Smokescreen Read online

  “Yes,” she said tersely. “Even down to how she pulled the strings with Joe and Michael.”

  “I was hoping she’d leave that out.” He made a face. “That must have struck a little too close to home.”

  “It was an invasion,” she said harshly. “And I can’t believe that she’d be able to talk Gideon into helping her do this. He’s not even CIA. It’s crazy.”

  He nodded. “And it was crazy that his home was burned to the ground and his parents butchered by Varak. Did he mention that?”

  “No,” she said, shocked. “And neither did Jill.”

  “He doesn’t like to talk about it.” His lips tightened. “I was with him in the mountains when he heard about it. He knew those mountains like the back of his hand, and he was trying to help the farmers who had fled their villages to find safe havens. The killing of his parents was particularly brutal even for Varak. It was clear that Gideon had been targeted to discourage him from throwing in more help and money to fight that son of a bitch.” He added softly, “And then to find out that we might not have killed him after all? He has to know, Eve.”

  “Well, I don’t. Not if it means risking my freedom and my life with my family because I became involved with this madness. Stealing a skull, doing a reconstruction, when it could mean absolutely nothing?”

  “You wouldn’t have to steal the skull. The skull is being held in the main vault at the U.N. headquarters in Jokan. I’ve arranged a bribe to one of the guards to switch the skulls. It would be brought to you, and you’d do the work in total privacy here at the museum. Then, when we have an answer, you document it, and your work is over. If the skull is really Varak’s, then we return the skull to the U.N. headquarters and make another switch. And that would be the end of it.”

  “No, it wouldn’t. I’d have to undo the reconstruction and bring it back to the way I started. And what if it’s not Varak?”

  “Yes,” Novak said softly. “What if it’s not, Eve?”

  Eve couldn’t answer. It was a question that frightened her more than anything else. What if her work uncovered a horrible truth about the man who had killed those children here at Robaku and all those other children slain in this bloody land?

  “It’s something to think about,” Novak said. “I promised Jill that I wouldn’t reveal you as a source, but there would probably be suspicions.”

  “Of course there would be,” she said impatiently. “She brought me here because I have a reputation. I’d be the first one anyone would suspect. There would be so much uproar, I could lose that reputation, and the entire world would think I’m some kind of radical crackpot.”

  “Or a brave woman out to save that world,” he said quietly. “It could go either way, but in the end it would depend on how much it means to you. No matter how we try to protect you, you’ll probably go through a firestorm. I’ll try to move fast enough to get my hands on Varak right away, but no guarantees.”

  “There are too many ifs and mights in this scenario. And I seem to be the one who’s bearing the brunt of all this violence and ugliness that’s going on. I was poisoned today,” she said through set teeth. “It’s easy for Jill to wring her hands and talk about how Varak has to be stopped when she’s not taking the punishment.”

  “None of it’s easy for Jill,” he said roughly. His coolness had suddenly become ice. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. I gave her every chance to get out of this, and she still went after them. And if you bail on us, she’ll still do it. No matter what they do to her. And there are worse things than a bout of food poisoning, Eve.”

  His violence had caught Eve off guard. All the smoothness and persuasiveness had disappeared in a heartbeat when she’d attacked Jill. And it had been triggered by that one comment Eve had made. Why? Then she was suddenly remembering two sentences that Jill had spoken that had been lost in the bombardment of information she had been throwing at Eve.

  They meant to hurt you and discourage you as they did me.

  And that tiny hesitation, Yes, I got away.

  She met his eyes across the room. “She said she got away after she found Hadfeld. It wasn’t true?”

  “Oh, they let her get away afterward. They wanted to teach her a lesson first. There were four of them. They beat her and they raped her and left her to crawl out of that jungle to find her way back to the road. So don’t tell me about her not paying her dues. The only thing she asked me when I found her on that road was to let her be the one to go after them.”

  “And you agreed?”

