Eight Days to Live by Iris Johansen Read Free Book Online Page A

media.”
    “Joe’s a cop. We can’t be sure he wouldn’t stumble on it somehow. I can’t take a chance they’ll find out and be worried.” But she’d probably try to downplay the threat to herself. Though how to do that was a mystery. Eve was too sharp and would see through her. “And that police inspector said it would be okay if I left here tomorrow. I’m going to be on a plane by tomorrow night.”
    “You’re going back to Atlanta?” MacDuff asked. “To visit your Eve and Joe?”
    The lake cottage. Joe. Eve. It all beckoned with irresistible allure. “Yes, for a little while.”
    “Do you think that’s wise?”
    “Why not?”
    He didn’t answer.
    Celine pinned to the door, her face contorted with pain
.
    Her hands closed into fists. “Damn you. No, it’s not wise. It’s not safe for me to be around anyone until I find out what’s going on. I’ll go to my apartment in New York instead.”
    “You could come home with me,” MacDuff said. “You like it at the Run.”
    She shook her head.
    “Why not?” Jock asked. “MacDuff will take care of you. I’ll be there, too, if you’ll have me. I haven’t been home in a long time.”
    “I don’t want MacDuff to take—” She broke off. Jock would never really understand. He was accustomed to the Laird caring for him, his family, and half the county. He had changed, become much more independent, but old ways died hard. “I’m going back to the U.S.” She started for the bedroom. “And, please, stay away from Venable, Jock. Don’t let him talk you into doing anything like this again.”
    He didn’t answer, and she glanced back over her shoulder.
    He smiled, that beautiful, gentle smile that had first drawn herto him when he was a boy scarcely out of his teens. “Things aren’t good for you, Jane. I have to make them better.”
    She shook her head helplessly. In his way, he was an implacable force on the same scale as MacDuff. “Good night.”
    She closed the bedroom door firmly behind her.

THREE
    “ YOU HAVE TO MAKE SURE that she goes to the Run,” Jock said, as the door closed behind Jane. “We can protect her there.”
    “
I
have to do it,” MacDuff repeated. “You’re the one Jane’s always tried to care for. You persuade her.”
    “But you wouldn’t like it,” Jock said. “You always have to run things. It’s your nature. It would bother you.” He smiled slyly. “I wouldn’t want to bother the Laird. It’s not my place.”
    “You bastard,” MacDuff said. “It wasn’t your place to pull us all into this mire, either.”
    “No, it was my duty.” Jock’s smile faded. “I think a lot about duty these days. It gives me a kind of structure to hold on to. I have a duty to you, a duty to my friends, and a duty to my country.”
    And Jock needs structure after all he went through, MacDuff thought. “Duty is a hell of a reason to hit one of Venable’s targets for him.”
    “It’s as good a reason as any.” He looked back at the door. “It was all about Jane. Try to take her home with you.”
    “And if I don’t, you’ll be hovering over her and doing God knows what.”
    “Yes,” Jock said. “And so will you. Neither of us wants to see Jane nailed to a door like that poor woman.”
    MacDuff was silent a moment. “This Jack Millet who’s head of the Sang Noir. You said that you only knew what Venable had told you about him. But you were with the group long enough to take a measure of the man. What was your impression?”
    “Ugly,” Jock said. “He’s smart. Or maybe cunning is the word. He’s definitely into power. He handpicked the men in the group, and he keeps them under his thumb. They’re afraid to step out of line.” He nodded. “And dirty. You can’t imagine how dirty. Or maybe you can after what I told you about that kid in the brothel. And a little crazy. You can tell, he burns with it. We have to keep that filth from touching Jane.” He turned away. “Now I’m going outside and take a stroll