Silencing Eve

any longer. Zander is going to die. And I’m going to be there to see it happen. The minute Zander is dead, I’ll give you the location and code to set off the bombs. Then I’m on the first plane out of the country, and you can set loose Cartland and all his al-Qaeda friends to claim responsibility. But first things first, James.”
    “And then you’re taking the money and running. You’re not even going to stay around and make sure that Kevin’s work was completed.”
    “I’ll be sure. I don’t have to see it happen to know that those cities will blow. Kevin and I set it up so that he could know and enjoy it when it happened.” She paused. “And I’m not entirely unsympathetic to what you’re feeling. A magnificent funeral pyre for Kevin is going to be something to remember always. But I intend to be alive to remember it. That’s what Kevin would have wanted.”
    “Would he? I’d sacrifice my life to give him what he wanted. You’re thinking only of yourself.”
    “And so did Kevin. We understood each other perfectly. Good-bye, James. When you’re ready to have me watch Zander’s execution, call me again but not until that time.” She hung up.
    James was such a fool. He thought he was so clever, but Kevin had always been able to manipulate him with no effort. So had she when she had thought it was worth the effort.
    She turned and went out on the balcony. It was the middle of the night, and she should go to bed and rest. She doubted if she could sleep. She was wired because her life was going to change again. In a few days, she’d be in a foreign country and would disappear until it was safe to emerge from hiding. No problem. She’d made her plans, and this new life would be much more to her liking than the one she’d led in Muncie.
    “It’s all going to happen, Kevin,” she murmured. “Zander thought he could take my boy from me? All those Washington bastards thought you could be stopped from doing what we wanted to do? No way.”
    The lights of the city were spread out before her. What would it feel like to press a button and see those lights go out and not come on again? Would she feel the same heady power that Kevin would have known?
    Perhaps.
    Soon she would know …

 
    CHAPTER
    11
     
    JANE VAGUELY HEARD TREVOR on the phone as she sluggishly opened her eyes.
    He was sitting on the side of the bed, and the phone he was using was her own, she realized suddenly. She struggled to a sitting position. “What is—”
    “It’s okay.” He held up his hand to silence her. “It’s Caleb. You were sleeping so hard, you didn’t hear the phone ring. I answered the call for you.” He pushed the speaker. “Caleb recorded an interesting call that Harriet received.” He handed her the phone. “From Doane.”
    “What?” She was suddenly jarred wide-awake. “Caleb, did he say anything to her about Eve?”
    “No, it was all about the location of the nukes and killing Zander.” He briefly sketched in the content of the phone call to her. “So it’s clear that Harriet is in control of the situation. She seems to have been in the background holding the reins since the moment Kevin was born.”
    “But there was an obvious conflict between her and her husband.” Jane was trying to think clearly. “And Doane has Eve. As long as he has her, he’s in control as far as I’m concerned. He’s the one who can pull the trigger.”
    “But he won’t do it until Harriet’s in a position to witness Zander’s execution and gives him the location and code for the nukes,” Trevor said. “He wants it all.”
    “Then we have to keep him from getting it,” Jane said curtly. “And follow her when she goes to see him execute Zander. Because that’s the only way we’re going to find Eve.” Panic was beginning to rise within her. They were closer to Doane than they’d been since that debacle in the ghost town, but Harriet was another deadly element they had to battle. One false step, and Eve would die, and so might millions of other innocents. “Nothing is going to happen until Zander is dead. That will give us a little time. And we’re not really sure she has the detonator even if she said she did. She wasn’t going to give it to Cartland.”
    “Then I’m wondering what bribe she’s going to offer Cartland when she’s sees him later this morning,” Trevor murmured.
    “Who knows? We have to hope we’ll find out more after we see where she goes to get it.”
    “You’re sure you