Silencing Eve

references?”
    “Harriet evidently installed a healthy respect in Kevin for both her and her profession as an expert on English Literature. There are a few mentions of places they’ve visited that seem innocent but may not be. I’m working on it.”
    “You may not have much time.”
    “I’ve been working on that assumption since Quinn first called me. Now you throw these letters at me and make that ticking clock go into overdrive. It’s not as if—” She suddenly broke off. She was silent a moment. “Maybe…”
    “Kendra?”
    “I’ve just thought of something. I’m going to hang up now, Margaret.”
    “How rude. You’re just going to leave me hanging?”
    “That’s right, until I figure out if what I’m thinking has any potential.” Her tone was still abstracted. “And what are you doing on a bus headed for Chicago anyway?”
    “Now you ask me. Doane’s wife is on the lam, and I was left to make my way there on my own. Well, actually, Jane would probably have found a way to bring me to Ground Zero, but I chose to do it my way.”
    “You and Sinatra. Why?”
    “I wanted Jane to be a little worried about me and take it out on Trevor and Caleb. They deserve it.”
    “Wicked, Margaret.”
    “Justice, Kendra. I’ll let you go now. I can tell you’re only half listening to me. That mind of yours is going into high gear now that you’ve managed to make a leap.”
    “Not a leap. Not yet. Just a baby step.”
    “But you think you’re onto something. You’re excited.”
    “Cautiously excited.”
    “I don’t think that’s a concept I understand.” She chuckled. “But I don’t understand a hell of a lot of what makes you tick, Kendra. I just accept and enjoy.” She paused. “Will you call me when the caution is gone, and you’re just plain excited?”
    “Of course. Don’t be silly,” she said. “But I wish I was there. I hate being out of the action.”
    “You may be initiating action on a grand scale if you’ve found the key to that journal. So get to work.” She added mischievously, “And I’d dearly love to be the one to hand Jane a clue that Caleb and Trevor couldn’t give her. It would prove just how wrong they were to leave me behind.”
    “As I said, wicked.” Kendra was laughing as she hung up.
    Perhaps a little wicked, Margaret thought, as she leaned back in the seat. But all actions had consequences, and Caleb and Trevor had to realize that any action taken against her would be paid in full. She owed a debt to Jane, and that meant she had to give her what she wanted most in the world.
    Eve.
    She looked out into the darkness at the countryside passing outside the window. She had never met Eve, but she had caught a glimpse of her strength and endurance at that horrible explosion at the ghost town in Colorado. She deserved to live, dammit. Margaret was feeling a strange closeness to her, as well as to Jane.
    It’s going to be okay, Eve. Things are happening. We’re all working to get you back. And we’re not going at this blind any longer. Kendra is onto something …
    Lakeside Marriott
    “YOU LOOK TERRIBLE,” CALEB SAID bluntly to Jane when he opened the door of his hotel room. His glance switched to Trevor. “Couldn’t you get her to rest? What good are you?”
    “Shut up, Caleb.” Jane came into the room. “I did rest. And you should be concentrating on Harriet and not on me. Did she have any other calls?”
    “No. By the sound of her breathing I think she’s asleep.” He watched Jane as she dropped into a chair by the table across the room. “She was out on her balcony for a while, then went inside to bed. I’m still monitoring her.” He nodded at the two machines on the table. “One is a motion machine that allows me to be certain she’s still in the room, and the other will record any phone calls.”
    She looked at the two machines on the table beside her. “So small. Snooping is definitely hi-tech these days. Are they difficult to operate?”
    “No, in this day and age, everyone spies on everyone else. They have to make it simple. Piece of cake.”
    “Good.” Trevor closed the door and moved across the room. “Then I’ll take over the monitoring. You have something else to do.”
    “What?” Caleb’s eyes were narrowed on Trevor’s face. “You’re very … tense. What are you up to?”
    “I am tense.” He met Caleb’s gaze. “You have no idea.”
    Caleb stiffened. “No, but I can sense a certain animosity. What did I