The Persuasion Read online

  “Because I’m angry,” MacDuff said harshly as he straightened. “I don’t like what happened here last night, and I don’t like it that Jane was showcased as a part of it. And the minute I saw how that bastard used that blood, I thought about you. Hell, yes, I know you’re no vampire wannabe, but I also know you have that bizarre talent of controlling the blood flow of anyone near you. With a result that can be either healing…or fatal.”

  “Then I’d hardly need a knife to cut that guard’s throat, would I?” Caleb asked mockingly. “Why be angry with me?”

  “Because Jane told me that several years ago your sister Maria was killed by some weird cult that was trying to duplicate that talent you possess in such abundance. They thought it might be an inherited talent and drained her of her blood. Jane said that you went on the hunt for the members of that cult and destroyed them.” His eyes were narrowed on Caleb’s face. “And I’m wondering if they were all destroyed. I was thinking that perhaps someone who knew about your relationship with Jane might have thought putting pressure on her would be a way of getting to you. What do you think?”

  “I doubt it.” Caleb added harshly, “For Pete’s sake, do you think I haven’t been monitoring that cult to make certain it never becomes active again? I have another sister, Lisa, who could be targeted. There’s no way I’d let anyone get near her. There’s been no sign of those snakes raising their heads again.”

  “Doubt?” MacDuff repeated. “But you’re not sure?”

  “No, dammit, I’m not sure,” he said fiercely. His eyes went back to the photo on the wall. “I’m not sure of anything right now. But it’s not likely, and I’ll make sure. However, I think we should look in another direction. It’s much more likely that Lisa would be targeted than Jane if that was the purpose. After all, Lisa is a descendant of the Ridondo family. That’s why they chose to kidnap Maria. They evidently thought I might be too much of a challenge.” His lips twisted. “So think of another motive. Providing that you didn’t just bring me to your palatial estate to accuse me of killing your old retainer. I don’t believe that was your sole motivation.”

  “I didn’t accuse you, I was just questioning. It seemed a logical supposition. I’m still thinking about it. I admit I’m relieved that Lisa is more likely to be a victim of those ghouls than Jane.” He gestured at the photo. “But that’s a clear threat. I won’t have anything happen to Jane. I thought you might feel the same way.” He paused. “Unless your relationship has definitely faded into the horizon. She told me several months ago that she wasn’t seeing you any longer.”

  “Did she?” Caleb’s voice was noncommittal. “I admit she’s having a few problems with me. But situations have a way of changing, don’t they? I drop in on her occasionally to remind her of that.” He turned away from the photograph. “And this situation has just had a radical change. It’s time I reminded her again.” He stared MacDuff in the eye. “Instead of worrying about a cult, we should wonder why that painting was taken. I understand that it had an intimate connection both to Jane and to your family. Did Fiona MacDuff really look exactly like her?”

  “Yes.” His brows rose. “You’ve never seen it?”

  “No. Jane has always been a little wary and had a tendency not to permit me too close to that part of her life. Though she did make the attempt at one time.” He smiled wryly. “So I can hardly blame her if I scared her off. But I admit I did want to see it. I called your agent last year and told him if the painting ever went on sale, I’d meet any price.”

  “You wanted to own it?”

  “It was Jane.” He shrugged. “Everything about her…interests me. Yes, I wanted to own it.”

  And not only the painting, MacDuff thought. Caleb’s voice was cool, but the intensity in his expression was electrifying. “Past tense?”

  “No, not past tense. When I get it back from those thieves for you, maybe you’ll be so grateful that you’ll be willing to sell it to me.” He gave one more glance at the photo over his shoulder as he headed down the hall toward the front entrance. “I’ll let you know about the cult. Keep me informed if you get any other information from the police. You won’t have to worry about Jane. I’ll take care of her.”

  “I talked to her only this morning. Hadn’t you better ask me where she is?”

  “No, I know where Jane is,” Caleb said. “I always know where she is.”

  The front door slammed behind him.

