Silencing Eve

her, you’d realize that, Zander. She left those clay bits on the bed as ID, but she’d try to tell us more than that.”
    “Where she was going,” Zander said. “She’d find out from Doane where he was going to take her and try to let us know.” He gave Catherine a level glance. “And I didn’t have to spend much time with her to know that she’s clever. She fought Doane on his own terms up in those mountains, and she would have won if she hadn’t gone soft.”
    She frowned. “Gone soft?”
    He shrugged. “I was in somewhat of a quandary, and Eve decided that she had to distract Doane from me. I could have handled it. I told her I didn’t need her. She did it anyway.”
    “And Doane recaptured her.” Catherine shook her head in wonder. She repeated, “Gone soft. Is that what you call it? Why, you son of a bitch.”
    “Yes. I’ve never denied it. Just as I’ve never denied that I don’t think the same way that other people do.” He smiled. “Like you, Catherine. You have a great deal of trouble with my not being sentimental about Eve’s deplorable lack of instinct for self-preservation.”
    “I may just test your self-preservation instinct,” she said through her teeth. “I wonder how you’d—” She stopped. “You’re laughing, dammit. Stop it.”
    He nodded. “I’m just amused by how easily you’re aroused to anger in defense of Eve. She must be a very good friend to you. I admit that I yielded to temptation to see how you’d respond. It’s my eternal curiosity.”
    “Screw your curiosity.” She stared at him. “And I don’t think you’re as detached as you’d like everyone to believe about Eve. I’ve been watching you today, and you’ve been … intense.”
    “I’m on the hunt for Doane.”
    She gazed at him for a long moment and slowly shook her head. “Have it your way. But there were moments when you might have had Doane, but it would have put Eve in danger. You’re not quite as ruthless as you pretend.”
    “I never pretend.”
    “Then you may be a split personality. I don’t have time to psychoanalyze you.” She headed for the bathroom. “I’ll check out the cabinets and the shower for anything Eve might have left. You search this room.”
    “If I find something, do I get a prize?”
    She gave him a glance and started looking through the lower cabinets. He was deliberately trying to annoy her. He didn’t like orders, and she was probably lucky that his response had been verbal.
    Nothing in the cabinets.
    She went into the shower.
    Nothing written on walls or soap.
    Not good.
    Nothing on the washcloths.
    “Catherine,” Zander called from the other room. “I won the prize.”
    She ran out of the bathroom. “What did—” He was kneeling beside the table and peering underneath it. “What is it?”
    “I noticed the surface of the table was faintly discolored and it would have been natural to use it as a worktable.” He had taken out a small penlight and was shining it underneath. “There’s a small piece of clay stuck to the underside of the table. Can you think of any reason why anyone would do that?”
    “Only one.” She held her breath as he started to pry the clay from the table. “Be careful…”
    “I’ll not answer that useless bit of—” He stopped. “Part of it is hanging loose. I have to take my time, or it will break in two when I take it down.”
    “If you’ll move, I could try—”
    “I’ve got it.”
    “I meant my hands are smaller.”
    “I didn’t think you meant I was inadequate to the task.” Zander’s fingers were moving with exquisite delicacy on the clay, working it away from the table. “I’m sure you’d never be so rude.” The next moment, he’d extracted the clay and brought it from beneath the table. “There we are. Now let’s see what we’ve got here…”
    She opened the drapes to let more light into the room and hurried back to the table. “What is it?”
    “Your extraordinary Eve,” he murmured. “Four letters…”
    “The last two are a W and an A preceding a period. The second one is an e . The first one is…” She frowned. “What? It’s messed up.”
    “The clay is ultrathin at that edge,” Zander said. “And it appears that she had to rework it. But the indentation should be clear.” His index finger moved along the indentation. “It’s difficult as hell…” He closed his eyes. “Give me a minute.”
    “You look like a safecracker.”
    “Only when necessary to my