will be my goal in life while we’re together.” He mockingly flipped his hand to his head in a half salute. “I’ll be back in a flash with the first installment.”
He was gone.
Eve gazed after him with impatience and frustration. She still didn’t know what to think of him after these hours in his company. He had smoothed her way seamlessly with Hajif and furnished her with both information and a subtle challenge. She hadn’t the faintest doubt he would continue to do so until she could wrap up her work here. But he had almost casually admitted to having an affair with a woman about whom she was beginning to be very wary. And he was clearly loyal to Jill Cassidy and her agenda. And that agenda was aimed at using her to do whatever Jill wished here at Robaku.
Forget it. None of this is important right now, Eve thought impatiently. Jill Cassidy wanted to use her? Good luck to her. Since she had told Gideon that she was committed to doing these reconstructions, it meant that she automatically took charge of everything to do with those children. It was how she worked, and she would have it no other way. If Jill interfered, Eve would have to roll right over her if necessary. Jill had started this, but that didn’t mean that Eve couldn’t finish it…
Chapter
4
She’s a powerhouse,” Gideon said when Jill picked up his call. “Eve listened. She questioned. She let me see the horror she felt. Then she took over. She’s setting up shop even as we speak. She’s even ordering me around. Doesn’t she realize what a blow to my ego that is? You might have trouble with her.”
Jill had known that from the beginning. The moment she had chosen Eve Duncan, she’d been aware that manipulation could only go so far and felt fortunate that she’d at least gotten Eve here. “Your ego will survive. I believe the only trouble we’ll have right away is that she’s a workaholic, and we’ll have to keep her supplied with materials. Hajif is cooperating with helping her?”
“She’s going to do the reconstruction of his grandson first. He thinks she’s an angel from heaven.” He paused. “She wanted to make certain that her computer and phone would operate at top efficiency. What do I do?”
The phone. Jill could see problems looming on the horizon. “Stall. It might be fine. I’ll check with Novak. He’s supposed to be here in five or ten minutes to smuggle me off this plane. I’ll get back to you.” She cut the connection.
She sat there staring out the window of the plane. It was starting. The first step. Eve had now committed, and she’d be working on the skulls. Jill just hoped that they could move to the next step with more speed, and—
She tensed and whirled to the door as she heard the steps come down outside. She dived to press back against the wall as she saw a strong, brown hand open the door.
“Easy, Jill,” Novak said dryly as he came into the cabin. He was hauling a broom and a large, stainless-steel waste-disposal container behind him. “I’d appreciate it if you’d neither shoot me nor hit me in the head with your object of choice.” His skin was stained chocolate brown, his contact lenses were the same color, and he was dressed in red coveralls and hat with a cleaning-company logo on the brim. “It would spoil any chance of getting you out of here without being noticed. I’m supposed to tuck you in this waste-disposal container, and who would tote you out of here if you dispose of me instead?”
She let her breath out in relief. “I don’t know why you’re here anyway. I’m hardly important, and you could have sent one of your men to get me.”
“Yes, I could have done that.” He paused. “Just as you could have come back into the country alone without going near Eve Duncan and causing me this trouble.”
“I had to make sure she’d get here safely. She’s my responsibility.” She held up her hand as he started to speak. “I know that Gideon could have taken care of her, but she’s mine now. It was my plan, and I have to own it.”
“That’s right,” he said mockingly. “She’s an important figure in what you call ‘your’ story. It has to be as you dictate it.”
Nairobi. She’d revealed too much to him that last night. “I’m surprised you remember I said that,”