A Face to Die For Read online

  “Or maybe Daniel Smith was useful to his brother,” Kirby said. “I told you he was smart. At any rate, he spent a lot of time on treks with Edmund and his niece, Riley. No sign that either of them is anything but clean as the fallen snow. Though there’s a mention of Riley being tutored at one point by a witch doctor.” He made a face. “But it’s hard to be anything else since they’ve spent most of their lives in jungles and archaeological sites.”

  Cade grinned. “Oh, I don’t know. We’ve managed to raise an adequate amount of hell wherever we’ve landed.”

  “Entirely your fault,” Kirby said. “You get bored and start looking for trouble. I merely trail behind in case you need someone to call a lawyer.” He started laughing as he saw Cade’s expression. “Admit it, Morocco was going to be too dull for you.”

  “Maybe.” He picked up the photo of Riley Smith. “Exceptional. So she can’t be bought? None of her uncle’s weaknesses?”

  “I’m not saying she’s perfect. She’s been known to go after her uncle Dan when he got into trouble, and she wasn’t above using unusual means to get him out of it. But she’s been her father’s right-hand person since she was ten years old and she’s as brilliant as he was. If you don’t believe me, check the age she was invited to join Mensa. She has degrees from several online universities and has taken courses at others when they settled close enough for her to do it. Her father evidently didn’t want any other assistant. Her mother died when she was nine, but before that they’d occasionally hire a nanny from one of the villages or just leave her with the guard on duty. Edmund decided that was enough of a concession to parenthood for him.”

  “Connection to Dakar?”

  “The darkest. Edmund Smith was murdered in a forest in Azerbaijan three months ago. No one arrested in the killing.”

  “Ah, then I may not have problems getting her to agree to what should be done to the son of a bitch. That’s the kind of partnership I appreciate.”

  “Why did I think that would be your reaction when I threw together this report?”

  “It’s a very good report.” He was going down the columns. “No mention of the artifact?”

  Kirby shook his head. “Both Smith and his daughter were very confidential regarding their work. Completely secretive. I couldn’t dig up anything about it. I’ll keep trying.”

  “You might try bribing her uncle Dan,” Cade said. “He appears to be her only weakness.”

  “It may come to that. How much time do I have?”

  “Not enough right now.” He was reaching for his phone. “I’ll call Novak and get the rest of the information I need. He’ll realize I won’t try to snatch the brass ring he’s dangling until I know what’s on the other end.”

  Kirby was looking down at the dossier. “You know, she sounds like a tough kid who’s ready to take on the entire world. I think I’d like her. We’d get along just fine.”

  “You’ve already got one tiger cub. You don’t need another.”

  “Just giving an opinion. Anything else you want me to do?”

  “Not until I decide whether I’m going to be blackmailed into having a partner.” He waved his hand. “Go feed your tiger his breakfast. He’s going to miss you while you’re gone. You’re the only sucker he’s able to play around here.”

  “Bastard,” Kirby muttered.

  Chapter

  ​2

  Eve’s Workroom

  Robaku

  8:10 P.M.

  Eve had a dining table set up in her studio workroom when Jill came back the next evening.

  “Very nice,” Jill said as she glanced around the studio. “I brought the wine. What are you going to feed me?”

  “Stew. It’s very good. Leta sent it to me from the village. Do you remember her? She’s the grandmother of Amira, the first little boy I did a reconstruction on when I came here. One of the reasons I wanted to work from this village in Robaku is that I know most of the people here. I can always count on them to not let me starve if I get too involved in my work.”

  “And that’s an excellent reason.” Jill sat down at the table. “Last night Novak took me to a glitzy restaurant at the hotel, but I would have rather had the privacy we have here.”

  “Come on.” Eve grinned as she sat down opposite her. “I’m quite sure you made sure you had complete privacy later.”

  Jill nodded. “Naturally, I told you that it’s been a long time.” She started to eat her stew. “Which reminds me, you called Joe last night? Did he tell you to send me on my way?”

