The Eden Factor (Kathlyn Trent/Marcus Burton Romance Adventure Series Book 2) (28 page)

In fact, he never made it past
the stairs. In his arms, Trent saw the steps and screamed to be put down. They
had recently learned the eighteen month old had a thing for steps; up and down,
up and down.  Marcus put the baby down and watched him happily crawl up a few
stairs, stop and sit and grin, and then take another couple stairs.  Marcus
would reach up, bring him down to the bottom, and Trent would start up again.
When Marcus tried to remove him to catch up with the rest of the group, he
screamed like a banshee. Sallie had a beautiful lunch laid out in the solarium;
they ended up eating at the base of the stairs, watching the twins entertain
themselves.

While her family got better
acquainted with Marcus, Kathlyn excused herself and found her way into her
father's office. She just couldn't stay away any longer. It was a smaller room
off the grand library, paneled with rich wood. She stood there a moment,
inhaling deeply, smelling her father's pipe tobacco. It was comforting and
agonizing at the same time. On the desk was a picture of her mom and dad and
she stood there a moment, gazing into the strong, familiar features of her
father. Strangely, tears didn't come.  She sat down in her father's chair,
picked up the picture, and stared at it.

"Hi, Daddy," she
whispered. "I love you, too."

She kissed the picture and set it
back down. In spite of everything that had happened, she felt a strong
sensation of peace. There was no more animosity, only serenity and the
knowledge that whatever had kept them apart didn't matter anymore. Marcus found
her about an hour later, curled up in her father's chair, sleeping the sleep of
the dead. He closed the door softly and left her there.

It was good to be home.

CHAPTER
THIRTEEN

"Maybe we shouldn't leave
today," Marcus stroked Kathlyn's forehead. "Why don't you relax a
couple more days and then we'll go."

His wife lay on the futon in the
tent they called home near the Valley of the Kings. She was deathly pale,
having just dry-heaved her way out of a deep sleep. Contrary to her first
pregnancy, this one was making her horribly ill. Every movement, every smell,
every suggestion of food had her lurching. Even though her eyes were closed,
she put up a hand and touched his face.

"No," she rasped.
"I'll be fine. Just... give me a couple of minutes, okay?"

He hated to see her so sick. Her
week in Southern California had been filled with illness and so had the entire
trip back to Egypt. They had been back three days and Kathlyn still hadn't
settled down. The heat and flies of Egypt only made for more miserable
conditions. But she was determined to renew her plans to go to Iraq. At the
moment, however, those plans weren't looking too solid.

He kissed her hand. "Want
some crackers?"

She grunted in the affirmative
and he left the tent. It was already warm outside, the sun just having cleared
the eastern horizon.  In the mess tent, he ran into Lynn, Dennis, Mark and
Otis. He greeted them with a weak wave.

"Hey," Lynn watched
Marcus as he poured some coffee.  "How's the little woman?"

Marcus shook his head.
"Puking her guts out."

The men looked relieved that it
wasn't them that had to deal with it. Marcus found a few packages of soda
crackers and sat himself down next to Lynn before heading back. He needed a few
moments with non-ill people.

"What about Iraq?" Lynn
asked.

Marcus sipped his coffee.
"She's not going if she keeps this up. She'll never make it. We may just
have to send her team in without her to make the initial observations."

Mark and Otis began to shake
their heads. "She'll never let us go in without her," Mark said.
"No way in hell."

"It's either that, or nobody
goes."

"Then nobody is going,"
Mark said. "Look, it's not that she doesn't trust us. It's that she's
responsible for us and I think she feels she needs to be around to protect us.
She's always been like that. One for all, all for one."

Marcus ran a hand through his short
hair. "Personally, I think it's because she's always got to be first with
everything. Not ego-wise, but just because she's so damn curious."

"So what do we do?"

Marcus shrugged. "Continue
with Ay's tomb, I guess. Maybe this morning sickness will pass in the next few
weeks and we can move on with our plans. Or maybe it won't and we'll have to
wait another year."

Otis scratched his blond head.
"Well, we've got enough work here to keep us busy. McGrath has gone back
home, at any rate. Now we don't him hanging over our every move. As long as we
keep him advised, he'll let us do whatever we want."

Gary walked in and the
conversation turned towards the tomb. Marcus lost track of the time, realizing
as he talked to Gary just how badly he needed to be involved in his own
excavation.  He had been so occupied with Kathlyn and her business that he had
neglected his own.  It wasn't long before he finished his first cup of coffee
and then a second. The sun rose, the temperature with it, and the day over the
Valley of the Kings was in full swing.

***

Kathlyn had actually fallen back
asleep, waking an hour later to realize she actually felt okay. Getting up, she
washed herself down in their make-shift indoor shower and dressed in khaki
shorts and a white tank top. The shorts were form fitting, feeling a little
looser this morning, as she had lost a few pounds with her morning sickness.
Pulling her long hair up in a ponytail, she found her thoughts revolving around
her return to Iraq as she put on some makeup. She was just pulling on her big
work boots when Debra Jo came knocking.

The tent flap fell back and the
redhead entered. She smiled at Kathlyn.

"How are you feeling,
sicky?"

 Kathlyn stuck out her tongue.
"All I can say is, blah. Blah, blah, blah."

Debra Jo laughed. "Your
husband is in the middle of a stag party in the mess tent."

"Stag party?" Kathlyn
made a face. "That dog. He told me he was going to go and get me some
crackers. Well, so much for that."

"Don't feel bad," Debra
Jo sat down on a collapsible chair. "He needs to catch up with the
guys."

She grinned. "I know. Too
much time with a sick, pregnant female is bound to drive him into the heart of
testosterone country. I don't blame him."

Debra watched her tie her boot.
"Hey, I've got some interesting news."

