Countdown (25 page)

Of course they could, Cira thought impatiently. She hadn’t gotten this far to be brought down now. “Then stop talking and get me to those horses.”

“I’m trying, you demanding woman.” Antonio was pulling her toward a stand of trees. “Go get your horse, Dominic. Let the other animal free. Slap his rump and send him north.”

Dominic disappeared into the smoke.

She could hear the horses ahead neighing in fear and fighting their ropes.

Then Antonio was tossing her onto the back of one of the horses and handing her the reins. “You lead. I’ll be right behind you.”

“How unusual for you.”

“No choice. I’ll keep close. I wouldn’t doubt you’ll try to lose me.” He looked into her eyes. “It won’t work. I left you once and I found that out. It’s forever, Cira.”

Forever. Hope and joy mixed with the fear soaring through her. She kicked the horse into a gallop. “Words have little value. Prove it.”

Incredibly, she heard him chuckle behind her. “Only you would make a condition like that. We’ll discuss it later. Right now we have to get out of this inferno.”

And an inferno it was. The tops of the tall trees along the road were aflame from the sparks. She glanced at the stream of lava coming down the mountain. Was it closer? They had to go at least a mile before they were out of the path. Pray they weren’t cut off before they reached it. . . .

A burning tree crashed across the road in front of her! Her horse screamed and reared. She felt herself slipping from the saddle. . . .

“Antonio!”

Jane jerked upright in bed, gasping. “No!”

“Easy.” Antonio’s soothing hand was on her shoulder. “Easy.”

Not Antonio. Trevor. Not two thousand years ago. Here. Now.

“Okay?” Trevor was pulling her down, cuddling her against his naked body. “You’re shaking.”

“I’m all right.” She moistened her lips. “I guess I should have expected bad dreams after you told me what Reilly wanted to do to me. I can’t imagine anything worse than having someone able to control your mind and will. It makes me go berserk to think about it. Cira was born a slave. I probably associated—”

“Easy. Take a deep breath. You’re not Cira, and Reilly’s not going to get his hands on you.”

“I know that.” She was silent a moment. “Sorry.”

“Nothing to be sorry about. What kind of nightmare?”

“I thought everything was going to be fine for her, and then the tree—”

“Cira?”

“Who else? I seem to be under siege by her.” She made a face. “Cripes, that sounds weird. I’m still half convinced that I must have read something about her somewhere that’s causing these dreams.”

“But only half convinced.”

“I don’t know.” She nestled closer. “They seem so real, and it’s like a story unfolding. As if she were trying to tell me something.” She got up on her elbow. “You’re not laughing at me.”

“I wouldn’t dare.” He smiled. “Cira’s spirit might strike me down with a bolt of lightning.” His smile faded. “Or you might decide to leave me. Either way I face disaster.”

“Now you are joking,” she said uncertainly. Trevor’s expression was odd, taut, and without humor.

“Am I? Perhaps I am.” He pulled her down again and his lips were pressed in the hair at her temple. “You’d say it was too soon. You’re probably right. But I know damn well I want the chance to find out.” His arms tightened around her as he felt her stiffen against him. “Okay, I’ll stop making you uneasy. God knows, I’m unsettled enough myself. I was expecting a hell of a good roll in the hay with a woman I’ve wanted for years. I didn’t expect—” He broke off. “I believe a change of subject is in order. Would you care to tell me about your latest Cira dream?”

She hesitated. She’d avoided telling anyone details of those dreams, with the exception of Eve. Eve was not only like her other self, but she had her own secrets that she had not divulged even to Joe. Jane could understand that instinctive avoidance. She was as private a person as Eve, and it was difficult to trust anyone with these dreams that seemed not like dreams at all.

“I’ll understand if you don’t want to talk about it,” Trevor said quietly. “But I want you to know that whatever you believe, I’ll believe. I trust your instincts and your judgment. Screw everything else.”

She was silent a moment. “I don’t know what to believe,” she said haltingly. “Cira’s out of the tunnel. Antonio’s with her. So is Dominic. They’re heading toward a ship moored down the coast. Cira paid Demonidas to take her away from Herculaneum.”

