“I’ll assign someone to take you back to the airport and let Gideon know you’re coming. Backup?”
“Get someone local to Cairo that Gideon can call if needed. I’ll let him know when I think—”
“Hello. You’re Joe Quinn?” It was a woman’s voice from the path behind him. “I’m Jill Cassidy. We’ve never officially met.” She was coming out of the brush from the direction of the village. She slanted a cool look at Novak. “You lied to me, Novak. Hajif didn’t need to see me. I told you I wasn’t going to hide from Quinn.” She turned back to Joe. “You deserve to meet the person who hurt Eve and manipulated your family.” She lifted her chin. “Is there anything you’d like to say to me? Whatever it is, I’ll listen and agree with every word. There’s no apology I can make that will make what I did any better.” She held his gaze, and said quietly, “But I owe you, and I promise I’ll find a way to make it right.”
“Believe me, she will, Quinn,” Novak said dryly. “Which isn’t always a good thing.”
“You’re right.” Joe was gazing straight in her eyes. “Your apology sucks. What you did to Eve is unforgiveable. Eve may have come up with some way to find excuses for you, but I won’t. If you need to kill a snake, then cut its head off. Don’t make Eve do it for you. You could have gotten her killed.”
“I know that,” Jill said steadily. “It’s all my fault. And even if I wanted to stop her now, I couldn’t do it. It’s too late. All I can promise is that I’ll take care of her.”
“Yes, you will,” Joe said fiercely. His hands clenched into fists as the rage tore through him. His gaze went from her to Novak and back again. “Because you’re right, it is too late. So Eve is going to do what you asked her, and I’m going to find where the snake is hiding. And you will both make certain that nothing happens to Eve. Not a scratch, do you hear? If anything does, then I’ll come after you, and I’ll never stop until I kill you.” He whirled back toward the museum. “Call Gideon, Novak. I need to get out of here.”
Eve was coming out of the bathroom when Joe walked into the museum. “That was quick,” she said warily as she studied his expression. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. It’s just time that I left.” He took her into his arms. “No, that’s a lie. I just ran into Jill Cassidy and blew my cool.” He held her close. “And uttered dire threats if she and Novak didn’t take care of you.” His arms tightened. “And meant every one of them.”
“I’m sure you did.” She looked up at him. “They both want to keep me safe, Joe. Just take care of yourself.”
“Always.” He kissed her. “I’ll call you when I can. Try not to work too hard.” He cupped her face in his two hands. “Yeah, that’s not likely. I’ll see you soon, love.”
She nodded and blinked to keep back the tears. “I’m sorry that I pulled you into this, Joe.”
“I’m not. I just wish it had happened sooner.” He pulled her close again for a long moment, then he was turning away. “I’ll call Michael on the way to Cairo and reassure him that you’re doing well.”
“I’ll have to call him again myself soon. It was just difficult…” She made a face. “He’d see right through me and worry.”
He nodded. “He does that anyway even long-distance.” He suddenly whirled back and was across the room again. He kissed her, long, hot, passionately, then he let her go. “Change your mind. Let me take you out of here. I’ll find another way to do this.”
Her arms tightened around him. “What if you can’t? I have that skull here, now. Give me the time, and I can do this. You know I can.”
He muttered a curse and pushed her away from him. “Yes, you can do it. I thought I’d try one more time.” He turned away again. “Hell, I would have tried sex if it wasn’t for that damn cot and a whole roomful of skulls glaring down at us.”
Eve shook her head with a smile. “The cot was a problem, but the kids wouldn’t have been glaring; children usually think sex is funny.” Her smile faded as her gaze fell on the Varak reconstruction on the dais.