Page 29 of The Death
“I’m worried about her, Joe,” Eve said into the phone as the taillights of Dominic’s car were lost to view. She dropped down on the couch on the sunporch. “It took a lot of courage for her to come here just to make certain I’d be safe. Someone else might have just gone into hiding after all that’s happened to her. It’s all crazy, Joe. I had to come out here on the porch to make sure that Dominic had given her a ride and was going to take care of her. I’m still not sure he will. He obviously didn’t want to be bothered by her.”
“But he’s not reckless,” Joe said, “or he wouldn’t have tried to rope me into watching out for her. He just wants to get the job done, and now he has to keep that woman alive while he’s doing it. We’ve got to hope he’ll do it at top speed. There’s a good chance. I called Caleb, and he said Dominic is one of the best agents he’s ever run across.” He paused. “Though after I hang up from talking to you I’m going to call Scotland Yard and see if they’ve got any more info on the massacre in Karimu and see if the authorities have traced it to Zakira as Dominic told us.”
“Of course you are,” Eve said. “That goes without saying, just as you’ll verify the qualifications of exactly who is guarding this house. Right?”
“It’s the sensible thing to do,” Joe said. “I trust Dominic’s men, but we can’t be too careful.”
“I agree,” Eve said. “People I love will be staying here soon. When will I get to see you and Michael?”
“Michael has two more finals, and I’ll be able to take him out of school on Wednesday. Three days and we’ll be on a plane heading for Atlanta.”
“Hallelujah!”
“And Jane may be there before us. She can’t wait to show off Cira.”
“I can’t wait to see her! I’ll be surprised if Michael doesn’t skip school and tag along with them. The last time I talked to him, he was being very protective about her.”
“Yes, he is. But you know there’s no one more disciplined than Michael. I think I can talk him into staying at school another day and coming with me.” He paused. “I’m the one who’s having trouble with discipline at the moment. I want to come running to you. And all this business with Dominic isn’t making it any easier.”
“I know. Me too,” Eve said. “But keep busy and the time will pass like lightning… I hope. I love you. I’ll see you soon, Joe…”
“I’ve never ridden in a plane like this.” Celine settled more comfortably in the passenger seat of the Gulfstream. “Though a lot of times my father would arrange to get me a lift on one of the Air Force jets when I had to go back and forth to school.Nothing near this luxurious. But then you told me about all your contacts. Is that where you got this beauty?”
“No, though our organization does have donors that contribute equipment to our work. We have several planes that we use on different jobs. But this particular plane I acquired on my own.” He grinned. “I won it in a poker game. I do a good deal of traveling, and I like to move with speed and comfort.”
Her hand stroked the suede material of the armchair. “I’d say you probably manage to do that. What’s our flight plan?”
“I’m not sure. Sometimes it changes midflight. But our first stop will be Sardwa airport in Africa. That’s about thirty miles from Bon Jaka, my estate. I figured it would be a good place for meetings, and I’d be able to check in with my farm manager about the workers and what they might know about what happened at Karimu village. Most news moves by word of mouth in these country areas.”
“I would have thought you’d check in with your workers as soon as you found out about the massacre.”
“There was too much to do. I was heading for Morocco almost immediately.”
“Ah yes, your contact who had both my name and Eve’s.”
He nodded. “I picked up Caldwell as a connection in the village and had to follow up.”
“You said that you were virtually in charge of this area with your agency. You must be very familiar with all of the villages and mountains?”
“I do a lot of hiking in the mountains and talking to the chiefs.” He grinned and nodded to a pile of books and maps on a shelf beside the galley. “And I read a lot. I have quite afew trails memorized just from locating them on the maps. It’s beautiful country, but it’s not easy to get around in. The mountain and lower ravines are networked with trails where it’s a maze of jungles and caves along with quite a few waterfalls.” He grimaced. “If you’re not careful you’ll lose your way and we’ll have to send out the bloodhounds. I recommend you keep the maps close to you if you decide you need to know a bit more about the surroundings once you reach Bon Jaka.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Or you can just ask me. You won’t find me at all secretive.”
“Well, I can’t say you’ve been entirely open and above board on all occasions,” she said dryly.
“Maybe I’m trying to change my wicked ways to please you?”
“Somehow I doubt that. When are we going to take off?”
“When I have a final decision from you.” He handed her a cup of coffee. “I’m still not happy about your decision. I don’t want any regrets.”
She straightened in the seat. “You have a final decision. I thought we’d already said what we had to say.”
“Not quite,” Dominic said. “I told you almost everything about what you might have to face. I even showed you photos of Caldwell and Jossland so you could prepare yourself.”
“Yes, you did. That didn’t change anything.”
