Dalai looked at her in surprise. “I didn’t tell you that to make you feel sorry for me. I just had to make you understand.” She turned away from the chest. “She only put me in that chest one more time, and I knew what to expect, so it wasn’t as bad. But I couldn’t stop remembering that first night whenever she made me come down here.”
“I can understand why,” Novak said grimly. “But I don’t understand why you even came down today. We saw what you wanted us to see. You were right, we had to experience it for ourselves.”
Dalai shook her head and turned to Jill. “No, I had to make sure that you knew everything that happened here.” Her gaze was searching Jill’s face. “I think you do. You figured it all out. When I first saw your expression after I came down, I could tell.” She met her eyes. “Do you want me to put it into words?”
Jill couldn’t look away from her. That scent was surrounding her…The panic was rising. “No.” She whirled away from her. She couldn’t go yet, she knew there was one more thing to check. “I’ll be right back, Novak. Take care of her.”
Then she was out of the treasure room and stumbling down another short path. The pungent scent was stronger now, and she could see broken boards on the ceiling up ahead. She had to stop as she saw the dim light piercing the cracks in that wood.
Sickness.
Horror.
“Jill.” Novak was holding her. “Come on. Let’s go back.”
“I had to be sure,” she said numbly. “I couldn’t believe what Dalai was trying to tell me.” She was clinging to him. “That’s the schoolroom, Novak. It’s only a few yards away from Kiya’s treasure. The Kiyanis allowed that schoolroom to be built practically on top of their precious treasury. Dalai said Zahra’s great-grandfather moved the treasury here, and that was very smart, wasn’t it? I’m surprised it wasn’t Zahra. Because no one would disturb a village school or suspect what was below it.” She swallowed. “But I could smell the scent of that schoolroom the minute I came down here. The chalk, the burnt walls and floorboards…All that death…I know it so well.”
“I know you do.” He’d turned her and was leading her back toward the treasure room. “And it’s going to hit you harder any minute, so I want to get you out of here. That’s why I left your Dalai and ran after you.”
“She’s not my Dalai, she doesn’t belong to anyone. But someone should help—” She stopped and closed her eyes. “There’s more…She was trying to tell me, but I didn’t want to listen. I didn’t want to hear the end of the story.” Her eyes opened. “But I have to hear it now.” She pulled away from him and strode back into the treasure room. Dalai was still standing where she’d left her beside the golden cage. Jill crossed the room toward her. “The schoolroom.” Her hands clenched into fists at her sides. “It was all coming together before, but I need the words now. It wasn’t just a random attack, was it? Tell me.”
Dalai shook her head and said unevenly, “Zahra didn’t have enough cash to keep paying Varak, and she was afraid the Botzan army might take Robaku.”
“Go on,” Jill said.
Dalai was shivering. “So she told Varak about the treasure and promised him a share if he stayed, kept working for her, and found a way to keep her treasure safe until the war ended.”
“And he took the deal,” Jill said hoarsely.
“Yes, he wants that gold. It’s still all he talks about.”
“The gold,” Jill repeated jerkily. She had to get the words out. “And his solution to get it was to stage a massacre that killed all those children and half their parents and made that schoolroom a memorial site that no one would want to desecrate.”
Dalai nodded.
“One more question. Did Zahra approve of his ‘solution’?”
“Not right away. She said that it appeared to be a practical plan, but he would have to lower his fee since she was going to have to do a good deal of the publicity and diplomatic work herself.”
“Yes, that would enter into any negotiations,” Jill said unsteadily. “Couldn’t you tell someone?”
“I wanted to live,” Dalai said simply. “I was afraid. I’d only heard bits and pieces of the plan, and I didn’t know about the schoolroom. But I know that I will go to hell forever for being such a coward.” Her voice broke. “When I heard about the children…”
“Yes, the children…” Jill said dully. The children who had died only yards from where she was standing. She couldn’t stand here, thinking about it. She had to get out of here. She turned and headed for the ladder.
