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.”