Smokescreen Read online

  No, it wasn’t what she wanted. Wyatt was still useful, and it would take her time to develop a relationship with a replacement. “You know it’s not,” she said curtly. “Very well, I’ll find another way. But you will be sure and block anything she tries to do here?”

  “Of course.” He looked relieved. “Whatever you want. That’s a much better—”

  He gasped. She was suddenly above him and he was deep inside her. “Yes.”

  She reached up and took the ruby comb from her hair and held it in front of his eyes. “Isn’t it beautiful? Full of glitter and power. But there’s always danger with power. What if I’d coated these prongs with a deadly poison?” She brought the prongs closer to his throat. “Then you’d really know how powerful I am, wouldn’t you?”

  He was staring in fear and fascination at the comb. “Yes.”

  “But it excites you, doesn’t it?” She brought the comb still closer to his throat. “I can see it does.” Then she was taking the comb away and putting it back in her hair. “Whatever I want?” She was moving fast, controlling him, not letting him touch her, totally dominating. “Stay still. Don’t move. You have to be punished for not giving me everything I need tonight. I’ll permit you to have this, but then I’ll tell Dalai to use the quirt on you. You’ll like that, won’t you?”

  His cheeks were flushed, his mouth open to take air. “Yes. But I—want you—to do it.”

  “Why should I care what you want? You’re only my slave, and so is Dalai. I’ll lie here as a queen should and watch the two of you perform for me.” She leaned over him, her dark eyes glittering. Her sharp white teeth sank deep into his shoulder. “Say it.”

  “Whatever pleases you.” He shuddered as the blood ran from the wound. “Yes…watch us…as a queen should…”

  * * *

  Lake Cottage

  “It’s crazy,” Joe said curtly when Eve finished telling him why she was going to Maldara. “I knew that there was something going on last night. I just didn’t know I wasn’t going to get a chance to talk you out of it.”

  “You have a chance now,” Eve said. “I called you as soon as I was positive I was going. I won’t be leaving until tomorrow afternoon at three.” She added sarcastically, “It seems Jill has arranged with one of her friends in high places to lend her his jet and pilot to give us a lift to Maldara. For all I know, she might have even set it up before she came to see me. But at least that will eliminate a lot of red tape and give me more time to send Nora off and postpone my other commitments.” She paused. “Please don’t give me a hard time, Joe. It won’t do you any good. I’ve decided I have to go.”

  “You don’t have to go, dammit. You told me yourself that Jill Cassidy played you. Why should you let her have her way?”

  “Because she made sure that I’d know her way was my way this time. I can’t do anything else.” She added wearily, “I’ll e-mail those photos and biographies Jill gave me to you. Then I think you’ll understand.”

  “Oh, I’ll understand,” Joe said. “But it won’t make me want to keep from boiling her in oil at the earliest opportunity. I did a little more research after I hung up with you last night. I could see this coming. Granted, Maldara isn’t the powder keg it was two years ago. But between Zahra Kiyani’s power grab and all the other ex-mercenaries and crooks who are trying to line their pockets with what’s left of that country, it could still be lethal. I don’t want you there.”

  “Three weeks. A month tops. It’s all I promised Jill.” Then she realized what she’d just said. “No, to hell with Jill. It’s what I promised myself. And I may not be able to do reconstructions on more than a portion of those children. I’ll have to examine the skulls and make a decision. I may be done sooner. But if I’m successful with only a few, it will show what can be done and might encourage the U.N. to hire someone else to complete the job.” She paused. “Remember when I said the timing was just right for you to go to Scotland Yard and Michael to take his trip with Jane? Well, maybe this timing is right, too. Maybe if I can help the relatives of those children, then it was meant to be.”

  “I’m not in the mood for you to bring up fate at this particular time.” Joe was silent another moment. “I’m going with you.”

  Just what she’d expected. “No, you are not,” she said firmly. “I wouldn’t get anything done with you floating around like a drone ready to strike. You’re going to stay at Scotland Yard, keep an eye on Michael, and call me on Skype as you’d planned to do. If I get nervous about anything, I’ll let you know.”