A few minutes later, they had all surfaced by the boulders. It was only twilight, Jill realized. It had seemed a very long time ago that she had descended that ladder. She looked at Dalai as she got to her feet. “Yes, you’re sorry,” she said jerkily. “I can see it. But now you have a chance to change your story. To not let a massacre like that ever happen again. Can we count on you?”
Dalai looked away from her. “I’m here, aren’t I? I’ve told you things that would get me killed…or worse.” She lifted her chin as she turned to face her. “I’ll do whatever I can. But I’m still a coward. Don’t expect me to be something I’m not.”
“All I want now is for you to listen and call us if there’s anything we should know.” She added, “And I’ll do the same. We’ll do the rest together, Dalai.”
Dalai gazed at her for a moment before she turned and went toward her car. Then she suddenly looked back at them. “You’re going to do it, aren’t you? You’re actually going to take them both down?”
Jill nodded. “I promise you. And you’re going to be there when we do it. No one deserves it more.”
“I…believe you.” Her dark eyes were filled with wonder. “And I think I might be able to…trust you.”
“Good.” Then Jill had a sudden thought. “Have you been here too long? What if Zahra’s missed you?”
“Then I’ll lie to her. I’ve learned how to do that very well. I’ll make her believe me.” She shrugged. “Then Madam will beat me, and I’ll weep and be very contrite and afraid. She’s too busy right now to do anything else to me.”
“I wish you wouldn’t call her Madam,” Jill said bitterly. “It sounds so subservient. It reminds me of the way she’s treated you all these years.”
“It’s what she wants me to call her. If I stopped, she would think it odd and punish me. But someday I will not care what she thinks.” She got into the car. “Because she won’t be able to use her fine, golden cage if Robaku is no longer available to her. Isn’t that sad?” She didn’t wait for an answer but drove away from the brook area and headed for the road.
“She’s certainly not the rabbit Gideon said Zahra called her.” Novak’s thoughtful gaze was following her. “And she might say she’s a coward, but I don’t see that either. It’s as if she was opening, changing, revealing new facets, every moment she was here.”
“She’s a survivor,” Jill said. She turned and headed for the museum. “And what she’s done today may make us survivors, too.” She glanced at Novak, and said fiercely, “Because we know how to fight Zahra and Varak now. We know what holds them together. You know damn well we have a weapon if we use it right. And it’s got nothing to do with Varak’s compound. So don’t tell me that you’re going back there.”
“I wouldn’t dare,” he said dryly. “You’re so savage, you might throw me in that golden cage.”
She shuddered. “Don’t even talk about it. I don’t understand how Dalai was able to go through what she did.” She looked back at the tall boulders, which suddenly appeared threatening in the gathering darkness. “I made her a promise, Novak. Now you have to call everyone up to the museum and get a plan together to make sure that I didn’t lie to her.”
Chapter
18
Kiya?” Gideon shook his head. “It seems impossible that treasure has been here in Robaku all this time. You’d think Hajif or someone else would have stumbled over it at some time or other.”
“Dalai said Zahra was ca
reful,” Jill said. “And who would believe that it was right under their feet for all those decades.” She smiled bitterly. “And after the massacre, no one wanted to go near that schoolroom. Just what Varak thought would happen.” She turned to Eve, who had been very quiet since Jill and Novak had returned to the museum over an hour ago. “I couldn’t believe it when I saw it. Don’t go down there, Eve. It…hurts.”
“I have no intention of looking at that treasure,” Eve said. “It would make me ill.” She leaned back against the cabinet. “All I want to do is find a way to use it to get our hands on Varak.” She crossed her arms tightly across her chest. “Soon.”
Joe nodded. “That’s the aim,” he told her quietly. “If Varak has been sitting there in that compound waiting to get his hands on that gold, all he’ll need is a push. He set up his compound as a trap, and we can do the same thing with Robaku. Dalai said that they had no idea how we were fortified. We can just make sure that it appears to be a simple, sleepy village with only a minimum number of guards to give Varak trouble. And we’ll have to find a way to get the villagers out of the line of fire. We just have to make sure it’s all handled right.”