  His lips twisted. “At that point I would have given her anything she asked. She believed that Hadfeld was telling the truth, and she’d paid the price. I could have negotiated that payment and handled the transaction. I didn’t do it. I wanted to go after him my way. So she did it on her own.”

  And Jed Novak was not as cynical as Jill had said, Eve thought as she gazed at him. She didn’t know what he felt for Jill, but she could tell that what had happened to her that night had struck a deep chord. And it had struck a deep chord in Eve as well. The mere fact that Jill had not tried to arouse Eve’s sympathy by letting her know about the attack made the feeling even more poignant.

  But that didn’t change the situation. It merely made it more painful. “Do you believe that skull is Varak’s, Novak?”

  “Maybe. I was convinced he was dead at the time, and I tend toward doubting everything that comes my way. The attack on Jill made it seem less likely. I do believe that skull could be a phony. I’ve been sending agents into the mountains asking questions of the people who were there the day of the explosion. There are a few who have doubts that Varak was on that helicopter. The others are afraid to admit to anything that would disturb the status quo.” He shrugged. “And I’ve already started to trace a few scientists who could possibly fake that DNA. But I can’t make a move on them until I’m sure I know what I’m doing. Varak would be quick to get rid of any witness.”

  “If he hasn’t done it already,” Eve said. “You’re not being at all reassuring.”

  “Jill made me promise not to lie to you. The decision is yours. I’d appreciate it if you’d make it quickly. The switch is supposed to be made tomorrow night. It would be foolish for me to spend a fortune in bribe money if I have no forensic sculptor of your caliber to do the work. By the way, I’ll have to ask you not to talk to Quinn on your Skype about any of this. It was safe to let you contact him before, but not now. There’s the possibility that you might be hacked.” He met her eyes. “This would take only a few days, and you might be able to keep a monster from coming back out of the shadows. Jill thinks that it’s worth it. Let me know if you agree.”

  He turned on his heel and left the museum.

  Chapter

  ​7

  There was no decision to be made, Eve thought. Particularly after that last remark about her not talking to Joe about it.

  She shouldn’t even think of doing that reconstruction. There were so many reasons why it was a bad idea.

  And there was only one reason why she should do it.

  To stop a monster from coming out of the shadows and striking again.

  Someone had killed Hadfeld to keep Jill from getting evidence that the monster was still out there, waiting.

  And that violence and horror done to Jill. Eve’s own pain and sickness. Maybe Varak was no longer hiding but was on the move.

  Her gaze went to Amari on the dais in front of her.

  “I don’t know what to do,” she murmured. “But that was a terrible thing he did to you. We have to be sure that he paid for it, don’t we?”

  He gazed back at her with those big brown eyes and the eager expectancy that she had unknowingly sculpted in his expression. Eagerness to go home, to end the sadness of that final parting.

  But could that sadness be ended if those shadows remained?

  “In my court?” Eve nodded slowly. “Yeah, I know. You’ve had enough to deal with.” She got to her feet. “Okay. I’ll think abo
ut it and get back to you.” But not here, where she was surrounded by those lavishly trimmed boxes, and Amari, who was both her triumph and despair. She headed for the door. She needed air.

  She stood outside and breathed deep, her gaze on the night sky. There was moonlight, the bright orb barely visible over the canopy of trees. Just stand here and look and listen to the night sounds and don’t think about anything that Jill had told her earlier.

  She had come here for a specific purpose, to help Amari and all the other children who had been so terribly mutilated and destroyed. It wasn’t right to put that aside and go on a wild-goose chase that could be a senseless waste of time.

  It wasn’t right.

  Then why was she walking through the overgrown brush down the path toward that schoolroom she’d never wanted to see again?

  Go back.

  There’s no one there.

  No way she could help what had happened in that room.

  Those lonely desks, the dark streaks on the floor…

  She stood in the gaping opening and gazed at that broken blackboard. Had the teacher been standing there when the school had been overrun? Had the children had time to scream before the machetes began to tear into them? They must have been so afraid…

  “Eve.” It was Gideon standing beside her. He asked gently, “What are you doing here?”