  * * *

  Caleb was pulling out his phone and dialing his sister, Lisa Ridondo, the minute he got in his Range Rover.

  He’d be lucky if she answered him, he thought. And if she did, she’d probably only do it to make him suffer. Well, let her get her pound of flesh. She deserved it. He’d been ignoring her calls and messages for the last few months and she’d been totally bewildered. She’d gone from not understanding, to hurt, to anger, to bitterness, and then back again. There wasn’t the slightest doubt she thought she’d been treated abominably.

  And she was right, he thought wearily. And this conversation might not ease the pain he’d caused, nor the pain he’d felt himself.

  Providing she even answered his call.

  She picked up the call on the next ring. “You son of a bitch.” Her voice was shaking with anger. “What were you trying to do to me?”

  “I told you that I would have to take steps if you didn’t make me that promise. It was necessary.”

  “The hell it was. You cut me off. You’ve always been there for me. You’re my brother. Ever since I was a little kid, I always knew if I reached out you’d be there. You taught me everything I needed to know. Whatever went wrong, you’d make it right. Then you just…left me.”

  “And now I’ve taught you the final lesson,” he said softly. “That it doesn’t go two ways. I could tell that you were going to try to step in and follow in my footsteps and practice a little control of your own. That wasn’t acceptable, Lisa.”

  She was silent. “It is if I say it is. I’m not a child any longer, Caleb.”

  “No, you’re a willful, intelligent, beautiful young woman who causes me no end of trouble. Do you think I liked not being able to contact you? I hoped that we might come to an understanding.”

  “Because you knew how much it would hurt me when you did this.”

  “Yes, you weren’t listening.”

  “And you had to get your own way.”

  “That was definitely high on the agenda.”

  She was silent. “I hated you.”

  “I don’t doubt it.”

  “You hurt me.”

  “Yes. I knew I would.”

  “All you had to do was just let me help you a little. You never let me give you anything. It’s not as if I do that kind of thing all the time. Would that have been so bad?”

  “Extraordinarily bad. Because you like Jane very much, and you’ve told her you consider her your good friend. You would have been outraged if anyone had tried to do that to you.”

  “Maybe not.”

  “Lisa.”

  “How do you know?” she said defiantly. “You haven’t seen me in almost a year. Of course, that wouldn’t have mattered if you’d just contacted me, dammit.”

  “It mattered. But it’s not as if I didn’t know what you were doing. You were down in the Caribbean working with Margaret Douglas at Summer Island. Did you enjoy yourself?”

  “Yes. It was interesting working with the dogs.” She was silent. “Okay, I might have felt guilty about Jane.” She rushed on, “But I might not. Because I do like her very much, but I love you, Caleb. It could have been worth it.”

  “Past tense?

  “Unless I change my mind.”

  “Not good enough.”

  “I promise,” she said grudgingly. “And that hurt, because I’m definitely the injured party here. I would never have done anything like that to you, Caleb.”

  “No, because I am the son of a bitch you called me when you picked up my call,” he said wearily. “You’re lucky
I haven’t hurt you before this.”

  “Bullshit. You’d never really hurt me. I was just angry.” She added quickly, “But don’t do it again.”

  “I’ll certainly try to restrain myself,” he said mockingly. “Now tell me if you’ve done anything that would intrigue me since you’ve been with Margaret. Met anyone new or interesting?”

  “No.”

  “Any side trips?”

  “Jamaica.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I’d never been.” She paused. “Why are you asking me questions? You’re never one for chitchat.”

  “But I’ve been without your chitchat for too long. Perhaps I missed it.”

  “Perhaps,” she said slowly. “And why did you call me out of the blue when you let me go for weeks without a word?”

  “Same answer.” Time to end the conversation. Lisa was getting too curious. “But I’ll be happier when you’re not island-hopping in the Caribbean. I’d prefer you to stay closer to me.”

  “Then you’ll have to prove it by picking up the telephone or reaching out to me. You can’t have it all ways, Caleb.”

