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“But I wasn’t the one involving you,” Dominic said quietly.

“That was all Caldwell. When I heard that Caldwell had his sights on you, I decided it was better to take control of the situation myself rather than try to hunt you down after he’d arranged for one of his teams to bring you to him.

Because that was what would have happened.

It’s the way he operates. And it seems he wanted this particular plan to go off without a hitch.

But I thought if Caldwell found out I might be interfering, it might escalate his actions, so I did arrange protection for you.

You both have to agree that was the correct thing to do, right, Quinn? ”

“The hell I do,” Joe said roughly. “The correct thing would have been for you to come to me and tell me everything so that I could arrange protection for her myself. It’s not as if she doesn’t have family to stand by her.”

“I wouldn’t presume to assume any such thing,” Dominic said.

“You’re a force to be reckoned with, Quinn.

And I’ve run into Seth Caleb a few times in the field when I had dealings with MI6.

I was so impressed, I offered him our unit’s protection if he ever decided he needed it.

As I expected, he only laughed at the idea. ”

Joe muttered a curse. “He might have done more than that if he’d known that you’d stumbled on this nastiness that could possibly affect Eve.

You know that Jane MacGuire is our ward and the mother of Caleb’s child?

He wouldn’t like the idea of there being a danger to anyone close to our Jane.

He knows how Eve considers Jane her daughter and has since we took her in when she was a little girl.

” He added grimly, “Caleb would dislike it so much, he might cause you a good bit of trouble.”

“There was always that possibility,” Dominic said quietly.

“Naturally, I researched all the drawbacks when I made the decision. But the stakes were very high, and an entire village had already been wiped out. The longer I waited, the greater the chance that Caldwell would be able to deliver more weapons with greater firepower to Zakira, so they’d be encouraged to attack other villages.

I had to weigh the checks and balances. You can’t say I’ve been trying to hide anything from you.

I sent Catherine Ling to let you know that there was a problem so that the CIA would be able to take action if they could find an opening.

I also assigned some of the best guards in my unit to Eve.

You might have heard how good they’d have to be for me to say that, Quinn. ”

“Yes,” Joe said reluctantly. “But you didn’t turn the massacre over to the CIA to solve.”

“No,” Dominic said. “I’ve learned that stepping into the politics in Africa can be frustrating, so I generally let them know about the crime and then go after the perpetrators myself.

That entire area has a lot of potential warring factions and a number of religious and power-hungry dictators who want to take over entire countries.

I have quite a bit of experience with most of them, so the territory was assigned to me with orders to keep the peace in any way I could.

I have the contacts, and I know the countryside pretty damn well.

Besides, I was the one who saw the carnage in that burned-out village.

It made me angry as hell. Those villagers were good, peaceful people who didn’t deserve what happened to them.

I couldn’t trust the CIA to be quite as thorough as I would be.

” He paused. “Is there anything else you’d like to know? ”

“Not that I can’t find out for myself,” Joe said. “And I think you know I’ll be having a chat with Scotland Yard?”

“Good luck to you,” Dominic said. “However, I think you’ll find they’re a little too involved dealing with the local African governments to be effective.

If you don’t mind, I’ll still keep my team in place to protect Eve.

My contact with her has probably deepened any threats to her, so I’d prefer to make sure she’s still safe even though you insist that you’ll take over. ”

“Why not?” Joe asked. “There’s no such thing as being too safe where a murderer like Caldwell is concerned.”

“My thought exactly,” Dominic said. “And while you’re at it, you might arrange to take care of Celine Kelly.

I’ll still have surveillance on her, but I don’t know if I’ll be around for the next few weeks.

She’s extremely emotional at the moment and may be prone to taking unnecessary risks if she’s not watched carefully. ”

“Bullshit!” From across the room Celine spoke for the first time. “Go to hell, Dominic. If you want to opt out of helping me find those bastards, that’s up to you. But don’t try to push me on someone else.”

“You see what I mean?” Dominic sighed. “One can’t blame her, but let your conscience be your guide, Quinn.”

“I will,” Joe said grimly. “And that also goes for any future action toward you, Dominic.”

“Then that seems a good exit line for me,” Dominic said. “It’s been very good talking to you. Take care. When I wrap this up, I’ll let you know.” He pressed DISCONNECT and was heading for the door. “I’ll see you later, Celine.”

Joe pressed his own DISCONNECT button after he heard the door slam behind Dominic. “Arrogant son of a bitch.”

“But you took him up on that offer to keep his men on guard here,” Eve said. “So you must respect him.”

“When he’s not trying to run the world,” Joe said sourly. “Yes, he’s smart as a whip and an expert at tracking down the assholes and bringing them to their knees. And I’d bargain with the devil himself if I thought it made it safer for you. But it doesn’t mean I should let him run the show.”

“Well, you’ve clearly made up your mind,” Celine said as she got to her feet.

“I don’t believe you need me for anything more, Eve.

I’m sorry that I had to be the one to give you such an upsetting day.

” She was heading for the door. “It was a privilege to meet you even under circumstances like this.”

“None of this madness was your fault,” Eve said gently. “You’re also a victim. Where are you going? Sit down and we’ll talk about how we can make sense of all this.”

Celine shook her head as she opened the door.

“Nothing we can say would make sense of what happened to me, or my friend Barnaby, or his family. I’m just glad that those monsters didn’t get their hands on you.

” She raised her voice to make sure that Joe could hear her on the phone.

“Take good care of her, Joe. You were right to take the offer Dominic made you. Because I think that he may be the only one who can stop all this. He’s not only smart…

he knows things about Caldwell and his thugs.

We might be able to get him that way.” She paused.

“And I’m like you, Joe. I’d bargain with the devil himself if he could give me what I have to have. ”

The door closed behind her.