  “I don’t know.” That desk couldn’t have been Amari’s. It was too small. Maybe one of the six-year-olds…“I’m just…They were used to kindness…They wouldn’t have known why…”

  “No, they wouldn’t.” He touched her wet cheek. “We have to hope it was very quick. Come on, I’ll take you back to the museum.” He was propelling her away from the schoolroom and down the path. “It’s been a bad day for you. You need to get some rest. We all ganged up on you, didn’t we? We should have waited until you’d had time to heal at least.”

  “Yes, you should.” Now that she was no longer looking at the schoolhouse, she was beginning to function again. Though she was unutterably sad and weary. “And you’ll hear from me about it later. Right now, I have to take it all in and start thinking instead of feeling.” They had reached the museum, and she turned to face him. “How did you know I was down there?”

  “Jill told me to keep an eye on you.” He smiled. “Though I would have done it anyway. I care about you, Eve. You may think that we all just wanted to use you, but it’s not true. Yes, we had to do what we had to do, but that didn’t change how we feel, who we are.”

  “And what you had to do dominated your life,” she said soberly. “You didn’t tell me about your parents, Gideon.”

  His smile vanished. “They were good people. I loved them. What else was there to say? Except that I have to be certain Varak died in that helicopter.” He held the door open for her. “So many people died here in Maldara. After I went back to our plantation, which Varak had burned to the ground, I thought it was only one more graveyard out of thousands.”

  She shook her head. “I’m so sorry that you lost them, Gideon.”

  His brows rose. “But not sorry enough to forgive me?”

  “No. I have to understand it first, and I’m not nearly there yet.” She grimaced. “Particularly since I’m feeling so alone right now. Your friend, Novak, asked me not to call and talk to Joe about this. Do you know how difficult that is for me?”

  He nodded. “But you’re not as angry as you were, or you’d want to do it anyway and to hell with whether or not your phone was being tapped.”

  “No, that isn’t an option, whatever I decide.” She moistened her lips. “Because I can’t be sure you’re not right. I told you before that I felt that if I looked over my shoulder, I’d see one of those children? What if I looked over my shoulder and saw Varak in that classroom? What if he’s out there somewhere?”

  “Welcome to our nightmare,” he said quietly.

  “I have enough of my own.” She turned and went into the museum. “Good night, Gideon. I’ll see you in the morning.”

  “Night. Try to sleep.”

  She might actually manage to sleep, she thought as she locked the door. She had thought she might start to work, but she was too exhausted. Tomorrow would have to do.

  She went to the bathroom, washed, then brushed her teeth. Then she went to her cot and sat down with her computer.

  How she wanted to Skype Joe, to see his face, to release all the tension and share everything with him. But Novak had said there might be someone listening, spying, and even the idea of that intrusion made her angry. It was as if she were being robbed. Hell, she was being robbed.

  Don’t think about it now.

  Just make sure that Joe wouldn’t worry without totally lying to him.

  And she hated the idea of that half-truth, too.

  She texted.

  WILL CALL YOU TOMORROW EVENING. HAD A BIT OF FOOD POISONING AND I’M HITTING THE SACK EARLY. I’M FINE, BUT YOU KNOW HOW THAT KIND OF THING TAKES IT OUT OF YOU. A GOOD NIGHT’S SLEEP WILL FIX ME RIGHT UP. I LOVE YOU.

  EVE

  * * *

  London

  Son of a bitch!

  Joe clicked off Eve’s text message and leaned back in his chair. He didn’t like this at all. Knowing Eve was ill was bad enough. But the fact that she’d played down the severity of her illness and hadn’t Skyped tonight made it worse. She either didn’t want to answer questions, or she didn’t want him to see the toll that food poisoning had taken. Or it could be both.

  She had been so happy when she’d called him from that hotel early this morning. He’d even felt a little of the uneasiness he’d had about her being in Maldara fade.

