"No, Caitlin. It's not a pretty picture. That's you on that awful bed, isn't it?"
"It's me."
"Oh, Caitlin." Verity found no words. Sometimes there were no words. Impulsively she walked forward and put her arms around the taller woman, hugging her in the way women have always hugged each other when they sought to give consolation for great grief. "Caitlin, Caitlin, I'm so sorry."
Caitlin stood unmoving and unresponsive. "Don't feel sorry for me, Verity. I will have my revenge.
And then it will all be over."
Verity released her and stood back, searching Caitlin's taut, ravaged face. "Revenge against Kincaid?
He's the man in that painting, isn't he?"
Kincaid's name startled Caitlin. "You know Damon Kincaid?" she gasped.
"He's a collector of old weapons, among other things," Verity explained slowly, not wanting to say too much about the pistols. "Jonas had business dealings with him a few days ago."
Caitlin's expression was frozen with shock. "Business dealings?"
"Jonas brokered a sale of some old guns he had authenticated. It was nothing, really. We weren't in Kincaid's office for more than a few minutes. Kincaid didn't buy the guns and Jonas sold them to another collector."
Caitlin closed her eyes. "The world of high-flying collectors such as Kincaid is a small one, I'll grant you.
But the odds of Kincaid coincidentally running into you and Quarrel must be staggeringly high. I can't believe it." Her eyes snapped open. "Quarrel knows Kincaid?"
Verity shook her head quickly. "Jonas doesn't know Kincaid any better than I do. I told you, we were only in his office a few minutes while he looked at the pistols. It's just a ghastly coincidence, Caitlin. As you said, the world of big-time collecting is a small one. When Jonas started fishing around for someone who would be interested in the pistols, who lived within a reasonable radius of Sequence Springs, and who could afford them, he came up with a very short list."
"I can't believe it was a coincidence that Kincaid was on that list." Caitlin leaned heavily on her cane as she moved slowly toward the window. "My God, is it going to come apart now after all my planning?"
Verity watched her. 'Tell me what this is all about, Caitlin. I must know what is going on here. Surely you can see I have a right to know. Tavi tried to tell me this morning that I was involved. She said that if I left and took Jonas with me, everything would change. What did she mean by that?"
"Tavi hopes to protect me from carrying out my vengeance. But nothing can stop me now, Verity. Not even the fact that Kincaid may have become suspicious. His ego will keep him from behaving cautiously.
The man thinks he is all-powerful. He will be certain he can take care of himself. Even if he wonders what is going on, he will still come here tonight and I will have him."
'Tell me about him, Caitlin," Verity said softly.
"You saw the painting."
"He raped you? Cut you with that rapier? Here in this house? In that bedroom you've assigned to me?"
"He and Sandquist. They took turns. They tied me to that bed and they played terrible men's games until I was unconscious. They hurt me, Verity. I thought they were going to kill me."
Verity shivered. "My God, Caitlin."
"When I woke up, I was in a motel room a few miles from here. They must have gotten nervous when I passed out and decided to get me out of the house in case I did something awkward like die on them. Or maybe they were just through with me and and wanted to get me out of sight. After all, I was no longer very pretty after they had finished with me. All I know is that I woke up alone." Caitlin turned her proud head to look at Verity. "From the moment I awoke until now, I have dreamed of revenge. I was cheated once when Sandquist got drunk and fell to his death. I will not be cheated again. Kincaid was the worst of the two. He was the one who got Sandquist high on drugs and then orchestrated the rape. It was he who used the rapier on me. I will have my vengeance tomorrow."
Verity stood very still. "How, Caitlin?"
Caitlin's smile was a terrible thing to see. "I know Kincaid very well in some ways. I know he will be consumed with the desire to own Bloodlust. He always gets what he wants. But this time he will not only be denied the object of his desire when I sell the painting to someone else, he will be forced to endure the shock of having it unveiled in front of the other bidders. They will recognize him instantly.
No matter what he says or does after that, everyone in the elite world in which he moves will know he is the ra**st in Caitlin Evanger's last painting. It will taint him for the rest of his life. Especially when everyone realizes I was the victim."
Verity sucked in her breath, a deep wariness overshadowing her compassion. "Where do I fit in to all this? What about Jonas?"
"In the beginning I did not care one way or another if Quarrel was around," Caitlin said with a slight shrug.
"I wanted you here with me because you are my friend. I need both you and Tavi with me when I pull the cover off that painting tomorrow. But perhaps it's just as well Quarrel will be here along with the other bidders. Kincaid is, after all, potentially dangerous. He enjoys hurting people.
He has a lust for it that is sexual, I think. In him, the lust for sex is closely related to the lust for violence. It must have been hard on him controlling himself all these years while he made a success of himself in the business world."
"You expect Jonas to act as a bodyguard?" Verity asked incredulously.
"No, of course not," Caitlin assured her. "I just think that there is some safety in numbers."
"You think Kincaid will go nuts when he sees that painting?"
"I don't know what he will do. I doubt he'll lose his self-control, but you never can tell. I have already suffered at his hands once. I do not intend to do so again." Caitlin shuddered. "I would kill myself before I let him touch me again."
"Tell me something, Caitlin. After you have carried out your vengeance, do you intend to kill yourself?"
Verity asked calmly.
Caitlin looked away toward the sea. "I don't think about anything beyond what will happen tomorrow. But if it's any concern to you, you might keep in mind that I did not kill myself after what happened here in this house all those years ago. I'm not likely to kill myself after taking revenge."
"How old were you, Caitlin?"
"I was twenty-three. A very sheltered twenty-three, thanks to strict, aging parents. I was also a very beautiful twenty-three, very naive, and very excited about dating a worldly man like Damon Kincaid. I had no conception of the kind of monster I was falling in love with. When he invited me to spend the weekend on the coast, I was thrilled. I thought he was going to ask me to marry him. I was a fool and I paid for it.