“So that no one gets a machete in their throat,” Eve said wryly.
Jill had heard enough. “But first we have to get him here.” She was on edge. Yes, both Joe and Novak had plans that would probably work once Varak was lured to Robaku. They were already thinking of strategy, and that was fine. But that wasn’t her priority. “Zahra.” She got to her feet. “We have to make her be the one to spur him to leave that compound. That’s what I told Dalai, and that hasn’t changed. And I should be the one who does it.” She smiled faintly. “I’ll weave her a fine story and make her believe it’s her own. As Eve said, it’s what I do well. The rest of you can think and scheme and spend your time making Robaku the most splendid trap on the planet. Just let me get him within your range.”
Novak was shaking his head. “And let yourself be within the range of a woman who would have no compunction about tossing you into the deepest dungeon if she can get away with it. Even Dalai said she hates your guts.”
“Then as Joe said, it’s my job to handle it right. I’m going to call my publisher when I get back to Hajif’s hut and ask him to set up an interview for me tomorrow with Zahra Kiyani. That’s the first foot in the door.” She met his eyes. “I’m going to do it, Novak. Don’t get in my way.”
“No promises,” he said curtly.
“If you do, I’ll just work around you. I’m going to do what I do best.” She headed for the door. “Now you all do what you do best, so mine won’t be for nothing.”
Then she was out the door and moving down the path toward the village. She carefully didn’t look at the path that led to the sparkling brook and those tall boulders. The horror and sadness were still too close to her. She just wanted to get away from them for these next few moments.
“Jill.”
She stopped and looked behind her.
Eve was coming down the path after her.
“It’s going to be okay, Eve,” Jill said quickly. “Don’t try to talk me out of it. It’s the only way that makes—”
“Hush,” Eve said, still coming toward her. “Stop talking and start listening. I have something I have to say to you.”
* * *
The Next Day
10:40 A.M.
Kiyani Presidential Palace
“What a pleasure to see you, Ms. Cassidy.” Zahra’s tone was almost a purr as Jill walked into the small, elegant office where she’d been escorted by both a uniformed soldier and a bespectacled young clerk. Zahra was sitting in an elaborately carved chair behind an equally graceful desk. She was dressed in a deep teal-colored maxidress and looked stunning as usual. “But then it’s always a delight to have you visit the palace. We have such a long-standing relationship. Of course, it’s not always been harmonious, but I believe we’ll be able to iron that out now. I’m sorry you weren’t among the journalists here the other evening to hear my speech. I was truly spectacular.”
“I was a little busy, but that’s what I understand.” Jill paused. “It was superbly done. But then, you’re always ingenious.” She glanced around the office. “I assume this office is totally secure? You wouldn’t have had me brought here if it wasn’t. And your clerk gave me the equivalent of a strip search before they let me in to see you.” She smiled. “As you said, you can’t count on my being either reasonable or harmonious. You’ve always considered me a troublemaker.”
“And so you are.” The purr had suddenly vanished. “I thought I could discourage you, but you were too stupid. You kept insisting and getting in my way. Robaku is mine. You had no business writing all those stories objecting to my moving those peasant families out of the village.”
“Actually, I was stupid,” Jill said. “I agree with you on that score. Because I thought our battle was entirely about Robaku and those children. I had no idea you had another agenda entirely on the back burner.” She paused. “Or that you’d gotten yourself involved in something that was more ugly than I could ever dream. Not until Joe Quinn went to Asarti that night and came back with this.” She pulled a photograph out of her bag and pushed it across the desk at Zahra. “She’s very beautiful, but you should have known that Gideon would recognize it as the first Kiya.”
Zahra stiffened, her hand clenching the photo. “I don’t know what you mean.” But her gaze was almost hungry as she stared at the statue. “I’ve never seen it before.”
Bingo. Jill realized she had hit a nerve. Move the needle a little farther. “What a pity. It’s extraordinary. Joe Quinn gave it to his wife as soon as he got back from that fishing expedition. Because she’s an artist, too, he thought Eve would appreciate it.”
