She’s dead. The bitch is dead, you prick. “Whatever you say. I’d better get to it. Anything else?”
“There will probably be a great deal else. Ling slipped down there to Guatemala and might have made contact with Montez. Even if she didn’t find out anything from him, it was still a minor victory for her that she knew he was important to me. Thanks to you, I’m feeling on the defensive. So while you’re busy doing what you should have accomplished already, I’ll be looking north to see how I can make that small victory taste very bitter for her. Call me when you’ve located Montez, and I might let you make amends in the way that Delores would most approve.” He hung up.
A bloodbath.
Santos was talking about a bloodbath, Dorgal realized. Delores had always gone for the jugular when the opportunity presented itself. And Santos was always only a breath away from savagery. Fear of arousing that bloodlust was one of the prime factors to his rise to the top of the cartel. He would be smooth and cool and clever, then suddenly release the demons. Dorgal had been around Santos too long not to recognize the signs that his composure was crumbling. It was surprising that it had not happened before. Only the obsession with his plan to make Ling suffer and its initial success had staved off his basic need to indulge himself.
And the only way to reinstate himself in Santos’s good graces would be to pander to that part of him. Dorgal would go after Montez, but he’d designate one of his men to continue with the hunt if it stretched out too long.
He had to be free to find a way to attack Ling directly and be the hero. That would give Santos what he wanted.
Blood.
* * *
“She’s out of the coma?” Catherine repeated. “My God, that’s wonderful, Eve.”
“You bet it is,” Eve said. “But she’s not out of the woods. Dr. Basle is flying back for a reevaluation on the surgery. But Caleb thinks he’ll go for it. The graft would be very delicate and extremely chancy.”
“But ‘chance’ is the key word,” Catherine said. “It would give her a chance that she didn’t have before.” She paused. “You’re banking a lot on Caleb.”
“Because he came through for me. Or for Jane. Or for himself. With Caleb, it’s hard to guess why he’s doing anything. But he’s getting it done, and that’s all that’s important.”
“No payback?”
“I’ll worry about that after I’m sure Jane is going to live,” Eve said. “Like I told Joe, I’ll handle it.” She added, “Right now, we’re dealing with keeping her alive and security issues. We had to tell the hospital staff that she was out of the coma, but we’re trying to downplay that we have any hope for the graft. Joe will keep Basle quiet, and we’ll have to do a damn good job of acting appropriately depressed and desperate.” She let out her breath in a shaky sigh. “Lord, I hope it’s an act. For the first time, I’m actually feeling hope.”
“Do you need me to come to you?”
“No, I have Joe.” She added wryly, “And it seems we have Caleb, whether Jane likes it or not.”
“As I remember, she was always wary of him. No gratitude?”
“Maybe later. She has too many mixed feelings at the moment. I think she knows she can’t give Caleb an inch, or he’ll take the world.”
“But he gave the world back to her this time.”
“She has mixed feelings about that, too. At any rate, I’m grateful, and I owe him. I just don’t owe him Jane. Any news of Santos?”
“Status quo, as Cameron says. Montez may know something that can help, but his motives are complicated, and he doesn’t trust anyone. But I’m hoping for a breakthrough.” She paused. “And I still have the dog tag you gave me. I’ll find Santos and give it to him.”
“Do that. Maybe I should feel merciful now that Jane has a chance to live, but that’s not happening, Catherine.” She saw Caleb standing in the door of the waiting room. “I have to go. I need to get back to Jane.”
“Give her my best. If you need anything, call me.” Catherine hung up.
“Is anything wrong, Caleb?” Eve pressed the disconnect and shoved the phone in her pocket. “Is she—”
“Nothing’s wrong.” His lips twisted. “She just needed a break from me, and I let Joe rescue her. She’ll feel safe and comfortable with him. She’ll calm down, and all the tension will flow out of her … until I come back.” He got a cup of coffee from the machine. “You were talking to Catherine when I came in? Any news of that son of a bitch?”
She shook her head. “Not yet. You sound as bitter as I am.”
“Oh, yes.” He took a swallow of coffee. “I haven’t had time to think of anything but keeping Jane alive since I got here. But now I’m beginning to think of ways and means to castrate Santos, then tear him limb from limb.” His voice was almost pleasant. “Jane usually disapproves of my savage streak, but this time she’ll just have to suck it up.” He looked Eve in the eye. “Somehow I don’t believe you would disapprove of anything I’d choose to do to Santos. It’s very personal for you.”
“Terribly personal.” She shrugged. “But you may have to stand in line. Catherine is very angry, and so are the people who care about her.”
“I don’t like to stand in lines.” His gaze went to the ICU down the hall. “So much security … police, detectives. Practically tripping over one another. You’d think that would ensure there were no slipups, wouldn’t you? That isn’t always the case. People get overconfident and all it takes is one.”
“You think Santos will come after her.”
“Or one of his men. I’m starting to look very closely at everyone on the floor, to zero in on any possible Santos recruits. He’ll almost certainly go on the attack if they think she has a chance of recovery. Don’t you agree?”
“Yes. That’s why we’ll try to keep it from him.”
“But Santos has deep pockets, and that buys information.”
“You don’t seem upset by the prospect.”
“Let him come.” He smiled recklessly as he tossed his empty cup in the basket. “Then I won’t have to stand in line.”
CHAPTER
10
“You didn’t tell me you were going,” Luke said as he came out of the library when Catherine and Cameron walked in the front door. “Why not?”
“It was the middle of the night and—” She stopped. No deceit. She wouldn’t have appreciated it, and her son wouldn’t either. “I was afraid you’d want to go along, and I didn’t want to argue with you. I didn’t know what I was going to have to deal with in Guatemala. I wanted you here with Hu Chang, so I wouldn’t have to worry about you.”
“But I worried about you.” He turned to Cameron. “And you let her do it. I thought you knew that I wouldn’t—”
“Get in the way?” Cameron finished. “Oh, I did. I know your potential. I wasn’t much older than you when I was training in Guardian duties in the Himalayas. But I wasn’t about to try to overrule Catherine when it came to you.” He smiled as he glanced at Catherine. “It’s your job to battle it out with her. But you’ll have to be very patient and gentle. I’ll be very annoyed if you manage to hurt her feelings.”
Luke turned back to Catherine. “Why don’t you trust me? Did I do anything wrong when we went after Kelly?”
“No. It wasn’t that you did—”
“Stop interrogating her, Luke.” Hu Chang came out of the library. “Hello, Catherine. If you’d let me know before you arrived at the front door, I would have had a discussion with Luke on diplomacy and kindness.” He looked back at Luke. “Can’t you see that she’s tired and on edge? Clearly things didn’t go as well as she hoped, and now you make her feel unworthy of meeting your needs. I’d advise you to think about her and not yourself.”
Luke frowned. “Unworthy? That’s not what I meant. You know that, Hu Chang. But she should have—” He stopped and then reluctantly smiled. “I’m sorry, Catherine. I was just— And maybe I was wrong, but so were you. But I would never try to hurt your feelings.” He paused. “Things didn’t go well for you?”