Night and Day (42 page)

“I don't think she will. Palik said that Ivan Sabak was found dead in a wrecked car on a railway crossing a few hours ago.” He kissed her again and turned to the door. “Stop thinking about Natalie. I believe she may be history.”

Eve watched the door close behind him.

No more Natalie.

She could feel the tension gradually leaving her.

Home.

Michael.

We're going home, Michael. You're going to like it there. You'll have Joe and Cara and sometimes Jane. And me, always me. Family. None of the conflict and problems that you've been going through lately. Smooth sailing.

Warmth. Strength. Love.

And laughter, she realized. Michael was laughing at her words of comfort as if he knew that smooth sailing would not happen. Maybe he didn't want it to happen.

“We'll see.” She closed her eyes. “Right now, just concentrate on keeping well and kicking any stray ugliness away from you. We'll settle the rest when we get home…”

*   *   *

“It's done,” Caleb stopped in front of the chair where Jane was sitting in the waiting room. “Quinn will give you the details, but I did my part. They want to keep an eye on Michael when she delivers him. But the chances are that they'll both live with no harmful effects.”

“Thank God,” she said fervently. “And thank you, Caleb.”

He shrugged. “No thanks necessary. You chose to take this out of the realm of a favor. I kept my word, and I know you'll keep yours.” He smiled. “I look forward to it. You promised me anything, and my interpretation of that is both intricate and erotic.”

She stiffened in her chair. “You're right, I won't break my word. When?”

He shook his head. “It would be a pity to hurry things when anticipation can be so exquisite. I think that I'll trade it for an IOU that I can redeem at any time. Perhaps when we're absolutely sure that Michael is completely fine.” He smiled. “Or before. Or afterward. My choice.”

“Caleb.”

“You may get to like the anticipation. I'll make it very intriguing.” He turned and headed down the hall. “But now I have to get back to Eve to make sure everything is going well. I'll see you later, Jane.”

She watched him walk away from her. Sleek, graceful, totally sexual, completely dangerous. She was aware that she had made him angry, and there was no telling how he intended to punish her.

Or maybe she did know.

Only time would tell.

“Jane.” Cara had left Jock across the room and come to stand beside her. “Is Eve okay?”

“She's very okay.” Jane stood up and put her arm around Cara. “Caleb said he thought they would both be fine. They're going to watch closely when Michael is born, but Caleb's not worried. And he probably knows more than those doctors about what's happening with her blood supply. You can trust Caleb about things like that.”

“I knew it!” Cara hugged Jane exuberantly. “See, everything is going the way it should. All it took was a little help from us. Where's Caleb now? I've got to go thank him.”

“He's with Eve.”

“Then I'll wait for a while.” Her gaze flew to Jane's face. “But you thanked him, didn't you?”

You saw fit to take this out of the realm of a favor.

“Yes, I thanked him.”

“That's good. Sometimes you don't seem to—He likes Eve. He saved her. He helped all of us.”

“He also smuggled you onto his plane and put you in danger. And still you're prejudiced in his favor.”

She nodded. “Because I wanted him to do it. Because he sees things differently than other people. I don't know why. Do you? Has he told you? Did you ask him?”

She shook her head. “My relationship with Caleb doesn't lend itself to confidences.”

“I'd ask him. Maybe I will. But right now, all I want to do is thank him.” She looked past Jane down the hall. “There's Joe. He looks so happy.” She started down the hall toward him. “I told you that everything was going to be all right. We all just have to help a little…”

“I take it that Eve is out of the proverbial woods.” Jock was standing beside Jane and gazing after Cara, who was now looking up at Joe with a glowing smile. “Cara kept telling me that she would be, that all Eve and Michael needed was help. It appeared she was right.”

“You don't seem too happy about it.”

“I'm happy about Eve. I'm just a bit wary about Cara's attitude.” He shrugged. “But I'll just keep an eye on her and make sure that she's safely ensconced with Eve and Joe in Atlanta.”