  He didn’t reply.

  “Look, Joe, I gave you the names of those officials at the embassy and the U.N. that Jill sent me. She even supplied you with a CIA operative and someone from MI6 to call. Check them out. They should be able to tell you anything you need to know.”

  “Maybe. I recognized one of the names. I ran into Jed Novak two years ago when I was over here picking up a counterfeiter in Paris.” He was silent again, thinking. “They’d given Novak a team and sent him to go after a terrorist ring in southern France. He has a reputation that’s…impressive. I wonder what he’s doing in Maldara…”

  “Discuss it with him and find out.” Jill had been right, Eve thought. A detective like Joe would feel more secure about her if he knew she was going to be surrounded by law enforcement he knew and understood. “I’ll call you when I get there. I’m sure by that time, you’ll have all the information you need.”

  “Are you trying to get rid of me, Eve?”

  “Lord, no.” The sound of his voice, the knowledge that he cared, was a comfort even when she had to argue with him. “I just have to get back to Nora if I’m going to finish her tonight. So just do all the things that will make you feel better about my going because it’s going to happen.”

  He didn’t speak for a moment. “I think it is, dammit. So by all means I’ll do everything I can to prepare for it. Count on it. Good night, Eve.”

  Eve put down the phone after he’d disconnected. There had been a tinge of grimness in that last sentence. He was already planning what he could do, whom he could use to protect her. She wished she was like Joe and could prepare and make plans for the weeks ahead. There was no way she could do that this time. She just had to go with what she felt.

  Because she couldn’t see anything but the pitiful photos of those slain children and the siren call of the tales Jill had woven about each one of them.

  * * *

  Jokan, Maldara

  Thirty-Six Hours Later

  “We’ll be landing at Jokan in forty-five minutes.” Jill had come out of the cockpit and dropped into the passenger seat next to Eve. “I wanted to let you rest as long as possible, but now there are things I have to talk to you about.” She grimaced. “You’ll notice I’ve tried to stay out of your way during the flight.”

  “I could hardly miss it,” Eve said dryly. From the moment the Gulf Stream had taken off, Jill had either been in her own luxurious leather seat across the aisle or in the cockpit with their pilot, Sam Gideon. She had been polite, seen that Eve had drinks and food, given her updates on their progress, but other than that, she had worked on her computer and allowed Eve total privacy. “I appreciate the effort, but you didn’t have to treat me as if I had Ebola.”

  Jill smiled. “I didn’t want to push my luck. I know you resent me. No one has a better right. You’ll meet a lot of people here who have problems with me, so you won’t feel alone.”

  “You mentioned that the U.N. officials here weren’t your fans. The Children for Peace charity had no problem dealing with them. They found the undersecretary, the Honorable Edward Wyatt, both charming and cooperative when they called him and told him they were sending me.”

  “Because I wasn’t involved.” Jill shrugged. “If they’d known I’d convinced you to come, they would have stonewalled you. Lately, it’s been a solid wall whenever I need something from them.” She made an impatient gesture. “And that’s okay, I can work around them. I just have to warn
you that I’m going to have to do that. It will be easier and safer for you if no one knows that I had anything to do with bringing you here.”

  She raised her brows. “You’re abandoning me?”

  “No, I’d never do that.” She made a face. “Though you’d probably prefer if I did. But this is a country that’s not like Main Street U.S.A. I know people, you might need me.”

  “If they don’t hate you?”

  She nodded wryly. “There is that to consider.” She leaned forward, and said urgently, “You won’t be alone. I’ll surround you with people you can trust. And I’ll be able to be on hand for you in a few days. I’ve had Sam Gideon set up an interview with the press on Thursday, to which I’ll be invited. We’ll have a nice meeting and find we have everything in common. Everyone knows I’ve been trying to convince the government to give the villagers what they want for their children. They just can’t know that I brought you here.”

  “Why not?”

