Night and Day Read Free

has been missing for centuries, and you know that Cira has been a mystery I’ve never been able to solve.”
    â€œYou know MacDuff would argue with you,” Eve said dryly. “He’s convinced that you have some kind of ancestral connection or something with Cira and that you can lead him to that treasure.”
    â€œBecause I had those dreams about Cira when I was seventeen? That doesn’t prove anything.” But it had meant a great deal to Jane while she was going through that chaotic period. Those dreams had been so real, they had dominated her thoughts and her life. And when she had been driven to do in-depth research and found that Cira had actually existed, they had led her to MacDuff, the Laird of MacDuff’s Run. “I don’t dream about Cira any longer.”
    â€œExcept that one dream that led us all here,” Eve said. “You may not be sure that chest is out there somewhere lost in that mist, but MacDuff believes it.”
    â€œHe’s grasping at straws because no one has even gotten close to finding Cira’s gold.” She smiled. “But maybe Cira is ready to release her secrets. And I couldn’t think of anyone more worth her doing it for than Cara.”
    â€œNeither can I.” Eve moistened her lips. “I hardly knew Cara when all this began. I felt sorry for her. I wanted to help her. But then I got to know her. She was brave and honest and sometimes a kid, but most of the time more mature than she should be.” Her voice was unsteady. “She wanted to help me. She wanted to take care of Jock Gavin. One of the last things she asked about was Jock.”
    â€œHe was her friend. She didn’t have any friends,” Jane said. “And because she’d lost so much, she didn’t want to lose either of you.”
    â€œI don’t want to lose her, either,” Eve said. “I … care about her, Jane. I won’t let her be taken from us.”
    â€œI know you won’t.” She frowned as a thought occurred to her. “But Cara isn’t going to let Natalie Castino hurt you, either. That may be a problem. I’ve gotten to know Cara. She’d fight for you, Eve. And that might mean she’d piss off Natalie Castino. Is that possible?”
    â€œGod only knows,” Eve said wearily. “It depends on how Natalie handles her and what she wants from her. Cara hasn’t seen her mother since she was three years old. I know that Elena, who raised her and took her on the run when her sister was killed, told her it wasn’t safe for her to go back to Mexico to her parents. But it wasn’t because Elena suspected Natalie. It was because the cartel situation was so deadly there that she thought it wouldn’t be safe for her. They had no idea who was behind the kidnapping of the girls. Elena thought it might be Salazar, who was a rival cartel boss. He was an enemy of Castino and wanted to hurt him by taking and killing his children. We didn’t suspect Natalie ourselves until Joe recently found out Natalie and Salazar were lovers.”
    â€œBut you didn’t tell Cara?”
    â€œIt didn’t seem the time to tell her that it was her mother who had probably murdered her sister,” Eve said bitterly. “How do you tell a child something like that? She was safe with me. I thought I could keep her that way. And she was having enough to face at the time.”
    Jane was silent. But now Cara was going to have to face that truth and make her own judgments … and mistakes.
    â€œI know.” Eve was reading her expression. “Hindsight, Jane. I should have prepared her. I left her alone and vulnerable. I just have to trust her and hope for the best.”
    Eleven years old, Jane wanted to tell Eve. Cara was only eleven years old, and she was up against a woman Eve had called a monster. She didn’t say it. “Cara’s very smart. She’ll get through this. We just