“Demonidas?”

“He’s greedy. She believes he’ll wait for her, even though—” She shook her head. “Even though their world’s ending. Antonio’s not so sure.” She stared into the darkness. “There’s fire all around them. The cypress trees bordering the road are all burning. One fell across the road in front of Cira. She slipped from the horse. She called out for Antonio. . . .” She closed her eyes. “It sounds like something from
The Perils of Pauline,
doesn’t it? Thank heaven there were no railroad tracks back then. I’d probably have Cira tied to them with an engine roaring toward her.”

“Cira seems to be doing fine in that department herself.” Trevor said. “Demonidas . . .”

She opened her eyes to look at him. “What are you thinking?”

“Well, you haven’t been able to find any reference to Cira that you could have come across before you started dreaming about her. Demonidas is a new player in the mix. Maybe he’s a well-known merchant and trader. Perhaps we can track Cira through him.”

We.
She felt a surge of warmth at the word. “If he existed.”

“Don’t be a pessimist. He exists until proven otherwise. I’ll see what I can do about finding a reference to him tomorrow.”

“That’s my job.”

“Then we’ll both do it. Lord knows, there are enough alleys to explore for the two of us.”

“Too many. And we don’t have time to do this now. Not with Reilly and Grozak—”

“We have a little time now. And it might prove important. If Cira was running away from Julius, is it likely she’d go without the gold?”

She stiffened. “No.”

“Then wouldn’t it be logical that the gold was on that ship?”

“Yes.” She added, “You’re talking as if there really was a Demonidas.”

“You said you half believed. I’ll work on that assumption. Could you have run across the name Demonidas sometime in the past and woven it into fantasy? Possibly. But why not check it out? It can’t hurt.”

“It might be a waste of time we don’t have.”

“I told you I’d believe what you believe. I have a hunch you believe in Cira and Antonio and Demonidas more than you’ll admit. You don’t trust me enough yet.”

“I . . . trust you.”

He laughed. “That was a pretty lame response.” He moved over her. “But that’s okay. You respond very enthusiastically in other areas. I’ll just have to work on making a major breakthrough.” He parted her thighs and whispered, “But there are all kinds of breakthroughs. I think we can make a very interesting one right now.”

The heat was moving through her again as she looked up at him. He didn’t realize that he had already made a breakthrough tonight. Not the sexual one that had shaken her to her core. She had let him beyond the barriers into her mind and this private part of her that she trusted to no one. She felt joined, part of him. That they were so fantastic sexually together almost paled in comparison.

Almost. What was she thinking? There was nothing pale about sex with Trevor. It was completely mind-shattering. She pulled him closer. “I’m all for breakthroughs.” She tried to steady her voice. “Show me. . . .”

W
hat are you doing out here?” Joe came out on the porch and sat down beside Eve on the top step. “It’s almost three in the morning. Worried?”

“Of course I’m worried.” She leaned against him as he put his arm around her. “And scared to death. Why not? All the politicians are still arguing about responsibility for 9/11. I’m afraid that we won’t do enough to stop that crazy Grozak.”

“We’re doing all we can. Did John Logan call you back?”

She nodded. “He’s flying to Washington to talk to the bigwigs in Homeland Security. He has enough clout with Congress because of his campaign contributions to have them at least listen. He says he can promise that if nothing else they’ll elevate the warning. He’ll call me back tomorrow.”

“And I contacted the director of the Bureau. He was cagey, but I told him if he didn’t step in with the CIA that I’d call in the media. So stop fretting, Eve.”

“I’m not fretting.” She made a face. “I’m trying to avoid making a painful decision. No luck. I don’t think there’s any way I can get around it.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“I’m saying we have to do everything we can. I kept telling myself that it probably had no connection, but I can’t run the risk.” She glanced at her watch. “It’s eight o’clock in Scotland. I won’t wake Jane if I call her now.” She got up from the step. “I’m going in and making a pot of coffee. Come on in and we’ll talk.”

T
hat was Eve.” Jane slowly hung up the phone. “She wants me to meet her in Naples this evening.”

