Night and Day (33 page)

Eve was no longer just afraid, she was terrified. She had trouble getting the next words out. “What did—you—do?”

“I taught you a lesson. I'm going to enjoy watching you try to wriggle your way out of it. I'll be thinking about it all the time until I call you back.” She hung up.

So much ugliness, and the nastiest part of it all was that Natalie had been able to instill this panic and fear in Eve. Everything that she had said was leading down a path that was her worst nightmare.

And that was what Natalie had wanted.

She couldn't sit here, frozen, sick, she had to do something. They had to start fighting Natalie. Or at least trying to find out the weapons Natalie was using to fight them.

Joe.

She had to get to Joe.

She jumped to her feet and started to run toward the tents.

 

CHAPTER

14

“What was in his pocket?” Eve asked jerkily as Joe came out of the magistrate's office four hours later. “Was it the notebook?”

“It was
a
notebook,” Joe said as he got in the car. “That's all that they'd tell me. They didn't let me know what was written in it. They only told me that much as a professional courtesy.”

“We've got to find out.”

“I know. I've let Jock loose on them. He can usually carry the day. He's a Scot, and between that charisma and MacDuff's influence looming in the background, he almost always gets what he wants.”

“If he doesn't lose his temper.” Her hands clenched. “Remember, Cara's involved in this, too.”

“From what you said, Natalie was treating her almost as an afterthought. It was all about you.”

“Everything. Natalie said she wanted everything.” She drew a shaky breath. “I have to find out what she's done that she'd think I'd give it to her.”

“It could be a bluff,” Joe said.

“It wasn't. If you could have heard her voice. She thinks she has me.”

“You're shaking.” Joe pulled her jacket closer around her. “You should have waited back at the camp.”

She shook her head. “No way. It would have driven me crazy.”

“I can see it.” He kissed her temple. “But it's hell watching you go through this.” He was silent a moment. “That son of a bitch, Rampfel, must have done something to you while you were in that office.”

“I know,” she whispered. “It's the only explanation for everything Natalie has done today. I went over everything he did to me, and it had to be when he was giving me that B-12 shot. I was thinking that I'd have you take me directly to the hospital instead of coming with you here. Natalie might want to kill me, but she has to have something else in mind if she thinks she can use this to get what she wants. We have to know what that is first, Joe.”

“Fifteen minutes,” he said grimly. “Then I take you to that hospital.”

“No, this isn't only me, it's Michael. We have to know what we're dealing with. I won't have anyone blundering around in my body and make a mistake. Natalie would enjoy that enormously if she saw me let that happen.”

“Eve…”

She could see his pain, but she couldn't let it move her. She had to think of Michael. He had to have his chance. “Michael is fighting, Joe. He has to know what she did to us. That's what first frightened me. We're going to do everything we can to do this thing right.”

“Even if it kills you,” he said thickly.

“We won't think about that.” Except if it came close, she had to prepare him in some way. “We have to keep him alive. Hey, he has your DNA. We're halfway there, Joe.”

“Yeah.” He held her close. “Halfway…”

*   *   *

“It's Iranian,” Jock said curtly as he came toward the car an hour later. “Something called
Zaphondan
. Natalie evidently spelled it out in detail in that doctor's notebook. She wanted it very clear. There was even a reference number at the headquarters of MI-6 we could go to for verification.”

“And what is
Zaphondan
?” Eve asked.

“One of the ugly little capsules the Iranians created to interrogate prisoners. A ticking clock that keeps them in an agony of suspense. Very innovative, in its way.” He gazed at Eve. “And deadly. We should get you to a hospital right away.”

“We've already gone down that road,” Eve said unsteadily. She had to keep from shaking. Something monstrous and ugly was buried inside her. Dear God … Michael. “It can hurt my baby, can't it? It can hurt Michael?”

“Only the doctors can tell you that,” Jock said. “We have to get you to—”

“Tell me about this … capsule. Is there an antidote?”

“Possibly. There have been cases where a few prisoners survived. But no one but the Iranians have it.”

“And maybe Natalie,” she said numbly. “How does it work, Jock?”

“It's a microcapsule given generally by a special hypodermic into the muscle tissue. Tiny. It's smaller than a grain of sand. It's set to time-release at a specific time. I believe the Iranians set up a ticking clock so that the prisoners would know exactly how long they had left. It tended to be very effective. But the antidote has to be administered before the release of the capsule, or it won't do any good. The poison works too fast.”

“But then the antidote
does
work?” Joe asked.

“Sometimes. It works in the lab. But it depends if any of the poison gets in the bloodstream while the antidote is dissolving it.” He added grimly, “The Iranians didn't really give a damn about keeping their promises.”

Eve swallowed. “So I have this capsule inside me that's set to go off like a time bomb.”

“Presumably,” Jock said. “So let's go and find a way to disarm the damn thing.”

She nodded. “No more arguments.” She was trying to keep calm. “I just had to get a handle on what I was facing.” What Michael was facing, she thought in agony. “Take me to the hospital, Joe. I want to know where that damn capsule is located and if there's any chance of a leak to Michael right now. I need to know everything that Natalie knows before she gets in touch with me again.”

“You should stay there in that hospital. I'll get specialists over here from the U.S.”

“You'd do better to get me one from Iran,” she said. “Or at least find one that Natalie imported to Moscow to create that poison. That could be a package deal.”

“I'll work on it,” Joe said unevenly as he pulled the car away from the curb. “It's going to be okay, Eve. I promise you.”

She didn't answer as she leaned back in the seat. It had to be okay. Not for her, because she'd become accustomed to the thought of that other life to come. But Michael had an entire wonderful life on the horizon. She wouldn't let it be taken away from him.

Did you hear him, Michael? We'll find a way …

Strength. Warmth. Comfort. Love.

