Page 70 of The Death
“Coming right up.” Eve disappeared for a moment, and then she was back. “Are you sure you don’t need any more help? I’m something of an expert at reconstruction, and I don’t usually get a chance to use my skill on live subjects.”
Celine chuckled. “I’m sure. No one knows better than I do what an expert you are. But I’ve got to get my strength back, and I can’t do that if I let you wait on me. Just give me a towel and help me over to the cot, and I’ll let you bandage my shoulder.”
Eve handed her the towel. “If you insist, but I do have to remind you that I’m the one who owes you a debt. You helped my son, and I’ll never forget that.”
Celine shrugged. “We were both caught in the middle, and neither of us really had a choice. We just have to remember who was responsible for putting us there and how we can help each other to survive it.” She met Eve’s gaze. “Agreed?”
Eve hesitated and then slowly nodded. “Agreed.” She helped Celine to sit down on the cot and then moved closer to bandage the wound. “Now hush, and let me do this. If I’m not mistaken, we’re going to have a good many more difficult things to handle together than this wound. I want you to be strong and capable. Let me finish this task and then we’ll try to come up with a game plan.”
Celine nodded. “Any suggestions will be welcome. Now I believe I’ll stop pretending to be so damn tough and take a few deep breaths while you finish bandaging my shoulder. It smarts a little.”
“Then I’d better try to distract you.” Eve handed her the bra and shirt she’d brought from her own backpack before starting to carefully clean the wound. “You realize that you shouldn’t have run the risk of coming here to Shafira?”
Celine grimaced. “It wasn’t supposed to work out this way. I promised everyone I was going to be so careful and not take any chances. But then I thought Kontara might need me. She was so frightened about coming back here. I’d already lost one friend to Caldwell’s men. I didn’t want to lose another one.” She paused. “You knew it would be a danger to me?”
“I found out the first night I came here,” Eve said dryly. “Zakira couldn’t wait to show me his damn museum. I couldn’t miss the photo of you, and all the weapons in those cases told their own story. I was glad that Dominic was taking good care of you.” She hesitated. “But maybe not too good if he let you come here.”
Celine shook her head. “Don’t blame him. I made my own choices.” She added ruefully, “And my own mistakes. I’m glad one of them wasn’t your Michael.”
“So am I,” Eve said. “But now we have a few more problems to solve. Will Dominic be coming after you when he finds out that Caldwell has you?”
Celine nodded. “You and your son were here and we couldn’t let that continue. Dominic was already halfway to Shafira when we had to change trails.”
“Then he’ll be here very soon? When I met Dominic at the Lake Cottage, he seemed to want you to arrange for someone else to protect you. Did the situation change? We have to know who we can count on.”
“We can count on Dominic.” She stared directly into Eve’s eyes. “Yes, the situation did change. He’s been there for me since the moment he picked me up at that police precinct in Boston. It took me a little while to realize I could trust him, but now there are no limits.”
“I see.” Eve’s gaze was searching. “You seem to be very sure.”
“You could say that,” Celine said with a smile. “I know he’ll be there when I need him. Like, to hell and back. And since he has Joe, Caleb, and an entire army with him, you should also feel a bit more comfortable.”
“That might be good,” Eve said absently. “I don’t think there’s any question that they’ll make an attempt to attack Shafira. It will only depend on when and where. With any luck, we’ll only have to stall for a short time.”
Celine chuckled. “You don’t ask for much.”
“As I told my son, I’m not the one who has to worry. I’m safe as long as I haven’t completed the sculpture. It’s you who must keep a very low profile whenever Zakira and Caldwell are anywhere near you. I don’t want them to notice that youno longer resemble a refugee orphan. Spend as much time as you can in my workroom. If I had a closet in which to hide you, or a famous rug like the one Cleopatra used to fool Caesar, I’d give it to you in a heartbeat. You understand where I’m going with this?”
Celine nodded. “Yes, head down and definitely low-profile. I won’t screw this up for us. Could I at least help you with your work?”
“You can pose for me so that if Zakira drops by he’ll see you’re worth keeping around.”
“I can do that. And otherwise you want me to sit and just wait to be rescued?”
“By George, I believe you’ve got it.” Eve added, “Much as I’m grateful for your help with Michael, I believe you’ve managed to stir up enough trouble for the time being.” She stepped back from Celine and was helping her to her feet. “And now before I call Caldwell and start nagging him to get you some dinner, I think I should take you into the workroom and introduce you to your hostess, Queen Folashade. Since you’ll probably be spending a good deal of time together, it’s only polite. And I did ask her to intercede for you if possible and not let you bleed out.”
“Then by all means I should do what’s courteous,” Celine said with a smile. “Lead on. I wouldn’t want to offend her. I’ve been wanting to make her acquaintance since the day I was told you were going to be doing the forensic sculpting on her.”
“I’m just starting the baby steps,” Eve said. “But she’s going to be very exciting.”
“I don’t have the slightest doubt,” Celine said. “On thewhole, I approve of baby steps, but lately I seem to have hurled myself headlong into the depths at every point.”
“But you don’t regret it?” Eve asked curiously.
“Not for a minute. I might have missed too much. The only thing I would have regretted would have been if I’d had to do without Dominic when he needed me. That would have been a true nightmare.” She gestured toward the workroom door. “Now let’s go and I’ll explain all of that to Folashade.”
DOMINIC’S CAMP
LATER THAT DAY
