like. There’s a wonderful golf course in Inverness. Or the loch is always a challenge if you prefer to try your hand at fishing.”
“Actually,” Pitt said, “I have an appointment with a scientist at your affiliate company, Inverness Research Laboratory, later today. Perhaps you know him. Dr. Miles Perkins?”
Audrey gave a slight nod. “Dr. Perkins has performed some key developmental research on our environmental products. May I ask why you are seeing him?”
“A mutual acquaintance at the University of Maryland recommended his expertise. I’m looking for an analysis of a water sample from a lake in El Salvador.”
“I see. I’m sure he’ll be able to help you. In the meantime, let me have someone show you to your room. You must be tired from your travels. Loren, we’ll convene in the grand dining hall in about an hour, if you’d like to freshen up first.” With a subtle nod a uniformed doorman appeared.
“That would be nice,” Loren said. “Thank you for the invitation and for allowing us to stay here. I wasn’t expecting a castle.”
“It’s only a fraction of its original size,” Audrey said. “It was originally built by the Jacobites in the 1600s, then fell to ruins. My father purchased it from a private owner and rebuilt it to his own design. It’s rather small, as far as Scottish castles go, but it does have a rich, local charm. I hope you enjoy your stay.”
The doorman escorted Pitt and Loren down a side corridor to their room at the end. Audrey watched them depart, then mingled with a few of the guests. She worked her way across the rotunda to an ornate stairway and climbed to the top landing. She retrieved a key card and entered a door to the side.
Inside was a long, narrow room with a one-way mirror overlooking the rotunda. Evanna McKee was sitting in an embroidered chair, studying a typewritten speech. Rachel, the tall black woman and ever-present watchdog, was sitting in the far corner.
“The guests are anxious to see you,” Audrey said.
McKee didn’t look up. Audrey noticed a sense of heaviness about her.
“They’ll be more attentive if I make a dramatic entrance in the dining hall,” McKee said softly. “Are all of the effects ready?”
“Everything is prepared. Lights, music, aromatherapy—and of course the drinks. You will have the most receptive audience on the planet. The UN Environmental Program director will introduce you, and she is suitably energized for the task.”
“Very good. It’s our most impressive crowd yet.”
“There is one problem.” Audrey cleared her throat. McKee looked up with a studious gaze.
“The NUMA Director, Dirk Pitt, has accompanied his wife.”
“So I saw.” McKee raised a slender finger toward the one-way glass.
“He confirmed his appointment with Dr. Perkins this afternoon. He says he brought a water sample from El Salvador that he wants tested.”
McKee barely moved, her features still, as if cut from an iceberg. “I was aware of the appointment. Our good Dr. Perkins is prepared to meet him. But I didn’t know about the water sample.”
“Our people claim they recovered them all in Washington.”
“Then, it will be an opportunity to determine if more exist. Monitor what Pitt knows. If it is too much, you must be prepared to eliminate him.”
She gave her mother a knowing smile. “That is a task for which I am quite prepared.”
“Very well. You best go attend to the guests. I’ll be down shortly.”
Audrey gave her mother a kiss on the cheek, then left the room followed by Rachel. McKee sat alone and stared at the one-way mirror. Her focus was not on the guests below, but at her own reflection. The face in the glass stared back at her with a familiar look of worthlessness. An emotional wave of self-loathing fell over her, as the grasping talons of depression clawed at her mind.
The battle with her demons was everlasting, one she had waged for most of her life. It had originated at an early age, when her father had abandoned the five-year-old Evanna and her mother without saying a word. One day he was there, the next he was gone. Rumors told of him moving to Dundee and starting a new family. The young Evanna felt responsible, carrying the guilt of the separation and the grief it imposed on her mother. The guilt only exploded when her mother, unable to cope with the emotional and economic strain, took her own life.
Evanna’s world spun out of control. Raised by a senile aunt and an abusive uncle, her guilt burgeoned into