Silencing Eve

devil’s soul?”
    Trevor didn’t speak for a moment. “I think that you’re strong enough to be whatever you want to be,” he said quietly. “And I believe that souls can change if the desire is there.”
    Caleb’s eyes widened with surprise. “I wasn’t expecting that. You continue to astonish me. I give you the opportunity to condemn, and you return it with generosity. It’s really very clever since you come across in a very favorable light.”
    “It wasn’t calculated, Caleb.”
    He smiled wryly. “I know.” He turned to Jane. “I take it we’re heading for Muncie, Indiana? When?”
    “In a few hours.” She checked her watch. “We don’t want to roust Kevin’s mother from her bed. We should arrive in Muncie about eight or nine if we can do it.”
    “Then we should all try to get a few hours’ sleep.” Margaret jumped to her feet and headed for the door. “Call me when you’re ready to leave, and I’ll meet you in the lobby.”
    “Margaret,” Jane said. “I appreciate your—”
    “Stop arguing, Jane. It takes too much energy.” She smiled. “You can’t just use me and throw me away.”
    “I’m not doing—”
    “I’m going with you, or I’m going alone. That’s your only decision.” She opened the door. She glanced at Trevor and Caleb. “And you get out of here, too, and let her rest. All this talk about souls and devils and monsters. Too deep and too gloomy.” She gestured in front of her at the open door. “Out.”
    Trevor’s smile was faintly bemused as he allowed himself to be ushered into the hall. “Heaven forbid that we express any gloom and doom. However, I have to point out it was you, Margaret, who delved into the ugliest concept of all.”
    “Necessary.” She pushed Caleb out the door, then stuck her head back in the room to repeat to Jane. “Call me.”
    Jane turned and headed for the bedroom. She was suddenly dragging in every limb, totally exhausted. She could use that few hours’ sleep Margaret had suggested, no, demanded. The effects of the brief rest she’d had earlier in the afternoon had dissipated.
    She didn’t bother to undress as she curled up on the bed and closed her eyes.
    Sleep.
    Relax.
    She wasn’t at all sure that this journey would prove helpful, but if it didn’t, they could fly on to Vancouver immediately. They were at least no longer standing still. They were going to be on the move in a few hours.
    She remembered Margaret’s words as she burrowed her head into the pillow.
    Close out the gloom and doom. Cling to hope and send all the devils and monsters packing …
    Penthouse
Drake Hotel
Denver, Colorado
8:40 A.M.
    CATHERINE HESITATED FOR A moment before the door of the hotel room.
    What the hell. Go for it.
    She knocked firmly and waited for an answer.
    An eye appeared in the security peephole. “Yes.”
    “I need to talk to Zander.”
    “Wrong room.”
    “You must be Stang. Let me in.”
    “Wrong room.”
    “Look, you clearly don’t want to draw attention to Zander’s being here. Let me in, or I’ll start pounding on the door and screaming that now that I’ve had your baby, you won’t give me child support. You have no idea what kind of publicity and outrage that can spark. I’ll give you one minute.”
    “I believe I’ll have to call security.”
    “And that will cause even more of an uproar.”
    “Let her in, Stang.” A deep voice and completely without expression. “I’ll attend to it.”
    The door swung open. “I’m Howard Stang.” Stang was a tall, thirtyish man in a beige sweater. “And you are?”
    “Catherine Ling.” The white-haired man who had spoken strolled forward from the balcony to confront her. He was dressed in black slacks and a white shirt whose sleeves were rolled up to reveal that there was a cast on his right forearm. He appeared ageless, but her immediate impression was of power, elegance, and leashed violence. “If I’m not mistaken?”
    She nodded curtly. “But I’m curious to know how you guessed. I didn’t tell Venable I was coming to see you.”
    “Really? He didn’t send you?”
    “Hell, no. The two of you are dancing around each other like Olympic fencers. He’d be afraid of sending you underground where he couldn’t get his hands on you.”
    Zander smiled faintly. “I don’t have to go underground to be sure that he can’t get his hands on me. But Venable is proving moderately helpful, and I don’t mind giving him limited access.” His smile faded.