  Now it was back in full force.

  He wasn’t going to be able to take much more of this.

  Eve did not like him hovering, but then she shouldn’t have taken off for a country like Maldara. Even food poisoning could be dangerous if not properly treated, and he wasn’t sure what kind of medical facilities were available. And how had she gotten food poisoning anyway? She knew all the rules about not eating fresh products in foreign countries.

  It wouldn’t be a bad idea if he took a flight to Jokan and checked out what—

  His phone was ringing.

  Michael.

  “Shouldn’t you be in bed by this time?” Joe asked when he answered Michael’s call. “Jane was telling me that you were up before daylight, and they were working you like slaves at that old castle.”

  “Yeah, but it’s fun. Every time I find something, I go look in Jane’s archaeology book and see if it’s anything that could be interesting.” He paused. “But I was wondering if maybe it would be more fun if we went over to that Maldara place where Mom is right now. You said that it was in the middle of the jungle, where there are all kinds of wild animals and stuff. What do you think?”

  Joe stiffened. This coming out of the blue from Michael was weird as hell. Particularly since he’d been raving enthusiastically about his work on the dig since he’d arrived there. “I think that your mom would tell you that she’s not there to have fun and that she wouldn’t have time for either one of us. She’s doing the same kind of work she does at home, and it has nothing to do with jungles or wild animals.” He paused. “But I believe you knew that, Michael. I don’t remember discussing the wild animals when I was telling you about Maldara.”

  “No, you just said it had jungles. I looked the rest up on the Internet.”

  And what else had he found on the Internet about that war-torn country that would have sent up red flares? “Well, you don’t have to worry about your mom hiking around the jungle and getting eaten by tigers. She’s working in a museum doing her work, and you know how boring museums can be.”

  “Not all museums are boring,” Michael said. “Remember that movie Night at the Museum? That was cool, wasn’t it?”

  “In a crazy kind of way.” Michael was being entirely too persistent, Joe thought. Which meant he was genuinely worried. Time to cut to the chase and get to the bottom of this.
“So why are you calling me now when you should be sleeping? Did your mom say something the last time she phoned you?”

  “No, she’s only called me a couple times, and she was asking about what Jane and I were doing. She seemed okay.” He was frowning. “But I was just thinking today that maybe we should go be with her. I don’t like her there alone.”

  “She’s not alone. She was very careful to give me an entire list of people she could call on if she ran into trouble.”

  “But they’re not us.”

  “No, they’re not us.” And Joe felt exactly the same as his son about that. He wanted to be the one who was there for her. But something Michael had just said was making him uneasy. Michael had always had an almost psychic bond with Eve, even before he was born. She might not have said anything to him, but that didn’t mean he hadn’t sensed something. “Today? Why would you suddenly feel like that today, Michael?”

  Silence. Then Michael said simply, “Something was wrong. I got scared.”

  “Why?”

  “I don’t know. It was really bad, then it was gone. She’s okay now. I just don’t want her to be alone anymore.”

  “Neither do I,” he said gruffly. “I’m working on it.” He had to try to reassure Michael even though his son’s words had done the opposite to him. “It might be nothing. Your mom had a touch of food poisoning today. But, as you said, she’s fine now.”

  He shook his head. “It was…really bad, Dad. Can we go, please?”

  “Not right now. You know your mom, she wouldn’t like it if we showed up on her doorstep without an invitation. I’ll work it out.” He added brusquely. “In the meantime, stop worrying. Enjoy the dig and take care of Jane. She went to a lot of trouble to give you a good time.”

  “I know she did.” He paused. “You probably won’t take me with you if you go, and that’s okay. I know you’ll take care of her. She’ll be safe.” He paused. “She’s got to be safe.”

  “I believe I know how to do that,” Joe said dryly. “I’ve been taking care of your mom for a long time, since long before you were born. Now get to bed. Let me keep an eye on her for both of us.”