The Survivor (Eve Duncan #30)

“Since you’ve been bragging about all your contacts, maybe you can help me with something else. I’ve been having trouble with breaking into that damn mountain stronghold that Maya has guarded like Fort Knox. We haven’t been able to get near it. Maybe that’s where the coffers are located and not the temple.”

“It’s possible.” Bevan tried not to show his annoyance. “I’ll work on it. I do have a few men I’ve sent up there to look around. They haven’t been able to get very far, but a little applied pressure can work miracles.”

“That’s what I’ve found, too.” Nadim’s smile was totally malicious. “So get me a complete report on what I can expect to find up there.” He met his eyes. “And I want it right away, Bevan. That little game I played today wasn’t nearly enough. I’m hungry for more. I want to see Maya and all those friends she brought to help her start to bleed…”

FIRST-AID HUT

MABATO VILLAGE

When Riley came back into the first-aid hut over two hours later, the area had been cleaned and cleared of the bandages that had remained after she’d finished with her last patient. There was now a long rectangular table in the middle of the room on which the young girl lay on a stretcher covered in a white sheet, another white sheet over her naked body. Riley stopped and then forced herself to stand beside the stretcher and look down at the girl’s face. “Hello,” she whispered. “If you’re somewhere out there, all this must seem strange and bewildering to you. But there’s no one here who wants to hurt you; that’s all in the past. I know you wouldn’t want your parents to know about all that pain you went through so, if you don’t mind, we’re going to wash you and wrap you in a pretty blanket. It will make them feel a little better. I’m sure that’s what you’d want. Okay?”

“I’m sure that’s what she’d want, too,” Cade said gently from the doorway. He came forward to stand beside Riley. “But you don’t have to do this. I could get a couple of the island guards to do it.”

“Don’t be silly. I want to do it. I think she’d want me to do it. It’s not as if I haven’t spent years in the tombs of Egyptian rulers who have been dead a thousand years longer than Siena.”

“My apologies,” Cade said. “By all means, continue.” He nodded at the thick, colorfully striped woven blanket she was carrying. “You seem to already have a plan in mind. Siena? You found out who she was?”

She nodded. “Siena Fazkar. It took a little while. But one of the villagers remembered that a few days ago, one of the women who worked in the orchards was calling around to other villages and asking if they knew anything about her daughter Siena. She had stayed home from school to help with the harvest and hadn’t come home that night. I ran and got Maya and she called the orchard and talked to the mother. The girl was still missing, and they’d been searching frantically everywhere for her. Maya had her text a photo of the girl.” She looked down at the face of the girl on the stretcher. “She looked very happy in that photo, but there wasn’t any doubt. Maya had to tell her mother she wasn’t going to find her little girl.”

“Why isn’t it Maya in here getting her ready for her parents?”

“Because I told her to go get the parents and bring them here. The orchards are almost as far as the airport. They wouldn’t have been in any shape to drive after she told them about Siena.” Her lips tightened. “Though she didn’t tell them in what kind of shape we’d found her. That’s why I came in here right away—to do a little damage control.”

“I’m surprised Maya didn’t want to do it herself.”

Riley shook her head. “She’s the caretaker, and she’s good at it. She knew what her job was in this nightmare.”

“Then will you let me help you?”

She shook her head. “I know what my job is, too. I’ll call in a few neighbors to give me a hand. I want it done quickly, before her parents show up. Go find something else to do. I’m sure that won’t be difficult. Have you been able track those snipers?”

“To an inlet where they were picked up,” Cade said. “But I’m not worried. It’s only a matter of time. You can’t believe how motivated I am.”

Yes, she could. She’d seldom seen him more lethal than he’d been since that moment standing over Siena’s body. “You have to consider this could all have been an elaborate trap aimed at Maya.”

“That’s obvious. But it doesn’t change the fact that some assholes are meant to die, and in this case I cheerfully volunteer to take care of it.” He paused. “It’s clear that Nadim has something more sinister in mind for Maya, however. He gave those shooters permission to take her down if the opportunity permitted itself. But that wasn’t the prime objective. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have withdrawn so quickly after I took out the sniper who missed that shot at Maya. Nadim wants to make her death a production to soothe his wounded ego and show everyone around him that no one can treat him the way she did.” A muscle jerked in his cheek as he looked down at Siena. “He wanted her to see this poor kid and associate what he’d done to her with Maya’s own child. But anyone can see it’s only the beginning.”

