Page 38

SHAFIRA

W ake up!” Eve’s shoulder was being shaken, and she opened her eyes to see Caldwell’s face above her. He was frowning as he sat back on his heels. “It’s time for you to get up and get back to work. And tell that kid to stop glaring at me or I’ll make him sorry.”

That woke Eve instantly. She sat up on the camp bed and glanced at Michael’s cot across the room.

“It’s okay, Michael,” she said quickly. “He’s not going to hurt me.

He just can’t resist being rude when he gets the opportunity.

” She turned back to Caldwell. “And I worked on the restoration until two in the morning. I do need a few hours of sleep occasionally. I’m not a robot. ”

“You sleep when I give you permission.” He paused. “Though Zakira appears to be fairly pleased with your progress over the past few days. He said he can’t judge the creativity yet, but you’ve been working hard.”

“Good. Then I’ll go back to sleep.”

“No you won’t. Not until I finish with you. I’ve found a reason that perhaps I should give you something you wanted.”

“And what is that?”

“I just got a report of my men watching Sardwa airport, and it seems that Joe Quinn and several other of his team have landed and are headed north into the jungle after checking in at Bon Jaka. That’s Dominic’s place, and it could mean trouble for me.”

“What else could you expect?” Eve asked. “I don’t blame you for being nervous.”

“I’m not nervous. There’s practically no chance of him being able to make his way through the jungle to Shafira.

I’m just taking certain measures to slow him down and cut those chances even more.

I’ve decided that I’ll let you phone your Joe to assure him that you and the boy are well. Naturally, the call will be monitored.”

“Naturally,” she echoed. “When?”

“Within the next thirty minutes.” He got to his feet. “And the call will last no longer than five minutes, and you’ll give no information that might lead him in this direction. If you don’t obey, that will be your last call.” His smile was malicious. “With emphasis on ‘last.’”

“You know I’ll obey,” Eve said bitterly. “Go get me that phone.”

Caldwell was getting to his feet. “I’m on my way. I’m always happy to accommodate you, Eve.”

Michael watched him as he left the hut. “Will that help us, Mom?”

“I doubt it. But it will make your dad feel better, and he might be able to pull something out of his hat that will give him a clue where we’re located.”

“I’ll be glad to talk to him. I’ve missed him.”

She nodded. “Yeah, me too,” she said wryly. “Though he’s not going to be too happy to see this mess I’ve managed to get us into.”

“He’ll know it wasn’t your fault.” Michael shook his head. “And he’ll just be glad to see you’re okay. You know that as well as I do. Just like I was when you walked in here that first day.”

“Thanks for the kind words.” She smiled at him. “I guess you noticed I was pretty happy to see you, too. Though you did complain I was squeezing you too—” She stopped as Caldwell came back with the videophone. “Later…” She quickly dialed Joe’s number and waited impatiently for him to pick up.

“Eve?” She could see his face on the screen. “Thank God.” He closed his eyes for an instant. “Are you okay?”

“As much as I can be with the company I have to keep at present. Though having Michael with me makes up for it. You look very good to me, Joe.”

“You’re lying. I feel like I’ve been through a wringer and I’ve wanted to commit wholesale murder since the minute I heard that you’d left the Lake Cottage. How is Michael?”

“Okay.” She pointed the camera at Michael, who waved. “Missing you. He’s been keeping busy helping me with the restoration. I can’t answer any questions about this place or the people here, and this call is being monitored.”

“I figured. I’m just glad to hear your voice.” He cleared his throat. “Just hang on a little longer and I’ll be there to come and get both of you. We’re all working very hard and thinking about you all the time.”

“I’ll be glad when that happens. Though working on Folashade has been fascinating, she doesn’t come close to being with you.

Those four thousand or so years have taken a bit of a toll on her.

” Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Caldwell get to his feet.

“I think they’re going to pull the plug now.

I’ll try to call you again soon. Take care of yourself.

I love you.” She pressed DISCONNECT . “I don’t think I got my full five minutes, Caldwell. ”

He shrugged as he took the phone. “There’s only so much mush I can stand.

You’re lucky I put up with as much as I did.

” He paused before he went out the door.

