richer than, say, yours, Jane. You’re strong, but you lack the experience Eve’s gained over the years. The tragedy she’s gone through has made both her mind and blood the apex of richness. She’s the complete package.”
“Why would that make her blood different?”
“Because Jelak thinks it does. He believes it’s part of the essence, the soul of her. It’s what he was taught. And that’s all that’s important.”
“It’s bullshit. Tragic bullshit. And you said some of those victims were killed for no real purpose in his view.”
“Except for the hunger. During this stage, the hunger is very much present. He won’t be able to keep himself from taking frequent victims. After he reaches his final goal, then everything changes.”
“And Eve is that goal.”
“Yes,” Caleb said. “And you’re the path that leads to her. You can see where I’m going.”
“Eve said that you’d serve up any of us on Jelak’s altar. You want me to be your bait.”
“Yes.”
“And that was why you didn’t want Eve and Joe around when you told me.”
“It would have been awkward.”
She looked at him and started to laugh. “That’s one way of putting it. Joe would have thrown you into the lake.”
“I could probably convince him that wouldn’t be a good idea.”
She remembered that moment at the restaurant when he’d been trying to persuade Joe to go hunting with him. He had been intense but not totally mesmerizing as he had been with her. “Why didn’t you try that before? Doesn’t it work with Joe?”
“I don’t know. Probably. I prefer not to interfere with free choice when it may involve the death of the subject.”
She shook her head. “You’re incredible.”
“Yes, I am. Now let’s get down to business. I promise to keep you alive if you decide to help me catch Jelak.”
“With all my blood intact?”
“That goes without saying. We can’t have one without the other. I won’t bring you into the picture until I have a scenario I can control.”
“I’m not sure I’d trust you.”
“Of course not. But you’ll probably do it anyway. You love Eve enough to do anything for her. I wouldn’t tell them about our talk if I were you. It would only worry them.” He got to his feet. “Think about it. I’ll let you know when I can arrange it. First we have to find him.”
She stared at him. The light was illuminating the deep planes of his face and that beautifully sensual mouth. Power and intensity and the alluring magnetism that was even stronger than she had imagined. “You’re a very ruthless man, Seth Caleb.”
“You have no idea.” He started down the steps. “But you will, Jane.” He stopped to smile and wave at the two officers in the squad car. They waved back, and he continued down the steps and strode toward his car.
Jane got to her feet and started toward the front door. Yes, she would very likely plumb the incalculable depths of Caleb before this was over.
She wasn’t sure that she wanted to discover what lay beneath.
THE WOMAN WAS PERHAPS THIRTY-FIVE, dressed in a dark suit, and was frowning thoughtfully as she crossed the CDC parking lot.
Serious and responsible, Jelak thought. She was everything he had been hoping for when he had staked out the building. Old enough to be experienced, and her job with the Centers for Disease Control reflected intelligence and perhaps the qualities that, at least, made her a candidate to permit him to ingest her blood.
And perhaps more. Perhaps another step closer.
She was unlocking the door of a tan Toyota and getting into the driver’s seat.
Sensible car, again reflecting that maturity that was so important to make the feeding tolerable at this stage of his development.
Yes, it was going to be all right. He knew it. Relief poured through him. She would give him the strength he needed to endure until he could take that final goblet from Eve Duncan.
He started his car and followed the tan Toyota out of the parking lot.
IT WAS FOUR THIRTY IN THE morning when Joe’s cell phone rang.
Ed Norris? What the hell?
“I suppose I don’t have to ask how you got my cell number, Norris.”
“Another one,” Ed Norris bit out. “When are you going to stop it? When are you going to catch him?”
“As soon as I can. What are you talking about?”
Eve was sitting up in bed, looking at him. “I just got word from my informant at the precinct that there’s been a killing in midtown. Margaret Selkirk, researcher with the CDC. Body found in the backyard of her house by her daughter. Throat slit. You let him do it again, dammit.”
