“Lakeside Marriott. Room 1730.”
“And Jane?”
“I didn’t ask her. Somewhere on this floor. You’ll have to find her yourself.”
Something was definitely not right. “I told you, I don’t want to wake her. I’ll come to your room.” She hung up.
She stared thoughtfully out the window. Storm clouds and an explosion on the brink. What had been happening in these last hours? Well, she would know soon. At least, he had said that Jane was better. Which might be the cause of those storm clouds. It was just as well Margaret was on the scene to act as buffer.
Lakeside Marriott. She got to her feet and weaved her way down the aisle to talk to the bus driver. His name was Harry Milton and after hours of casual conversation he probably liked her well enough to do her a favor. If she handled it right.
“Hi, Harry.” She beamed at him. “Do you know where the Lakeside Marriott is? Do you suppose it’s too far out of your way?”
CHAPTER
13
TWENTY MINUTES LATER, Margaret was knocking on the door of Room 1730.
Caleb opened the door. “That was quick.”
“The bus driver dropped me off.” She strolled into the room. “I didn’t want to waste time getting transportation from the bus station. You have to catch me up with what’s been happening since you arrived here.” She dropped down in a chair by the balcony doors. “First, Harriet Weber. Anything?”
“A telephone call from Doane.”
She stiffened. “What?”
“I thought that would make you sit up and take notice.” He sat down opposite her. “And it was something of a role reversal from what Venable thought.”
“Tell me.”
She listened closely as he described in detail the conversation between Doane and his ex-wife.
“Holy shit.” She shook her head. “Yeah, I can see the role reversal. She’s seems very dangerous. Sort of a black widow devouring her mates.”
“Trust you to compare her to one of your nature friends,” Caleb said. “Personally, I see Harriet as very human, with abundant Borgia qualities.”
“I don’t have any black widow friends,” she said absently. “I’ve tried but I can’t communicate with insects. And I wouldn’t choose a black widow anyway. It may be natural, but I can’t bear the thought that they eat their mates.” She was still thinking about Harriet. “If she’s in control, it opens an entire new view of what we might—Have you called Kendra?”
“Yes, I was designated official town crier. I called both Catherine and Kendra. Catherine was a good deal more receptive than Kendra. Oh, and she gave me some more info about where Doane might be keeping Eve. Something about a graveyard of driftwood…” He briefly filled her in on those details from Ben Hudson. “She’d already told Kendra, and Kendra was interested but impatient. She said that she was being bombarded, and she didn’t need that right now. She said between Kevin’s journal and the letters, she was going crazy.”
Margaret nodded. “She’ll be better soon. Puzzles drive her crazy. Her mind works double time until she sees the connections. But I think she’s beginning to do it.”
“How do you know?”
“I talked to her a few hours ago when I was on the road. Something suddenly occurred to her, and she brushed me off and sent me on my way. I made her promise to call me.”
“Will she do it?”
She looked at him in surprise. “Of course. She promised me. She’s like Jane. Honor and fair play mean everything to her. I’m expecting a call from her at any time.” She shrugged. “And besides, it’s the only way Kendra can participate without being on the spot. She’ll probably try to use me as her stand-in.”
“And you don’t object?”
“Not unless it interferes with my helping Jane. Kendra is very clever and won’t let that happen. She knows that’s why I’m with Jane.”
“You’ve made that crystal clear.”
She leaned back and studied him.
Darkness again, and the storm was closer. “No one can say I’m not honest.” She paused. “For instance, I don’t care about all this lust and emotional fireworks you and Trevor are obviously experiencing around Jane. I’ve never gone through it, so I can’t see what all the shouting is about. I’ve never been able to read you, but I’d guess on your part it’s probably purely animalistic, and that’s part of nature. Trevor is on a higher plane, and I think he genuinely cares about her.”
“I’m really not interested in your opinion, Margaret.”
She nodded. “Because you screwed up.”
He didn’t answer.
“You told me Jane was better. That means you probably did that blood thing that you did to her before. Right?”
He slowly nodded.
“And that you didn’t mind if I disturbed Jane. I had to think about that for a minute.”
“But I’m sure you came up with an answer.”
“You wanted her to be disturbed because she was with Trevor.” She tilted her head. “And at this time of night it’s logical to assume that they’re sleeping together.”
“Very logical.”
“So you did something she didn’t like.”
“Wrong.” He smiled recklessly. “I did something she did like … too much.”
She shook her head. “If Jane went to Trevor, it’s probably because you did something pretty bad. You might not even recognize that it would seem that bad to her. You’re two different species.” She thought about it. “No, you probably did know. But you’re one of the wild ones, and you didn’t care at that particular moment.”
“None of this is your business, Margaret. You’re annoying me.”
“I know. But Jane is my business. Mating is natural. I don’t give a damn what you and Trevor do to her as long as it’s okay with her. Maybe this time it wasn’t.” She frowned. “So, I thought I’d warn you that if you sent her running to Trevor, I’m going to help her to stay there.”
“The hell you are.”
The storm was no longer hovering but there before her. Dark eyes glittering with intensity. Lips drawn back from white teeth.
“I told you that honor and fair play mean a lot to Jane. I think that Trevor understands that. She’ll be safer with him.”
“Stay out of this, Margaret.”
“Can’t,” she said simply. “She took that bullet for me. I owe her. It’s not over until it’s over.” She smiled cheerfully. “But now that you understand my position, we can forget about it unless there’s a problem. I do find you very interesting, Caleb. Sometimes, the most unpredictable animals are the most fascinating.”
He shook his head in disbelief. “You’re incredible.” He added harshly, “And I don’t even know why I’m even listening to a half-baked kid like you.”
“Half-baked?” She thought about it. “I do have a lack of experience in some areas, but in others I’m ahead of the game. So I don’t think you can call me that. Maybe three-quarters baked?” She got to her feet. “And now I have to go to the bathroom and get a drink of water. Will you order me breakfast? Orange juice, roll, and coffee.”
“Haven’t you heard you shouldn’t eat in the hall of the enemy?” he asked sarcastically.
“Don’t be melodramatic. You’re not my enemy.” She moved across the room. “Unless you—” She stopped as her phone rang. “Kendra. I told you she’d keep her word.” She answered, “I’m already in Chicago, Kendra. You took long enough. I’m with Seth Caleb. I’m putting you on speaker.”
“Whatever,” Kendra said impatiently. “I think I’ve got it, Margaret. It was easy once I connected the dots.”
“I’ve seen you connect dots before, and there’s nothing easy about it,” Margaret said. “I don’t see the same paths that you do.”
“You have to come back to the prime realization that Harriet has always had a passion for English literature and move forward from there. She even infected her son, Kevin, with the same passion. He wanted to please her, and he knew that was the best way of doing it. It was clearly something they shared from the time he was a child.”