The Survivor (Eve Duncan #30)

Cade’s eyes widened. “Is that—?”

“It’s the key to Silvana’s tomb. The same one her followers used in the last moments of her life.” Maya handed it to him as she got to her feet. “It’s all in your hands now. The only thing I’m asking is that you make it soon. Nadim sounded both hungry and vicious when I talked to him last night. I can’t stand the thought of him near Bailey.” She turned and left the fire. “Good night.”

Kagan caught up with her. “You’re going through a bad time,” he said quietly. “It will get better, but not for a while. You love this island and the mountains, and it came as a shock when you found out how it was being destroyed by idiots who don’t care. I grew up loving the mountains probably even more than you do, but I could see the destruction happening all around me from the time I was a small child. All that beauty… I couldn’t understand it. Sometimes the pain was almost unbearable. It only helped when I decided I just had to find a way to do whatever I could to survive until I found the people smart and willing enough to help me start repairing what had been destroyed.”

“I don’t need a pep talk, Kagan,” she said jerkily.

“No, because you’re instinctively doing what I’m doing. You found Cade and your friend Riley, and they’re people who reach out and bandage and then repair. I just thought you might like to know you’re not alone.” He smiled. “Good night, Maya. See you in the morning.”

Before she could reply, he was gone.

“A forever-in-time drug,” Eve repeated skeptically. “Not impossible, but not likely, Riley.” She hesitated. “But it is intriguing… and even more so since your Silvana swore that she found one. I’ve begun to have faith in Silvana.”

“So have I,” Riley said. “But like you, I have to consider that it was another age, and it sounds more like magic than science. I thought that I’d check and see if you’d ever heard anything like that.”

“No, but I’m a forensic sculptor and that’s not my field of expertise. Had anyone else at that meeting heard about a drug like that?”

“Not really. Kagan made some vague reference to Chile.”

“That’s a long way from the Himalayas. Still, you might follow up. In the meantime I’ll be glad to do some research and see what I come up with.”

“Don’t do it. I don’t want to be a bother. I just thought you might know—”

“Hush. I wouldn’t offer if I didn’t want to do it. It’s not as if I’m too busy right now. Joe is back from Scotland and I’m only doing my forensic work.”

“Which is always substantial,” Riley said with a smile. “I’m not going to back you into a corner, Eve.”

“I wouldn’t let you,” Eve said. “You’ve just given me an interesting puzzle to solve and I’m going to do it. It’s rather fascinating. I had to turn you down when you and Cade took off for the island, but there’s no reason why I can’t dip my toe in this little problem.”

“I very carefully didn’t invite you,” Riley said. “I felt guilty enough. Keep your toes out of this, Eve.”

“As soon as I finish checking it out.” She changed the subject. “How are you and Cade getting along?”

“Ups and downs. As he recently said, we’re learning a lot about each other right now.” She chuckled. “But we haven’t been able to reach the stratosphere you and Joe seem to manage.”

“It took us a long time, and we’re still learning. For instance, Joe has been very quiet since he came back home. I don’t know why yet.” She looked up as Joe came back onto the porch. “But I think I’ll find out. I’ll call you back when I find out something about your forever drug.” She pressed DISCONNECT.

“Riley has a problem?” Joe dropped down on the swing beside her. “You were on the phone a long time.”

“You could say she has a problem. It’s more like a challenge.” She laid her head on his shoulder. “But she’ll work through it. She always does.”

“But it wouldn’t hurt if you decided to throw a little help her way?”

“I’ve been thinking about it. But not unless I can work around any problems it might cause here. We’re still working on the boathouse.”

“The boathouse?” He looked down at her and started to laugh. “What the hell are you talking about? You’re prioritizing your efforts of choosing paint and hiring carpenters over doing work that no one else can do half as well as you?”

She frowned. “It’s not as if we’re talking about the forensic work I do for law enforcement. This is something completely different.”

He reached out and cupped her face in his two hands. “Yes, it is,” he said. “And I’ve been thinking long and hard about how different. Lately, you’re trying to be everything to everyone. You’re mother and best friend to our kids. You’ve created a home for all of us. You’re doing your duty to give forensic services to half the police departments in the country. Now you’re trying to rebuild our boathouse?” He brushed a kiss on her lips. “And one other thing I didn’t mention, you’re being my love and my life. Which I absolutely refuse to give up.”

She gave a mock growl. “You’d better not.”

“No problem. But we might have to do some schedule changing to accommodate something new I’ve noticed on the horizon.”

“And what’s that?”

“The fact that you’re changing and growing as a person and professional.” He saw her start to frown and he added quickly, “Oh, it’s not as if you’ve ever stood still in that category. Maybe it’s because life has been zooming and changing around us lately that you’ve been zooming and changing, too, just to keep up. You’re not satisfied with yourself, and you’ve been trying new things, reaching out, seeing how far you could push the envelope.” He added quietly, “And you’ve been pushing it one hell of a distance. For the past few years you’ve been amazing. You helped with the creation of that bullet cure that could be a universal lifesaver, you did the extraordinary work on Helen of Troy, and you jumped in when Riley said she might need your help with Palandan Island and saved her life. You could have said no, but you didn’t. Because you wanted to stretch the boundaries you’d drawn for yourself. You knew it was time you took another giant step forward.”