“What?” Trevor leaned back in his chair. “No way.”

She shook her head. “I have to go. Eve never asks anything of me. She asked this.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. She just said it was important to her. She’ll meet me at the airport. Her flight gets in just after six.” She frowned. “God, I’m worried. Eve doesn’t— She sounded—”

“I’m going with you.”

She shook her head. “No, she said to come alone.”

“The hell you will. She wouldn’t want you to come if she knew there was a risk. Is Quinn going to be there?”

“No.” She held up her hand to stop the protest she knew was coming. “She said that if you want to send someone to guard me, it’s okay with her. She just didn’t want any interference.”

“I wouldn’t interfere.”

She gazed at him skeptically.

“Okay, I’d try not to interfere.” He shook his head. “I let you go to Lucerne without me. I’m not going to let you go this time. I’ll stay in the background. I’ll be chauffeur and bodyguard. You can ignore me.”

“That’s difficult to do. What about Brenner?”

“He didn’t turn up anything about Mario’s father. I sent him back to Colorado.” His lips tightened. “I’m going, Jane.”

She gazed at him in frustration. “But Eve doesn’t want you.”

“Then she’ll have to grin and bear it.” He flipped open his cell phone. “I’ll call and arrange for a helicopter.” He added, “And then phone Venable and tell him to back off and not have his men crawling all over Naples airport.”

She had forgotten Venable and the bug he had placed on the phone. Better Trevor than the CIA. And she had to admit to herself that she felt more comfortable with Trevor going along. “Okay, but you’d better make yourself invisible, dammit. I’ll go tell Mario we’re going and then get my bag and passport.”

MacDuff was standing in the courtyard when the helicopter landed an hour later. “You’re leaving?”

She nodded. “Naples. But we’ll be back tonight or tomorrow. How’s Jock?”

“Quiet. Very quiet. Almost completely withdrawn.” He frowned. “And he had a nightmare last night. I’d hoped they were over.”

“My fault?”

“Perhaps. Or mine. Who knows?” He watched Trevor come out of the castle. “But always Reilly’s. Why Naples?”

“Eve wants to meet me there.”

“Eve Duncan.” He frowned. “Why not come here?”

“I’ll let you know when I do.” She headed for the helicopter. “Tell Jock I’ll talk to him when I get back. Tell him I’m—” She wasn’t sure what she wanted to tell him. She wasn’t sorry she had probed and prodded and possibly opened old wounds, because it had been necessary. She was only sorry for the pain she had caused. “Good-bye, MacDuff. Take care of him.”

“You don’t need to tell me that.”

She smiled. “I know.” She repeated the phrase she’d heard him say. “He’s one of yours.”

“Aye.” He turned away. “Mine.”

E
ve gave Jane a hug when she got out of Customs and then gave Trevor a cool glance. “What are you doing here?”

“What do you think? I watched a man being beheaded a few days ago. I wasn’t going to risk Jane.” He took her overnight bag. “But I promised her that I wouldn’t get in your way, that I’d fade into the background unless you need me.”

“That must have hurt,” Eve said dryly.

“Hell, yes. Let’s get this over with.” He handed Eve a key chain, turned, and walked toward the exit. “Your rental car is parked outside. I’ll follow you in another rental car. Unless you can have your conversation here at the airport?”

Eve shook her head.

“I didn’t think so. Otherwise you wouldn’t have wanted her to come back to Italy. Since Naples is the closest major airport to Herculaneum, I assume that’s where you’re going?”

“Assumptions are seldom correct,” Eve said as she followed him. “That’s one of the reasons I didn’t want you here. Your mind never stops ticking, and I had no desire to have you leapfrogging and getting in my way. You see, you’re already trying to do it.” She turned to Jane. “How are you?”

“How do you think I am? Scared. Confused. I don’t like to be in the dark. Why the devil are we here, Eve?”

“Because I couldn’t be quiet any longer.” She nudged Jane toward the rental car Trevor was indicating. “And I’ve always been better at show-and-tell.”

15
                                                                                          

M
useo di Storia Naturale di Napoli.

