“And no significant criminal record. Just a few petty crimes when he was a boy. Then, apparently, he straightened himself out and joined the Army. No trouble while he was in the service. He made sergeant.” He looked down at the file on his phone. “Evidently, even after he left the service, he didn’t get into trouble. A few speeding tickets, one for drunken driving, a barroom fight that was pretty violent but not fatal.”

“Then did he suddenly go crazy? He poisoned Toby. He tried to kill me.”

He shook his head. “I’m leaning toward Quinn’s theory and betting that we don’t have the full story on Blick. I think that there would be an entirely different picture if we could read between the lines. I’d be interested to see what else Quinn comes up with.” He grimaced. “But I don’t think that I’ll get a chance to do that unless you intercede with him. He considers me paid off and out of his way.”

“I’ll find out.” She looked down at the file. “It takes a certain vileness to kill a helpless dog. Yet none of that shows here. He’s either very clever or been very lucky.”

“Or there’s something in his past we’re not seeing.” He suddenly chuckled. “And only you would comment on the vileness of hurting an animal when you’re lying there with a bullet wound.”

She made a face. “Margaret would understand. She feels the same way about attacking those who can’t protect themselves. I’m not helpless.”

“And I’m very glad,” he said softly as he rose to his feet. “It makes the game so much more interesting.”

He was standing there, legs slightly parted, looking at her with that slight smile that was part sardonic, part wickedly sensual.

She felt the blood tingle through her, making her heart pound. She knew that he was capable of that kind of physical manipulation. Was he doing it?

He slowly shook his head. Dammit, he knew what she was thinking. He had always been able to read her.

No, it was just her basic physical response to him. Even her breasts felt tauter, and her breathing was shallow.

She would much have preferred it the other way.

It was just another sign of how Caleb could stir her even now, when she was so distraught and worried. The responses seemed to exist apart and on different planes from each other.

She looked away from him. “I’ll let you know if I hear anything more from Joe. I’d appreciate if you’d keep an eye on Margaret.”

“I told you I would.” His tone was rough. “I take it I’m dismissed?” He was moving toward the door. “Okay, I’m going. I’m not going to let you close me out forever, Jane. You might remember that I didn’t do anything to make you push me away. For God’s sake, you’d think Margaret was right when she said that you’re afraid of me.”

“I’m not afraid—” She broke off as he strode out of the room.

Margaret had told Caleb that she was afraid of him?

Well, maybe she was right. She had always been uneasy and wary when she was with him. But it hadn’t stopped her from being drawn to him. No, what she felt for Caleb was so complicated that it was safer to keep the walls high.

Yet Joe and Eve had never clung to safety in their relationship. They had walked the edge and thought every step worth it.

But she wasn’t Eve. She didn’t have her trust.

Eve.

The tension washed over Jane again.

Call, Joe. Tell me you know where she is. Tell me you at least have a place to start.

Lake Cottage

“YOU SHOULD GET SOME SLEEP, Quinn,” Venable said quietly as he came up the porch steps. “You’re looking pretty ragged. I’ll call you if I hear anything about Eve or that kid.”

“I’m not sure you would,” Joe said coldly as he put away his phone. “That would require a certain amount of trust. I’m not willing to give you that trust at the moment. I think you know more than you’re telling me.” He looked him in the eye. “Do you?”

Venable hesitated, then nodded. “Yes.”

“At last,” Joe said sarcastically. “It’s about time you admitted it. Are you going to let me know how you involved Eve in this?”

“I didn’t involve her. It wasn’t my fault.”

“And that report on Terence Blick was completely undoctored?”

He grimaced. “For the most part. Perhaps a few things were left out.”

“You son of a bitch.”

“Nothing that would keep you from finding Blick. Forget him, he’s not important.”

“I gathered that. Two-prong attack. Blick couldn’t have been in two places. He was on the island shooting Jane. Who was here, Venable? Who took Eve?”

Venable didn’t answer.

“You’d better tell me.” Joe’s voice was casual, almost conversational. “You do know I’ll kill you if anything happens to her?”

Venable nodded. “There are things I can’t tell you. I made a promise, and I’ll keep it. I’m in the dark, too. Nothing I can tell you is going to get you any closer to finding her. It’s not as if I haven’t got men looking for Eve, Quinn. I’m doing everything I can to find her.”

“Except give me a better chance to do it myself.” His voice harshened. “I can find her, Venable. No one can keep her from me. Just give me a name and a direction.”

Venable shook his head.

Joe drew a deep breath and unclenched his hands. “I’ll give you a little more time, Venable. I’m only doing that because of past history, and I’m hoping that you wouldn’t let Eve be in danger. After that, you will tell me. I don’t care how you have to hurt before you give me every single detail.”

“I might point out that the present administration doesn’t approve of torture of prisoners,” Venable said sourly.

“No, they’d rather kill them. I’m not against that either. Screw the present administration. You talk to me, or you’re going down.” He picked up his phone. “And I’ve just sent that report on Blick to a friend at FBI headquarters and told him to give me anything else he has on Terence Blick. If I find out anything that will lead me to another name, your time will run out. I’m also calling the police in Chicago and asking them to trace—”

Venable’s phone rang, and he picked up. “Venable.” His hand tightened on the phone. “No, keep him there. We’re on our way.” He hung up and turned to Joe. “They’ve found Ben Hudson.”

“Alive?”

He nodded. “He’s at an urgent-care facility in Floyd County. The staff found him behind some bushes on the grounds this afternoon. By his condition, they think he may have been there for hours. He’s been in and out of consciousness since they brought him into the clinic. They’re getting him ready to transport to the local hospital.”

“But he’s alive.” Joe was halfway down the porch steps. “That’s more than I hoped. We’ll take my car.”

“You mean I’m going to be permitted in the same vehicle?” Venable murmured. “I thought you’d have me trailing behind.”

“It’s not because I want your company. You can be a very slippery customer,” Joe said curtly. “I don’t want you more than an arm’s length away from me until I get the info I want from you.”

*   *   *

THEY’D ALREADY TRANSFERRED Ben to the hospital in Rome by the time they were on the road thirty minutes, and they drove directly there.

Ben was just going in for X-rays when Joe got permission to see him.

“Do you mind if I go in with you?” Venable asked quietly. “It’s either that, or I’ll have to question him later. I know he’s a special-needs kid, and you have a relationship with him.”

Joe nodded. “Hell, yes, I have a relationship with him. When we were searching for Bonnie, he saved my life. He’s had it rough from the time he was a kid. His father was a criminal and it’s a wonder he survived the treatment he received until his father was killed. But he did survive and lives and works at a charity camp in south Georgia. He’s pretty well self-sufficient and I won’t have anyone looking down on him.”

“Okay. Okay. No one is going to give the kid a hard time.”