  “He definitely had reservations. However, he did mention he liked you.”

  “How kind. Since he’s always on guard about you, I guess I can’t expect more.”

  “Not when you didn’t tell me what you wanted me to do for you.” She lifted her water goblet and took a sip. “You’re lucky to get that much. I’m having the same problem.”

  “Okay. Okay.” She made a face. “You’re not eating. Can’t we wait until we finish dinner?”

  “No.” Eve leaned back in her chair. “Now, Jill. Who do you want to introduce me to?”

  “Riley. You’d like her. She’s unique, and you met her father several years ago. Riley said you got along fine, and he had tremendous respect for you. He told her that when the time came, he was going to choose you.”

  “Choose me for what?” Eve asked impatiently. “And who the hell is he?”

  “Professor Edmund Randolph Smith. He was on the board of the Natural History Museum in London for a while when he wasn’t touring the world hunting for artifacts. He met you there when you were speaking at a seminar about a forensic sculpture you did of a woman from ancient Herculaneum for a museum there.”

  Eve thought for a moment. “I do remember him. We only spoke for an hour or so. But he was very enthusiastic about the possibilities of my work, and I recall that everyone at the seminar was treating him as if he walked on water. Marvelous credentials…”

  “Yes, that’s the man.” Jill tilted her head. “Though I hoped you were more impressed.”

  “I was impressed. Smith struck me as a bit of a fanatic about his work, but then so am I.” She met Jill’s eyes. “But that was years ago, and I haven’t heard anything about him since.”

  “You’re hearing about him now. And he evidently never forgot you. According to Riley, his daughter, you’ve been a household name since that seminar. He’s been keeping track of all your projects through those years. He even sent Riley to check on your work here. She paid a visit during the time you were working here before.”

  “Riley Smith? I never heard of her, and she certainly never dropped in to see me.” She smiled. “But you know how busy both you and I were back then. It was still dangerous country after the civil war and not safe for a casual visit. Maybe she changed her mind.”

  “She didn’t change her mind. Her job wasn’t to contact you and appraise your work. She knew her father wasn’t yet ready for you. She just visited a few of the villagers who had children you’d done reconstructions on. She talked to them, saw what you’d created for them.”

  Eve frowned. “I’d have known about it. These villagers talk to one another.”

  Jill shook her head. “Riley is…unusual. She has the gift of fitting in almost anywhere. She’d choose carefully and make sure she wouldn’t be noticed. I’m a reporter and I didn’t know that she’d slipped into Maldara or what she was doing. I didn’t even meet her until I later went to Cairo and started researching those tombs in the Valley of the Kings.” She shrugged. “But then she deliberately faded into the background because she wanted her father to take center stage when he visited me at my hotel. I didn’t have even a glimmer of what she really was until later. She just sat there and smiled and only spoke when she thought she could insert something that would add ammunition to accomplish her father’s objective.”

  “And what is Professor Smith’s objective?” Eve asked. “It’s starting to sound very convoluted, and I’m beginning to be wary. Why are you here, Jill?”

  “His objective at the time was to impress me with his credentials and talk to me about his work of some thirty years. He’d been everywhere, made some amazing discoveries that were in museums in Europe and London. He succeeded. I wanted to write a feature article about him before the evening was half over. I was even trying to get his input on my research about the lost queens of Egypt.” She made a face. “He was polite, but said he hadn’t been doing much exploration and research on Egypt lately. He was going in another direction now. Then he asked me very casually about your work here in Maldara. He should have been a journalist. He squeezed me dry on everything I knew about you. And he was so genuinely admiring and complimentary that I knew I wasn’t betraying you. Then he dropped you as the subject and invited me to spend the week with him and his daughter at their house in Cairo. He was there to do some research himself at the Cairo Museum and would introduce me to people who might help me. You can bet I took him up on it, and I spent the next week wheeling and dealing with museum executives during the day and getting to know Edmund Smith and his daughter during the evening.”

  “That was his first objective?” Eve asked. “You still haven’t told me what the hell he wants me to do.”

