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“Of course I don’t. It would be foolish of me to try,” he said coldly.

“But you’re not in a position where you can demand admissions of guilt, are you?

However, I feel in the mood to pamper you since I don’t want you to make any other mistakes that would affect my relationship with Zakira.

It’s to my advantage to have you perform well for him, since I was the one to bring you to his attention.

And I did have a reason to order that lesson for you.

I could see you have a tendency to be very willful, and I was afraid it might get in the way of you giving Zakira exactly what he wants.

The fact that I have your son is a powerful weapon, but there was an off chance that you might occasionally not remember that.

I had to remind you exactly what the stakes are.

” He smiled as he added softly, “So I did. Will you ever be able to look at your boy without thinking about what you saw in that museum tonight?”

“I wouldn’t let myself connect any of that horrible ugliness to Michael. He stands alone.” She looked him in the eye. “The only time I’ll let myself remember it is the day that I see you die.”

For an instant, Caldwell frowned, and then he suddenly chuckled. “And that only proves how right I was about you. I realized you could be a dangerous woman.”

“No, you were wrong. I’d never be careless enough to endanger my son. All you did was hurt me and kill that innocent child and make me want to find a way to hurt you.” She was wearily rubbing her temple. “Now I’d like to see Michael, please.”

“Not quite yet,” Caldwell said. “You leave when I permit it. I’m finding you as interesting as I thought I would. What else did Zakira show you before he decided I was right that you weren’t quite worthy of his respect and attention?”

“What do you think? That damn priest showed me all those jewels and treasures, but what he really wanted me to see was that photo of Celine Kelly, so he could explain exactly what they might do with all those torture devices and weapons when they decided they wanted a sacrifice. He obviously wanted to see my reaction.” She was trying to keep her voice from shaking.

“Isn’t that what you also wanted, because I wasn’t the meek captive you were expecting me to be?

I didn’t realize that was only going to be the beginning. ”

“I figured you’d probably say something to anger the son of a bitch.” He smiled maliciously. “After I warned you, I figure that you deserved it if you shot off your mouth to our good priest. Did you do it?”

“No, I didn’t. I did say something that annoyed him, but it wasn’t really an insult.

But he was watching me very closely, and I’d realized by that time how you were trying to punish me.

I couldn’t let him see how much it bothered me.

Besides, Celine Kelly is safe and hopefully far away.

Nothing that I said or did would affect her as long as I just ignored what Zakira was planning on doing.

But how I antagonized him might make a difference to what happened to Michael. ”

“That’s very wise of you. But how you treat me might also be factored in. I’ve had reports that the Kelly woman may be more accessible than you’d believe. Be very nice to me, Eve.”

“I’ll do what I promised. But Zakira has already told me that you’re nothing and he’s all-powerful.

I could see it pissed you off. I’ll treat you as you deserve to be treated.

” She couldn’t take much more of this right now.

She was gazing eagerly at the door of the hut. “Did you bring Michael? Is he here?”

“I brought him. And as long as you convince Zakira that it’s valuable to keep him with you, he’ll be permitted to stay.

But the minute you attempt to help him escape, or caring for him causes your work on the mask to slow, then he’ll be taken away from you and I’ll be forced to find another use for him until you convince me that you’ll not cause me difficulties.

Do you want me to describe what those uses might be? ”

She wanted to kill the son of a bitch. “That won’t be necessary.

I’ve already proved that I’d be too afraid to let anything happen to Michael that I could possibly prevent.

As for Michael slowing me down, that won’t be a problem.

He can be a big help. You may not have noticed, but he’s very intelligent.

He’s grown up watching me work on my sculptures, and he thinks it’s fun to help me with doing minor tasks on them. ”

“Really?” Caldwell said thoughtfully. “I wasn’t around the boy for very long, but I did notice that he was probably a very smart kid.

He fought like hell when he was taken down, but after he woke up from the hypo and realized what was happening, he was very quiet and just watched and listened.

” He grimaced. “I wasn’t aware that we had a budding forensic sculptor on our hands. ”

“As I said, he just thinks helping Mom is great fun. Kids pick up all kinds of skills if you make them available.” She should drop the subject.

