Silencing Eve

Caleb.”
    “I don’t need you.” He glanced at Jane as he got out of the car. “She does. Look at her. For the last thirty miles, she’s been fading.”
    “I have not,” Jane said. “I’m just tired.”
    “Liar. I’ve been watching you. And I can feel you. You’re almost as bad as you were before they let you out of that hospital.” His lips tightened. “And you won’t let me do anything for you.” He turned back to Trevor. “Take care of her.” His smile was suddenly reckless. “Or I’ll come after you. I’m no caretaker like you. Do you know how difficult this is for me?”
    “I have a good idea.”
    “No, you can’t even come close.” He turned and strode down the street toward the Marriott.
    “This is all wrong,” Jane said as she watched him go. “Caleb’s being overcareful. We should have stayed together.”
    “If he’d been overcareful, you’d have taken him down and done what you wanted,” Trevor said quietly as he drove into the Radisson parking lot. “It speaks volumes that you let him control the situation with only a token protest.”
    “I won’t deny that I’m not well. I have to pick my battles, and there’s a certain logic to Caleb’s handling the first stages of Harriet’s reconnaissance. He’s very effective.” And she was exhausted, she realized. She was bruised and tired and strained to the maximum degree. “But you don’t have to stay with me. That’s ridiculous.”
    “It appears that I do.” He smiled faintly as he came around to her door and opened it. “Caleb was bitter that he had to leave such a major opening for me. He meant it when he said that he’d come after me.” He took her hand and helped her from the car. “You wouldn’t want that to happen, would you?”
    His hand was warm and strong on her own, and she felt a rush of feeling that was like a deep, swirling river of sensation. The exhaustion was suddenly eased, and she only wanted to stand here and look at him.
    “Hey, that’s not fair.” His smile faded. “You’re vulnerable, and I’m trying to remember. In spite of Caleb’s claim not to have any caretaking instincts, even he actually showed signs of doing that for once.” He made a face. “Oh, what the hell.” He grabbed their bags, but his hand still held her own as he pulled her toward the front entrance. “Caleb probably only did it to tie my hands. Why should I let him get away with it?”
    *   *   *
    “HARRIET WEBER BOOKED for two nights and she’s in Room 1630,” Caleb said when Jane answered two hours later. “I’m in a room directly above her on the seventh floor. She left her Cherokee packed except for an overnight case and the box of letters from Kevin.”
    “Yes, she wouldn’t want to let those sentimental messages from her dear boy far away from her,” Jane said bitterly. “Let’s hope she doesn’t examine the box too carefully.”
    “She’d have to be looking for that GPS bug. It’s tiny, and I placed it very carefully. But it won’t help us unless she’s on the road. But I picked up a few very sensitive motion and listening devices that should do the trick. It shouldn’t be too difficult to plant a few bugs.”
    “From the floor above her?” Jane asked.
    “I told you, I’m in the suite directly above hers. She has a balcony, and so do I. There are sliding glass doors, and I’ve checked, and they’re not sealed the way some hotels keep them. I’ll have to wait until the hotel quiets for the night, but then I should be able to climb down.”
    “Like Spider-Man?”
    “Piece of cake.”
    Jane believed him. Margaret called Caleb one of the wild ones. She was probably referring to the dark recklessness she sensed within him. But Caleb’s years of hunting and stalking his sister’s killer had developed and honed those abilities to the extreme. Jane had seen him move like a jungle cat through the forest after human prey and seen the wildness in him after he had brought that prey down. “And what if she has the doors locked?”
    “I’ll be prepared to jimmy them, but not many people feel threatened of anyone creeping in from that direction. As you say, Spider-Man is usually not a possibility. There’s a chance she’ll leave them unlocked if she strolls out there.” He paused. “Stop worrying, Jane. I’ll get the job done.”
    “Without falling and breaking your neck?”
    “I’m touched. And I thought that you were only concerned about my getting your