was important enough for you to worry about.” She stared him in the eye. “And I liked it when you were with her. You smiled at me and joked. It was different than it was later. You were nice to me.”
He was silent. “You have a very limited experience in that area. And that makes me feel like even more of a bastard than I did before. But call me. Let me help you.”
She shook her head. “Go away.”
He had to go, he thought in frustration. But she was sitting there, fragile, helpless, and he wanted to scoop her up and take her somewhere safe. Another casualty in this damn war that had taken so much from so many. But a casualty that he thought he might have prevented.
“Call me!” He closed the door and moved swiftly down the hall.
* * *
Robaku
“It’s about time you got here.” Jill came down the path toward Gideon when he arrived at Robaku an hour later. “Would it have hurt to have phoned me as soon as you could? Did you find out anything when you were going through Zahra’s personal quarters?”
“I didn’t get that far,” Gideon said. “I was checking out something else, and I got involved.” He held up his hand. “Don’t ask. I came up with zeros all around.”
“And you’re upset.” Jill was reading his expression. “You didn’t by any chance run into Zahra while you were ‘involved.’”
“If I had, I would have probably broken her neck,” he said grimly. “I was ready to do it tonight.”
“Why?”
“A poisonous combination of personal guilt and a few revelations that were particularly infuriating.” He stopped, then said, “Okay, I was thinking about using her maid, Dalai, to help us. I thought she could be a fount of information. But I blew it. And besides, she’s been used enough.” He made a face. “At one point, I believe I even offered your services, Jill. Be prepared if I drop her on your lap if I change my mind. Why should I be any different? Do you know Zahra even used the Kiya card on Dalai to convince her that she was only a slave and didn’t have any right to argue about how she was treated?”
“Kiya,” Jill repeated. “It doesn’t surprise me. After all, a queen must have her slaves. It was clear she seemed to consider Dalai her special property.”
“Exactly.”
“That sounded bitter.” She was thinking. “I did feel sorry for her. And I remember that Eve was angry about the way she was treated.” She nodded suddenly, and said recklessly, “Go ahead. By all means, hand her over to us. We’re so frustrated that we’ll be glad to find a way to get some of our own back.”
“Easier said than done. I’d have to fight Dalai as well as Zahra.” He changed the subject. “No word about whether the security tapes were delivered to Zahra or Varak yet?”
“Not as far as we’ve heard. I was hoping you’d know something when you got back from the palace.”
“Well, Zahra was definitely on the move this evening, and she had plans for later tonight.” His lips twisted. “I was tempted to follow them, but it sounded as if it might concern Dalai more than any connection to Asarti.”
“Novak is monitoring the chatter, but nothing yet,” Jill said. “Other than that, we’re just trying to think of a way to make certain Eve’s safe and find proof that it’s Oscar’s skull that we have in that museum. We’ll probably hear about what Varak plans to do about those tapes soon enough.” She shrugged. “But I don’t think anyone is going to sleep well tonight.”
“Then I might as well go have a drink with Novak and confess that I had an utterly worthless day. I don’t dare go to Quinn. He won’t accept any report that won’t contribute to keeping Eve safe and out of jail.”
“By all means go get a drink. You look like you need it. I might join both of you later before I go to Hajif’s to turn in. He offered me a mat in his hut, and I’m trying to give Eve and Quinn their privacy.” She turned and strolled toward the museum. “But first I’ll go tell Eve that you’re back and that we might have to adopt Dalai before this is over…”
* * *
U.N. Headquarters
10:32 P.M.
“You look beautiful tonight.” Edward Wyatt stood at the top of the grand staircase and watched Zahra walk up the curving stairs toward him. Her dark hair