"Through a sea passage that empties out into the caves at the far end of the island. They anchored a few miles offshore and used wet suits and scuba equipment to swim into one of those caves. What's the news report?"

"That terrorists from Kavinski's country staged a raid and an assassination attempt, and five innocent bystanders were killed."

"Four. The woman is still alive. Barely. She was stabbed three times and fell from a balcony. She's smashed all to hell and on her way to a hospital in Athens. There was a doctor at the party and he says she'll probably survive if shock doesn't kill her. I need you to arrange for a private plane. We're taking her back to the States for treatment."

Jamie whistled. "Kabler isn't going to like that. He's going to want to talk to her."

"Screw Kabler."

"And what about next of kin? Can you get permission?"

"Her husband was one of the innocent bystanders. He's on his way to the morgue. Get Conner to falsify documents to prove you're her brother and get Lieber to call the hospital. Someone there will have heard of him."

"Why Lieber?"

"It'll seem the most logical. She looks as if every bone in her face is smashed."

"Why was Richard Calder killed? He wasn't on the list."

"Neither was his four-year-old daughter."

"Jesus."

Nicholas shut his eyes to close out the vision that had met him when he had looked down from the balcony. It didn't help. It was there before him anyway. "I fouled up, Jamie. I thought it was a wild-goose chase."

"You're not the only one. Kabler decided to pass too."

"I didn't pass. I was here. I could have stopped it."

"By yourself?"

"I could have warned her. She was crazy about the kid. She might have listened."

"And she might have thought you were nuts. You'll never know. If she was mixed up with Gardeaux, any blame lies with her." He paused. "Do you need help getting off the island?"

"Not if I leave now. Kabler's not here yet. I've already talked to the local gendarmes and I'm free to go. I'll meet you at the airport." He hung up the phone.

June 5

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Joel Lieber met them at the airport with an ambulance and a scowl. "I told you I didn't want to become involved with this business, Nicholas. I'm too busy to deal with men like Kabler. They interfere with my-Be careful!" He turned toward the paramedics who were unloading the stretcher. "No jarring. How many times must I tell you that there must be no jarring." Following the stretcher to the ambulance, he tossed back over his shoulder, "Go to my office. I'll see you there after I've examined her. Has she regained consciousness?"

"Only once right after we found her. The knife wounds aren't deep, but she has a broken arm and clavicle. The emergency room in Athens set those breaks, but I told them to leave her face alone."

"So that I could have that dubious honor," Joel said sarcastically. "Along with all the grief from Kabler that goes with it."

"I'll stand between you and Kabler."

"You mean you'll try. He's already called me twice today. It seems he didn't approve of me aiding the illegal transporting of a material witness."

"She needed you, Joel."

"The whole world needs me," he said with a sigh. "It's the bane of being brilliant." He got into the ambulance. "Unfortunately, I'm only Superman, I'm not God. I'll let you know later today if I can help her."

"I think the only degree he doesn't have is for veterinary surgery." Jamie's gaze was fixed on the diplomas and awards on the wall of Lieber's office. "I wonder how he missed that one."

"He knows enough to get by. He set Sam's leg once when it was caught in a coyote trap."

"You mean he leaves all this adulation to visit you in the backwoods?"

"Even Superman gets tired of being stroked."

"Only occasionally." Joel Lieber strode into the office, tossed his briefcase on the desk, and dropped into the leather executive chair. "Worship is the food and drink that nourishes genius. I prescribe a daily mega-dose of it for myself."

"I can understand that," Jamie said.

"How's business at the pub?" Joel asked.

"Flourishing."

"Then you should have stayed in Dublin and away from Nicholas."

"Ah, but what we should do and what we do so seldom coincide." He smiled. "We see a problem, a challenge, and we go for it. Isn't that right, Joel?"

Joel grimaced. "I may not pick up this particular challenge."

"Bad?" Nicholas asked.

"There are no cuts, but her entire face will have to be reconstructed. I can do the initial surgery in one operation, but then there will be psychotherapy and checkups and-Do you realize how much work that will take? I'm booked up for the next two years. I don't have the time."

"She needs you, Joel."

"Don't lay that guilt trip on me. I can't solve everyone's problems."

"Her husband and child were murdered in that raid."

"Oh, shit."

