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“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 you no 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 the whole, 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

“You asked me to tell you when Quinn showed up,” Rashid said as he came down the cliff toward the bridge.

“He’s up at the camp with Kontara and the kid.

He wanted to come down here, but I could see that they are all pretty well exhausted.

I told them to grab something to eat, and you’d be up to see them right away. ”

“They’re all okay?”

Rashid shrugged. “As good as they could be. If they’d had their way, they would have turned around and headed back toward Shafira.” He looked at the recently completed repair work on the bridge. “They did this in record time. I’m impressed.”

Dominic nodded. “So am I.” He started back up the trail. “And we’ll get there pretty damn quick once we decide which route we want to use for the attack. I just have to talk to Kontara to be sure we’ll have those bastards in our sights…”

“Well, then I believe you’re going to get what you wanted.” Rashid was glancing over his shoulder. “Looks like she followed me. Sorry about that.” He nodded as he pushed past Kontara. “Hello. I do know how worried you are. I’ll see you both later back at the camp. I did give him your message.”

“I thought you would, but I needed to see him,” Kontara said, then focused on Dominic.

“Because it’s my fault Celine isn’t with us, and I can’t stand it.

I never should have listened to her, but she was so certain I had to save the boy and Joe Quinn.

I don’t know how much time we have now, but I have to know what you’re going to do. ”

“I’m going to go get her. What did you think I’d be doing?

” He grabbed her by the shoulders and gave her a little shake.

“And you’re going to be there with us. So don’t give me that self-pitying bullshit.

All I’m going to need from you is a map that will lead me down the eastern maze and position me where I can set up a trap for Caldwell. Do you think you can handle that?”

“No.” She was frowning. “Not unless you have a way to take care of Zakira and his soldiers, too. Do you?”

“I might have a few ideas.” He nodded at the bridge. “I sent in Seth Caleb well equipped with firepower. He’ll do some reconnoitering at Shafira and coordinate with the forces I bring in from the eastern maze you’re going to tell me about. Satisfactory?”

“If you can promise me that you’ll move fast enough.

” Kontara shivered. “I’m having problems forgetting that statue in the museum where I first saw that photo of Celine.

Zakira used to stop and stare at it whenever he was anywhere near it.

” She turned on her heel and headed up the hill.

“Don’t let him touch her, Dominic. I’ll do anything you tell me to do.

Just promise me that you’ll keep her safe. ”

“Absolutely. She’ll be safe even if I have to burn down the entire damn village to keep her that way.”

“I think you mean that,” Kontara said wryly. “But there are a limited number of people in that village for whom I feel a certain sympathy, so please not everyone, Dominic.”

“I’ll try to restrain myself,” Dominic said.

“But since I don’t believe there are many people in that category, you’ll have to point them out to me.

” He shook his head. “Now go get some rest and a decent meal and draw me that map. After I give everyone on the team their assignments, we’ll be assembling the equipment.

And we’ll be leaving the camp before midnight. ”

She nodded. “I’ll go back to camp and see if I can manage to get a decent meal down Michael. I’d make a bet that if I don’t, he’ll be on his way to find out where I went. The last thing he asked me was when we were going to go back to get his mom. I told him I’d tell him after I talked to you.”

“Is he causing you problems?” Dominic asked. “I can designate one of the men to keep an eye on him if you like.”

She shook her head. “Not what you’d call problems. He’s just not like any kid I’ve ever run across.

From the moment we managed to get him away from Shafira, he’s barely said a word.

He just does what Quinn and I tell him to do, and sometimes he’s even ahead of us in that.

” She frowned as she gazed back up the trail toward the camp.

“But he’s worried about Eve, and you can tell how much he’s hurting.

” She shrugged. “But then so is Quinn. So any plan you’ve devised had better work. ”

“It will work,” Dominic said. “Because it’s damn well got to. Just keep an eye on that kid so I don’t have to watch out for him, too.”

“I’ll do my best.” Kontara started up the hill. “But the only thing that may help us is that Quinn isn’t about to lose his son again now that he’s managed to get him back. I’ll try to have a few words with him…”

Michael was waiting by the path when Kontara reached the camp. He took a step toward her, his gaze on her face. “When?”

She knew he wouldn’t be evaded. “Tonight. Midnight. But there’s no way your dad is going to let you go back to that place again. He’d consider it entirely too dangerous, and so would your mother. It’s the last thing that she’d want, Michael.”