“Maya knows that,” Riley said. “She had it figured out before she made you take her to that tent. She’s always said it was the endgame. Now she knows she has to end it quickly. After we finish here, she’s going to go to the temple to see her daughter, but then Nadim is next on her agenda. She as much as told me that she had no other option.”

“Which puts me squarely behind the eight ball,” Cade said bitterly. “I promised you I’d take care of her, and that nothing would happen to her. But I saw how she operates today. There’s no way she’s going to sit around and let me go after Nadim on my own. She’s going to hunt him down herself.”

“She has reason,” Riley said. “Who could blame her?”

“I could,” he said harshly. “Because she’s not only risking her own life. Today you followed her into that forest, and you had no idea what you were getting into. You just knew that you had to help your friend. And I can see it happening again and again. I couldn’t stop her, and I’m not going to be able to stop you unless I can figure out a way to keep her safe.”

“It’s not as if either one of us is totally dependent on you, Cade,” she said quietly. “We’ve both learned to take care of ourselves almost from the cradle. I’ll be grateful for anything you can do for Maya, but I wasn’t being foolish when I ran after her. I was armed, and it was clear you thought the situation was safe for Maya. Why wouldn’t it be safe for me? I wasn’t worried about the physical ramifications, but anyone could see how emotionally fragile she was when she went with you.” She lifted her chin. “And I was right to follow her. You weren’t handling it at all well, Cade. She was hurting.”

“Are you done?”

“For the time being.” She began to unknot the ties binding the blanket. “You can tell the women waiting outside to come in to help now. I’ve got to hurry to get Siena ready to see her parents. I want them to think that she looks like the angels wrapped her in their colorful cloaks to keep out all pain and cold.”

“I’m sure that you’ll succeed,” he said gently. “I’m glad you’re going to allow me to do something.” He was heading for the door. “You’ll pardon me if I get to work on a few ideas of my own. You’re not seeing my personal stake in the situation at all…”

It was almost three in the morning when Cade, Riley, and Maya finally stood in the village square watching as Kirby backed one of the island guard trucks out of the local garage. Then he helped Siena’s parents load the stretcher in the back, and they climbed in beside their daughter. Even in that brief moment of separation, Riley noticed that Siena’s mother kept a tight grip on the blanket in which Riley had wrapped her daughter. It was as if she couldn’t bear not having that contact. It had been a long and achingly sad several hours for Siena’s parents after they had seen their daughter tonight. But all through that time the other villagers and even Jelsko had put aside their own personal sadness for the harm done to them and their own village to come by and give a few words of comfort. Riley had tried to be as kind and helpful as possible during that period, but they had only wanted to cling to Maya. She was the rock that was keeping them afloat tonight, and Riley couldn’t have admired her more. She gave them comfort but also the strength to fight through this agony. Riley knew she must be as exhausted as Riley felt, but she never let them see it. Now it was ending, and Maya embraced Siena’s parents and jumped out of the truck to the ground. Kirby glanced at Maya as he got into the driver’s seat. “I’ll get them safely back to their own village, but are you sure you won’t give me directions how to get to my next stop? I know you said the location of the temple was confidential, but it would save me a hell of a lot of bother.”

Maya smiled. “But then I’d have to kill you. Just come back here and we’ll get you to the temple. It’s not as if it’s a place you can get with a GPS setting. Just take care of seeing that those three heartbroken people you’re caring for are settled in their home and then drive the truck back here to Jelsko’s village.”

“Whatever you say.” Kirby turned to Cade. “I texted Anders about the crew coming in later today and told them to arrange for repairs on this village as you ordered. And I’m trying to locate Finn Kagan. Who knows where he is right now.” He pressed his foot on the accelerator. “I’ll contact you as soon as I have Siena’s parents safe. It may take longer for Anders and Kagan.”