Deadlock

you, Irana. My wife is convinced you saved my life.'

'She's right; I'm a very good doctor.' She amended, 'Well, I helped. God gave me the skill, and your family gave you the reason to fight. You're very lucky, Peter.'

'Yes, I am. Not only to have you as my doctor, but also as my friend. I missed you while you were gone. You must think I'm doing better if you thought I was well enough for you to leave me.'

'I had some business that I had to take care of, and you were be¬ginning to resent my hovering.'

'I didn't resent you. As I said, I know I'm lucky.' He looked down at the newspaper in front of him. 'Luckier than Emily. Why don't they leave her alone?'

Irana glanced at the photo. 'Ferguson is feeding the frenzy. But she'll be fine. She just has to get through it. She's very strong.'

'Yes.' His gaze went to the beautifully manicured lawns stretching out before them. 'I wish she'd let me help her.'

'I know you do,' Irana said. 'So do I. But friends sometimes have to step back.'

'She doesn't regard me as a friend.' His expression clouded. 'Who can blame her after all I've done to her? She went through hell, and I'm going to get off scot-free. I wish Ferguson hadn't been quite so ef¬ficient in erasing my involvement. I should be punished.'

'You are being punished,' Irana said. 'Your soul is scarred, and you're suffering. You've lost your friend, Dimitri. You live with regret and guilt. That's great punishment, Peter.'

'Not enough.'

'Then God will have to decide. I hear you're planning on going back to Ethiopia on a mission as soon as you're able.'

He nodded. 'To help the children. Dimitri would want me to do it.'

'Yes, he wanted desperately to help the children, didn't he? One of the last things he said to me was that he had to protect the hammer and protect the children.' She followed his gaze to the rolling green lawns. 'It was a rather odd phrasing. I didn't think anything of it at the time. It was only later that I began to wonder. I had plenty of time, staying here in your lovely home for these months.' She could sense the slight stiffening of his body. 'There were so many things that puzzled me.'

'Really? I thought everything had pretty well been explained.'

'Yes, so many explanations about the Tsar and Zelov and the great, grand fortune that everyone was after. All that was clear to me.'

Joslyn's expression was distinctly wary. 'And what was not?'

'The Tsar. He never trusted Zelov, but he accepted the hammer to hide that final amulet. Why?'

'Zelov convinced him that it was lucky, that it would bring him good fortune.'

'And Zelov had been working for years, trying to use the hammer to cement his influence with the Tsar. That was only the last and most successful attempt. Why would he think that he could gain power in that way?'

'I have no idea.' Joslyn looked away from her. 'Why don't you tell me?'

'Nicholas II was extremely religious.'

'That's no secret. Oh, yes, I remember that Zelov told the Tsar the hammer had been blessed by Rasputin.'

'Yes, but that was almost an afterthought. Zelov had already pre¬pared the way with the Tsar.'

'You're talking a great deal about this hammer.'

'Because it always seemed strange to me that you and Bishop Dimitri would be so determined to get the hammer back.' She paused. 'Even for the money to help a world of children. '

His gaze shifted back to her. 'What are you saying, Irana?'

'I'm saying the Tsar's fortune would lure most people. Not you, not Bishop Dimitri, not Bishop Nartova. So it had to be something else.'

'Of course, it did. To keep Mikhail Zelov from getting the money, then to keep it away from other factions. Like Staunton.'

Irana shook her head. 'Plausible. Not enough.'

'Then what?'

'The hammer itself,' she said quietly. 'I think that when Mikhail Zelov went to Bishop Nartova, he told him something that made it certain that he'd get his money to become a king in America.'

'Really? What would that be?'

'Zelov was obsessed with the hammer. He'd brought it back from Jerusalem. He thought it gave him power. Add it all together. What hammer could he have unearthed in the Holy Land that would make him think that?'

She could see the pulse leap in Joslyn's temple. He didn't answer for a long moment. 'You're talking about the Crucifix. Very far¬fetched, Irana.'

'Yes, it stunned me when I realized that's where it was leading. Far-fetched and probably completely impossible to prove. But I think Bishop Nartova must have believed Mikhail Zelov enough to try to do anything to keep it away from him. The hammer could represent the holiest of sacrifices, but Zelov was using it for greed and evil. Nar¬tova couldn't bear the thought of risking the chance that the hammer in Zelov's possession was the one used on that day.' She shook her head. 'And neither could Bishop Dimitri. Nartova probably confided his suspicions to him, and your friend wanted only to protect it from the Zelovs of the world.'

'If you're correct, it would seem that it all went wrong,' Joslyn said.

'Bishop Dimitri was trying to make it right.'

'You're saying that there's no amulet in that hammer, no Tsar's fortune?'

'No, I believe that the Tsar did use it for that purpose. But it wasn't the treasure you and Dimitri and Nartova were protecting.'

Joslyn stared her in the eye. 'I'm not admitting anything to you, Irana.'

'I know. Bishop Dimitri probably made you swear not to mention it to anyone,' Irana said gently. 'And you'd never break your word.'

'No, if I gave my word, I'd never break it,' Joslyn said. 'And you're right, it could never be proved, but it could cause endless conflict and turmoil if even the possibility of its existence was mentioned.'

'I agree. That's what has been troubling me.' She smiled slightly. 'And that's why I decided to talk to you about it.'

'It shouldn't trouble you. The hammer has disappeared and may never be found again. That bastard Staunton must have hidden it very well.'

Irana nodded. 'Yes, I believe you're right about that. He did hide it well.'

'Then what are you going to do?' Joslyn's voice was urgent. 'Leave it alone, Irana. You know what an uproar you could start if you begin making statements that even hint at what you're saying.'

'I'm not one to hint at anything, Peter. I have a tendency to say everything with deplorable frankness.'

'Not so deplorable except in this case.'

'You're still trying to protect the hammer, Peter. You don't have to protect it from me.'

'I have to protect it for Dimitri. I have to do what he'd want me to do. If there was any truth in your supposition, Dimitri would have said that if the hammer is ever found, it would be better to use the Tsar's fortune for good and not address the question of the origin of the hammer at all. Leave it to God to decide.'

'I try to do that, but sometimes God wants us to handle things ourselves.'

'Not now,' Joslyn said emphatically. 'Don't do it, Irana.'

Was he right? Her heart and soul were leaning toward helping those children just as Bishop Dimitri had wanted to do. But to throw the Christian world into conflict over the hammer would be a terrible thing to do. It was what Zelov and Staunton would have loved to have happen.

And there were so many questions, and some answers, Joslyn didn't even know about. He thought the hammer was still lost, and that would have postponed any decision. She had not really come to Joslyn for advice, she had just wanted confirmation and to share a heavy bur¬den. It had probably not been fair to him. She had always shouldered her own burdens, and in the end this would be no exception.

Irana once more gazed out at the verdant lawns and brilliant blue sky. It was a day so beautiful that you wanted to tuck it into your memory to hold forever. She had many of those memories from Mykala. Each day was a gift and a blessing.

Why was she worrying when she had already been given so many gifts? She must only clear her mind of all