"What's that?"

"We received a call from the
Federal Bureau of Investigation. It seems that Leeves has been pulling strings
over there to have someone check out your story of Fayd and The Center for
Middle Eastern History."

Kathlyn looked up from her shoe.
"The FBI? International stuff is a little out of their scope, isn't
it?"

"Apparently not, as long as
it's a hush-hush thing. So while the CIA finds out what CeMEH is up to, the
Bureau is sending a Special Agent linked to the psychological crimes
unit."

"Sending him where?"

"To you. To find out what he
can about Fayd, I guess. To pick your brain." She paused a moment.
"Guess who they're sending."

Kathlyn tied the other shoe.
"I wouldn't have a clue."

"Jace Deverona."

Kathlyn stopped in mid-tie. She
looked up at Debra Jo as if the woman had just popped her cork. "Jace?
Juliana's Jace?"

"You got it."

"You must be joking."

"No way. There couldn't be
two of them, could there?"

Kathlyn shook her head. "I
doubt it. Hell, I didn't even know he was with the FBI."

"Neither did I. Last I
heard, he was with Los Angeles Police Department. Somewhere between now and six
years ago he must have transferred. Can you believe that?"

Kathlyn looked particularly
worried. "Does Juli know?"

"What? That her estranged
husband is about to make an appearance? No, I haven't said anything to her.
That's your job."

Kathlyn grimaced.
"Damn," she hissed. “She's going to flip out. She hasn't seen Jace in
at least six years, the last time I saw him. As far as I know, she hasn't even
talked to him. Why they haven't gotten a divorce before now is beyond me, but
he apparently didn't want to and she didn't want to deal with forcing him into
it."

"I know," Debra Jo
stood up because Kathlyn had. "Be careful when you break the news to
her."

"Don't I know it." She
grimaced. "Why Jace? Out of all the agents in the FBI, why him?"

"Because Leeves knows him.
You two double dated with him and Juliana before they were married."

"I know that. But do you
think Leeves may have requested him?"

"Who knows? Did he even know
he was with the FBI?"

Kathlyn could only shake her
head. She looked up beseechingly to the tent ceiling. "Please give me
strength, Lord. Please don't let Lynn run amuck when he finds out who Jace
is."

"Juli has never told
him?"

"Not as far as I know. But
she'd better, pretty damn quick. Do you know where she is?"

"In the mess tent with the
boys."

"Then let's go."

Kathlyn walked out of the tent,
wincing in the bright Egyptian sun. The camp was busy with activity, the Marine
guards patrolling their stations and people milling about. Kathlyn noticed
Larry and Andy making their way to the tomb; they were hard to miss in their
Lawrence of Arabia get-ups. They looked like dirty mummies. True to form, they
had handfuls of video equipment with them, no doubt for more electronic
cataloguing. They waved happily at her and she returned the gesture.

She and Debra Jo could hear the
laughter from the mess tent as they approached. Kathlyn entered the tent first
and was immediately wrangled by her husband and ended up sitting on his lap. He
handed her the crackers sheepishly and she was able to eat a couple. But her
eyes were on Juliana, seated close to Lynn. Juliana noticed her odd expression
and silent words passed between them. Kathlyn kept rolling her eyes towards the
open door of the tent until Juliana understood that she wanted her to go
outside. The two of them casually excused themselves. Marcus almost followed,
but Kathlyn assured him she was fine and that she just wanted to talk to her
friend.

Kathlyn and Juliana strolled
across the compound; mostly, Juliana was just following her. She actually
thought they might be going somewhere.  When Kathlyn neared the area designated
as the motor pool, she came to a halt.

"There's something you need
to know," she said to Juliana.

Juliana was torn between
curiosity and dread. "What? You’re firing me?"

Kathlyn laughed, relieving some
of the anxiety she was feeling.  "Not unless I want to cut off my right
arm," she sobered. "You know that I contacted Leeves with what had
happened to me, right?"

"I know."

"He's going to have Fayd and
CeMEH investigated."

"Of course. And?"

Kathlyn shifted, trying to think
of a delicate way to approach this.  "Someone from the FBI's psychological
crimes unit is coming out to talk to me about Fayd."

"FBI?" Juliana
repeated. "But they don't do international stuff, do they?"

Kathlyn shrugged. "I think
this is a special case. At any rate, they're sending Special Agent Jace
Deverona."

Juliana didn't react at first.
Then her eyes bugged as if they were going to explode from their sockets.
"No," she whispered. "You've got to be kidding."

Kathlyn gave her an intolerant
look. "Do you really think I'd joke about something like this? I didn't
even know Jace worked for the FBI."

Juliana had paled under the hot
Egyptian sun; her shock was obvious. "The last time I talked to him, he
said something about considering it because he was sick of the police
department...  but, my God, I had no idea he actually went and did it. And now
he's coming here?"

"Special Agent assigned to
the Psychological Crimes unit."

Juliana shook her head.
"He's always been really good screwing with people's minds. I guess that
doctorate in psychotherapy finally came in handy. Now he's doing what he wants
to do."

"What are you going to
do?" Kathlyn asked softly.

There was a long, heavy sigh.
"I don't know. I’m still kind of stunned. He's really coming here?"

It was the second round for that
question. Kathlyn could only nod. "I'll keep him away from you if that's
what you want. You don't need to be involved in this."

Juliana shrugged. "I'm not
sure... I mean, he knows we work together. He knows I'm with you." She
looked at Kathlyn with a stricken expression. "Do you think he planned
this? Asked for the assignment because he knew I would be here?"

Kathlyn lifted her hands. "I
have no way of knowing. Andrew knows him. Debra Jo thought maybe the President
of the United States pulled some strings to send him over here."