Hide Away (27 page)

Jane felt a ripple of shock. Family. How many times had that word come into play in the last days? She had used it, Eve had used it. Now MacDuff was throwing it at her.

And Cira had been involved in the most tragic of family duties in her dream.

“Strike a note?” MacDuff's gaze was fixed on her face. “You knew what this was about all along. It's not about the money, it's about saving what Cira created.” He paused, then said, persuasively, “Let's go do that, Jane.”

“It may be a red herring.”

“Let's go see,” he challenged softly. “I dare you.”

She could feel a surge of the same recklessness she sensed in him. Why not? It was what she had wanted to do. Why else had she been so insistent about being proved wrong.

Because she had wanted desperately to be proved right.

“I don't take dares.” She smiled at him. “But I have a boundless curiosity. When do we go?”

“Yes.”
He threw back his head and laughed. “Now. A few hours. The sooner the better.”

“A few hours? You're going to move camp?”

“That's what I said. Go back to your tent and pack up. I'll call Caleb and Jock and tell them to do the same.” He turned toward the desk and rolled up the papers. “Then I'll call MacTavish and tell him to arrange to send special cameras and powerful floodlights that will let us pierce that thick mist.”

“Those students didn't have those lights?”

“They were trespassers. They didn't know what they were getting into.” He smiled. “Neither do we. Isn't it exciting?”

She wanted to back off, to say no. But she did feel the excitement. She felt as she had when she was a very young girl, reaching out for adventure, wanting to see what was around the next curve in the road. She turned to leave. “Make sure MacTavish does his research and gets us the right equipment.”

“I'll convey your concern.” He was dialing his phone. “Go tell Eve and Cara to get moving. I want to have our tents set up at the lake by nightfall.”

“By all means.” She headed for the entrance. “We all have to do as the Laird decrees.”

“As is right and proper.” He chuckled. “I'm glad you understand that concept at last, Jane.”

“I was joking.” She looked back over her shoulder. “This is what I want, what I decree. Or I wouldn't be doing it.” She smiled. “I'm just using you, MacDuff.”

She heard him laughing as she left the tent. She was still feeling that charge of energy and adrenaline, but her smile was fading. She had started MacDuff on a new phase of his hunt for Cira's gold. She could have lied, she could have not said anything, but she had been infected with MacDuff's recklessness. How was she to explain the sudden move to Eve?

By telling her the truth. By telling her all the details of the dream. By telling her that Cira had emerged from the past, and she had to go with her one last time …

*   *   *

“Why didn't you tell me all this before?” Eve asked quietly. “You didn't give me any details. You just sort of brushed it off.”

“I was fighting against believing that it had any significance. I'm still fighting.”

“But not too hard.” Her gaze was on Jane's face. “I'm seeing something in you that I haven't seen in a long time. So many things have happened to you … You've been hurt, and life hasn't been easy. You've lost a lover and discovered that you can still survive. I think one of the reasons you were fighting so hard to not let Cira back into your life was that was the time you met your Trevor. Another painful memory linked to Cira.”

“None of the memories of Trevor were painful until the last one, when he was shot.” Her lips were tight. “Cira was just a part of a grand adventure we played out together. He was like MacDuff and was after the treasure.”

“And now the adventure is back.” She added shrewdly, “And you've discovered that you want to see it through. You want to do what Cira would want you to do.”

She thought about it. “I guess that's true.”

“But that still leaves the question, why didn't you tell me all the details of that dream before this?” She was silent, then said, “Never mind. I can figure it out. It's the child. You were afraid I'd read something into the fact that the dream was about a dead child. You mentioned a child, but not that the child was dead.” She shook her head. “But that dream was also about hope and love and family. It was about life. And it may have been about how Cira intended to preserve the family fortunes far beyond what even she could imagine. You thought that I'd zero in on the little boy?”

“It occurred to me.”

“Of course, it did. Because you're loving and protective, and there was something that could possibly hurt me.”