No longer that anger and rejection. That had been for her, a warning. Now Michael was back to what he had been before. All love. Special. Caring.

And Natalie had wanted to kill this wonder?

SOUTH GLASGOW UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL
TWO DAYS LATER

“What is going on?” Jane's voice was shaking as she came into Eve's hospital room. “This isn't supposed to happen to you.” She came over to the bed and took her hand. “Not you, Eve. The universe is turning upside down.”

“She's not going to beat us,” Eve said. “We just have to get past this first patch and get some sort of plan together.” She paused. “How is Cara?”

“What do you think? In shock.”

“Is Jock with her?”

“No, he came back to the camp and gave us the news, then for the last two days, he's been talking to Palik and other contacts he made in Moscow trying to get information.” She shook her head. “And I'm not sure he could have helped Cara anyway until she gets through this first trauma. I haven't been able to break through to her.”

“I should talk to her.”

“Eve, you can't handle everything yourself. Give us a chance. Joe said that those doctors were exploring every possibility about how to save you and Michael.” She paused. “How to save you
or
Michael if it comes down to choice. How to delay the time release to give you more time.” Her voice was becoming uneven. “Pretty heavy stuff.”

“Cara would want to talk to me.”

“Okay, she wanted to come, but I told her that they wouldn't allow too many visitors while they were giving you all these tests.” She swallowed hard. “It was the truth. I had trouble getting in myself. It's quite a hospital … all those robots and supermodern gadgets. I think I'd prefer a nice, knowledgeable nurse. Someone who would just say that, of course, you were going to be fine.”

“I
will
be fine.” She looked her in the eye. “Those robots you're scorning have located the capsule, it's fixed itself to the muscles of my right hip. Rampfel didn't give me a shot, he inserted the capsule instead in that special hypodermic he was given by Natalie's people. It's a microcapsule and incredibly tiny.” She used Jock's description. “Smaller than a grain of sand.” How could something that tiny be the means to kill her Michael? She swallowed hard as she remembered how she and Rampfel had joked as he had done that to her. Why hadn't she seen, sensed, what he was doing? He had been so
damn
plausible. “Conveniently, I couldn't see what he was doing at the time. He must have blocked it from the nurse standing by the door, too. The capsule's contained in a sleeve that's superstrong, and it appears that it's not going to budge or dissolve until it's time for it to do its thing.”

“Can they operate? Can't they just cut the damn thing out?”

“Not without risking the capsule's breaking open. Joe called MI-6 and they said they'd tried to do that with a prisoner they'd rescued, and he was dead in two minutes. We have to have the antidote to first neutralize the poison.”

“Shit.”

“Joe's sentiments exactly.”

“And yours.”

“Oh, yes, I was hoping for a simpler fix to this particular disaster.” Her hand tightened on Jane's. “But there's not a simple fix. We have to deal with Natalie. You're going to have to help me, Jane.”

“Anything.”

She shook her head. “You won't like it. Joe is going to want me to stay in this hospital and have them wrap me in cotton wool while they try desperately to perform a miracle.”

“I'd second that motion.”

“I know you would. But I can't do that. There's going to come a time when Natalie is going to pull the strings, and I'm going to have to dance to them.” Her lips twisted. “Or at least pretend to dance. I can't take a chance of missing an opportunity to confront her by being too careful.”

“I don't like where this is going,” she said warily.

“I told you that you wouldn't.”

“You can't go running around and risk breaking open that capsule.”

“The doctors said that I could leave the hospital and conceivably do anything I would normally do without doing that.”

“Conceivably. There's still a danger. They wouldn't want you to do it.”

“Of course they wouldn't. They don't know very much about this damn capsule.”

“Joe would never permit you to take a chance like that.”

She smiled faintly. “I know. And that's when I call you and tell you I need you and that you have to come and spring me from this place.”

“Eve, don't ask me to do this.”

Eve hated asking her, but she had no choice. She had thought long and hard and knew it was the only solution. “I will ask you,” she said steadily. “I'll stay here as long as I can and let them look for their miracle, but I know there will come a time when Natalie is going to want to confront me and rub my face in her victory. She hates me.”

“Jock will go after her. So will Joe. Maybe they'll get to her before—”

“She hates me. In the end, I'll have to face her.” Her expression hardened. “I
want
to face her. She's trying to kill my son.” Her hand tightened on Jane's. “And that's why you'll do as I ask, Jane. Because you understand about family, and Michael is the beginning of something very special in our family. She can't be allowed to destroy him. Can she?”

Jane was silent. “No.” She leaned forward and held Eve close. “But Joe may never forgive me. I may never forgive myself.” Her eyes were glittering with moisture as she straightened. “You'll keep your word? You'll give those miracle workers their chance?”

“As long as I can.” She cleared her throat. “Now get out of here and get back to Cara. She needs you more than I do.”

“But we all need you,” Jane said. “Don't you forget it.” She gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Let me know as soon as Natalie sees fit to call you.”

Eve nodded. “It should be soon. She's just letting me see how hopeless my situation is turning out to be. But Natalie will start to be impatient to actually see me suffer.”

“I think I might kill her,” Jane said fiercely, “I know I will if she hurts you.”

“Jane.” Eve braced herself. Now she had to say the words she'd been dreading since Jane had walked into the room. But they had to be said. “One of the possibilities the doctors are considering is trying to delay that capsule from breaking until Michael is developed enough to survive without me. To keep me alive for the next few months until he has a chance.” She held up her hand as Jane started to speak. “If, by some miracle they manage to save Michael and not me, I know you'll care for him as if he were your own. He
will
be your own. And I'll try my best to be there … looking over you.”

“Eve.” Jane's tears were suddenly overflowing. “Nothing is going to—”