  “I can try.” He chuckled. “I did miss you, Lisa. Think about abandoning the puppies at that clinic and coming to see me. I’ll call you next week.”

  “You’d better.”

  “Count on it.” He pressed DISCONNECT.

  It was the truth. He had missed her terribly. But he would never have made the move to call her until he was sure she’d had enough time to realize that he had meant what he said. Lisa was emotional, passionate, and usually sure she knew what was best for everyone. It had been too dangerous to take a chance when she’d focused on Jane. He hadn’t been absolutely certain that this wasn’t still too soon. But he’d had to check on what she was doing and if there was anyone suspect in her life right now. Plus add a few words that might lure her back where he could keep an eye on her.

  He was relieved that everything appeared to be safe and entirely normal where she was located right now with Margaret Douglas. Lisa was very smart, and he’d made certain she could protect herself if a threat presented itself. He’d taught her that she might never be completely secure after her sister had been murdered, but he’d decided there had been no need to frighten her by telling her about a possibility that might have nothing to do with the monsters who had killed Maria. Yet he’d felt as if he had to cross every t after MacDuff had been so obsessed about the blood.

  The blood.

  Not that Caleb wasn’t obsessed; the blood had been both his heritage and his curse all his life. It had defined who he was and what he could be. But he wouldn’t allow it to dominate him…or anyone he cared about.

  So think, get moving. For the time being forget about the blood and go down another direction, as he’d recommended to MacDuff.

  He drove out of the courtyard and headed south toward Wales.

  * * *

  Kendrick Castle

  “I’m ready.” Michael grinned at Jane as he tore into the tent and turned around in front of her. “All clean and spiffy so that Mom won’t think you’re letting me get away with anything while she’s gone.”

  “And early.” Jane glanced at her watch. “We have another forty-five minutes before we’re supposed to meet your mom and dad at that tearoom. I’m impressed.”

  “Well, the guys got bored down at the dig, so I thought I’d come back up here and hang out with you.” He plopped down on his bedroll. “So could you tell me why Caleb wouldn’t like to dig for those Roman artifacts with us? He likes doing cool stuff like that.”

  Caleb, again. She’d hoped the past hours with his friends would have distracted him. But evidently he’d only taken a deep breath and gone straight back to Caleb. “Because Caleb comes from a very old family who lived in northern Italy many centuries ago. It was a small village called Fiero, but the family was pretty interesting themselves.” She added dryly, “However, I doubt if Caleb would think the ancient Romans had anything to teach his family or him.”

  “Why not?” Michael’s gaze was narrowed on her face. Then he snapped his fingers, immediately jumping to a conclusion. “That neat blood thing he can do?” He continued eagerly, “Could they all do it? Was it like having the same color eyes?”

  She should have known that she couldn’t just hint vaguely at anything with Michael. He had gone exactly where she didn’t want him to go. Okay, be honest, but back up and try to get out of it. “A little bit like that. But it wasn’t every member of the family and eventually it was only passed down very infrequently.” She smiled. “Satisfied? Now can we talk about something besides Caleb?”

  Michael was studying her. “Why don’t you ever want to talk about him, Jane?” he asked quietly. “He used to be around a lot when I came to visit. I think you’re like Mom and Dad and not telling me everything because you think it might worry me. Why would it worry me? I like Caleb.” He paused. “And I think it’s really important that you tell me about him. You said he wasn’t perfect, but he doesn’t have to be. I think maybe being perfect would be boring. He’s just…Caleb.”

  She stared at him in shock. Of course Michael had noticed everything about the cautious way he was treated by her and the rest of the family. She supposed she should be grateful he hadn’t zeroed in on her evasions and half-truths before this. How the hell was she supposed to handle this confrontation? “Well, he’s not boring. But as you already know, he’s a bit unusual. Why is it this important to you to know any more?”

  “I’m not sure, but it is, Jane.” His brown eyes were fixed intently on her face. “And usually when I feel like this, there turns out to be a reason.”

