Then, as she looked down at the reconstruction of Mila that she was still carrying, she realized she knew.
“But maybe we shouldn’t give in to him, Eve. He’s bound to be lying to us.” Jill’s voice deliberately rose hysterically. “I told you what he did to me. I can’t let—” In midsentence, she hurled Mila’s skull with full force at the hand in which Varak was holding the weapon and knocked his gun up in the air. The next instant, she dived to the ground next to him, reaching for the gun she’d just tossed to him.
She heard Varak swearing as he stomped on her hand and instinctively swung the weapon in his hand toward her to fire it.
Pain.
She gasped as the hot wave of agony spread through her side.
But he was turning away from her toward Eve again.
No!
But Eve was tearing away from him and dropping to the ground. “Now, Joe!”
A single shot from a Remington 700.
Varak’s body whiplashed as the bullet struck him in the throat. His eyes bulged as he saw the blood spurting. “What the—” Then he started to fall to the ground.
But Joe’s second bullet tore into Varak’s left eye, jerking him backward.
And then the third bullet struck him in the center of his forehead, and his head exploded.
Jill saw him collapse a few yards away, the blood pouring from the wounds. So much blood…
Dead. Is that how monsters died?
Eve was kneeling beside Jill, her face pale. “Lie still.” Her voice was shaking. “Why couldn’t you have just waited? I could have stalled him. You’re bleeding, dammit.”
“Mila…I’m sorry about Mila. I couldn’t think of anything else to do. All that…work…”
“What? Mila? Where did that come from? For heaven’s sake, I think that she’d forgive you. I know I do.” Her voice was suddenly fierce. “Providing you don’t die on us. I won’t have that, Jill.”
“Of course, I…won’t die.” Jill’s voice sounded strange, slurred, even to herself. “I’m just a little…tired…”
Darkness
* * *
Embassy Hospital
There was light streaming through that window, Jill realized as her eyes opened. Strange. It had been dark only minutes ago, but now it was light…
She saw Novak’s face above her. And that hospital smell…
“Nairobi?” she whispered drowsily.
“No, we’re done with Nairobi.” He leaned forward. “Embassy hospital. But we do keep meeting this way. It’s got to stop, Jill. I don’t think I can take much more.”
Then she was wide-awake. “Eve!”
“She’s fine,” he said. “You took the bullet. But you’re fine. It was a flesh wound in your left side, and you have a cracked rib.” He grimaced. “Well, maybe Eve’s not so fine. She was with you most of the night after the doctors patched you up. She wouldn’t let anyone else get near you. She only left when Quinn said that her son was on the phone and needed to talk to her. Then she graciously allowed me to sit with you.”
“No one needs to sit with me. You shouldn’t be here anyway. I know you’ve got stuff you need to do.” She had a vague memory of smoke and explosives and men running…“Your team probably needs you. It must be a major disaster scene at Robaku.”
“It is, but we’ve got it under control. I’ve been back and forth to Robaku all night.” He paused. “And I should be here.” His hand covered hers on the bed. “Stop giving me orders. This isn’t your story anymore until you get out of that hospital bed. It’s mine.”
His hand was warm and safe, and she didn’t want to move it. “You said I was fine.” She had a sudden thought. “Dalai. Is she okay?”
“Other than trying to fight everyone in the emergency room to make them release her. They insisted on keeping her overnight to make sure those cuts on her face and throat didn’t contain the same poison that killed Zahra. Her room is down at the end of the hall.” He shook his head as she tried to sit up. “No, you don’t get out of that bed until the doctor says that you can. I’d say she’s proved she can take of herself.”
“That doesn’t matter. I brought her into this. She deserves my support.”
“And I can see that you’re already planning on how to get down that hall as soon as I leave this room. Relax, Jill. It’s not going to happen.”
He wasn’t going to budge. He was being his usual domineering self. She fell back against the pillows. It wasn’t worth fighting him right now. Her throat still felt raw, her side was throbbing, and she had to figure things out anyway. “You’ll have to leave here soon. You’ve programmed everyone not to be able to do without you. You said you had it under control. What does that mean? What did you do?”
