Iris Johansen - Eight Days To Live

“We needed to know where the temple is located.” His eyes opened. “Faruk… knew.” He smiled. “Tears?” He reached up and touched her damp cheek. “Nice…”

“You don’t deserve them.”

“Of course I do. I’m a hero. I saved the day.”

She wiped her cheeks on the back of her hand. “There’s blood coming out of your mouth. Do you have internal injuries?”

“Nothing so dramatic. I bit my tongue when I was trying to persuade Faruk.” He struggled up on one elbow. “I think I was clenching my teeth. I don’t remember.”

“Where is Faruk?”

“Over there, behind the plane. He’s fast asleep. He’ll stay that way for the next two hours. When he wakes, he’ll think he was just exhausted and curled up for a nap.”

She stared at him in bewilderment. “How? I saw you. He nearly put you into shock before. And you said that you got out before he caused any real damage.”

“I had to find a way to go in without being pulled deep.” The color was coming back into his cheeks and he sat up. “I told you, it was like sinking into a quagmire. You either walk carefully, lightly, over a marsh, or you skirt around it. I’ve been diving in and backing out.” He added, “The problem is that I’m very strong. And the only way I could walk lightly was to divide my attention.”

“When you put me to sleep,” she said.

“And kept you asleep. It worked… sort of. Even then, it was difficult as hell.” He added soberly, “I was able to get Faruk to give me coordinates and draw a rough map of the area around the temple. But there’s no way I’d be able to keep him under control if I tried to make him take us there.” He frowned. “Unless I can think of a-”

“We don’t need him,” she interrupted quickly. “You found out everything we have to know. We can send the coordinates to Joe. You’re sure Faruk is just sleeping?”

“See for yourself.” He got to his feet. “Maybe I’d better check. You were coming back out of the dream stage when I was putting him under. I was distracted.”

Faruk was slumbering peacefully, curled on his side.

“He won’t remember?”

“No, he won’t remember anything but talking to me about a rug shipment and deciding the money wasn’t good enough.” He took her elbow. “Eve?”

“She has a fever. That bastard hasn’t given her any antibiotics.” She smiled grimly. “But she made sure I can draw a map of the interior of the temple and that I know the number of guards in each corridor.”

“What a unique woman.” He moved toward the door. “Then let’s get out of here and find a place where we can send the info to Joe Quinn and Venable. We’ve still got a long way to go, but now we’ve got a start.”

Long way? They had to juggle Roland and Millet and some thousand or so cult members and try to keep Eve alive. Damn right, they had a hell of a long way to go.

“Then by all means, save the day, Caleb,” she said dryly. “You do it so well.”

“I do, don’t I?” he said cheerfully. “I’ll work on it.”

ROLAND PHONED JANE TWO HOURS later. “I can’t find a way to get Millet away from your Eve. He doesn’t want to leave the temple on the day of the Offering. That’s his big day. He’s in his glory.”

“I’m sure you can arrange something. I meant it. I’ll make sure you never get those coins.”

“I realize that you’d do it. We all have our weaknesses, and yours is Eve Duncan.” He paused. “So I’ve got to find a way to give her to you. But you’re the one who has to make sure Millet is far enough away from her to make it work. He’s given you the option of choosing the transfer point. I want him at least forty minutes away from the temple.”

“But I don’t know where this temple is,” Jane said. “And he’s supposed to bring Eve for the transfer, remember?”

“But you don’t really think that’s going to happen? He knows that he has you. He’ll scout out the area and set up an ambush. He’s not a great brain, but he’s very clever at what he does.”

“He won’t bring Eve?”

“No way on earth. He’ll hold her in case something goes wrong.”

“At the temple.”

“Yes.”

“Then how do we get her out of that temple?”

“We send Millet after you, and we go in and get her.”

“How?”

“There’s a secret tunnel that leads from outside to the corridor going to the Offering Room. Only the Guardian was supposed to know that it exists, but Adah Ziller was very persuasive. She told me that she and Millet used to play some of their erotic games in the passage. It was a kick for her. Later, she used the passage to sneak into the Offering Room and steal the tablet.”

“Why do I have to go? Why can’t you bring her out that way yourself?”

“Because we have to go past Millet’s guards to get to her. They know your face. They probably know that an exchange is going to take place. I’ve made sure that Millet’s men don’t know me. I couldn’t get to the room where Millet is keeping Eve without an okay from Millet.” He paused. “Unless it seemed I had a purpose in those corridors. What better purpose than bringing the sacrifice for the Offering? I get you and Eve out of the room with some pushing and shoving and general rough handling, and we go back down through the passage.”

Jane was silent a moment. “It’s too much of a risk. I couldn’t trust you.”

“But you’ll still have the coins. We’ll meet at a designated spot a few miles from the temple, and I’ll have your bottle examined by my expert. You can bring one man, Gavin or MacDuff or anyone else you choose, and have him stay with the coins until we bring Eve out of the temple. Of course, I’ll also have someone there to guard the coins on my behalf. Unfortunately, I have as little trust as you, Jane. The moment that I take possession of the coins, you’re free to go. I’m quite certain you’ll protect your right to do that.”

“But then I’ll know where your temple is located.”

“But will I care? The Judas coins are all I ever wanted. I’m afraid I’m not truly a religious man. It was useful to me on occasion. On the offering table, I disposed of two business associates who got in my way. But I’m careful. No one can prove I’m one of the chosen. Money blurs the memory and twists truth. I’ll let you and Millet battle. I don’t give a damn who kills whom after I get the coins.” He said softly, “I’ll be the only one who really wins. So what about it, Jane? It’s the best deal I can give you.”

“Where should I meet you?”

He chuckled. “So that you can figure out the location of the temple? No, I’ll tell you the meeting place after you’re in the air and five minutes from the destination.”

She hesitated. “Then how can I tell Millet where we should arrange the exchange?”

“I’ll give you the coordinates for that.” He paused. “Agree, Jane. It’s your best shot.”

“I’ll think about it.”

“Don’t think too long. I want those coins. I might have to have a talk with Millet about enjoying his time with Eve to a greater extent.” He hung up.

She turned down the volume and glanced at Caleb. “You heard? He wants me to walk into the lion’s mouth.”

Caleb’s gaze was on her face. “And you’re thinking about doing it.”

“We can make it safer. We can make sure that Millet is a good distance away from the temple. We were going to bring Jock and the others into it anyway. He told me that he was good at guerrilla tactics.”

“There’s no way it can be safe,” he said flatly.

“Safer,” she repeated. “And we knew that Millet wouldn’t give up Eve if he could prevent it. She’s a witness against him. So Roland is right. Millet would set a trap for me.”