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way.” She hung up. “We didn’t have to involve MacDuff.”
    â€œBut you would have done it.”
    â€œIt was only a phone call. It wasn’t going to hurt MacDuff, and Jock is worth it.” She looked her in the eye. “And you think Jock’s worth it, too, don’t you? You’re very protective of Cara, and with all you know about Jock, I was a little surprised that you weren’t worried when they became so close.”
    She shrugged. “It was the shining.”
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œSomething Cara said to me once. She wouldn’t believe that Jock was bad, had ever really been bad. She said that no one could shine inside like he does and be anything but good.” She smiled. “What could I say? When I look at him, I see the shining, too.”
    â€œYou’re not mistaking that for the fact that he’s probably the best-looking individual to walk God’s earth?” Jane asked teasingly.
    â€œNo way.”
    Jane’s smile vanished. “I see it, too. From the first time I met him, when he was still almost a basket case,” Jane said. “But he doesn’t see it in himself. That monster, Reilly, almost destroyed him.”
    â€œThen we’ve got to make sure that Jock doesn’t complete the job himself.” She started up the slope toward the road. “Cara would never forgive us.”
    â€œShe wouldn’t believe us,” Jane said. “She thinks the sun rises and sets on him.”
    â€œMaybe it does, for her. She’s never really had a friend. Then Jock came along with his smile and his shining, and his promise that he’d always keep her safe. That’s pretty strong stuff.”
    â€œWe’ve just got to make sure he keeps that promise. If he doesn’t, it could destroy both of them.” She shook her head impatiently as she instinctively increased her pace. “I can’t think of that right now. I just have to concentrate on one thing at a time. And the first thing is keeping Jock from striking out like a bird of prey before we’re ready for him to do it.”
    SOUTH GLASGOW UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL
GLASGOW, SCOTLAND
    â€œI wasn’t going to stay when Jane called me.” Jock turned away from looking out the window when Eve walked into the waiting room. His tone was brimming with leashed violence. “I need to get out of here, Eve.”
    â€œBut you did stay. So you must have had a reason.” She went over to the beverage machine and got a cup of tea. “And that reason was probably that you thought that it was the sensible thing to do.” She took a sip of tea. “Or that you thought I might have information to give you. I’m opting for the latter. You haven’t been behaving with any great degree of sense, you’re pure instinct, right now.”
    â€œInstinct isn’t always bad.”
    â€œI agree, but without control, it can become dangerous.” She turned to look at him. His face was totally without expression. She took another sip of tea to buy herself more time. “You’ve been down that road before, Jock.” Her gaze traveled from his head to his feet. “You look like hell. You need a shower and some rest.” It was a lie. It was impossible for Jock to look bad. Jane had been right, he was one of the handsomest men Eve had ever seen, with his shock of fair hair and silver-gray eyes and that face that Cara had said was more beautiful than a concerto. But if there was a shining about him today, it was like the sharpness of a stiletto. “Couldn’t you at least get a nap?”
    â€œCouldn’t you?” Jock said. “When was the last time you slept, Eve?”
    She couldn’t remember. It had been a horrendous nerve-shredding time after Salazar had gotten hold of Cara. “Touché,” she said wearily. “And I probably look as bad as you do.”
    â€œWhat the hell difference does that make?”