“He gave it to her?” Zahra couldn’t seem to take her gaze from the photo, and her lips were tightening viciously. Then she forced herself to look away. “It doesn’t make any difference. It’s just a statue. It has nothing to do with me.”
“But the fact that that crook, Dobran, had it in his possession, and did the DNA falsification on Nils Varak, might be very awkward for you if it came to light.”
“No proof,” Zahra said. “I know nothing about Nils Varak other than he’s a monster who almost destroyed my country. We’ve taken whatever weapon you thought you had away from you.” Her eyes narrowed on Jill’s face. “See what response you’ll get if you take that nonsense to the media or anyone else. You should have seen how that British prime minister was bowing and scraping to me yesterday. I’m a heroine, haven’t you heard?”
“Yes, and you won’t be easy to topple,” Jill said. “But you’ve made me very angry, Madam President. I’m going to try exceptionally hard to see that happen. I’ve found political figures aren’t that difficult to bring down once you find their Achilles heel. I won a Pulitzer doing that a few years ago.”
Zahra’s lips curled. “Threats?”
“Not yet. First, I’ll tell you what I’d do to win another Pulitzer. I won that first one totally on my own. This time I’d have help. I’ll bring Eve Duncan in to give interviews and tell her story. It won’t have quite as much weight after you and Varak destroyed the skull at the U.N., but she has an amazing amount of respect and credibility. It would stir up a good deal of talk and cause people to start asking questions.” She smiled. “And I’d be there to answer those questions. You thought my stories were troublesome before? I’d never stop. Eve has already been speaking to the U.S. embassy and asking them to intercede with the U.N. to grant extended permission to continue her work at Robaku. She can be very persuasive.”
She leaned forward across the desk, her eyes shining, her words firing like bullets. “We’re planning to set up permanently at Robaku, and you’ll never get rid of us. Before we’re through, you’ll never say that Robaku is yours again. It will be mine and Eve Duncan’s. We’ve already drafted plans for tearing down that hideous schoolroom and building a fine chapel where families can come and pray f
or their slain children. I’ll be taking pictures of the schoolroom and showing what it could be with public support. I’ll spend a lot of time describing the children who died there. You’ll remember how much sympathy my stories have aroused in the past year? Well, before we’re through, anyone who reads those stories about Robaku will want to get in there with a jackhammer and tear that schoolroom down themselves.” Jill could see the shock in Zahra’s face at the picture she’d drawn. Okay, hit her with another one from a different direction. “And you might be interested to know that in another fifteen minutes, Eve Duncan will make an announcement on your local television station that she’s invited several top news agencies to Robaku for a press interview tomorrow afternoon. She’s promised to divulge a startling revelation regarding the tragedy.” She added mockingly, “They were all very eager to accept the invitation. I’m afraid you’re old news now, Zahra. And Eve Duncan gives so few interviews.”
Her eyes were suddenly wary. “Revelation?”
“It’s a good way to intrigue and start the buzz going, don’t you think?”
“That sounds like a threat to me,” Zahra hissed. “You’d both blow your credibility. No one would believe you. You wouldn’t take the chance.”
“I admit I hesitated, but Eve is an idealist. Once she finished the reconstruction of that skull, she said she couldn’t live with herself if she kept silent. What could I do but throw my support behind her?” Jill paused. “And it’s not a threat but a warning. Or perhaps an opportunity. I don’t really want you if I can have Varak. He’s the big story. You’re small potatoes.”
“What?” Jill could see her eyes flash. She’d thought that bruising Zahra’s vanity would be the way to hit home. Then Zahra recovered quickly. “Varak is dead. There is no story where he’s concerned.”
“I think there might be. I’ve studied Varak for years, and I know what a complete sociopath he is.” She tilted her head. “I have no idea why you’re doing this, Zahra. I wonder if you realize what you’ve gotten yourself into by dealing with him. You’re a strong, dominant woman, and he won’t put up with it. It’s only a matter of time before he kills you.” She smiled faintly. “You’ve probably already had to talk yourself out of situations you found dangerous.”
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