The Survivor (Eve Duncan #30)

“Yes and no,” Riley said as she closed her computer. “I’m more disappointed than angry with you about your interference in my life. You were smart to let me get over that first reaction. But don’t compliment yourself that you talked Cade into anything. He always has his own reasons and plans for any action. It wasn’t your persuasion; it was only that you happened to be there when it all came together for him.”

She chuckled. “You’ll remember I threw in a ‘somehow’ in that sentence. I definitely wasn’t patting myself on the back. But you have to admit I was right about my screwing up the chemistry between you and Cade.” Her smile faded. “I don’t think he’s left the cockpit more than a couple times in all these hours.”

“He had Kirby up in that cockpit with him helping to fly the plane. He also had plans to make with him so that we’d be ready when we landed,” Riley said. “Now are you finished with your guilt trip?”

“No,” she said definitely. “But I can’t expect you to admit anything to me. After all, I’m not Eve. I just want you to know that I’m here for you.” She paused. “And I’ll be as open as I can with both you and Cade from now on. Which is difficult for me since that’s not how I’ve lived my life. But I’m grateful to you, and it’s time I showed it.”

Riley smiled. “I won’t turn that offer down. I’ve been feeling as if I was lost in a maze since you called me the other night.” She tilted her head. “Come to think of it, you’ve left quite a bit to my imagination since I first met you five years ago. Just enough to tease and tantalize, but not enough to satisfy.”

“I’m turning over a new leaf,” Maya said. “You’ll see. I promise.”

“Prove it,” Riley challenged softly. “I’ll start you off easy. Fill in a few of the blanks. Tell me why you became caretaker when you were only sixteen.”

Maya looked a little taken aback. “That may take a while,” she said warily. “You might need the background.”

“Then you’d better start now. We should be landing fairly soon, but I have time for a little background. Start with ‘caretaker.’ Since everyone kowtows to you, I assumed that it was just another name for the boss or person in charge. Does it have any less obvious meanings?”

“Not really. The title goes back to Silvana. Because she bought the island and worked all her life to improve it for everyone, the villagers began to call her ‘the one who cares for us.’ Then after Silvana’s daughter took over the reins, the villagers kept on referring to her in the same vein. She was known as the caretaker. Or honorable caretaker. Or the leader who cares. Or half a dozen other titles depending on which area of the island folks lived in.” She shrugged. “I guess caretaker was simple, so it stuck. Whenever there was a new leader chosen, they were known as the caretaker.”

“And how is the new one chosen?” Riley asked. “I gather no one votes at the polls?”

She shook her head. “That’s not efficient. The new caretaker is chosen by the one in charge. It’s their duty to make the choice in order that they can groom them to perfection. That way they won’t make mistakes and cause trouble and worry to the islanders.”

“Perfection,” Riley repeated. “That isn’t easy. Particularly when the one they choose is only sixteen. I don’t think I like that system.”

“Neither did I,” Maya said. “I was scared to death. But there wasn’t usually any problem. Jann Lu should have chosen someone much sooner, but she said no one seemed right to her. Most of the caretakers had their heirs chosen and trained decades before they had to take charge.”

“But you appear to have done all right,” Riley said. “Scared or not.”

“Sometimes I have doubts. It’s a big responsibility. Particularly now. But most of the villagers think I’m doing a good job.” She gazed at her inquiringly. “And that’s how I became caretaker. Satisfied?”

“Not entirely. But I’ll let the rest go for now. I have only one more question. Have there been any male caretakers?”

Maya smiled. “You’re thinking because Silvana was an Amazon and had a rough time with Antonio and those other Roman bastards, she might have made some kind of edict against male leaders?” She shook her head. “I believe there were four or five men chosen through the centuries. But even then, two of them selected female caretakers when it came time to choose a successor. Women definitely dominated in Silvana’s world.”

“Good. I’m glad they did. But I’m also happy they didn’t cheat to get there. It seems as if Silvana had a hell of a lot of dirty tricks played on her during her lifetime, but she didn’t let it twist her.”

“I’ll second that,” Maya said. “Perhaps it’s a good sign we might be able to agree on other things on the island?”

“It’s possible,” Riley said. “Though I haven’t pushed you yet on that point you skipped over—why she chose you particularly to become caretaker.”

Maya’s smile ebbed. “And are you going to do it?”

Riley studied her expression. “No, I don’t think so. I’ll save that for later.” She opened her computer. “I want to be ready before we land. I think I’d be better served with having you pull up my map of the island and start filling me in on points of interest that you believe we should know about. As I remember, when my father and I were here together all those years ago, we weren’t permitted to go anywhere on the island except a few of the apple groves and the villages near them that were close to the southern seaport. Everything else about the island was off limits.”

“Were you frightened and scared of the villagers?” Maya was smiling. “Did you find those areas where we took you to be cold and ugly?”

“Everything was absolutely beautiful, and the villagers couldn’t have been warmer or more hospitable. I wanted to see more.”

“Your father didn’t complain. He was just a little impatient. After he visited a few of the villages and found no artifacts that would indicate anything to do with Troy, all he wanted to do was start preparing to go north. We tried to make you both comfortable while you were with us.”

“I don’t think that there was any doubt of that,” Riley said. “I told Eve that it reminded me of Eden. The warmth, the beauty—you even provided the biblical apples when we visited the groves and had us try those rare diamond apples you grow on the island. The only thing lacking was the freedom to explore. It didn’t bother my father, but I’d already started to hear the Silvana legends and I was really curious. You even encouraged it. You told me a few yourself.”

She nodded. “And I really shouldn’t have. The only reason I allowed you to come was that I liked the idea of having a noted archaeologist like your father visit the island. We don’t encourage visitors, but I thought if he came and was disappointed, it might ward off any other treasure hunters wanting to try their luck. The main objective was to have you come, spend a little time, and then send you on your way. But I liked you, and I was enjoying having you know about my island. I suppose I was a little lonely. I have a lot of responsibilities and sometimes it was hard to relax. I didn’t think it would hurt to keep you around a little longer.” She made a face. “I didn’t count on having to deal with Nadim. I thought he was safely out of the picture. But the greedy bastard decided that hitting your camp might be worth coming out of the mountains. I had to get you out of there fast.”

“And you were wounded.”

“I deserved it for indulging myself. I should have kept to the plan.” She looked down at the map on Riley’s computer and drew an X on the southern end of the island. “This is the main seaport where you and your father arrived. That should be familiar to you. That’s where I met you at the central residence and had a guide take you down by the apple groves to set up your camp.” She pointed to the area on the far west of the island. “This is the path that leads from the island up to the lower foothills of the mountains. You start out in the orchards of the island that are mild as Eden. It takes about half a day to get to those foothills, and it gets cooler by the hour. Even though you haven’t reached the actual mountains of the Himalayas yet, the temperature plunges to almost freezing after sundown.” She marked three other places at the north and extreme east sides of the island. “These are possible bays where Nadim could access the island.” She put another larger X deep in the north-central area of the map. “And this is the temple.” She leaned back in her seat gazing at Riley, waiting for the reaction.