  Jill hesitated. “Zahra Kiyani didn’t like me any more than I did her. I told you, Robaku is a village practically on her doorstep. She was born and raised as Kiyani royalty, and now she’s the president of the country. Her father gave up the throne to become president, which I don’t believe pleased her. She also has more control than I’d like and is the prime mover in the effort to get the village moved to another location. I don’t want her to influence anyone against what you’re doing.”

  “You didn’t mention that the deck was already stacked against me,” Eve said dryly.

  “It’s not. I just have to deal around a possible bad hand,” Jill said. “And I’m doing it. And I’m telling you about it.”

  “And letting me know the possibility that this Zahra Kiyani might get me ousted from the country before I can start doing one reconstruction. After a very long trip and a good deal of inconvenience.” She shook her head. “And now you tell me?”

  “You won’t be ousted. We’re working around it.” She smiled. “And I thought this was the best time to tell you. You won’t be likely to give up easily after traveling all this distance. And it’s not as if I’ll force you to stay. Gideon will take you directly to Robaku after you get off the plane, and you’ll meet Hajif, the head of the village. He’ll take you to the school and show you where you’ll work if you choose to help them. President Zahra ordered the place be made into a sort of memorial, and you’ll have to do the reconstructions on-site.” She paused. “If you don’t want to do it, just tell Gideon. He’ll bring you back here, and you’ll be on your way to your lake cottage within the hour.”

  “But you’re confident that’s not going to happen.” Her eyes were narrowed on Jill’s face. “You think you know me so well. I might surprise you.”

  Jill shook her head. “I’m not confident. I know you can surprise me. You’re very complicated, and bad things can happen to any plan. I’m just hoping I’m not wrong about you in this instance.” She got to her feet. “I’ll go back to the cockpit. I’ll stay on the plane until I’m sure I won’t be seen getting off. After Gideon lands, he’ll take care of you from then until we stage our meeting at the press interview.”

  “Gideon,” Eve repeated. “You’ve dropped that name through the entire conversation. You’re talking about Sam Gideon, our pilot, whom you introduced me to at the beginning of the trip?” She vaguely remembered a good-looking, dark-haired young man with a flashing smile. “I’m to put myself in his hands? I take it he’s another friend of yours who is a bit more than a pilot?”

  Jill nodded. “Well, he does own this Gulf Stream. And flying would be his career of choice if it were up to him.” She made a face. “But he owns mega stocks and diamond mines and other boring stuff here in Maldara that tend to get in his way.”

  “Poor guy.”

  “Don’t be sarcastic,” she said quietly. “He’s my friend, and he did me this favor. He’s helped me before, and I trust him. The fact that he inherited a good portion of the entire wealth of this country made that a hell of a lot easier. I’ve known Sam Gideon ever since I first came to Maldara. He was born here and lived on a family plantation near Jokan before he graduated from Oxford and moved to London. He knows everybody who’s anybody in the country. He won’t let you get in trouble. And if he does, he has the man who can get you out of it on speed dial.” She stopped at the door of the cockpit to look soberly back at her. “You might find him a little unusual, but you can trust him, too, Eve. I’d never turn you over to someone you couldn’t trust.” Then she was opening the cockpit door. “I’ll see you Thursday if you’re still here.”

  Eve watched the door shut behind Jill. That last sentence had probably been said to convince her that she wasn’t being taken for granted. Yet every word Jill spoke sounded sincere. But the fact that she’d let her get here to Maldara before she’d told her that she happened to be having trouble with the ruling head of the damn country was both frustrating and suspicious. Trust her? Trust this Sam Gideon?

  Eve shouldn’t even get off the damn plane.

  But she was already here in this place where savages had thought nothing of killing children as they studied in their classroom.

  And she knew she was going to go to Robaku.