“A museum of natural history?” Jane gazed at the modest stone building set back from an equally modest street. “Eve, what the hell are we—”

“Think about it.” Eve turned off the engine. “You were never here, but four years ago Trevor visited this building and persuaded the curator, Signor Toriza, to do him a favor.”

Jane stared at her in shock. “The skull.”

“The skull. We had to have a skull to draw that homicidal maniac into the trap, and Trevor borrowed one from this museum. I was to do a reconstruction and make sure the finished product resembled the statue of Cira. It went completely against the grain for me to fake it but I did it anyway. We had to catch Aldo before he murdered you.”

“And you did it.”

She looked away from Jane. “I did it. We called the reconstruction Giulia, and I made it a dead ringer. After we no longer needed it, I did as I promised the museum and did a true reconstruction.” She got out of the car. “Come on, let’s go see it.”

“But I’ve already seen it,” Jane said as she followed Eve up the four steps leading to the front entrance. “There were photos in the newspapers of the phony reconstruction as well as the true one. You did a fantastic job with a skull that dissimilar to the Cira statue.”

“Oh, I did a great job. But you’ve never seen the reconstruction in person.” She opened the door. “That’s why we’re here.” She nodded at the small, balding, well-dressed man hurrying toward them. “Good evening, Signor Toriza. It was kind of you to keep the museum open for me.”

“It was my pleasure. You know that you have only to call and I will do whatever I can to help you. We are very grateful.”

“No, I’m the one who is grateful. You have it ready?”

He nodded. “Shall I go with you?”

“No. If you’ll wait here, we’ll try not to be long.” She strode down the corridor and turned right into a large exhibit room. Glass cases everywhere. Ancient artifacts, swords, bits of rock, and one case devoted entirely to reconstructions.

Jane shook her head. “Good heavens, I had no idea that a museum this small could boast a collection of reconstructions like this. There must be eight or—”

“Eleven,” Eve said. “It’s what keeps the money from the tourists pouring in, and they need it desperately to buy these specially constructed cases to preserve the skeletons. Those airtight cases are terribly important. That’s why Egypt is losing so many of their artifacts and skeletons. This museum had several skeletons recovered from the marina at Herculaneum, but reconstructions of the skulls give everyone a better picture.” She moved down the case to the end. “This is Giulia.”

“Just like the photos.” Jane stared in puzzlement at the reconstruction. The girl must have been in her mid-teens, with fairly regular features except for the slightly splayed nose. Not a homely girl but certainly not a beauty. “What am I supposed to be seeing?”

“Guilt.” Eve turned and headed for a door at the end of the exhibit room. “Come on. I want to get this over.”

Jane slowly followed her down the length of the room. Guilt?

Eve threw open the door and stepped aside for Jane to precede her. “Good. Toriza has the lights on. This is the museum workroom. I’ve become very familiar with it in the last few years.” She gestured to the reconstruction in the clear rectangular box in the center of the worktable. “Giulia.”

“But the reconstruction in the exhibit hall is Giulia. How can—Dear God.” She whirled on Eve. “Cira?”

“I don’t know.” Eve shut the door and leaned against it, her gaze on the reconstruction. “It certainly looks like her. But if this is Cira, then she wasn’t the beauty everyone thought she was. The features are coarser, not as cleanly defined as those of the statue. And Toriza says her skeleton showed years of hard labor. Possibly indicating a life of bearing heavy burdens.”

“Cira was born a slave.” Jane couldn’t take her gaze from the reconstruction. “I suppose it could be that—” She shook her head in rejection. “That’s not Cira.”

“And it’s only a coincidence that the features are so similar at first glance?”

Jane shook her head in confusion. “I don’t know. I wouldn’t think that would be—” She sank down in the chair at the worktable. “But this isn’t the Cira I’ve been living with for the past four years. You’ve . . . pulled the rug from beneath my feet.”

“And what’s your first reaction?”

“Why, that I have to find the answers. . . .”