“It’s a shame he raised your hopes like that.

It’s not going to do a damn bit of good.

No one’s going to be able to save you. Your only salvation has to come from me. ”

Then he was gone, and she slowly nestled her head back on her pillow. “Don’t pay any attention to what he said, Michael. He’s wrong. We have all kinds of people who care and will be working to find us. Now go back to sleep and everything will be fine. We need our rest. Good night, Michael.”

“Good night, Mom.”

She closed her eyes. What she’d said had been the truth.

She was lucky in that she had family and friends who would move heaven and earth to help them.

They might be alone now, but that would end and people would be here for them.

Joe and Caleb. Jane. Dominic Even Celine, who had been so desperate to help her when she had scarcely even known her name…

She had to trust all of them.

Just as Joe had said…

ROXANNE FALLS

DAYbrEAK

The next time Celine woke, Dominic was gone, but he’d left a message on her phone.

“Somehow I was too occupied last night to tell you that I had to get up at dawn and set up a team to escort Quinn and his men to meet us here at the waterfall. I wonder how that happened… But I’ll see you at breakfast, and I’ll take you to the cave and protect you from the cockroaches while you look around.

Or maybe you’ll be the one to protect me.

You’d probably prefer that. We’ll work it out.

I believe we’re going to have to do a lot of that in the future.

Don’t panic. I’m not pushing… Maybe a little, but what can I say…

I think we both know where this is going, and I won’t give up until I find a way to bring it home… ”

That was all, but it was more than enough after the night she’d spent with Dominic and the way her body still felt sated and contented and yet ached for more.

It just showed how he’d studied her during their time together and how well he’d come to read her responses.

Probably with anyone else, she would have felt a little panic at the totality of her response.

Perhaps also a tiny bit of distrust that she’d yielded so much of her independence, even in that fantastic a sexual encounter?

But he’d made sure that he recognized any problems and was willing to work with her to solve them.

What a wise man you are, Alex Dominic. She was suddenly chuckling.

And definitely crafty. But at the moment, she didn’t want to worry about anything while she was feeling this lovely glow.

She could take care of anything the world threw at her, as she always had before, and she would tell Dominic that the next time she saw him.

But she wasn’t about to go back to sleep now. Time to take a shower in that spray from the waterfall and then meet Dominic for breakfast…

But it was Kontara she met when she was walking back toward her tent after she finished her shower several minutes later.

She stopped and watched Kontara standing by the edge of the cliff, frowning.

“Good morning,” Kontara said, then added jerkily, “I wanted to see you. I won’t keep you long.

” She grimaced. “I feel awkward as hell doing this. But I’ll just blurt it out and get my answer and then I can forget it. ”

Celine was gazing at her in puzzlement. “What on earth are you talking about?”

Kontara was speaking fast. The words practically tripping over each other. “The roar of the waterfall kept me awake, so I took a walk in the middle of the night. I was up here, not far from your tent.” She paused. “And I heard more than the waterfall.”

Celine blinked as she realized what the woman was trying to say. “I imagine you did. That’s awkward. As I recall, I might have been a little excited. I’m sorry if I embarrassed you.”

“Don’t be stupid. Do you think that I would have mentioned it if that was all I was worried about?

” She drew a deep breath. “But you’re my friend, I had to be sure.

I don’t think that Dominic would do anything that you wouldn’t like.

But I’ve found that sex sometimes changes men.

I’ve been hurt before. I can’t tell you how many times.

They can… hurt you. I had to be sure that you wanted it.

Now just say yes or no so that I can stop being such an ass. ”

Celine could see how difficult this had been for Kontara in quite a few ways.

“Yes, I wanted it,” Celine said gently. “All of it. But thank you very much for caring.”

“Of course I cared.” She started to turn away.

“You cared enough about me to teach me to protect myself. Turnabout is fair play. I don’t have many good friends, but Dominic is one of them.

I’m glad he brought you pleasure.” She grinned.

“And I promise I won’t be strolling anywhere near your tent from now on.

” She started down the hill. “Now get dressed and come down to breakfast.” Her eyes were twinkling.

“It won’t be nearly as good as last night’s dinner, but you might need the protein. ”