  * * *

  “Jill says you’re very important to her and I’m to be polite and respectful.” Sam Gideon’s dark eyes were twinkling with mischief as he came out of the cockpit after he’d landed the Gulf Stream. He had just a hint of an English accent that made the mockery in his tone take on an additional slyness. In his thirties, he was very good-looking, with olive skin, dark hair cut close to tame a tendency to curl, and that smile that was definitely reckless. “I told her that I’d been so polite to you when we were introduced that I’d never be able to do a repeat. So what you see is what you get.” He shook her hand. “But I did promise her not to try to seduce you. Though it was a sacrifice since I do have a thing for intense, stormy women.”

  “Stormy?” Eve studied him. Jill had warned her that he was unusual, but it was clear there was much more to Gideon than what he seemed on the surface. He had chosen that remark deliberately because sex was blatantly inappropriate in this situation and definitely would have been forbidden by Jill. That opening could have been meant to either put her at ease or shock her. “Then it’s lucky you’re wrong about me. I have a very calm nature and avoid turbulence at all costs. Besides being married to a man who makes every effort to keep me from having to deal with the storms of life.”

  He chuckled. “And you’ve firmly put me in my place and given just a hint of a threat in case I step out of it. But I notice you don’t deny the intensity, which means the storms probably come to you. Jill didn’t really need to try to protect you from me, did she? But she tends to go the extra mile.” He took her elbow and nudged her toward the door. “Now we’ve taken each other’s measure and can get down to what’s important to you.” He threw open the door. “Welcome to Maldara, Eve.”

  A wild study of contrasts…

  She stood on the steps, her gaze taking in the sleek commercial jets and military planes that occupied the hangars and runways of the small airport. Everything was new and modern and shining. In the distance, she could see a few skyscrapers on the horizon that contrasted sharply with the dense jungles surrounding the city. On either side of the road leading to Jokan, she could see ragged men, women, and children who had put up their booths of fruits and vegetables and brought their animals to sell at market.

  “It’s very…different,” she murmured as she went down the steps. She was suddenly assaulted by heat, humidity, and the smell of gasoline from the planes on the tarmac. “Though I guess I expected more damage from the fighting.”

  “Jokan had less destruction than Botzan,” Gideon said. “Amazing, since Varak’s ghouls were hired by Botzan to decimate it. Our magnificent President Zahra claims her advisors and loyal people managed to hold them at bay by the grace of God.” He was leading Eve toward the wire enclosure that she assumed was the parking lot. �
�The presidential palace wasn’t touched. She was able to welcome all the diplomats with her usual grace and style when they liberated Maldara.”

  “Do I sense a little antagonism?” Eve glanced sideways at him as he opened the passenger door of a tan Land Rover for her. “Yet I don’t believe Jill would refer to her as being magnificent in any sense of the word.”

  “Well, that’s where we differ. I’ve had a closer relationship with Zahra than Jill has. I had an opportunity to assess her qualities.” He tilted his head, considering. “I think she has a magnificent opinion of her own worth. I think she’s not brilliant but has a magnificent talent for self-preservation.” He paused, thinking. “Physically, she has magnificent breasts and possibly interesting, but not magnificent, sexual abilities. So Jill is not being entirely fair.”

  Her gaze narrowed on his face. “Yet you don’t have any use for her.”

  “Not any more than I would have a use for a spitting mamba I ran across in the jungle.” He smiled gently. “Except to sell the venom—and then the snake would have to be alive to milk it. Much too much trouble.” He was driving out of the airport onto the road. “But fair is fair. One has to be accurate. How else can you be allowed to make your own judgments?”

  “I hope I won’t even have to meet her,” Eve said. “I intend to keep a low profile while I’m here.”

  “It will be difficult for you to do that. You’re very famous, and you’re in Zahra’s kingdom. If she doesn’t know that now, she will soon. And she’s possessive of Robaku. Didn’t Jill tell you?”

  “Zahra’s kingdom? But she’s the president of Maldara.”

  “Zahra has a few bizarre ideas of her own regarding that.” He shrugged. “Which are entirely in keeping with her opinion of her own magnificence. But I won’t go into that since you’re going to make the attempt to avoid her.”

  “You do know her very well, don’t you?” Eve asked curiously.