Silencing Eve

this, am I?” His eyes were burning in his taut face. “I’m tempted just to knock you out until you’re thinking clearer.”
    “Everything is very cIear to me, Caleb. It couldn’t be more clear.”
    “Look, if I get close to Harriet I can—”
    “You said you’d do whatever I wanted you to do.”
    He stared at her in helpless fury. “Shit.” Then he turned on his heel and strode toward the ambulance. “I’ll take care of your dead lover. And then maybe I’ll have to come back and bring your body back to the same morgue.” He jumped into the passenger seat and motioned to the driver. “At least make a token effort to keep me from having to do that.”
    “He’s right, Jane,” Margaret said gently. “But it doesn’t matter if he’s right or wrong. You won’t let me stay with you?”
    She shook her head.
    “I’m not going to force it. I want to do it, but I’d probably feel the same way if it was someone I loved.” She gave her a quick hug. “Take care,” she whispered. “And move very fast. Venable should be roaring up anytime now.” She turned and moved toward the ambulance.
    Jane watched the taillights of the ambulance until the vehicle disappeared around the curve in the road.
    “I have to do it, Trevor,” she whispered. “You’d understand. You always understood.” But Caleb was right, Trevor wouldn’t like it. He always wanted to keep her safe.
    But her safety didn’t matter any longer. Nothing mattered but Harriet’s death. By Caleb’s last words, she knew he had known that, and it had added to his frustration.
    Move.
    If Margaret was right, Venable might be here and get in her way.
    Harriet had at least an hour head start, but she would not be hiding. She would be going to Driftwood Cottage to accomplish her final act of revenge for Kevin’s death. She had a destination.
    And so did Jane.
    As soon as she reached her car, she pulled out her phone and called Catherine.
    “I’ve been trying to reach you,” Catherine said. “We were worried. You hung up, then there was no answer when I called back later.”
    “Some things were happening. The last thing that I heard you say was that you thought you’d found that Driftwood Cottage. Did you find it?”
    “Yes, we’re on our way there now. We’re about thirty minutes away at a powerboat-rental facility at a town near there. Joe Googled it, and the cottage is on the beach, surrounded by hills, but he says that there’s too much danger of being spotted as you approach the cottage. It’s better that we come in from the sea.”
    “The sea?”
    “That’s what he says. I trust him to know what he’s doing.”
    “Then you’d better hurry. Harriet is on her way, too. And she’s not going to care if Doane spots her coming toward the cottage.”
    “You’re sure?”
    “Yes, I’m sure. But she’s wounded. She’s bleeding. I don’t think it’s serious, but it could delay her if she has to stop the bleeding. I can only hope it does.”
    “Wounded?” Catherine was silent. “Jane, what the hell happened?”
    If she told her, it would break the fragile balance. “I’ll tell you later. Look, maybe I’m closer to the cottage than you. Give me the location.” She typed in the location on the GPS. “I am closer. I’ll get on the road right away.”
    “Wait for us. Don’t do anything on your own.”
    “I won’t be on my own.”
    Catherine was silent. “Jane, is everything all right with you? You sound…”
    “Nothing is wrong.” Except that her world had ended. Except that Trevor was in the back of that ambulance and would never come back to her. “I’ll call you when I reach Driftwood Cottage.” She hung up and buried her head on the steering wheel.
    Take just one minute.
    Get control again.
    One more call. She sat up and dialed Venable.
    “You blew it, Jane,” Venable said harshly as he picked up the call. “Stay where you are. I’m coming after you.”
    “I know you are. I don’t care. Shut up a minute. I have to tell you something. Harriet has the detonator. I wasn’t sure before, but I saw her with it. She has it, and she’ll use it.” She paused to steady her voice. “So do whatever you can to locate those devices and defuse them.”
    Silence. “We’ve already located them. They’re in the clock towers as you said. Our flyovers picked up the plutonium signatures. I’ve already got a team headed inside. Very discreetly, as we agreed.” His tone hardened. “But there’s nothing