"She's lost everything. Are you going to tell her that she's going to have to live the rest of her life looking like a gargoyle?"

"I'm not the only surgeon in the world."

"But you're the best. You tell me so all the time. She deserves the best."

"I'll think about it."

"I met her. She's a nice woman."

"I said, I'd think about it, dammit," Joel said through his teeth.

"You do that." Nicholas stood up and moved toward the door. "I'll bring her dossier tomorrow and we'll talk. Come on, Jamie, let's get some dinner." He paused. "By the way, how's Tania?"

"Fine." Joel scowled. "She'll want to see you. I suppose you can come to dinner at my house."

"It's difficult for me to refuse such a warm invitation, but I think I'll pass." He smiled. "Why don't you get Tania's opinion on whether you should commit yourself to helping Nell Calder?"

"Damn you," Joel said.

Nicholas was smiling as he closed the door.

"Who's Tania?" Jamie asked as they passed through the reception room.

"His housekeeper. Tania Vlados is a mutual friend." He jabbed a button at the bank of elevators.

"Will she help persuade him?"

"I doubt if he'll discuss it with her. Tania would make him too uncomfortable. She's a bit of a bulldozer. Besides, we don't need her. He's already wrestling with himself. He grew up poor as dirt and it's always difficult for him to put the quest for wealth behind human kindness."

Jamie looked back through the glass doors into Lieber's luxurious office. "He seems to do all right."

"But he also donates his services one day a week to help abused children." The elevator stopped and he entered. "And it won't be the kids he'll drop if he takes on Nell Calder."

"You could offer him enough to sweeten the pot."

"Not now. It would insult him. Once he's committed, I assure you he'll make me pay through the nose."

"You're going to a hell of a lot of trouble."

"So?"

"You're not to blame for this."

"The hell I'm not." He wearily shook his head. "And don't give me that bull about her being responsible because she was dealing with Gardeaux. I don't think she did."

"Then why did he want to take her out?"

"I don't know. None of it makes sense. There has to be some reason." He paused. "She and the kid were both stabbed, when a bullet would have been quicker and more efficient."

"Maritz?"

"Probably. He was a Seal and he's the only one of Gardeaux's men who's in love with a knife. Nell Calder must have been his sole target. Her husband and the others were killed in the ballroom, but he stalked her."

"Prime target." Jamie nodded. "Which makes your innocent-bystander premise distinctly suspect."

"Then prove me wrong. It would make me happy as hell to find out she was working for Gardeaux. If you're going to trace any connection, we'll need more information than the dossier Conner's compiled on her. I want to know what she had for breakfast when she was six years old."

"And when do you want me to start?" He held up his hand. "Never mind. After dinner, right?"

"I can get someone else. It's donkey work, and I'm not sure it will bring us any closer to Gardeaux."

"Well, the pub's a bit slow right now. I might as well do it myself. Anything else?"

"A guard on her hospital room. Gardeaux might not like the fact that she's still alive." He made a face. "Better make him unobtrusive, or Joel will have a cow."

"Not easy. Those medical types are very territorial." He thought about it. "Maybe a male nurse. I could call Phil Johnson in Chicago."

"Whatever. Just have him in place by tomorrow morning."

"What about tonight?"

"I'll be with her tonight."

"You didn't sleep on the plane."

"And I won't sleep tonight. I'm not going to make another mistake."

Tanek again.

He looked different, and for a moment Nell couldn't realize why.

The green sweater. He wasn't wearing a tuxedo. And he no longer looked angry and tense, only tired.

She could understand that. She was tired too. So tired she could barely hold her eyes open. She seemed to be floating....

That's right, she was dying. If this was what it was like, it wasn't so bad.

She must have whispered, because he leaned forward. "You're not dying. You're fine." He grimaced. "Well, not fine, but you're not going to die. You're in a hospital back in the States. You have quite a few broken bones but nothing we can't fix."

She felt vaguely comforted. No, there was nothing he couldn't fix. She had known that the first time she had seen him.

"Go back to sleep."

But she couldn't go back to sleep. There was something wrong. Something to do with that dark horror before she fell. Something she had to ask. "Jill ..."

His expression didn't change, but she felt a ripple of panic. Yes, something was wrong.

"Go to sleep."

She quickly closed her eyes. Darkness. She could hide there, hide from the hideous truth she sensed behind Tanek's impassive face.