Silencing Eve

That would be fine for our purpose.”
    “I don’t like it,” Jane said flatly.
    “You’d like it less if Harriet flew the coop, and we didn’t know where that nuke was located,” Trevor said. “We may have to move fast, and knowledge is power.”
    He was right, Jane thought reluctantly. Harriet was on the move now, and all she was waiting for was Doane to tell her that he had Zander. Time was the enemy.
    And time was running out.
    Running out for Eve and for all those other innocent people whose lives would be taken if they took a wrong step.
    The enormity of that responsibility was suddenly there before Jane.
    Dear God, what right did they have to make that choice?
    She felt the muscles of her stomach clench. They had been sitting here making plans, ignoring the fact that the situation had changed. Ignoring the fact that they had no idea what Harriet had given to Cartland when she went into the bank. They were working blind, and if there was any possibility that she’d shared information with him about the location of the detonator, it could change everything. She looked at Margaret. “We can’t even be sure that nuke is in that building, can we? It’s all guesswork.”
    Margaret nodded. “I never said anything else. I could be wrong.”
    And the consequences of guessing wrong were catastrophic. Jane had been struggling desperately to try to fight the battle alone for Eve’s sake. Now she knew she couldn’t take a chance even though it was tearing her apart. God, she felt sick. “We have to bring Venable into it. We don’t have the right to do anything else.”
    Trevor reached over and covered her hand on the table. “I was wondering when you’d make that decision,” he said quietly. “I could see it coming.”
    “I couldn’t,” she said. “Even Catherine doesn’t trust Venable to put Eve first.” She moistened her lips. “But Eve wouldn’t want us to run that kind of massive risk for her sake. We have to tell Venable what we’ve found out about Harriet.” Her hand clenched around Trevor’s. “ Damn, I don’t want to do it.”
    “So we don’t go after the security tapes?” Caleb asked.
    Jane tried to think. “If we call Venable now, and he sends in a team to locate that nuke, then it could ruin any chance of our being able to track Harriet. If she hears about it, she might panic, and that’s the last thing we want.”
    “We could verify it’s there,” Caleb suggested. “It will only take a couple hours to get those tapes. Then we could use the location as a bargaining chip with Venable to try to control his actions.”
    “He’s not easily controlled,” Jane said. But any way to force Venable to listen to their suggestions to use caution would be valuable. “Okay, we’ll get the tapes, go through them, then call Venable.” She looked at Trevor. “And I’ll go with you to get them.”
    Both men instantly shook their heads.
    “I’m tired of this. Don’t tell me no,” Jane said. “I won’t stay here and send you out to do my job. That’s happened too often.” She gazed at Trevor. “I’m not going to get in the way. I won’t step in unless I see that you’re in trouble.” She made a face. “You keep saying that it’s your job to act as some kind of guardian for me. I don’t agree with you. But if that’s what you believe, then it should go two ways.”
    He shook his head.
    “Yes,” she said firmly. “I’ll be your getaway driver or something. I’m going to be with you, Trevor.”
    He sighed, then slowly nodded. He glanced at the two machines on the table across the room. “Someone has to monitor those machines.”
    “Margaret can do that,” Jane said. “And the only thing we’ve heard from Harriet this evening was her ordering room service.” She looked at Margaret. “Will you do it?”
    “Of course,” Margaret said. “Though being a getaway driver would probably be much more interesting. On the other hand, I’ve no desire to chance running into any rats. I’ve had enough of them for today. Besides, I need to call Kendra. She needs to work on figuring out where Kevin and Harriet would have hidden the detonator and what kind of code would set it off. Not that she doesn’t have enough to do. When do you leave?”
    “It’s seven now,” Trevor said. “Another hour.” He got to his feet and held out his hand to Jane. “Let’s go to our room. I want to be with you.”
    He was not smiling. His expression was curiously