effort to remain calm. But after a while she lost her place and gave up. Where was Roslyn?
Finally, she heard footsteps enter the office. It sounded like more than one person, but she couldn’t tell for sure. She tried to angle the stunner so it pointed toward the door just in case.
The steps seemed to stop near the desk. She thought she heard someone whisper, but she wasn’t sure. Then the steps came forward again, stopping less than a foot away from her on the other side of the wall.
She brushed the button on the stunner with her thumb, checking its position so she’d be ready.
Something scraped along the wall. A picture being moved.
Then there was the click again. Only it was louder inside the hidden room.
The door popped open an inch and light seeped in.
The sudden change caused Iris to move, her head rocking against Marion’s chest.
“It’s okay, it’s okay,” Marion whispered, trying to coax the child back to sleep.
Marion could see the tips of several fingers grabbing the edge of the door. Iris twisted again, this time lifting her head up, her eyes opening at the same moment the door did.
Marion held the child tightly with one arm while the other was occupied with the Taser, ready to ram it into the first piece of skin she saw.
Outside, blocking the light, was a dark form. Large, like one of the soldiers. Without even realizing it, she pushed down with her thumb, activating the weapon in her hand. Only nothing happened. There was no arc of electricity, or even a vibration that would tell her the device was on.
“I would appreciate you moving that away,” a voice said. It came from the shadow. The voice was male, speaking French like the soldiers. Only it was different. The accent was Germanic.
As he stepped backward, the weak light of the office revealed that he wasn’t one of the soldiers from before.
It was Jan, Frau Roslyn’s cousin.
“I don’t think that works anymore, anyway,” he said.
He held out his hand. After a moment, she gave him the stunner.
As he set it on the desk, he said, “It’s safe now. You can come out.”
“They’re gone?” she asked.
He nodded. “Fifteen minutes ago.”
He helped her to step out of the space in the wall, then he closed the door behind her.
“Where is Frau Roslyn?” Marion asked.
The look on Jan’s face darkened. “They kept her out front for over an hour talking. Then they took her away.”
“What? What do you mean ‘away’?”
Jan hesitated. “I’m going to go look for her as soon as I can find someone to watch the children.”
“I’ll stay.”
“No,” he said. “You have to get out of here. You have to take Iris with you.”
They both looked at the child. She was awake now, but she hadn’t made a sound. She was looking at Marion, smiling.
“Where do I take her?”
“Someplace safe,” Jan said. “The UN compound. They won’t bother you there. But—”
“I can’t just take her to the compound.”
Jan stared at her for several seconds. “Then leave her here. I’ll give her to the soldiers when they come back.”
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Of course,” she said. “Of course, I’ll take her. I’m sorry.” She paused for a moment, the beginnings of a sob caught in her chest. “I’m just… scared.”
The look on Jan’s face was tense. There was no smile, no friendly sparkle in his eyes like Marion had seen on previous visits. “You should be.” He leaned down until only a foot separated his face from her. “Listen to me. They’ll keep looking for her. You need to get her away. Far away. Once you do, you need to disappear. Don’t let anyone know where you are. These people will find you. And once they have the girl, they’ll kill you.”
“If I can get her out of the city, they’ll have to give up. They’re just local soldiers.”
“Forget about the soldiers,” Jan said. “It’s not the soldiers you need to worry about. It’s the people the soldiers are working for. Those are the people you need to be concerned with. They’re not local. They’re not even from Africa.”
She didn’t understand what he meant, but it was obvious he had no intention of explaining more. Without saying another word, he guided her through the orphanage to the back door she had snuck through less than two hours before.
“Go,” he said, all but pushing her through the door. “Iris’s life depends on you.”
The door closed before she could respond.
She looked down at the child. Iris’s eyelids were heavy.