  And how was she to know what that reason was when everything about Michael had always seemed to be a mystery in itself? All she could do was play this one by ear. “Okay.” She dropped down on the campstool beside his bedroll. “You’re clearly fascinated by Seth Caleb, so I’ll give you his entire story as far as I know it. Though I’m not sure that anyone really knows everything about Caleb. He never talks about himself. What I’ve learned was through his sister, Lisa.” Her lips twisted. “And if you think perfection is boring, I guarantee that neither Caleb nor any of his family tree was ever boring. So sit back and I’ll tell you what I know about him. Then you decide for yourself.” Was she doing the right thing? He was a kid. No, he was Michael. Just obey her instincts and hope for the best.

  “Before the Ridondos settled in Fiero, they lived in Spain at the compound of the Devanez family. The members of the family were known to have had various psychic talents, like Caleb, that made them very unpopular with their neighbors. So unpopular that they had to flee from Spain to keep from being turned over to the Inquisition for witchcraft. But even after the Ridondo branch moved to Italy, they decided that in order to survive they had to protect themselves from informers to the church by terrifying all the villagers into silence. Two of the brothers Ridondo decided to do that by using their so-called blood arts to make them seem to be demons of darkness. It was easy for them since all they had to do was concentrate on the death-and-pain side of the gift, and not the healing.” She glanced at Michael to see how he was taking all this. No fear. He only appeared totally fascinated. “And Caleb said that maybe they came close to becoming demons in the beginning. The power of the blood talent might have been too much for them to resist. But they must have gotten sick of all that blood and terror after a while, and they moved from Fiero Village into a castle in the country. Time passed, new generations came on the scene, the Ridondos became wealthy and respectable, the blood talent became something to hide. Simple enough, because the talent appeared only rarely in family members as time went by. But of course that blood taint couldn’t be entirely erased. Rumors occasionally surfaced from their old home in the village about the dark past of the Ridondos and their reign of terror. Foolish, exaggerated stories about wizards and vampires and that power that had terrified those villagers for decades.”

  “Silly,” Michael said, disgu
sted. “They should have known it was only a really cool talent. Bad or good, that was all it was.”

  “Well, that wasn’t the popular opinion even among family members,” Jane said. “There were problems through the years. I don’t know exactly what they were. It had something to do with the fact that it seemed the physical blood talent was often accompanied by a mental ability to twist and alter the truth, change opinions and perceptions. Evidently that could be even more difficult to accept for anyone in the family who didn’t possess it themselves. After a while any child who was born with the blood talent was considered an outcast, a monster to be shunned by the family. Caleb himself was forced to change his name when his parents sent him away to be raised by his uncle in Scotland. He was only a few years older than you at the time.” She added quietly, “Not everybody in the Ridondo family thought it was as cool as you do, Michael.”

  “Stupid.” His brow wrinkled in a frown. “So they thought Caleb was some kind of a monster? You know he isn’t. Anyone can see that.”

  “Can they?” She glanced at him. “I just told you a story about his family that was rather terrible in some ways. I wasn’t sure I should give you all those details. I didn’t want to frighten you.” She paused. “Do you believe there are monsters out there, Michael?”

  “I know there are monsters.” His voice was sober as his gaze shifted to look out the door. “I know it. Maybe not like wizards or vampires, but people who are real, real bad inside. That’s why there have to be people who can fight them. And I know that Caleb isn’t a monster. So maybe he has to be one of the others…someone who can kind of…balance things.”

  “You have a good deal of faith in him.” She smiled faintly. “I guarantee that Caleb would laugh if he heard you describe him like that. More of a dragon-fighting knight than a monster?”

  He nodded. “But you don’t think he’s a monster, either.”

  “No, of course I don’t. Not for a minute. He’s just…unusual and definitely marches to his own drummer. But then I’ve seen how often he goes to hospitals to help heal patients when no one else can do it.” She grimaced. “Not that he’d ever let anyone know if he could help it.”