  “I’m getting there.” She took a sip of her wine. “I just wanted you to get the background so you’d know I’m not the victim of a con game. It may sound like I’ve been played, but it wasn’t like that. I knew what they were doing, and I took as much as I gave. And I enjoyed that week and getting to know them.” She paused. “Particularly Riley Smith. I’d never met anyone like her. She’s a true wild card. I guess it would have been a miracle if she hadn’t turned out that way, considering how she grew up.”

  Eve’s brows rose. “Being brought up as the daughter of a prestigious professor of archaeology? I’m afraid I don’t see your point.”

  “Riley trailed after her father and mother all over the world, through deserts and jungles in some of the wildest places known to man. Then when her mother died when she was nine, her father decided she was independent and smart enough to still travel with him. He was sure she was getting a much better education with him than she would in a boarding school.” She shrugged. “Maybe she did. She’s certainly brilliant.” She dialed up a photo on her phone and handed it to Eve. “This is Riley. And I got the impression that, though he might have neglected her at times, she picked up some incredible talents and esoteric knowledge from the tribes and villagers they ran across. And even more from her uncle Dan, who appeared in her life about that time.” She made a face. “Daniel Smith is something of a loose cannon himself. Not at all like big brother Edmund. He was a black sheep whose talents weren’t always legal. It’s a wonder Riley managed to strike a sane balance between them.”

  Eve was looking down at the photo. Her first impression of Riley Smith was of vivid color and vitality. Shining, tousled copper curls, tan skin, wide hazel eyes, and a smile that lit her face with humor. “Well, I’ve never seen anyone who looks more alive. And from your description she sounds very unusual.” Eve suddenly chuckled. “Shades of Tarzan, or maybe that comic-book character Sheena of the Jungle. You could write a story about her. I’m surprised you haven’t yet. I can definitely see why you might find her worthy of interest.” Her smile faded. “But it’s Professor Edmund Smith who appears to be the one behind your trip here to see me. Let’s get his offer out of the way so that we can finish dinner, because I’m not likely to accept.” She looked her friend in the eye. “And I’d have had more respect for him if he’d come himself. Evidently he wasn’t shy about trying to enlist you to do it.”

  “No, he wasn’t,” Jill admitted quietly. “But he’d probably be here to do it himself if it had been possible. He wouldn’t stop at a little recruitment job when he’d been working on this project for most of his adult life.” She was silent a moment. “He died in the Azerbaijan forests near the village of Lahar three months ago.”

  “I’m sorry to hear it,” Eve said sincerely. “As I said, he was a scholar I respected. And I can see why his daughter might want to do everything she could to have his lifework completed. But you’ll have to get someone else to do it, Jill.”

  “Hold on.” She held up her hand. “I haven’t even given you my pitch yet. Why do you think I’m so determined to get you to do this? I struck out on finding any of the tombs of the lost queens of Egypt. But Edmund Smith told me he hadn’t failed in the project he devoted his life to.” She leaned forward, her expression intent. “He’d also been hunting for a lost queen, and she was even more lost than anyone could imagine. That’s why he’d been searching for decades for her tomb. This year he’d thought he’d zeroed in on the exact location, but there were difficulties that made it impossible for him to take the final steps to find her.”

  “A lost queen?” Eve repeated incredulously. “You’re telling me that Smith wanted me to go with him to Egypt to rob a royal ancient tomb and work on the reconstruction of the face of a queen from that era? Are you nuts? Do you know how carefully the Egyptian government watches for any violation like that? And to actually violate a mummy without civil authority by doing a reconstruction? They’d throw me into jail and toss away the key.”

  “Easy,” Jill said soothingly. “I’m not crazy. Though I admit I had the same reaction when Smith was telling me about it. But it actually isn’t as bad as it sounds. There are a number of elements about the situation that would make it almost legal. It would depend on how you look at it.”