“That’s what I thought you’d say,” Eve said wearily. “At first I thought it might put an end to that obsession you have with Cira if I left the reconstruction as I did it the night before we left Herculaneum. If you thought the search was over and that she died at that marina, it was possible you might abandon trying to find more about her and the gold Julius gave her.” Her gaze shifted to the face. “The resemblance was there, but it wasn’t absolute. And I knew that if you had questions, this reconstruction would only spur you on. It would whet your appetite and give you another carrot to lead you down Cira’s damn tunnel.”

“You . . . lied?” Jane couldn’t believe it. “You’re the most honest woman I’ve ever known. You never lie.”

“I lied that night. I smoothed out any resemblance to Cira in the reconstruction and did it over. I sent that lie back to the museum.”

“Why?” Jane whispered. “My God, that was a violation of your professional ethics.”

“It was a two-thousand-year-old skull, dammit.” Eve tried to steady her voice. “You were seventeen and going to college the next year. You’d just gone through a horror of an experience with a maniac who wanted to slice your face off. You were having nightmares about Cira. You were tired and confused and the only thing you needed was to get away from Herculaneum and heal.”

“You shouldn’t have lied to me.”

“Maybe not. Probably not. But I made the choice. I wanted to give you the chance to walk away and forget about Cira and everything that had happened to us in Herculaneum.”

“Without giving me the choice. I was seventeen but I was no child, Eve.”

Eve flinched. “I always intended to tell you later. After you’d had your chance to forget Cira. But you didn’t forget. You still went on those archaeological field trips even after you went off to school.”

“So why didn’t you tell me then?”

She shook her head. “A lie keeps on growing, festering. We’d always been perfectly honest with each other. You trusted me. I desperately wanted to keep that trust.” Her lips twisted. “And then Grozak came on the scene and you told me that Cira’s gold might be a way to stop Grozak from getting what he needed.”

“What’s that got to do with this?”

“You didn’t look at the artifact case outside in the exhibit room.”

“I saw the reconstructions.”

“And they rivet the attention so much that most people don’t look at the other shelves. There was a small bag of gold coins found at the marina. They were near Guilia’s skeleton, but after they examined her and found she was probably a laborer, they decided it must have belonged to one of the other victims in that crowd running toward the sea.”

“My God.” Her gaze swung back to the reconstruction. “Then it could have been Cira.” But it was all wrong. This was not Cira. She felt it.

“Or Toriza could have been correct and the gold didn’t belong to her.” She added, “But I had to tell you about it, because I didn’t want you looking in Julius’s tunnel or at Cira’s theater when it might be buried somewhere near the marina.”

“How did you find out about the pouch?”

“Oh, Signor Toriza and I have become the best of friends during the past four years. You might say we’ve had a mutual exchange of favors.” Her lips lifted in a mirthless smile. “I could stomach a lie only so far. I had to make it right with the museum.” She nodded at the reconstruction. “And I had to make it right with her. I made her someone she wasn’t, and that wasn’t fair to her. I had to try to bring her home. So the summer after we left Herculaneum, I flew back here and talked to Toriza. We made a deal. I got him to agree to let me redo the reconstruction of Guilia and to promise that he would never put her on exhibition until I gave the word.”

“And the reconstruction in the case outside?”

“No skull. A bust I sculpted to match the reconstruction we were replacing. After all the publicity we couldn’t just let her disappear. She had to be on display.”

“I’m surprised Signor Toriza was willing to compromise his principals by suppressing the reconstruction.”

“Money. I paid him well.” She shrugged. “Not in cash. The sweat of my brow. I told you, we made a deal.”

“What kind of deal?”

“Every few months he’d send me one of his skulls to reconstruct. Over the last few years he’s acquired one of the best collections of ancient reconstructions in the world.”

“How did you do it? You’re always overworked.”

“I lied. I paid the piper.” She met Jane’s gaze. “And I’d do it again. Because there was always the chance as long as I didn’t feed the flames that you’d forget about Cira and get on with your life. That was worth a few all-nighters to finish Toriza’s reconstructions.”

“More than a few. Eleven. Did Joe know?”

Eve shook her head. “My lie. My price.” She paused. “What are you feeling? Are you angry with me?”

Jane didn’t know what she was feeling. She was too stunned to sort out the emotions. “Not . . . angry. You shouldn’t have done it, Eve.”