“As soon as Varak’s men were subdued, I had photos taken of the scene and Varak’s body removed and flown to Nairobi for complete DNA and lab work. Then I brought U.S. Ambassador Sandow and his staff to Robaku and started the real battle.” His lips twisted. “To keep us all from getting arrested. I had to call in my director to use all his political connections to try to smooth the way until I could get those DNA results. I’m lucky he didn’t cut me loose. He still may decide to do it.”
“Not likely. You’re the golden boy, and he’ll know that if anyone can clean up this mess, it will be you.” She smiled. “And I might be persuaded to write a story or two to sanitize your spotty image.”
“I’ll pass. You’re right, as long as I can manage to make this appear as a triumph for democracy and keep a civil war from erupting, I’ll dodge the flak.” He paused. “That’s going to be the prime danger, Jill. The Kiyani legislature is already in an uproar about their president’s being murdered. We gave them no details, but we’re going to have to do it soon. They’re making threats to everyone in Maldara, and Botzan is the main target. It doesn’t help that Zahra had recently turned herself into a heroine.” He met her eyes. “We’re exploring options to keep them from turning this into a disaster.”
It was clear there was meaning behind that last sentence. Options? What would keep this from becoming—
No! She immediately rejected the thought that had occurred to her. But she knew that it had occurred to Novak, too. She was silent a moment, trying to think of any other possible way to avoid it. But there wasn’t any other option at this moment, dammit. “You know what you have to do,” she said jerkily. “No more deaths. No more war. There can be no confusion or infighting. Zahra has to stay a heroine. She has to be the one who helped take down Varak in revenge for his attack on the U.N.” Her lips twisted bitterly. “Varak killed her, and she died a martyr. You can stage that beautifully, Novak. You’ll have to get a reputable journalist to break the story as soon as possible.” She added fiercely, “But it won’t be me. I won’t lie and make Zahra Kiyani out to be anything but who she is. And when all this craziness is done, I’m going to be the one who discovers that disk that proves that a mistake has been made, and Zahra is actually a murdering bitch. Is that understood?”
“Understood,” he said quietly. “It will save lives, Jill.”
“Stop trying to soothe me. I know it’s necessary. We can’t let our trying to keep Varak from starting his slaughter all over again begin a war of its own. But it’s a lie, and I hate it. So go away and do what you have to do. I’ll look at it as one of those dark Grimms’ fairy tales instead of a story that I can be proud of. I’ll block it out and be fine with it in a few days.”
“No, you won’t,” he said. “And I’m not fine about any of this. I don’t want you to send me packing. You scared me to death,” he said hoarsely. “I just want to sit here and make sure you’re not going to fade away.”
“Well, now you’ve had your time to do that,” Eve said brusquely from where she was standing in the doorway. “Now get back to work, Novak. Joe said you know all those diplomats and politicians better than he does, and he needs you to keep them at bay until we get the results back on Varak’s DNA. The situation is getting explosive. Right
now, no one is sure that we didn’t perform our very own coup.”
“Maybe we did.” He got to his feet. “My director said that it was only a question of semantics. However, you’ll be comforted to know that Jill and I discussed a way we might avoid a civil war.” He was heading for the door. “But there are a few more things that might be helpful. I think I’ll give Gideon a call.” He looked back at Jill, and said sharply, “Stay in that bed until you see the doctor.”
Before she could answer, he was gone.
“If anyone can stop the tanks from rolling, he can,” Eve said with a grin. “He might just roll back over them.” She came across the room and dropped down in the chair Novak had vacated. “Joe says he’s watched him, and he’s incredible at pulling strings and manipulating situations. Rather like someone else I know.”
Jill flinched. “Mine was a onetime effort. And I’ve tried to make up for it.”
