Deadlock

Not with Irana beside you, Emily thought as she watched Irana disappear into a room at the end of the corridor. The woman's hair was tousled, her clothing rumpled, but she still exuded the energy and confidence that made everyone sure that everything was going to be okay. 'She seems to have taken charge.'

'Yes, what did you expect?' Dardon asked as he came out of the admittance room. 'Irana is a law unto herself. The hospital didn't want to take in her patients, but Irana wouldn't hear of them turning her down. She said she knew they'd get the best care here.' He looked at Garrett. 'And it may be hard to pry her away from them.'

'Hard or easy. She can't stay here. She'd be a weapon in Staunton's hands. I won't tolerate that.' His gaze went to the door through which Irana had disappeared. 'Find a place that's safe for her. I want her so sur¬rounded by guards that she'll stumble over them if she turns around.'

'Anything else?'

'Zelov. Earlier tonight you said you had something on him.'

He nodded. 'I'll give you the report as soon as I get to a printer.' His eyes were shining. 'Things have started to escalate, haven't they?'

'You might say that,' Garrett said dryly. 'That should please you.'

Dardon grimaced. 'I don't mean to be insensitive. It's just that I have a low boredom threshold.'

'I know. So does Ferguson. He almost nailed you because of it. Bored or not, you stay close to Irana until you get her secured.'

'Will Emily be with her?'

'No way.' Emily shook her head. 'I won't be sent away with Irana. No more hiding.'

'Moderate hiding,' Garrett said. 'Unless you want the paparazzi to camp on our doorstep.' He watched Irana walking toward them down the hall. 'Now let's see how Irana is going to react. The explosion at the hospital might be minor in comparison.' He raised his voice as Irana approached. 'Everyone all settled?'

'As well as could be expected. The sick don't take well to change,' Irana said. 'Their bodies are already in turmoil. But the sisters here will take good care of them.'

'Really?' Garrett's eyes narrowed. 'That sounds… permanent.'

'What did you expect? I'm not a fool. This Staunton wants to hurt you. He blew up my hospital. I'm much more valuable than brick and mortar. I'm sure he would like to blow me up, too. I will have to go away somewhere safe to keep you safe.'

'I'm relieved that you're being reasonable.'

'I'm usually reasonable. My patients will receive good care. They aren't in danger. You're the one I have to worry about. I have to make sure you're safe. There must be a reason why God linked us together.' She gazed at Emily. 'You are well?'

'Yes.'

'Would you come with me if I ask you? I'll find good work for you to do.'

Emily shook her head.

'I didn't think so.' She reached out and gave her a quick hug. 'Take care of yourself. If you need me, I'll come to you.' She glanced at Gar¬rett. 'And take care of Garrett, too. He thinks he doesn't need it, but don't pay any attention to him.' 'Like you?' Garrett asked.

She smiled. 'Exactly like me.' She turned to Dardon. 'Garrett will ask you to stash me someplace. Right? I will tell you what I require. I don't care where it is, but I want to be able to work. I was thinking of per¬haps a medical facility in Africa or South America for the next month or so. They always need help. I'll look into possibilities, and we'll discuss it.'

'You'll have to leave right away,' Garrett said. 'Discuss it while you're getting away from here.'

She nodded. 'After I give my notes on the patients to the Sisters.' She turned away. 'I've already sent my nurses back to their homes and told them to keep a low profile.' She smiled back over her shoulder. 'I told them I'd put them back to work when you build me a bigger and better hospital. I'll probably have to hire a larger staff for the diagnos¬tic clinic.'

'I'm sure you will,' Garrett said dryly. 'And the clinic will proba¬bly rival the one at Johns Hopkins.'

'Possibly. It's good for your soul to spend your money on such worthwhile things. It only follows that the more you spend, the better I'm treating you.' She strode down the corridor toward the nurses' station.

Dardon chuckled. 'What a philosophy. I hope she doesn't better your soul to the point of bankruptcy.' He started after Irana. 'I'll keep an eye on her and see if I can borrow the nurses' printer for your printout.'

'Be quick. We'll wait at the elevator.'

Emily frowned as she saw Irana smiling at the Sister behind the desk. That radiant smile that had drawn Emily to her from the mo¬ment she had met her. 'She will be safe?'

'From Staunton,' Garrett said as he took her elbow. 'I can't prom¬ise anything else. Particularly if she decides to go to the wilds of Africa.

She'll have to handle AIDS, lions, and tigers herself. She wouldn't have it any other way.'

'THE PATIENTS WERE TAKEN to St. Cecelia,' Borg said to Staunton as he came back to the rental car at the dock. 'Do you want to go there?'

'Of course I want to go,' Staunton said impatiently. 'Though I doubt if Garrett and Emily will be there. He'd know I'd check it out.' 'Irana Povak?'

'She's a possibility.' And he needed a lead, dammit. He'd hoped that he'd be able to gather Emily up during the raid on the island. The attack had been a bit too public. It had been made clear to him when he was hired that Staunton had to be both thorough and discreet. The explosion at the hospital could not be termed discreet. He'd made sure that he hadn't left any loose ends. The mercenaries he'd hired wouldn't talk, but he might have been seen. It was annoying to have to worry about trivial¬ities like this. Though he hoped Garrett wouldn't regard it as a triviality. He'd wanted to anger and send a challenge. He'd had to strike at him in some way. Garrett had taken Emily from him, and that couldn't be tol¬erated. 'Yes, we'll try for Irana Povak. But there are other ways.'

'What?'

'First, you make sure that you remove anyone who might know too much.'

'And then?'

He smiled. 'Then you throw out a lure and let the fish come to the shark.'

'HERE IT IS.' DARDON T H R U S T the folder at Garrett. 'You'd bet¬ter get going. The man I left at the dock called and said there was someone asking about the patients. You probably have less than forty-five minutes. I'll get Irana out as soon as I pry her away from those nurses.'

'Right.' Garrett punched the elevator button. 'We'll go directly to the helicopter, then on to Rome. Call me if there's a problem.'

'Not Rome.' Dardon said as he hurried back toward Irana. 'After you read that report, I think you might decide on the U.S.'

'We'll worry about that once we're airborne and far away from here.' Garrett handed the folder to Emily as he nudged her into the el¬evator. 'Hold on to this. Skim it while we're in the car on our way to the helicopter.'

'Okay.' She gazed down at the folder. She was feeling an odd re¬luctance to look at the information inside when she should be eager. Over and over she had told Staunton she knew nothing about Zelov's hammer. Now she was going to find out about it.

No, it wasn't odd at all. Because she hadn't known it had triggered horror, and that horror refused to leave her.

'Why the U.S.?' she murmured, as they got into the car a few min¬utes later.

'You tell me.' He started the car. 'In fact, as soon as we get to somewhere that we can talk with any semblance of quiet, I'll want you to tell me everything you remember connected with Staunton. I can't care if it disturbs you.'

'I'm not arguing.' She looked away from him. 'You're the one who sent me to stay with Irana. I wanted to go after Staunton right away. You should have asked me before this. I would have told you.'

'I was being kind.' His lips curved in a sardonic smile. 'God knows why. I'm not kind. It would have been better for everyone if I'd just stuck to my usual modus operandi.'

'Irana thinks you're kind.'

'Sometimes.' He pulled onto the road. 'And that may get her killed, too.'

'You tried to protect-'

'I don't want you to defend anything I do,' he interrupted. 'Just scan those pages and see if we can find out