21
	The house was empty now, and Catherine couldn’t get used to the way her footsteps echoed every time she walked through the big front hall.  They had never really had that much, just a few pieces of worn antique furniture that had belonged to her great-grandparents and an ever changing collection of boxes filled with other people’s things.  All of her father’s customers had taken their shipments back to give them to other companies, and she’d had to sell most of the furniture to pay off the insurance on what had been lost on the Scylla.  She had even sold her mother’s gold locket so she could eat for a few days.  She'd hung the tiny picture of her father that had been in it in the living room, to replace the paintings, but it got lost in all the empty space.
	She was expecting the knock that came while she was making herself a cup of tea to chase away the cold.  She dropped the tea bags into the kettle to let them seep, though she knew it would be too strong by the time she got back.  There was still a small mirror over the kitchen sink, and she combed her hair with her claws, trying to make herself at least look presentable.
	She smiled politely when she opened the door, but she couldn’t quite keep her ears from flattening back at the sight of Jacob Metzger in her front door.  He grinned at her expression and gave her a mocking salute while he tried to see down the front of her shirt.
	“I do hope you’ll forgive the intrustion so early in the morning, but we have some unfinished business,” he said.
	“No, I don’t think we do.  I’ve paid all of my father’s debts, and I paid the church for that sham of a service they gave him.  If that’s all, I’m too busy for visitor right now,” she said.
	She moved to shut the door in his face, but he moved faster.  He caught her wrist and slammed her arm against the doorframe.
	“You know what I want, and I’m not going to play this game forever,” he said.
	“You gave me four months.  I’ve still got time,” she said.
	“You’ve already used up two of them.  Do you want to go back to jail?” he said.
	“Do you really think that if I knew where the rebel camp was, I'd still be here?” she said.
	“And give up laughing right in our faces?  Oh, no, girlie, I know exactly how your mind works.  It isn't hard to figure out,” he said.
	She snarled at him, which made him laugh.  He let go of her arm and stepped back before she had time to slap him.
	“I’ll have what I want,” he said.
	“You won’t.  Thomas is a fool, but he's smarter than you,” she said.
	“I don't have to be smart, when I can just twist the information out of you.  Or we can get it out of your little girlfriend while you watch,” he said.
	She slammed the door hard, and little pieces of plaster fell out of the ceiling to dust her shoulders.  Not willing yet to trust her legs, she leaned against the doorframe and shut her eyes until the trembling in her knees had passed.
	When she felt she was able, she went back into the kitchen and poured a cup of tea.  She had to hope that Sebastian wouldn’t be too disappointed when he arrived.  If she was ever going to get her life back together, she needed someone to help her.