the door. “The chef sends his regards and hopes his offering will please you.”
“I’m sure it will.” She was suddenly ravenously hungry. She stood aside as he rolled the cart into the room. She would have to tell Joe about the elegant presentation when she talked to him tonight. It would amuse him. Or maybe it wouldn’t. She’d have to think about it. But it would certainly emphasize that everything surrounding her at the moment was ultracivilized and completely without threat…
* * *
Eve pushed back her chair and sighed with contentment.
The meal had been as fantastic as the presentation, and this coffee she was drinking was excellent as well. She was tempted to call Gideon to tell him how well he’d done, but she decided against it. She’d call him after she got dressed and was ready to leave. That would be time enough. She was eager to get back to Robaku and start the new reconstruction.
She quickly dressed in slacks and a work shirt and brushed her hair. She did feel fresher and able to cope now. She’d been right to take this little break between reconstructions. She’d be able to attack the new work with a clear head, and that would make it go faster than—
Pain!
She bent double as agony knifed through her stomach.
She felt so sick.
Then her stomach was suddenly heaving.
She had to hold on to the vanity to make it to the toilet.
Then she was throwing up…
Time after time, trying to hold herself upright, fighting the violence of the vomiting.
Her head was throbbing, pounding…
And then the cramping attacked her stomach.
Hideous cramping.
Her legs gave way, and she fell to the floor.
Her head was on fire.
Her phone…She had to get to her phone. She reached blindly toward the vanity where she’d laid it.
No strength…
Only the pain and the terrible nausea.
She felt as if she must be dying.
Because everything was going dark…
* * *
“I don’t have much time, Jill,” Gideon said curtly when Jill picked up his call. “I’m in an ambulance heading to the embassy hospital. I found Eve unconscious in her suite, and I couldn’t bring her around. I have to get her to the ER right away.”
Jill stiffened. “Gideon, what happened? You said she was fine when I talked to you before.”
“I don’t know what happened, dammit. No obvious wounds. She’d obviously been throwing up, but I don’t know if it was drug-induced. All I know is she’s damn sick.”
Panic seared through her. “I’ll meet you at the hospital.”
“No, I’ll call you when I know more. You can’t do anything I can’t do. Novak doesn’t want you near her.”
“That’s too bad. I don’t care. I figure all bets are off now. She could die, Gideon. She wasn’t supposed to get hurt. There’s no reason. Not for what she’s doing at Robaku.”
“Evidently, someone disagreed. And she might not be that sick. Let me find out.” As she started to protest, he cut in harshly: “I told you I’d be responsible for her, and I screwed up. Do you know how that makes me feel? Now let me take care of her. I won’t let you blow everything we’ve worked for because you’re panicking. There’s too much at stake. Now call Novak and tell him to check her suite and see if he can find out who or what brought her down. I ordered dinner for her, and she’d finished it. But you stay away from the hospital unless I call you, Jill.” He cut the connection.
Jill was panicking. She was terrified. And there was no way she wasn’t going to go to the hospital to see Eve. Gideon said he was responsible, but he was wrong. She was the one who was responsible for everything that had happened to Eve. She had chosen her, then done everything possible to make her come here.
Yet if she did show up at the hospital, it would make Eve more of a target than ever. Any association with Jill might draw attention to Eve. But this couldn’t go on. She had to do something.
One step at a time.
First, do as Gideon suggested and phone Novak.
She quickly dialed Novak’s number. “I suppose you already know what happened,” she said unevenly. “Gideon asked me to call you. But you always know what’s going on before anyone else does.”
“I know an ambulance just took Eve to the embassy hospital,” Novak said. “Stay away from there, Jill.”
“I’ve already heard that song, and I’m trying to do it. Because if Eve manages to live through this,