It was much better that he continued to think of Michael as a fledgling sculptor than have him start wondering about the skills Joe might have taught him over the years—which had included extensive training in martial arts.

“Look, is that all that you wanted to discuss with me? Zakira said that he’s sending someone to take me to the workroom where they want me to work on this Queen Folashade so that I can examine the equipment.

But I want to spend a little time with my son and get him settled before I have to dive in and work. ”

“You see? Your Michael is already interfering.” He smiled and waved his hand magnanimously. “But as long as you continue to know and admit that I’m the one from whom all gifts flow, I’ll allow you an hour with your son before I whisk you to the workroom.”

“You’re too kind.” She couldn’t keep the sarcasm out of her tone and she was already running toward the door of the hut.

Then she turned back. “I’ll take the hour.

But there’s one more thing I want from you.

My husband is going to be very worried about what you’ll be doing to me.

Which means he’ll tear this entire country apart until he finds me and punishes you for what you’ve done.

Neither of us wants that to happen. You because you want to keep your useless life, and me because I’m afraid any conflict will endanger my son.

So I need to keep Joe as calm as I can until I earn Zakira’s trust and admiration and stand a chance of making a deal with him. ”

“Then you should make the deal with me,” Caldwell said mockingly. “You have a much better chance that I’ll be in control at any given time. What are you asking?”

“All I want is that you permit me to call and talk to my husband occasionally so he’ll know for himself that we’re safe. I’ve seen all the electronic computers and phones you have at your disposal, and I’m certain that you can make sure he won’t be able to track you by a simple phone call.”

“And what am I supposed to get for doing it?”

“Your life and Zakira’s gratitude for keeping me content enough to give him exactly what he wants from his death mask.”

“It may not be enough,” he said slowly. “I’ll consider it after you show us what magic you can work on that blasted mummy.”

“Show a little respect,” Eve said. “I’m sure that she worked hard to deserve it when she was queen. None of them had an easy time of it. I guarantee that you won’t be able to recognize Folashade when I finish my first few weeks of work.” She watched him shrug and walk away.

Then she took a deep breath and leaned her head against the door.

She had to take just a moment before she faced Michael.

She had to be strong and not let him see what she’d gone through since she’d left the Lake Cottage and yet try to be honest with him about any threats to come.

He mustn’t worry about her if she could find a way to avoid it.

Today had held too much agony and death. She prayed nothing would touch Michael.

And Nieva… Poor bewildered child caught in all this wickedness and pain through no fault of her own. Eve closed her eyes and murmured a swift prayer for her.

Then she straightened her shoulders and lifted her chin. Stop worrying. She had to concentrate on what was happening now to make sure they’d survive this.

Then she was inside the hut and slamming the door.

“Mom?” Michael was on his feet and heading across the room toward her.

“Hush!” She was grabbing him close and hugging him. “Are you okay? Lord, I was worried about you.” She pushed him away and looked down at his face. “How badly did they hurt you?”

He shook his head. “Not bad after that first day.” He was frowning. “You shouldn’t be here. You shouldn’t have done this. If I’d had a little time, I would have found a way to get away from them. Dad’s going to be crazy worried.”

“Yes, he is.” She hugged him closer. “But I couldn’t think of any other way to find you so that maybe together we could figure out how to get us both out of here.”

Michael shook his head. “Dad won’t like it. He’d be scared for you.”

“Then you’ll have to run interference for me with him.” He felt so good. She couldn’t hold him tight enough. “You’re sure you’re okay? No one really—”

“Mom.” He chuckled. “The only thing wrong is that I’m having trouble breathing. You can take care of that, can’t you?”

“Maybe. I’ll consider it.” She loosened her grip.

“I guess just looking at you will be almost as good.” She drew a deep breath.

“But Caldwell gave me less than an hour before I have to report to Zakira’s lab to do some work, so we’d better talk and get the ground rules straight so that we don’t screw up the master plan. ”

“And what is this master plan, Mom?”