Deadlock

'And what about Bishop Dimitri's plan to give the money to needy children?'

'A wonderful scheme. Yet whom could you trust to make sure that all the money was protected and went to charity? You saw what happened when Joslyn and Bishop Dimitri tried to do it. No, let Fer¬guson beat his head against the wall, then start believing that the trea¬sure was the myth he called it.'

He said slowly, 'As I said, you seem very sure he won't find it among Staunton's effects. Why?'

She looked at him. 'Do you really want to know? Do you want to find Zelov's hammer?'

He shook his head. 'I can't imagine anything I want less. I have plenty of money, and I don't need that kind of burden. It would smother me.'

'I don't have plenty of money, but I feel the same way. It would be the only way that Zelov and Staunton could really destroy me.' They had reached the car, and she turned to face him and braced herself. 'I don't want you to come with me to the hospital to see Irana.'

'This is good-bye?' His lips twisted. 'You're cutting me loose?' 'I don't want anyone to see us together.' 'And I don't give a damn.'

'I know. But I have to wipe the slate clean. I don't want debts on either side.' She paused. 'And I want to put time and space between us. I want to know that it wasn't circumstance or pity that brought us this close.'

'I've never pitied you. For God's sake, you should know that by-' he stopped. 'I'm not going to change your mind, am I?'

'Time and space,' she repeated. She would not cry. She was right. This was better for both of them.

But dear God, it was hard.

'Then get the hell out of here.' He opened the car door for her. 'Start chalking up your damn time. Because I'm going to be on your doorstep before you know it. Be ready for me.'

She'd be ready for him. She was ready for him now.

Don't look at him; he'd see the tears.

Don't say the words. Just start the car and drive away.

Don't say the words…

'WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE'S taking Joslyn away from here?' Irana demanded as she strode down the hospital corridor toward Emily. 'I'm not sure he's ready to travel. He just regained consciousness an hour ago.'

'If Ferguson has to wrap Joslyn in cotton wool, I'd be willing to bet he'll be on a plane out of here before the end of the day,' Emily said. 'You'd better get him ready.' She paused. 'And you'd better go with him, Irana.'

'That sounded loaded with significance. Am I going on the lam?'

She smiled faintly. 'You didn't find that phrase in a Jane Austen book.'

'Am I?'

'No, but Joslyn will be in seclusion until he recovers, and it will be more comfortable for you to share it.'

'I don't usually do what's comfortable for me.'

'I know. But you'll be doing me a favor this time if you do.'

'Why?'

'Ferguson and I are going on the road. Lots of paparazzi and TV cameras. You don't want to be involved.' 'I might.'

'I don't want you involved. You'd be defeating the purpose.' 'What is the purpose?'

'Going back to square one. If it had been Ferguson instead of Garrett who rescued me from Staunton in those mountains, it's what I would have done anyway. Ferguson would have seen to it. But now we can get something for my trouble.'

'For heaven's sake, you're trying to protect all of us,' Irana said in disgust. 'And I thought Garrett was bad.'

'Will you go with Joslyn?'

She didn't speak for a moment. 'Is Garrett furious?' 'Among other things. Will you go?'

'Probably. I can't see how I can help you, and I somehow feel that there may be more I have to do with Joslyn. You'll keep in touch?' 'No, not until no one is interested in who my friends are.' 'But you'll call when you need me.'

'Oh, yes.' She gave Irana a hug, then held her close for an instant longer before she released her. Her eyes were stinging again. 'But then, I always need you, Irana.' She smiled shakily. 'Oh, by the way, Ferguson is going to be spinning a fairy tale about what went on with Staunton. There's no longer any Tsar's treasure. Don't be surprised when you see the story in the newspapers.'

'How did that come about?'

'I think Ferguson has decided he wants to be a Tsar, too. He'll be disappointed. He won't find the hammer.'

'You're sure? Did Staunton tell you where it is?'

Emily shook her head. 'No, he didn't tell me.' She gave Irana an¬other hug and turned to go. 'Good-bye, Irana. Keep safe and take care.'

'Of course, I will.' Irana's face lit with her luminous smile. 'I told you, that's what I do. I'm one of the caretakers of the world.' The caretaker.

Whom could you trust to make sure all that money was protected and went to charity?

And did Emily have the right to take the responsibility of denying the caretakers of the world?

'What is it?' Irana was studying Emily's expression.

'You can forget this or remember it,' Emily said. 'Your choice. I choose to forget it. Staunton didn't tell me where he hid the hammer. But he was comparing himself constantly with Zelov while we were talking. He was jealous of him. And one of the things that he said was that he wanted to take me to the museum where the hammer had been on exhibit all those years, the one across from the execution house. He wanted me to visit another site of Zelov's failure.'

Irana's eyes widened. 'You actually think he put the hammer back there?'

'Mikhail Zelov wasn't able to find a way to get the hammer out of that museum. Too many guards. Staunton would have been delighted to prove that he could not only put the hammer back somewhere in that museum, but steal it away again whenever it suited him. It would prove he was better than Zelov.' She turned away again. 'Of course, it's just a guess. Do whatever you like with it. Except let it destroy you. That's not one of the choices.'

She didn't look back as she walked toward the elevators.

Four months later People's Museum Ekaterinaburg, Russia

THE HAMMER WAS LYING B E S I D E two huge fake rocks in a dis¬play depicting the progress of man through the centuries. The central figures were a peasant farmer and his wife laboring in the field.

Irana had thought the hammer would have been hidden away somewhere on the premises, but Staunton, with his customary bold¬ness, had chosen to place it on exhibit. Because it would have been harder to retrieve and another taunt at Mikhail Zelov if Staunton managed to do it?

Whatever his reason Irana was sure that the hammer lying on the ground as if carelessly tossed there was Zelov's hammer. It was crude and smaller than she would have thought, but it had a hefty ten-inch wooden handle and an iron head. It looked ancient and primitive but as if it could strike a sharp blow.

Why was she so certain it was Zelov's hammer? Irana wondered. Why had she felt as if she recognized that hammer from the moment she had seen it? 'Why couldn't she force herself to look away from it?

And why has she felt compelled to come back from England to see if Emily had been right about its being here?

Too many questions. But one of those questions had been an¬swered. The others might never be answered.

She finally managed to pull her gaze away, turned, and headed for the front entrance. Her flight to return to England and Peter Joslyn was due to leave in two hours. She needed to be on it.

Two days later

Chadwick Estate, England

'YOU'RE LOOKING MUCH BETTER, Peter,' Irana said as she walked across the terrace toward Joslyn. 'Your color is good, and you appear more relaxed than I've ever seen you. Soon you'll have no need for me.'

'I feel better.' He smiled as he gestured for her to sit down in the chair opposite him. 'Why not? The sun is shining, and it's a beautiful day. My daughter is down from university, and she keeps me young. But I'll always need