Silencing Eve

information.”
    “Don’t be sarcastic. Of course I’m concerned about you.”
    “Yes, but you guard yourself so well that you don’t let me see it very often. And I’m sarcastic because I’m very pissed off about the situation.” He paused. “Do you know that we don’t have to go through all this surveillance crap? I could go to her and make her tell anything she knows. It would take less than fifteen minutes. People fear pain and are terrified of death. When the evidence that’s happening comes from their own bodies, it’s doubly frightening. I’ve only showed you that blood can be a friend, but when I make it the enemy, it can be excruciating.”
    She moistened her lips. “You’d do that to her?”
    “You think I’d hold my hand because she’s a woman? No, that’s something Trevor would do. I target anyone who is capable of being a threat. I take it on a case-by-case basis. I always have a few problems with the fairness question when it comes to women. I think it’s ingrained in the genes, and has something do with the preservation of the species. But in my experience, women can be more savage and deadly than men if they’re motivated. Harriet Weber shows the signs of being a very ugly customer and would fight with every weapon she has. If you like, I’ll go after her and get your answers.”
    “And torture her?”
    “It would probably come down to that. I wouldn’t mind this time.” He was silent. “She hurt you.”
    “And I hurt her, too.” The brutal simplicity of his answer shocked her. “I fight my own battles, Caleb.”
    “I know. And I also knew that my offer would probably turn you off. I had to take the chance. It could save time.”
    Time. How much time did Eve have left? For an instant, Jane was actually tempted. “And if Harriet didn’t talk, we’d have no chance of finding out if she has a connection with Doane. Or she could lie and send us down the wrong path.”
    “Not likely.”
    “It could happen.”
    “Yes, it could happen. If she has mental problems; and judging from her actions and the tone of those letters from Kevin, she might. Then she’d feel anger and not fear, and she’d die before she’d tell the truth.” He added impatiently, “Okay, it could go either way. Forget it. You’re obviously not going to let me run the risk. I just had to put the offer out there. Is Trevor there?”
    She glanced at Trevor, sitting in the chair across the hotel room. “Yes, he’s been listening. Do you want to talk to him?”
    “No, I’ve said what I wanted to say to him. I just wanted to make sure he hadn’t let you send him away. Trevor has a tendency to try to give you everything you want. I’m sure that makes him even more desirable in your eyes, but you need someone with you right now.” He didn’t wait for her to answer. “I’m hanging up now. I’ll call you when I know something more.” He hung up.
    “You heard him,” she said to Trevor. “He seems to have everything under control.” She punched the disconnect on her cell. “And so we’re delegated to sitting here twiddling our thumbs. I hope Caleb is pleased. I hate being here. I’m not going to be able to take it.”
    Trevor smiled. “Yes, you will. And Caleb is not pleased though he hopes all we’re doing is thumb twiddling.” He gestured to the bed. “Why don’t you lie down and rest while I call room service and get us something to eat?”
    “I don’t want to lie down.” She wearily brushed the hair back from her face. “Do you know, I was thinking about letting him hurt her? What kind of person am I becoming, Trevor?”
    “Just an ordinary human under superhuman stress,” Trevor said. “And the choices are few, and all with consequences.”
    “I think I would have done it,” she whispered. “If he’d told me that he was absolutely sure that he could get those answers. Eve’s life against the pain of a woman who would condone the death of children. I would have said save Eve. There would have been no real question.”
    “Could Caleb really have done what he promised? Are you sure?”
    “Eve was sure. She saw it happen. That was why she was uneasy whenever I was with him. But neither Eve nor I have ever known him to hurt anyone who didn’t deserve it.”
    “You’re defending him.”
    “I’m telling you the truth as I know it. Caleb is an enigma, and I won’t say that I can read him. He bewilders me.” Her lips twisted. “You know me, Trevor. The quintessential