requested and talk to her tomorrow night. She’d be honest with him. If something was wrong, she’d tell him then.
Or he’d be able to know just by looking at her face. As he would have tonight if she hadn’t sent him that damn text instead of Skyping.
It was really bad, Dad.
* * *
Robaku
3:40 A.M.
Machete!
Varak liked killing children, Jill had said.
And he was there in the schoolroom waiting for Eve to come so that he could show her that bloody machete.
She didn’t have to look over her shoulder, she could see him now, smiling, waiting…
But she couldn’t see him clearly because she didn’t know his face. She could see the evil, but how could she stop him if she didn’t know his face?
And he was raising that machete…
* * *
Eve jerked wide-awake, her heart pounding. She was panting, unable to get her breath. She sat upright on her cot.
Only a nightmare. Only? She felt as if she’d been there that day and been helpless to stop that carnage. She got sluggishly out of bed and went to the bathroom. She drank a glass of water and stood there looking in the mirror. She was pale, and the hand holding the glass was shaking. She looked as helpless as she’d felt when she’d faced Varak in that nightmare.
She wasn’t helpless. She couldn’t be helpless. She steadied her hand as she put the glass down on the vanity. And she wouldn’t let herself spend her life looking over her shoulder, wondering if he was still there, waiting with that bloody machete.
Eve grabbed her phone and punched in Jill’s number the minute she left the bathroom. “I want you over here. I want Novak, too. Right now. If I can’t sleep, I’m not going to let either one of you sleep, either.”
“Twenty minutes,” Jill said. “And I’ll find a way to get Novak there.”
“I know you will. I’ll make the coffee.”
Silence. “That sounds promising.”
“Not necessarily. I desperately need the caffeine, and I want both of you to be awake enough to give me answers.” She cut the connection.
* * *
Jill arrived fifteen minutes later. “Novak is right behind me.” She went over to the cot and pulled it into the center of the room. “If you don’t mind, I’ll try to avoid sitting on the floor at your feet this time. I don’t mind being humbled, but I have an idea I might need all the dignity I can gather together for this session. You really should have Hajif find you a few more chairs.”
“You do it.” She gave Jill her coffee. “I like the idea of your being humble, considering what you’ve put me through.” Her lips twisted. “Though I can’t see Novak being humbled in any situation.”
“He pretends well.” Jill sat down on the cot. “But you’re right, he knows what he wants and goes after it.” She glanced at Novak as he walked into the room. “I’ve saved you from groveling, Novak. Come and share my cot.”
“How can I resist? I’ve never had that invitation from you, Jill.” He strolled toward Eve. “But I think we should get down to business before pleasure. Since you summoned both of us, I assume you do mean business?”
“My business,” Eve said. “I had one hell of a night. I have to be sure that Varak won’t ever come back. And the only way I can do that is to do a reconstruction and see for myself that I don’t have to worry about it.” She added, “Which could get me into all kinds of trouble. You’re going to go after that skull tonight?”
“That’s the plan,” Novak said. “We’ll try to keep you from being hurt by this. All you’ll have to do is perform the reconstruction and the computer measurements and photos. We’ll keep your identity confidential.”
“Which will be fine if this skull is Varak’s. It will be bullshit if it’s not,” Eve said. “We all know that my identity will be secret only if we return that skull to the U.N. vault before the switch is discovered. You won’t do that if you think that I’ve proved Varak is alive. You’ll want to take the next step and find the person who falsified the DNA.” She looked him in the eye. “And then you’ll try to hunt down Varak and trap or kill him. Isn’t that right?”
He nodded slowly. “I’ve told you that I would.”
“And that’s why it’s a miracle she’s even considering doing it,” Jill said.