  “Almost legal,” Eve repeated. “I can only think that our Professor Smith must have either drugged or hypnotized you. I don’t do anything that’s illegal. You know that, Jill.”

  “Of course I know that,” she said soberly. “I realize what a lost cause this might seem. I wouldn’t have even been persuaded to go this far if I could have thought of a way that would have been safer for you.”

  “Safer?” Eve frowned. “The safest thing I can do is to kick you out of here and forget this weird offer.”

  “Not exactly,” Jill said. “Because Professor Smith used your name constantly in his research papers. Anyone going through them would be sure you were an integral partner in Smith’s search. He’s tied you into his project whether you like it or not.”

  “I don’t like it. And I can’t believe it.” She threw up her hands in disgust. “And what difference would it make? I could just deny it and set about proving in court that I wasn’t connected. That should take—”

  “You might not have time,” Jill interrupted. “And it’s not a court of law you’re going to have to worry about.” She paused. “You mentioned that you thought that I was trying to get you to rob a tomb? Well, we had no intention of having you do that, but grave robbers are a problem that could raise their ugly heads. Not only for the treasure. Do you have any idea of the fortune that thieves could derive from either selling or exhibiting a tomb and mummy from the Bronze Age?”

  “I’ve never explored it. I wasn’t particularly interested.”

  “This particular queen could be worth millions. Even more after you do the reconstruction.”

  “Which I’m not going to do,” Eve said sharply. “Do you realize what a picture you’ve painted for me? A chance of being arrested for violating a tomb. Grave robbers…”

  “Not a great story for a decent journalist like me. Because I wanted to be honest with you.” She made a face. “But I hurried through it and left out some of the details that might make it more palatable for you. I’ll fill you in on a few of them now. One, you wouldn’t have to deal with the Egyptians and their rough tactics with people who interfere with their handling of historical artifacts. Smith’s queen was not Egyptian…though she might have visited there once. Any work you’d do would have to be in Azerbaijan. That’s where the site of the tomb is, and I guarantee that nothing about their methods compares to Egypt’s. They’re amateurs in the game. Two, it will be difficult to determine the queen’s actual ancestry, though you might find it fascinating to try. But there won’t be any nation trying to claim her before you’d have a chance to finish your work.”

  “Anything else?” Eve asked caustically.

  “Nothing that I want to tell you. I’ll leave the rest to Riley. I only volunteered to come here and give you the broad strokes and let you know that you can trust Riley.” She stopped. “One more thing. I promised her I’d let you know how Edmund Smith died. He was shot and killed in that forest in Azerbaijan. Almost certainly by a Ralph Dakar, who currently heads a gang of artifact thieves specializing in tomb raiding. There were signs he was also tortured. Riley said Dakar wanted to force him to tell them where the tomb was located.”

  Eve tried to smother the ripple of shock she felt. “All the more reason for me not to even consider this madness.”

  “In the end, that will be up to you. In a way, I almost hope you do turn Riley down. I don’t want to be responsible for you getting near Dakar.” She thought for a moment. “Smith wasn’t the first person who has been killed by those gangsters. There have been other villagers tortured and butchered by them in the past year to get information. That’s why Riley and her father asked her uncle to find a place in the hills to hide while they were searching for the tomb. But you might not be safe even if you do walk away. Dakar knows you’re the only one who was considered to do the forensic sculpting work on the queen.”

  “Which was more than I did,” Eve said bitterly. “Why should I be afraid if I just turn my back and walk away?”

  “Because Smith had constructed a package he wanted to present to the world, and you’re a special part of that very lucrative package. Though I’m sure Dakar wouldn’t want to kill you right away.”

  “How comforting. Just how dangerous is this Dakar?”

  “Very. Tomb raiding is rather a new and unique addition to his agenda. But he has contacts everywhere in North Africa and the Mediterranean. Riley thinks that’s how he heard about what they were doing in Azerbaijan. He runs a criminal organization that generally deals in thievery, poaching, smuggling, and human trafficking as well as being often hired by local politicians and other racketeers to do their dirty work in North Africa.”