“And it doesn't?”

“Look, if Cira is a fantasy, then the dream is a fantasy. If Cira is somehow reaching out and trying to tell you something, it wouldn't be to warn me that children sometimes die. I know that.” She added fiercely, “And there's one way that Cira and I are very much alike. We take care of our own. I'm not going to let anything happen to my baby. I'll fight and I'll claw and I'll do anything I have to do. Cira would think it ridiculous that she would have to tell me that. No, any message she has is for you, not me, Jane.”

“Well, I'm glad that's settled. I guess I was pretty foolish to worry about—”

“No.” Eve took a step closer and gave her a warm hug. “Not foolish. Loving.” She released her and stepped back. “And now I'd better go and tear Cara away from Jock and get her started on packing if you think MacDuff was serious about the camp being set up at the lake by nightfall?”

“He was serious.” She gazed at Cara. “Are you going to tell her about the Cira dream?”

“If you don't mind.” She smiled. “Cara and I had a discussion about dreams when we were flying over here. She's had some experiences with them. I think she regards your Cira dreams as a kind of wonderful fairy tale.” She glanced at Jock. “And maybe Jock is part of a fairy tale, too. I've tried to gently disillusion her about both, but I don't have the heart to take all the fairy-tale ambience away. I'm not sure that she's ever believed in fairy tales unless they were full of beasts and monsters. Your Cira had a hard life, but she worked her way through to a happy ending.” She motioned toward Jock. “And I don't know about the happy ending for him, but he's grown very strong, and he's actually quite wonderful. So yes, I don't mind letting Cara believe in those kinds of fairy tales.”

“Neither do I,” Jane said as she turned away and started for her tent. “Both Cira and Jock learned to defeat all the beasts and monsters. I'd say as role models they put Cinderella in the shade.”

 

CHAPTER

11

“I'm at MacDuff's Run,” Franco said when he called Salazar late that afternoon. “All I've found out so far is that the Laird is officially not in residence. It's not going to be easy to track him down. Hell, he may be there, and those guards are lying to me. Maybe Duncan and the kid are there, too. I'll have to find out what palms I have to grease to find out. I know that MacDuff has sentries guarding the perimeter of the castle. The people in the village seem to be a closemouthed bunch. The old woman I started to question looked at me as if I'd insulted her when I asked if she'd seen any visitors at the Run. She told me to go ask at the castle and walked away from me. All of these people seem to be protecting MacDuff.”

“Then you'd better use your boyish charm and get answers,” Salazar said. “Sometimes, bribes don't work.”

“I know that,” Franco said. “I'm just telling you that it may take a few days to get those answers here. MacDuff is protected. Have you found out anything about Seth Caleb? He could be easier.”

“He's not easier,” Salazar said sourly. “Caleb's house is closed up, and no one is trying to protect it or him. But everyone in town just fades away when I try to ask questions.”

“That sounds like protection to me.”

“Because you wouldn't recognize the difference between loyalty and fear. I've seen it. It would take longer to get past whatever they feel about Caleb. He doesn't need sentries to protect this place. I'll keep trying here, but work on finding everything you can from MacDuff.”

“As soon as I can.” Franco hung up.

“Aren't there any other leads we can follow?” Natalie asked impatiently.

“We're probing. These are the best we've got so far.”

“What about Eve Duncan?” Natalie asked. “I've been thinking that she may be the key to the whole business. She's soft, and soft people can be manipulated. She was the one who took Cara into her home to keep her safe. Give me the chance, and I'll find a way to get what we want from her.”

“In case you haven't noticed, we're searching for Duncan and Cara right now, dammit.”

“Then go through Joe Quinn to get her. Press him harder. Make him hurt. If Duncan's soft about Cara, she'll be soft about Quinn.”

“I'm handling Quinn. I'll do what I have to do. I don't need you to tell me.” He looked at her. “Now, would you care to go to the pub and see if you can charm any of the locals into talking about Seth Caleb?”