“Perhaps if I hadn’t been so tired and worried, I wouldn’t have made the same decision. No, I won’t give myself excuses. I gave you four years to rid yourself of an obsession and have a normal life. Do you know how precious that is? I do. I never had a normal life. I wanted to give you that gift.” She paused. “I realize you’ve always thought you came second with me after Bonnie.”

“I told you it didn’t matter to me.”

“It matters. You were never second, just different. I lied, I violated my professional ethics, and I worked myself to exhaustion for you. Maybe this will show you how much I care for you.” She shrugged wearily. “And maybe it won’t.” She turned and opened the door. “Come on. Toriza is waiting to close up.”

“Eve.”

Eve looked back at Jane.

“You shouldn’t have done it.” She moistened her lips. “But it doesn’t change how I feel about you. Nothing could do that.” She stood up, walked across the room, and stopped before her. “How do I know what I would have done in the same circumstances?” She tried to smile. “We’re so much alike.”

“Not really.” Eve reached out and gently caressed her cheek. “But enough to make me proud and fill me with content. Ever since you came to us, you spread a sort of . . . light over Joe and me. I just couldn’t stand the thought of that light dimming.”

Jane felt the tears stinging her eyes as she wrapped her arms around Eve. “What the hell can I say to that?” She hugged her quickly and stepped back. “Okay, let’s get out of here. May I tell Trevor?”

“Why not? He’s probably playing all kinds of scenarios in his mind right now.” She started to close the door. “He might as well get the right one.”

“Wait.” Jane took one last look at the reconstruction on the worktable. “She’s close, isn’t she? But it’s not close enough. There were so many statues sculpted of Cira and they didn’t have this . . . crudeness. She could—” She turned to Eve. “The measurements have to be so precise in your work. Could you possibly have made a mistake?”

“Do you think I didn’t want this to be Cira? An absolute match to the statues would have solved everything. You would have been convinced you’d found her at last and it would have been over. I was very careful. I did the reconstruction over three times and it came out this way every time.” She paused. “Have you considered the possibility that the sculptors who did those statues glorified her, that the real Cira was less than their artistry?”

“I suppose that could—” She shook her head. “It’s not—” She turned back to the main exhibition room and let Eve shut the work-room door. “It doesn’t feel right.”

“But you’ve lived with the mental image of Cira for so long that any change would seem wrong. Isn’t that true?”

Jane nodded slowly. “But I’m too confused now to decide what’s truth or fantasy.” She started through the exhibit hall. “Maybe it’s all fantasy. Except the gold. The gold is real. That’s what I have to concentrate on.”

“That’s why I asked you to come here,” Eve said quietly.

“You say no more gold was found in the recovery at the marina?”

“Not with these victims’ skeletons.”

“No, I mean no chests hidden in any nearby houses?”

Eve shook her head. “But there’s so much of Herculaneum still under that layer of rock. I only hoped to give you a starting place or an alternate place to look.”

“Thank you. I know you did.” Jane sighed. “I only hope the gold isn’t buried under that lava flow.”

“You have to face the possibility that it could very well be there.”

“I won’t face it, dammit. If that was Cira, maybe she was trying to get the gold out of town. Maybe she managed to do it.” Her hands clenched into fists. “But it isn’t her. I
know
it.”

“You don’t know it. And the gold is too important to stopping those bastards for us to gamble on instinct.” Eve started toward the door. “This could stop us cold. The gold was never a sure thing. I wish to hell it was. But we’d better start looking for another solution to pull out of the hat.”

T
he marina,” Trevor murmured as they watched Eve’s plane take off. “Even if it’s there, it will be difficult as hell to find and get to it. We’d be a lot luckier if it’s in Julius’s tunnel.”

“But we know she was trying to get the gold out of the tunnel. Perhaps she managed to do it.”

“And took it to the marina? Maybe that was just an escape attempt. Maybe she grabbed a pouch from wherever she hid it and ran toward the sea.”

“What was she doing at the marina? Julius would have kept watch on her. It wouldn’t have been safe for her to—”