Shadow Zone (41 page)

“Thank God,” Hannah whispered.

“They came. I knew they would. I knew it!” Ronnie’s face was luminous as he whirled and ran for the door to the galley. “I’ve got to go tell Melis.”

Hannah turned back to gaze at the dolphins. So much joy. So much life.

“Proud of yourselves, aren’t you?” Hannah said softly as she finally turned away. “Maybe we’re a little proud of you too. Go ahead, you have a good time. Now that we know you’re safe I’ve got to go tell Melis what you’ve been up to.”

EPILOGUE

Two Weeks Later
Marinth Museum
Athens, Greece

“You look beautiful, aunt Hannah.” Ronnie suddenly grinned. “But I like you better in jeans and your faded blue shirt. All that sequin and stuff looks like it belongs to someone else.”

“It does.” She straightened the chocolate brown silk skirt of her gown and stood up from the vanity in Melis’s private suite in the museum. “Melis borrowed it from a designer friend in Rome. A big favor since all his models are size zero and it had to have massive alterations.” She ruffled his hair. “And my shirts are honorably faded by sun, sea, and hard work. So I agree that they suit me much better. Are your mom and sister here yet?”

He nodded. “They’re talking to Melis. She’s showing them the trellis that just arrived from France. Melis’s husband, Jed, flew them here on his private jet. Donna is excited out of her mind that she got to come for the official opening of the museum. Mom bought her a pink dress with lots of ruffles.”

“Then you should be with them.”

He shook his head. “No, they don’t need me.” He gravely offered his arm to her. “I came to escort you down to the party, Aunt Hannah.”

She was touched. “Thank you.” She took his arm. “It’s very kind of you, Ronnie.” She moved toward the door. “And I’ve been thinking that since we’re going to be working together next summer, maybe you should drop the aunt and just call me Hannah. It’s more professional. And it might keep you from taking any flack from the team.”

“Hannah,” he repeated the name tentatively. “Just like Dad.”

“Exactly what Conner called me.” She smiled. “It would have been weird for him to call me anything else. He was my brother, for goodness sake. But suit yourself. I’ll answer to anything.”

“Hannah,” he said again. He gave her a brilliant smile. “I think I’ll like that. I think Dad would like it too.”

She dropped a kiss on the top of his head. “Maybe he would.” They had reached the top of the staircase leading down to the main hall of the museum.

Chatter.

Glittering crystal chandeliers.

Men in tuxedos, women in colorful silk gowns.

Music.

Crowds.

“Oh, Lord,” Hannah said. “Not my cup of tea.”

“I’ll stay with you,” Ronnie said quickly. “But there are lots of people you know. Matthew, Kyle, the whole team. Eugenia, Charlie . . .”

Bless him. He thought she was nervous. “I know.” She started down the stairs. “It’s okay. I have to go to these things occasionally. I just get a little claustrophobic. Give me a fancy party, and I start yearning for sand and sea.”

“Then go out on the balcony. You can see the sea. I saw Kirov out there.”

“Kirov?” Her gaze flew to the French doors. “He’s back?” Kirov had been gone the entire two weeks since that last day at Marinth. She had not heard a word from him, dammit.

Ronnie released her as they reached the bottom of the stairs. “Go out and talk to him. I’ll go get Mom and Donna . . . Hannah.” He disappeared into the crowd.

She stood there a moment, then started for the French doors.

“Hannah.”

She turned to see Eugenia making her way through the gala crowd toward her, with Charlie in tow. She was dressed in a strapless gown of pleated scarlet silk, but it was no more vivid or full of vitality than the woman who was wearing it.

Eugenia gave her a hug. “You look superb. I can almost believe you belong in this high-class fish tank. Melis gave a wonderful party, but she had to invite all her rich benefactors. It causes a certain lack of spontaneity.” She gestured to Charlie. “Does he not look splendid?”

Charlie did look splendid in a tuxedo that was as finely tailored as those of the Greek shipowners across the room. Splendid, darkly handsome, and even . . . sophisticated. He made a face. “She made me do it.”

“You look great, Charlie.” She looked back at Eugenia. “Anna?”

Eugenia shook her head. “She’s still out there somewhere. She must have been tipped off about what happened to Gadaire. Baker said he thinks she flew the coop with close to a hundred million dollars converted to gold and other liquid securities.”

“Damn.”

“I’ll find her,” Charlie said quietly. “It will take time, but I’ll kill that bitch.”

Hannah believed him. Charlie was beginning to become a formidable force. “Be careful. She reminds me of Medusa with her head of writhing snakes. There are too many ways for her to strike at you.”

“But he’s learning all the best ways to cut off Medusa’s head.” Eugenia beamed. “Charlie’s making great progress. In the meantime, he’s going to New York with me to apprentice at slightly less violent endeavors.”

“When do you leave?”

“After the gala.” She glanced at the balcony. “Kirov was looking for you. He told me he brought you a present.”

“What?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. But being Kirov, I’m certain it will be unusual.” She kissed her cheek. “I will see you later. Come on, Charlie. I hear there is going to be some kind of glorious ring of fire exhibit on the veranda shortly. The Marinthians were supposed to have used it at their ceremonial functions.”

“Interesting,” Hannah said absently. She started for the French doors.

“I can see that you’re positively fascinated by the prospect,” Eugenia said. “Tell Kirov that he must bring you. Melis will be disappointed if you don’t show.”

“I’ll be there.” She opened the French doors. Kirov was standing twenty yards away bathed in the golden glow of the Aegean twilight. Powerful, dark, vital, in stark contrast to the softness of the light all around him.

Her heart was pounding. Keep cool, dammit. She mustn’t be so vulnerable.

He turned to face her. “I came back.” He smiled. “I kept my promise. See how I’ve improved?”

“Sort of.” She came toward him. “No explanations. