“No, you couldn’t. Not while Varak is still alive. You might not be able to do it if you did.” She glanced back over her shoulder. “And then she would know. It would be worse for me.”
“I’ll make sure that we’re very careful when we go after him, so that won’t happen. But I can’t just leave you here.” He reached in his pocket and scrawled numbers on a card. “This is my friend Jill’s phone number.” He came toward her and put the card in her hand. “If you don’t hear from me, if something happens, call her, and she’ll take care of you.”
“No,” she said fiercely. “Nothing is going to happen to you. You’re strong. No one can hurt you. Do you think I’d send you to him if I thought—” She broke off and whirled away from him. “I will call you if I hear of something that might hurt you.”
Then she was gone.
Gideon gazed helplessly after her for a moment before he turned toward the maze that led to the street. After this night of fire and death, he hadn’t dreamed that Dalai would furnish them with the weapon that might bring Varak down. He should be happy and full of hope. But that vulnerable young girl who had been a victim all her life was still here, and he had no real grasp of what she was facing.
Stop thinking about her. He could only help Dalai by eliminating the threat that was terrifying her the most. So they’d have to go over what she had said about the compound and start planning.
He reached for his phone to call Novak.
* * *
Robaku
“Varak,” Jill murmured. “It seems too good to be true. I thought everything was going down the tubes when Zahra came out with that save earlier tonight.” She was gazing at the night sky over Jokan, which was still glowing malevolently. “I was afraid to hope.”
“And it might be too good to be true,” Novak said. “We won’t know until we check out that compound where Dalai said we could find Varak.” He looked at Gideon. “I told you it could be a trap. You said the girl seemed almost as terrified of Zahra Kiyani as she was of Varak. Zahra has been brainwashing her since childhood.”
“It wasn’t the same,” Gideon said. “She’s scared of Zahra. But she thinks she’ll only be safe from Varak if he’s dead. There’s a distinction.”
“One of which I approve,” Joe Quinn said, turning to Eve, Jill, Novak, and Gideon, who were standing in front of the museum. “It’s the first break we’ve had. Let’s go for it. You can check out the terrain and make sure it’s as safe as it can be for us, Novak.”
“I appreciate your faith in me,” Novak said dryly. “I definitely want to check out everything connected with the girl. Gideon is being a little too trusting.”
“Only because he’s feeling guilty about not having helped Dalai when he had the chance,” Eve said. “He was trying to persuade us to adopt her.”
“Maybe,” Gideon said. “But now we might owe her.” He turned back to Novak. “How do we verify the information?”
“I’ll send a team to the property to take a good look as soon as it gets light. In the meantime, I’ll order a couple infrared drones to scan the area.” He cocked a brow as he glanced at Joe. “Providing that meets with your approval?”
“It does.” He added, “As long as I’m heading the team that goes in at daybreak.”
“No!” Gideon was adamantly shaking his head. “You head the team, Novak. Keep Quinn out of it.”
“That’s not going to happen,” Joe said curtly. “What the hell is wrong with you, Gideon?”
“I’ve seen how you operate,” Gideon said. “It’s half instinct and half intellect and all exactly how you want it to go. It might be effective, but I don’t want to rely on your decisions when I promised Dalai that we’d be careful not to tip our hand and get her in trouble with Zahra. I wouldn’t want Zahra to cut her throat if she thinks she’s been betrayed.”
“You shouldn’t have made her promises,” Novak said slowly.
“Well, I did.” He met Novak’s eyes. “I knew there was a possibility you’d want to move fast. But we’ve known each other a long time, and I didn’t believe that you’d let her get killed if there was any way to keep it from happening. I don’t