“And then where will you be?”

“I'll come back here and help MacDuff find that treasure.” His lips twisted. “Cara will be better off without me for a while. She has a new family, and she'll be making friends her own age. I won't be needed. The healthiest thing would be for her to forget about me.”

“Maybe,” Jane said bluntly. “But this is Cara. That's not going to happen. The bond is too strong. You abandon her, and she'll come after you to make sure that you're all right.”

“I won't abandon her.”

“Then don't make her think you are. Strike a balance. Just let her know that you'll be there for her.”

He was silent. “I always knew you were very wise, Jane.” He smiled. “Or maybe I just want you to be right about this.”

“Wise?” She made a face. “Wrong. It's easy to see things when you're not involved. I tend to make a hell of a lot of mistakes when emotion rears its head.” She smiled ruefully at him. “So when I'm not needed in Atlanta with Eve, I believe I'll join you and MacDuff back at Gaelkar. Perhaps I'll be better dealing with Cira and her ancient treasure than anything more current.” She took a deep breath and straightened her shoulders. “But right now, we have Eve to think about. That's all that's important until she delivers her Michael.” She started down the hall toward Joe and Cara. “And I'm going to think like Cara. Everything is going to be fine with Eve as long as she has help from her friends…”

 

EPILOGUE

EMORY HOSPITAL

ATLANTA, GEORGIA

SEVEN MONTHS LATER

“How is she?” Jock asked Cara as he strode into the waiting room. “Where's Quinn?”

“With Eve. He hasn't left her since she went into labor. They wouldn't let me be there.” She jumped to her feet and went to the door to look down the hall at the delivery room. “It's that kid thing again.”

“Imagine that,” Jock said. “Or it might be that this is an experience they don't want to share.”

She nodded. “I thought of that. But what if she needs me, and I'm not there?”

“Whenever I've dropped in on you and Eve and Joe in the last months, she's seemed perfectly healthy, and you were waiting on her hand and foot. I believe Joe and Eve can handle it from here.”

“She wouldn't let me do very much.” She looked away from the delivery room. “You got here awfully fast. I only phoned you and Jane a couple hours ago when we left the lake cottage. Jane said that she wouldn't be able to get here for six or seven hours.”

“I was a little closer. The last time I was at the cottage, I thought that you might need me sooner rather than later.”

“How close?”

“I checked in at a hotel in downtown Atlanta three weeks ago.”

“But you didn't come to see me.”

“You were busy. School and your practice and Eve.”

“Not that busy. I'm never that busy. Didn't you want to see me?”

He touched her hair. “I always want to see you. But do you remember, I told you once that sometimes we wouldn't be able to be together?”

“Yes. I thought it was stupid.”

He chuckled. “I got that impression. But you're in the minority, Cara. You need all the experiences these years will bring you. But I'll always be here when you need me.”

She gazed at him. “Like now?”

“Aye. Like now.” He smiled. “Now, may I get you a cold drink or something to eat?”

She shook her head. “I just want you.” She plopped down on a chair. “I've been telling myself that everything's going to be okay with Michael. But I'm a little scared.”

“I'm not.” He took her hand. “You convinced me, and I'm going to stay convinced.”

She looked at him. “See, that's why you're being stupid. You always make me feel better. Would I ever be too busy for that?”

“I hope not.”

“Never,” she repeated emphatically. She restlessly jumped to her feet again. “They thought Michael was going to come right away. What's keeping him?”

“You'll have to discuss that with him when he appears on the scene.”

“He seems to have his own way of doing things. I just want Eve to be done with the—” She broke off as her phone rang. She glanced down at the ID impatiently. Then she stiffened, hesitated, and pressed the access. “It's not done,” she said quickly into the phone. “It's not finished. I'll call you after Michael is born.” She hung up.

“Who was that?” Jock was gazing at her with narrowed eyes. “You're upset.”

“No, I'm not. I just didn't want to think about it yet.”

