“You do know her,” Caleb said slowly. “But she’s more than a wonderful artist. Did she ever tell you about Joe Quinn and how he raised her?”

He shrugged. “She mentioned something about how he taught her about locks.”

“More than that. He wanted to keep his little girl safe. That was fine with me. Joe and I were on the same page. Only I wanted to do it myself.”

“You always want to do everything yourself,” Rodland said. “Some people would consider it a cheat that you don’t let them share the burden. You might rethink that philosophy.”

Caleb stiffened. “Are you speaking for yourself?”

“No, I was willing to wait. I knew my turn would come. But don’t try to leave me behind.”

“You might not even be able to make it to the courtyard.” His gaze raked Rodland’s face. “You look banged up as hell. Palik said you probably have a concussion. Even if I decided to take you along, you wouldn’t be of any help to me.”

“I’d be of help. And I’ll get stronger all the time.” He smiled. “And you like to take care of people. Jane might not let you get away with it, but I will. And I’ll do whatever you tell me to do. The only thing I’ll ask is that you don’t make me get on a horse in the next month. I’m saving that for my next challenge, maybe next year.”

Caleb was silent. Then he nodded. “Then it’s fortunate I was considering using a Range Rover.” He turned on his heel. “I’ll see you in the courtyard in twenty minutes. Be there.”

*  *  *

Caleb and Rodland had picked up a Range Rover from the garage and were only thirty minutes out of the blackened ruin of the front gates when they got a call from MacDuff.

“Change direction to the southern forest,” MacDuff said as soon as Caleb picked up. “She said Nojer would be in a cave about twelve miles from the road. She told me she’d left a note.”

Caleb went still. “She? Who?”

“Who do you think?” MacDuff said. “Jane. She said she was sorry for everything and hoped I’d forgive her. Then she started to rattle off directions. I told her that she should wait for you, but she said that wouldn’t be a good idea. Then she was gone. Now go get her and bring her back.”

“I will. Who’s Nojer?”

“She didn’t say.” He ended the call.

“Jane?” Rodland repeated. “Nojer?”

“You heard him.” Caleb drove off the road and turned south. “I don’t know what the hell is happening. Except that she couldn’t bother to wait for me.” He stomped on the accelerator as he drove into the brush. “And that she was still alive ten minutes ago. I’ll take that.”

Rodland nodded. “Yeah. We’ll take that.”

*  *  *