should stay out of the way.”

“And it hurts.”

“I need to find her,” she said. “I have to find her.” She drew a long breath and tried to pull herself together. “Kendra left. Did she tell you she was leaving?”

“Yes, she tried to tell me that I should leave, too. That I wasn’t needed and could be a liability.” She smiled. “I told her that I was never a liability.” She raised her hand as Jane started to speak. “But you’re probably going to say the same things that Kendra said. That’s fine, but it’s not going to change anything. I’ll just have to convince you how valuable I am and that you can’t do without me.” She tilted her head. “You read the journal, didn’t you?”

“Yes.” She shuddered. “It was terrible.”

She nodded. “I read it, too. And I may have picked up some things that Kendra and you missed. We all look at life from different viewpoints, and with a man like Kevin, the horror of his actions sometimes blur the intent and the reason for what he did. That can be important.”

“And it doesn’t blur it for you?”

“Of course it does. But I virtually grew up in the forests. Nature is brimming with horror as well as joy. I learned to accept both and try to make them work to help me to survive.” She cast another glance at Joe. “He’s right about your not going immediately after Zander. But there may be other paths.”