She drew a deep breath and tried to smother her anger. This was not the time to alienate Wyatt when everything must go smoothly over the next few weeks. “You said Duncan has already arrived? Did Jill Cassidy have anything to do with bringing her here?”
“The home office didn’t mention her. But you know that her stories about the massacre did stir up a good deal of sympathy. It might have influenced the charity to act.”
“Tell me about it. That’s why you should have gotten rid of her. But she had no direct connection with Duncan?”
“No, I believe Duncan called the charity and volunteered her services. Though I was told she arrived on Sam Gideon’s plane. Perhaps he had something to do with it.”
Gideon. Zahra’s hand tightened on the phone. Son of a bitch. Yes, he could have done it, just to annoy her. She’d made no secret of her views about Robaku. He was constantly getting in her way, and it was dangerous for her to do anything to put a stop to it. His plantation might have been burned to the ground during the conflict, but he still had enormous economic influence in Maldara. She wished he’d been burned up with the damn place, she thought savagely. “That doesn’t mean she isn’t involved.” But her temporary chief agent, Bogani, had told her that Jill Cassidy had been in Jokan for the weeks since the attack. If she was involved, it had not been directly, and Gideon was quite capable of raising enough hell on his own. “I’m going to meet this Eve Duncan. I’ll be able to tell if she’s just a do-gooder or if she’ll get in my way.”
“Let it go, Zahra,” Wyatt said. “What harm can she do? I’ll keep an eye on her, and in a few weeks she’ll be gone. She’s probably doing it for the publicity and working on a few of those burnt-out skulls will be enough to discourage her.”
“I want her gone now. Robaku is mine, and it’s time all these arguments about the DNA ended.” She was done talking to him. “Let me know if you find out anything else.” She cut the connection.
She sat there for a moment. She didn’t like this. She needed to talk to Lon Markel, her primary agent, and discuss how far she could go to discourage it happening. She started to dial her cell again, then stopped. Markel had been involved in the attack on the Cassidy woman, and she’d been told not to call on him again unless it was an emergency.
Screw it. No one could tell her what to do. Markel was her agent, her employee, and she trusted him more than she did the others in her service. He’d been with her for years before he’d been yanked away from her these past months. She’d only tolerated Bogani since she’d been told she couldn’t have Lon Markel for the time being. But she would not have him hijacked and permanently taken away from her. She paid his salary, and she would do what she liked with him. She began to dial again.
She stopped and put the phone down.
It wasn’t fear, she told herself. She was never afraid. It was just that perhaps it wasn’t wise to use Markel again so soon. There was a slight chance he might have been recognized by Jill Cassidy that night. Of course, it was entirely her own decision. It would be better to handle this herself.
It was entirely her own decision…
* * *
“How is it going?”
Eve looked up from her reconstruction to see Sam Gideon standing in the doorway. “Well enough.” She arched her back to ease the stiffness. “Amari isn’t easy. Just reconstructing the damaged bones of the right temple took me almost a day. It must have been a machete blow to be that shattered. But the measuring isn’t causing me too much trouble. I’m almost done with it.” She tilted her head. “I haven’t seen you for two days. Weren’t you supposed to stay around and be at my beck and call?”
“I was around. I peeked in a couple times, but you were so absorbed that I decided to let Hajif handle everything. He seemed to be doing a good job, and I’m always tempted to ask questions.” He was looking at the reconstruction. “What are those red flags all over his face?”
“Depth-measurement markers.”
“Not flattering. But the rest of him is looking a hell of a lot better than that first night,