“Why not?” She smiled. “I've got to do better than you have. I'm beginning to be interested in Seth Caleb. I want to see why everyone is so terrified of him. I might find him fascinating.” She added slyly, “I don't believe anyone is that afraid of you, are they, Salazar? What a pity.”

*   *   *

The sun was going down when Jane parked the Land Rover on the road above the lake. “Here we are.” She jumped out of the car and started to unload. “What do you think about it, Cara?”

The red light of the setting sun was casting a glow over the mists and gave the scene a surreal, almost otherworldly air. Eve wasn't surprised when Cara instantly picked up on that aspect.

“Another planet,” Cara said. “I saw a movie about this spaceship full of people who had to settle on another planet, and it looked something like this. Elena said that it was a little too convenient that the planet was that beautiful. She said it was pure Hollywood.” She jumped out of the Land Rover and stood there looking down at the lake. “But this isn't Hollywood.”

Eve got out of the car and came to stand beside her. “I told you it was a little strange. And I didn't see it at sunset.”

“It's gorgeous.” She took a step closer to the slope. “I love it, Eve. That mist…” She drew a deep breath. “Is that where we're going to be searching?”

“I don't know how much we'll be doing. It depends on how well we can light that area. I don't want either one of us blundering around in that heavy mist and falling into the lake.”

“Or falling into a cave.” Her gaze was fixed on the mist. “It's kind of weird, isn't it? Caves. I almost died in a cave not so long ago. I
would
have died if you and Joe hadn't saved me. Yet here we are again.”

“It won't be a cave like that one. MacDuff thinks if the caves exist, they would probably be small, not huge caverns. But they may not exist. We don't know, Cara.”

“But Jane thinks they do exist, doesn't she?”

“Maybe. Jane is a little confused, too.”

“But she's excited, I can tell.”

“Yes, she's excited,” Eve said. “And no matter how this turns out, I'm glad to see it. She's more enthusiastic than I've seen her in a long time.”

“And she's not afraid, is she?” Cara had not taken her eyes off the mist. “I think she's … welcoming it.”

Eve stiffened, her gaze flying to Cara's face. “You think she should be afraid? You said you loved it. Are you afraid, Cara?”

“A little. I do love it. But it's kind of scary. In that other cave, where you saved me, I could see everything, the bad and the good. But I don't know what's in that mist.”

“You don't have to know. You don't have to go near it. You can stay on the south side of the lake.”

She shook her head. “I want to go.” She smiled. “I'm like Jane, I want to see what's waiting for me there.”

Eve nodded. “Okay, if you change your mind, just tell me.” She made a face. “You're not the only one who had mixed feelings about that mist. Caleb was comparing it to the beginning or the end of the world. I much prefer your simplification.” She turned back to the vehicle. “But, in the meantime, we're letting Jane unload our tents. We'd better stop looking and start working.” She could see Caleb's car bringing him and Jock coming down the road, followed by MacDuff driving the equipment truck. “Or maybe we'll just let MacDuff and Jock take care of it. MacDuff's the one who was in such a big hurry to get us out here.”

“I'll help them.” Cara had already reached the Land Rover. “Jock would probably be the one to do most of the work. I'm not sure why, but he thinks he owes the Laird.”

“He probably does, but I'm sure he wants to pay his own debts.”

“I'll help him.” Cara was pulling the tents and bedrolls out of the back of the Land Rover.

Eve noticed that the plural had become singular. She shook her head as she went to the other side of the vehicle to help Jane unload the Coleman lanterns. She was not sure if Cara was going to help Jock with the unpacking or if she had a more long-range goal in mind. At any rate, there was no battling that determination. “As Jock would say, it was just a wee joke, Cara. Of course, we'll do our share to help
them
.”

*   *   *

“I'll take that.” Caleb took the bedroll Jane was carrying and slung it by its strap on his back, then took the two lanterns. “You just had surgery a few weeks ago. You probably shouldn't be doing all this lifting and carrying yet.”