Eve’s smile ebbed. “I’d say throwing yourself in front of a bullet for me might qualify. But it wasn’t only a onetime effort. You pulled the strings that brought Varak to Robaku.”
“And almost got you killed.” She looked at Eve’s bandaged hand. “Varak said he hurt your hand. Are you okay?”
“Just bruised. And don’t be ridiculous. We all knew what the stakes were. We were all ready to pay them.” She leaned forward. “I’m not going to thank you. That goes without saying. I just need to tell you that, in spite of the way we started out, I’ve been thinking of you as my friend for a long time now. I keep my friends, Jill. I have no intention of letting you slip away because you’re still having guilt feelings. So get a grip and realize that we’re in it for the long haul.”
“I’ll try to oblige.” She found her throat tightening with emotion. “Though I’m not sure Joe wouldn’t agree that the guilt is justified.”
“You still have a cracked rib from the bullet you took for me. Joe might just think you walk on water right now.”
Jill chuckled. “That won’t last.”
“You can never tell. Life has been nothing but surprises since I got to Maldara.”
“But you’ll be very glad to leave.”
Eve nodded. “I want to go home.” She paused. “But not quite yet. I’m going to take a quick trip to see Michael and Jane while Joe and Novak settle all the furor that happened at Robaku. Then I’m coming back to finish the reconstructions of those children. It shouldn’t take me more than a few months, and I want to finish what I started.”
“What I started.”
“Whatever. You’re doing it again, Jill. Stop it.” She got to her feet. “Now I’m going to tell your doctor that you’re awake. And then I’m going down the hall to see Dalai. I tried before, but she wasn’t talking to me. She’s kind of shut down. She seems very much alone.”
“As soon as they let me up, I’ll go and see what I can do,” Jill said. Then she changed her mind and reached for her phone on the bedside table. “No, it’s not me she needs.”
Chapter
20
You’re putting me to a lot of trouble, Dalai.” Gideon sighed as he opened the door of her hospital room. “Particularly since it seems I’m a busy man today, very much in demand. You could be a little more accommodating.”
She stiffened, her gaze flying to his face. “I didn’t mean to cause you trouble. I didn’t ask to see you. Go away.”
“That appears to be your theme song where I’m concerned.” He came into the room and strolled over to the bed. “But I can’t go away because Jill thinks that I have to make things right with you.” He shook his head. “Which is unreasonable because you’ve told her that I was the injured party. But Jill has to make her stories end the way she wants them to, so I guess we’ll have to go along with her.” He gently touched her cut chin. “Zahra hurt you. I told you to let me know if that happened again. You persist in not listening to me.”
She moved her head away from his touch. “It’s nothing,” she said jerkily. “And it shouldn’t matter to you anyway.”
“Ah, yes, because you used me.” He shook his head. “I’m an incredibly rich man, Dalai. Do you realize how many times I’ve been used since that first time I saw you when you came to Zahra? The two seem to go together. You become accustomed to it after a while. Sometimes it’s even amusing watching the process.”
“Amusing?” She looked at him in disbelief. “This was different. I could have killed you.”
“Only if I was too stupid to protect myself.”
“I could have killed you,” she repeated.
“You appear to be stuck on that thought.” He frowned. “So I guess I’m going to have to go at this from another angle. Yes, there was a slight possibility that you might have been to blame for getting me killed if everything had gone wrong. So you’ll just have to do something to make up for it.”
She tensed, her hands clenching on the sheet. Her eyes lifted to meet his own.
“No,” he said quietly. “How could I do that to you when all I can see when I look at you is that big-eyed young girl who could have been my sister.” He shrugged. “But I have no sister, and Varak killed my parents. We’re both alone. But I believe we could manage to be friends. So I think we should stick together for a while until you become accustomed to life without Zahra.”
She frowned suspiciously. “Are you pitying me again?”
