The Survivor (Eve Duncan #30)

Riley studied her expression. “Are we back to the coffers of jewels again?”

“Perhaps. Talk to me after we reach the mountain.” She looked her in the eye. “I’m not feeling guilty any longer, Riley. I’ve been watching you and Cade together and I believe the two of you are strong enough to get whatever you want from life. You may have a hell of a difficult time doing it, but that goes with the territory.” Her lips twisted. “You’re in far better shape than I am right now. I figure that if I give you what I promised, it will be enough to soothe any lingering remorse I might be feeling. If you don’t feel the same, we’ll renegotiate.” She paused. “But there’s one other thing about our arrangement I wanted to speak to you about before we leave today. You have to know how important it is to me.” She drew a deep breath. “I’m going to ask that you protect Bailey if anything happens to me. You’ll find her a problem, but she’s worth every minute.”

Riley stared at her, stunned. At first she couldn’t believe that she’d heard correctly. “What the hell are you saying? You sound like you’re making out a last will and testament. This isn’t like you.”

“How do you know?” Maya’s tone was suddenly reckless. “I’m just being responsible, the way a good caretaker should. I’m going to do my very best to stay alive to take care of Bailey. But there’s a good chance Nadim may cut my throat before this is over. I have to make provisions.”

“And we’re the provisions?”

“If you please. I’ve been studying you for years. When Cade appeared in your life, I could see that he might not only help me with the island, but also be a safety net for Bailey. You and Cade are the kind of parents she should have. You’ll see that as soon as you watch her on the mountain.”

“Bullshit. You’re the only parent she should have. Anyone could see that. She adores you.”

“Yes, but she would get over me in time. I have to do what’s best for her.”

“I’m not going to talk to you about this. It’s totally idiotic.” Riley felt almost dazed. “And what about her own family? What about her father? Grandparents?”

Maya shrugged.

“Don’t do that,” Riley said. “Talk to me.”

“I don’t know who her father was,” Maya said quietly. “Bailey isn’t my child.”

“What!”

“You heard me.” She looked down at the depths of the coffee in her cup. “One of the shepherds found her wandering around half frozen in the barn of a farm in the upper valley of the mountain. Both of her parents had been killed by raiders who had attacked the farm and stolen all their livestock. Bailey couldn’t have been more than two or three.”

“It’s a wonder she was still alive,” Riley said.

“She shouldn’t have been. The shepherd found her cuddled next to a young female deer in the far back of the shed. They must have shared warmth and managed to keep each other alive. No one knew whether one of the parents hid Bailey out there to save her or if she found her own way after she found herself abandoned.”

“And you were never able to find any of Bailey’s relatives?”

She shook her head. “The farmers and herders on the mountain came and went like nomads. They moved around the foothills a lot and there were storms that winter. The sheepherder who found Bailey didn’t find anything at that farm but the doe who managed to keep her alive. By the time the shepherds contacted Jann Lu—who was still caretaker—and got her to the farm, there was no way to trace any possible relatives.” She shrugged. “And as usual Jann Lu had her own ideas about how to handle the situation. She was excited about how Bailey had managed to survive and still seemed to have a close affinity for the deer who had saved her. She watched her for several days before she made up her mind. Jann Lu knew she didn’t have long to live, and she hadn’t officially made me caretaker yet. She was looking at what happened to Bailey as a sign that she had to move quickly and perhaps tie both duties together.”

“Wait.” Riley held up her finger. “I can see where this is going. This is where you’re going to tell me Jann Lu decided to throw a sixteen-year-old kid into the job of caretaker right away because she needed to get everything settled?”

“It made perfect sense to her,” Maya said. “She could see something special in Bailey. I could see it, too. I kind of edged away from all that talk about signs because I was afraid of the job itself. But Bailey was just as adorable then as she is now. You just wanted to reach out and help her be all she could be.”

“What about all you could be?”

“I’d been trained for years. It was just up to me to take over a little sooner than expected. I could have refused.”

“But you didn’t.” Riley shook her head. “Bailey refers to you as her mother…”

She smiled. “Every child needs a mother. It was easier for both of us. I never lied to her. When she was old enough to understand and could draw comparisons to the relationship with the animals that surrounded her, we had a long talk. She knows the love is there and that’s all that’s important.”

“I can see how it would be.” She added soberly, “But there’s no way I’d let you give up that kid now. You’re perfect together. We’ll just find a way to get rid of Nadim and solve the entire problem.”

Maya chuckled. “Whatever you say. Maybe I trained too long as caretaker. Tashi would agree that Jann Lu would find that solution entirely adequate.”

After breakfast Maya arranged to have a helicopter fly them to the foothills of the mountains, and they arrived there shortly before noon. The area was a turmoil of activity between Maya’s mountain sentries and the team that Kirby had brought in last night on Cade’s orders.

Cade was talking to Kirby, but he broke off as the helicopter descended and ran to meet them. “You have a good setup,” he told Maya. “I asked Kirby to do a little combining of materials, but I don’t believe we’ll need more than that.” He swung Riley out of the aircraft to the ground and then turned to Bailey with a grin. “I like your mountain. I can see why you spend so much time up here.”

“You haven’t seen anything yet.” She jumped to the ground. “And Mama says it’s okay for me to show you stuff. Can we do that right away?” She looked at Kirby and the other team members moving weapons and bedrolls into the shelter. “I know all this is kind of important, but it’s not exciting. And I really want to share them with you and Riley.”

“Them?” Cade looked at Maya. “And do you want to share with us, too?”