“I wouldn’t have presumed to tell him that’s why I stayed. You have more courage than I do.” He paused. “You wanted to find out if you could use me in any way to manipulate Zander. You can see that the answer has to be not if it endangers Zander in any way.”

“Is that why you told me about your brother?”

“Yes, along with the fact that you’re desperate and in pain and I admire you. I didn’t want you to waste your time.” He held up his hand as she opened her lips to speak. “But that doesn’t mean that I won’t help you find Eve and Zander if we can find a way that is mutually acceptable.”

“Why?”

“Because I want Eve Duncan to live. And because Zander wants me to help you. He didn’t phone me just to send me to make sure you were all right after he took you down. He’s an expert. He’d know exactly what he did to you and how long you’d be out.”

She nodded slowly. “That’s true. And how does he think you can help us?”

He shook his head. “I have no idea. I believe Zander may be a little desperate himself at this point. It’s strange that I should think that … I’ll do what I can. I’m not totally—” He stopped at a knock on the door. “That’s probably Quinn and Gallo. I’ll go let them in.”

She jumped to her feet. “No, I’ll do it.” She ran across the room and threw open the door.

“Where’s Stang?” Joe strode into the room. “Did you question him?”

“Are you okay?” Gallo asked her quietly.

“Yes, I questioned him,” Catherine said. “He doesn’t know anything. Take it easy on him.” She turned to Gallo. “And yes, I’m fine. I told you that, Gallo.” She tried to suppress the intense physical reaction that she always had to Gallo. She hadn’t seen him for weeks, and the sexual tension was strong and heated. Ignore it.

“Then if you’re fine, I’ll tell you that you shouldn’t have lowered your guard with Zander,” he said coolly. “And that you were an idiot not to tell us where you were staying.”

“I wasn’t an idiot. I had a chance of manipulating the situation if I could keep control of Zander.”

“But you didn’t keep control.” Joe’s eyes never left Stang. “And now Eve’s probably worse off because you didn’t. And how do you know Stang doesn’t know anything?”

“You’ve dealt with me before, Quinn,” Stang said. “You know that Zander doesn’t confide in me. He didn’t tell me a word.”

“And you didn’t suspect anything?”

“Of course, I did. Zander was actually edgy. I even questioned him. He said he hated to wait.”

“He was waiting for word to get to Doane so that he could set up himself as bait for Doane’s ambush,” Catherine said. “He knew that Doane wanted to kill Eve in front of him. He also knew that Doane’s wife has to be there at the execution. Zander wanted time to kill Doane and get Eve away before Harriet arrived on the scene.”

“How, dammit?” Joe asked.

She shook her head. “I don’t know. Stang says he always has a plan.”

Gallo muttered an oath. “That doesn’t help us.”

“It might help Eve,” Stang said quietly. “He doesn’t want her to die.”

“But he risks her life because he won’t trust anyone but himself,” Quinn said. “Arrogant son of a bitch.”

“Easy, Joe,” Catherine said. She knew the words were futile. He was as desperate and afraid as she was of the impetus Zander’s move might start in motion. “I may agree with you, but we just have to work around Zander.” She added grimly, “That’s what he was saying before he left. Backup. We have to find that cottage in case Zander and his wonder plan go down the tubes.” She brushed her hair away from her face. “He said we’d more than likely have between five and eight hours after Doane got his hands on him. He had to be thinking about the time it would take Harriet to get out here. We’ve got to make them count.”

“I haven’t been twiddling my thumbs trying to find that cottage,” Joe said. “When we were at the Marine Museum, I didn’t get any solid answers, but the curator did remember seeing a book on artistry in driftwood that had some unusual designs.”

“Headstones?”

“Not that he recalled, but he was fairly vague. I’ve been searching every Web site and publishing house in Washington State to see if I could locate it. No luck.” He frowned. “But I’m beginning to wonder if we’re off base.”

“What do you mean?”

“We’ve been assuming since the nukes are supposed to be in Seattle that the cottage is near Seattle. What if it isn’t? You couldn’t get any answer about land purchase from Langley. We can’t find any mention of driftwood that fits the description. Not near Seattle. Not in Washington State. Why not look south, across the Oregon border? Kevin would have been safer if his hideout wasn’t right on top of a target city. It couldn’t hurt to take a look.”

“Unless it’s a waste of time. Then it could hurt Eve very badly.”

“If you’ve got any other suggestion, I’m listening.”

She didn’t have any other suggestion. “We’ll try Oregon.” She moved back and sat down. “I’ll call Langley and set them to exploring the possibility of Kevin’s purchasing out of state. It might—” Her phone rang before she could dial. “It’s Margaret.” She accessed. “Margaret, may I call you back? Things are crazy here now and we’ve got to find a way to salvage it before they get worse.”

“That’s not what I wanted to hear. This will only take a minute, Catherine. Jane asked me to call.” She paused. “I think we may have big trouble.”

CHAPTER

16

Chicago

“HAS SHE MADE ANY PHONE CALLS?” Jane asked Margaret, when they burst into Caleb’s suite twenty minutes later. “Is Harriet still in her suite?”

“As far as I can tell,” Margaret said. “I heard her moving around the suite. She went to the bathroom. I heard water running. I didn’t hear the corridor door open or close.” She shrugged. “I’m glad you’re here. I listened to every nuance of sound, but I’m not accustomed to interpreting those damn machines the way you are, Caleb.”

“You interpreted what was going on between Cartland and Harriet,” Trevor said. “That’s more important.”

“Ever the kind diplomat,” Caleb said as he strode across the room toward the machines. “But not necessarily truthful.” He put an earphone to his ear and turned up the volume on the machine. He listened intently for a moment, then adjusted the sound again.

“Caleb?” Jane asked.

“Just a minute.” He adjusted the other machine and listened again. “Son of a bitch.” He threw the earphone on the table and ran toward the door. “I heard conversation from some mother with her kid walking down the corridor. Harriet’s door has got to be open!”

“How could—” Jane didn’t finish the sentence as she and Trevor ran after Caleb.

“Use the exit stairs.” Caleb was already running down them by the time Jane and Trevor reached the door. He burst out the door on Harriet’s floor and ran down the corridor.

Jane could see the mother and little girl Caleb had spoken about at the end of the hall.

Harriet’s door is open.

It wasn’t open.

But Caleb was bending and carefully pulling out a small leather change purse that had been wedged between the door and the jamb, keeping it from closing.

“Quiet,” Trevor said.

“Why?” Caleb threw open the door. “She’s not here. We don’t even know how long she’s been gone.”

“I heard her in the bathroom fifteen minutes ago,” Margaret said as she joined them. “After that, it’s anyone’s guess.” She watched Trevor going from room to room. “But did you hear that ping from the machine right before you ran out of your room?”

“Ping?” Jane repeated.

“Yeah, a ping,” Margaret said. “I was the last one to leave your room, Caleb, and I thought maybe she was down here after all.”

“Obviously, you were wrong,” Trevor said. “No sign of her. All her luggage is gone.”

“Ping,” Caleb said as he pulled out his phone. “I synced those machines to my phone apps. It could have been a signal that the GPS was in motion.” He stared at the phone. “Come on, baby,” he said softly. “Give it to me.”