“Perish the thought. I’m going to put you to work.” He smiled. “Because it appears I’m going to be used again. This time by Novak, and I can’t talk him out of it. He thinks he can quiet down all the uproar in the Kiyani government by arranging with the generals and bureaucrats to accept me as interim president until they can scramble and set up an election.” His eyes were suddenly twinkling. “Since everyone would find me acceptable due to my charm, wit, and fat wallet. I told Novak to get me out of there fast, or they’d draft me for the duration.”
“President…” She was looking at him in bewilderment. “Like Zahra?”
“Interim,” he repeated. “And definitely not like Zahra. So will you come back to that place you must have hated, and we’ll make the best of it for the time we have to be there? Then I think you might be ready to go to school or start a new life. Whatever you like.”
“I have no money to start a new life. I have nothing.”
“Not true. You have Kiya, the Great Beloved Wife. Novak is pulling strings to donate the Kiya treasury to the Kiyani people, but I bought the Great Beloved Wife in a separate deal at an enormous fee.”
“And you think I would take that from you?”
“No, I’m not offering. I know better. But the interest on what the statue will bring in from tours and exhibits will be a tidy sum. You can consider it part of your salary.”
“And what am I supposed to do for this salary?” she asked warily.
“Jill says that you’ve been very inventive surviving Zahra. I’m sure you’ll find ways to make that hellish period in the palace bearable for me. You’ve listened and know everything that’s going on in that government. You know where all the political bodies are buried. Maybe you’ll even be able to get me out of that interim position sooner. Now that would earn a gigantic bonus.”
“No, it would not,” Dalai said flatly. But her eyes were shining with sudden interest. “No pity. But I could do this. I know these people. I’ve watched them all for Zahra and reported back to her. And I know their servants and every flaw in their lives.” She frowned. “But it would be easier if you could make them accept me with respect. It made it more difficult for me when they saw the way Zahra treated me.”
His lips tightened. “You mean as a slave.”
“She did not say that word around anyone but me.”
“But the implication was there.”
“Always.”
And it was incredible that she’d managed to rise above that stigma as well as all the other abuse Zahra had inflicted on her, Gideon thought. But don’t show sympathy or I’ll never get her to accept help.
He said lightly, “Then I guess we’ll have to give you a fancy official title and your own staff to overcome it. What do you think?”
She stared at him for a long moment. “I think you’re still trying to be kind to me.” She was gazing directly into his eyes. “You cannot help yourself. It is your way, your character. And I need that kindness right now. But I will not need it for long.” She lifted her chin. “Give me a little time, and you will see that I will get stronger and stronger. I don’t know anything about this being friends. But you will learn to rely on me. It will be me who helps and lends you strength when you need it, Gideon.”
Gideon nodded solemnly. “I don’t have the slightest doubt that will be true.” He turned to leave. “I’m already anticipating being deep in your debt.”
“Wait.” She moistened her lips. “I’m sorry I can’t return your knife to you. You said it was a keepsake. Eve told me that Novak probably won’t give it back because he thought Zahra’s death shouldn’t be connected to me.”
“It was your knife, Dalai. I told you that I thought my father would want you to have it.” He smiled. “I know he’d think it couldn’t have been used for a better purpose. Neither do I.”
She stared at him defiantly. “And neither do I.”
He chuckled. “Then we won’t worry about it, will we? Now I have to go and see Jill and tell her that we’ve come to an agreement. If that’s all right with you?”
She nodded. “Yes, go talk to Jill.” She suddenly smiled. “Because you’re not at all sure about any of this except that you wish me to be safe and happy. But she will understand. When I told her that Zahra had told me once that she was like Kiya and I was only her slave, she said bullshit. She asked me how I didn’t know that I wasn’t the one who was like Kiya.” She straightened, and her smile vanished. “Tell Jill that I’ve decided that she was right. I am like Kiya.” She added quickly, “But I won’t let that hurt you or anyone I care about. I just have to learn who she really was and how to control it.”
“I’ll tell Jill.” He added gently, “And being like Kiya isn’t all that bad. She changed the world for herself and generations after her. I’m looking forward to seeing what you can do.” He lifted his hand. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Dalai.”
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