The Survivor (Eve Duncan #30)

“Maybe,” she answered absently, her gaze searching his face. “You fix things?” She nodded as she continued to look at him. “I think… you can. Is it okay if I ask you to do it sometime?”

He chuckled. “Oh, the pressure.” He squeezed her hand. “I’ll be glad to help you out anytime I can.”

“Thank you,” she whispered as she turned back to her mother. “I like them so much. Can we keep them here?”

“You’ll have to ask them.” She gave her a hug. “But they seem to want to be friends and you have a good chance.”

Tashi took Bailey’s hand. “Why don’t we go up to the kitchen and see if we can bribe them with a fine meal. I’ve always found that works well.”

“Mama?” Bailey looked at her mother. “Is it okay?”

She nodded. “Though you might tell her that bribery isn’t legal, Tashi.”

“People who are perfect don’t have to worry about that,” Tashi said. “I’ll explain that the bribery is purely mine.”

Bailey was giggling as she ran back into the house with Tashi.

“She’s perfectly beautiful,” Riley said, looking after her. “Polite and a real charmer. You told me she was ten?”

“Almost eleven,” Maya said. “And I don’t have anything much to do with her good manners. Tashi and her nanny, Lisan, do most of the teaching and correcting. I selfishly save most of my time with her for pure enjoyment. She doesn’t need much correcting. She’s a sensitive kid and doesn’t want to rock the boat if she doesn’t have to.” She smiled. “And she’s extraordinarily intelligent. She picks up languages incredibly well, she has an amazing skill when she’s dealing with animals, and you should see her artwork. She’s pure magic.”

“And you’re not the least bit prejudiced,” Cade said gently. “Though it’s clear you have reason. I can see why you were frightened when you saw Siena in that setup in the tent.”

“Upset?” She shook her head. “I was terrified. It was my worst nightmare.”

“I can understand it.” Riley’s gaze rose to the second floor of the house where Bailey had disappeared. “The threat was aimed directly at your little girl. Has it happened before?”

Maya shook her head. “I was able to keep Nadim from knowing about her before. I realized that she would always be a threat to me and, therefore, to herself. It was easy enough to arrange to keep her in separate quarters under guard. Everyone loved her and she loved everyone. I usually got to see her at least once a day. I arranged to do things with her that would keep me a part of her life.” She paused. “But I’m betting it was Bevan who found out about Bailey and told Nadim about the rumors that she was my daughter.” She closed her eyes and shivered. “And Nadim thought of that foul way to punish me by doing that monstrous thing to poor Siena. Now I have to keep Bailey safe until I can get rid of him.” Her eyes flicked open. “And I’ll do it. But it might take a little while since he’s become more powerful now. I’ll probably need your crew who are coming in later today.”

“They’re not on loan to you,” he said. “But I’ll arrange to have them available when we’ll need them.”

“Good enough,” Maya said. “Shall I have them brought here?”

“To protect Bailey?” he asked. “Now that I’ve met her, I can see that there’s no way we could ever let anything happen to her. I realize she should be first on your list, but I also have my own priorities. I’ll have to take a little time and see what I can do to make it a complete sweep.”

She nodded curtly. “Whatever. Just not much time, or I’ll have to do it myself.” She turned to Riley. “While Tashi and Bailey are making lunch, do you want me to take you around to the Silvana Museum exhibits? I know you’ll want to see them. You were always curious about Silvana when you first came here.”

“And you were annoyingly closemouthed whenever I asked you too many questions.”

“I told you that it would be a new story,” Maya said. “We made a deal. I still can’t tell you about anything that’s confidential, but I’ll let you know about Silvana’s life as we knew it. Some of it wasn’t even about Silvana’s life but about the life and culture of the Amazons who raised her.”

“I’ll take it.” Riley’s eyes were suddenly shining. “As long as you throw in a little Silvana now and then.” She turned to Cade. “Coming?”

He shook his head. “I’ll join you for lunch, but I think I’d like Maya to order one of her officers to show me around the compound and introduce me to her men. Okay?”

Maya nodded as she raised her hand and motioned for an officer. “If you like, but you have an archaeology degree among all your other decorations. Wouldn’t you prefer to see Silvana’s domain?”

“Not at the moment. Right now I’m more interested in the modern world than the ancient. I want to know everything I can that will make me able to function with your cozy little militia.”

“They won’t tell you anything that’s confidential, either.” She gestured to an officer dressed in fatigues. “Captain Alex Galdar, this is Morgan Cade. Show him around the compound.” Then she turned back to Riley and gestured across the cobbled street. “The museum is right over there. It’s always best to hit the Greek vases first. You’ll be amazed at what they tell you.”

Riley could see what she meant as they strolled through the wonderfully constructed glass cases that contained the Greek vases, each a work of art. Most were obviously very old and told their own stories—stories were of the glory and superb ingenuity of the Amazon women who had gone before Silvana.

“I had no idea so many Greek artists had portrayed the Amazons on their vases,” Riley murmured as she bent to examine a woman mounted on a horse drawing aim with her bow. “You said over a thousand?”

“Probably more than that,” Maya said. “Actually, the Greeks didn’t like the idea of barbarian women being drawn on their vases. They disapproved of their clothing and weapons and I’m sure they didn’t commission as many as with more conventional subjects.” Maya grinned. “But the artists were enthralled with the way they looked and kept on painting them. They found the close-fitting trousers they’d created to be very sensuous. And the vision of them on the back of a horse was challenging and exciting.”

“They created trousers?” Then Riley remembered something. “That’s right, you said Silvana showed up on the island wearing trousers and riding a white horse.”