“Think about what? Who was that?”

He wasn't going to give up. She knew Jock too well to believe that. “It was Kaskov.”

He stiffened. “Kaskov? What the hell is he doing calling you?”

“He just wanted to know if Michael and Eve are all right.”

“He knows she's in labor? Did you call him?”

“No, he's been concerned and probably had someone check.”

“Why?”

“The antidote. He wanted to make sure that what he'd given us had good value.”

“And when did he tell you that? Has he been phoning you?”

“Only twice. And then tonight.”

“Did Eve and Quinn know?”

“No, it would only have upset Eve.”

“I can see that,” he said grimly. “It's upsetting me. Would you like to tell me what your discussions with him were about?”

It was the last thing she wanted. “I think you know. I told you that Kaskov doesn't think anything is free. He gave me Eve and Michael. We both knew that I'd have to pay eventually.”

“The
hell
you will.”

“I
will
pay, Jock. I was sent to save Eve and Michael, and I did it. I think I'm the only one who could have done it. For some reason, Kaskov wants me to be with him and, if that's the price, then it was worth it.”

“I'll
kill
him.”

“No, you won't. You said I had a soul and choices, and this is one of the choices.” She smiled shakily. “But Kaskov isn't going to have it all his own way. Why do you think I've been talking to him? He'll only have me with him for one month a year, and I get to choose the place. Anything else is only open to negotiation.”

“And you actually believe he'll keep his word?”

“Yes, if I keep mine.”

“You're crazy. Do you know how dangerous he is?”

She didn't answer directly. “He won't hurt me. He wouldn't damage anything he values. If he wants me with him, he must value me.” She took a step closer to him. She had to make him understand. “Eve might be dead if he hadn't given her that antidote. There was a reason that I had to be the one to go to him and persuade him to do it. Maybe there's a reason I have to be the one to go to him now.”

“Bullshit. You don't have to do this. I won't allow it. Eve won't allow it.”

“Then I'll go to Kaskov anyway. It will just make it more difficult for all of us. One month, Jock.” She tried to smile. “Hey, some of my school friends go away from home to summer camp for that long.”

“Some summer camp,” he said through his teeth.

“It will be what I make it,” she said quietly. “Choices, Jock.”

“It's not going to happen.”

“Not for a while. I'll make Kaskov understand I have to be with Eve during these next few months. As long as he knows I'll keep my word, he'll be patient.”

“And you think I'll just let you go off with him?” His gray eyes were shimmering with intensity, his jaw tense. “Think again, Cara. For God's sake, you're happy, you love your life with Eve and Quinn. Nothing's going to destroy that.”

“Only you, if you don't let me work this out to suit myself.” She reached up and put her hand on his lips as he opened them to speak. “And I'm not going to talk about this any longer. You don't talk about it either, not to me, not to anyone else. This is the day that Eve has been waiting for, and nothing is going to spoil it or worry her. Do you understand, Jock?”

He stared down into her eyes for a long time. Then he reached up and took her hand from his lips. “Oh, I understand. You'll have your grace period, Cara.” He lifted her palm to his lips. “Because, when you're not being totally irrational, you're full of grace yourself, and this day is important to you, too. I came here to share it with you, and I'll even promise that I'll try to handle this particular insanity without involving Eve.” He smiled. “Let's call it a birthday gift to Michael.”

He might still be upset with her but there was no anger, she realized with relief. There was only warmth and affection and that closeness that had always been there between them. “Michael will like that. He's always very protective of Eve.” Her hand tightened on Jock's as she looked impatiently down the long hall. “But I wish he'd get here. Where on earth is he?”

*   *   *

“Where is he?” Eve asked in panic, reaching out for Joe's hand. “Where are they taking him?”

“Shh. Everything is fine.”

“No, it's not.” She was empty. Michael was gone from her body, and she was feeling a terrible loss. She wanted him back. “Not if he's not here with me.”