Countdown - Iris Johansen [89]
“I don’t know where he is.”
“I think you do.”
“I don’t. I don’t.” His voice sharpened. “Stop talking about it.”
“When you tell me about Reilly.”
“I can make you stop.” He took a half step toward her and his hand reached into his pocket. “It’s easy. I know how to do that.”
She went rigid. The garrote. He was reaching for the garrote. She forced herself not to take a step back. “I’m sure you know all kinds of ways to quiet your enemies, but I’m not your enemy, Jock.”
“You won’t shut up. You bother me.”
“And is that reason to kill? Is that what Reilly taught you? Are you still doing what he orders you to do?”
“No! I ran away. I knew it was bad, but I couldn’t stop.”
“You still haven’t stopped. You’re letting it go on and on. And soon it will kill MacDuff.”
“It won’t.” His face was pale and he was no more than a step away from her. “It won’t happen.”
“It will. Unless you help him.”
Pain twisted his face. “I can’t,” he whispered. “He’s . . . always there, talking to me. I can’t shut him out.”
“Try.” She took a step toward him and put her hand gently on his arm. “Just try, Jock.”
He shook her off, his expression panicked. “Shut up. I can’t listen to you.”
“Because Reilly told you not to do it? Because he told you to kill anyone who asked you about him?” she called after him as he almost ran away from her toward the stable. “Don’t you see how wrong it is to let him get away with that?”
He didn’t answer as he disappeared into the stable.
She drew a long shaky breath as she gazed after him. Close. She didn’t know how near she’d come to having that garrote around her neck, but she didn’t want to think about it. Had it been worth it? Had she made him think or would he just block her words out? Only time would tell.
Maybe she shouldn’t have rushed him. It hadn’t been her intention, but the words had tumbled out. She was getting increasingly panicky about finding a way to stop this horror. And Jock was the only game in town right now.
“My God, what were you trying to do, get yourself killed?”
She turned to see Trevor coming toward her across the courtyard. “Not much chance. You were keeping guard, and I’m sure MacDuff would have sprung out of that stable like Superman if Jock had touched me.”
“We might not have been in time,” he said grimly. “I saw him in action with one of my men when we first came here, and he was fast, very fast.”
“Well, nothing happened.” She passed him and hurried toward the steps. “With the emphasis on nothing. I’m not sure he’ll even remember talking to me. Reilly still has him under his thumb.”
“Then you won’t mind not talking to him again.”
“I would mind. I have to keep chipping away at him.”
His hands clenched into fists. “The hell you do. I want to shake some sense into you.”
“Then you’d better work on that control. You lay a hand on me and I’ll deck you. I’ll do what I think is right.” She slammed the front door behind her. She was in no mood to argue with him. She was still a little shaken from her encounter with Jock. It had taken all her stamina to stand there and confront him. It had been hard for her to believe the stories about his deadliness when MacDuff told her about the boy. But the lethal vibes Jock had been sending out in those last few minutes had been unmistakable. He might be as beautiful as Lucifer before the fall, but he was every bit as tormented and dangerous.
But there was no question she’d try again. Jock was unstable, but he was vulnerable. And he hadn’t hurt her. He’d been close but he hadn’t taken that final step. Who knows how hard that restraint might have been for him? Reilly had done terrible things to his mind that were still lingering.
The fear was fading and she felt a sudden surge of heady optimism as she started up the staircase. She’d been dragging around, almost as afraid of Grozak and Reilly as Jock. It wasn’t as if the situation couldn’t be turned