placed her as a prime and immediate target in Jelak’s game.
All Caleb had to do was take control of the game and change the rules.
1:35 A.M.
THE WOMAN WAS SITTING IN A chair in the living room talking on the phone. She was laughing, and there was a flush of color on her cheeks.
Jelak drew closer to the window. Good. It was always better to take them when they were at the height of emotion. Joy or terror, it didn’t really matter.
Now all he had to do was get in the house or get her out. It would be difficult to get her out in this storm. He’d probably have to go in after her.
But she was standing up and going toward another room.
Time to make a move.
You can’t go to bed. I have to have your gift. He’s coming closer, and I’ll need your strength to fight him.
He moved silently away from the window and down the stairs, carefully avoiding the hanging baskets decorating the porch.
The rain had not lessened, and he could hear distant thunder as he carefully opened the gate to the backyard. The lamplight from the house glowed cozily from the windows.
Light was always the enemy.
First came darkness, then came fear.
SEVEN
“LOOK, I KNOW IT’S EARLY but I’m just acting as an intermediary, and he wants to see you right away,” Megan said, when Eve picked up the phone.
“Who wants to see me?” Eve punched up the volume on her phone as she sat up in bed and glanced at the clock: 5:40 A.M. “And why should he need an intermediary?”
“Seth Caleb. Renata says he’s a distant relation and that he may know something about those goblets. He saw the fax with the goblet and immediately flew in from Edinburgh. He called me at eleven last night and asked, no, told me to call you and tell you that he was going to come to see you. He wanted to make sure that you knew he was here to help and not one of the media.”
“We’ll be glad to talk to anyone who can tell us anything about Jelak.”
“I thought you would. But Caleb impressed me as being a little . . . I just thought I’d warn you. Renata said that he was a law unto himself and would have come whether we wanted him or not.”
“You’ve warned me.” She glanced at Joe, who was sitting up and listening. “And when should we expect him?”
“Seven.” She paused. “And he said to tell Joe Quinn that he should check the west side of the lake about two miles away from the cottage.”
She stiffened. “What?”
“He said the rain would have washed out most of Jelak’s tire prints, but there might be something he could use.”
“You’re saying Jelak was in a car parked outside the cottage last night? We had the police scour all the immediate area after we found that goblet.”
“Caleb said the car was set way back from the lake and well hidden.”
“If Caleb knew that, then he must have been out by the lake last night too.”
“Presumably. For a rainy night, those woods must have been pretty crowded.” Megan added, “That’s all I know. But evidently he figured it was a strong enough card to get your attention.”
Eve threw back the covers. “Oh, it got our attention.”
Joe was already out of bed and throwing on his clothes.
“What else can you tell me about Seth Caleb?” Eve asked. “Does Renata trust him?”
Megan hesitated. “I think she trusts his motives. I’m not sure that she’d trust his way of handling the situation. I’d say treat him as an unknown factor.”
“Great. That’s all we need.” Eve got out of bed. “I can hardly wait to meet him. Thanks for calling, Megan. I’ll let you know just what kind of unknown factor he turns out to be.”
“Do that,” Megan hesitated. “Is Joe all right?”
“Joe is fine. He’s working hard and nary a glimpse of Nancy Jo. I’ll call you later.” She hung up and said to Joe, who was ready to walk out the door, “Did you hear? Two miles away on the west bank. The car was far back, away from the lake.”
Joe nodded. “I’m on my way.”
And she’d be right behind him, Eve thought. Two miles was much too close for comfort, and the idea of Jelak hovering out there like a vulture was frightening.
Five minutes later she was walking out the door.
“Joe told me that we’re going to have a visitor.” Jane got up from the swing. “And that we might have had one last night.”
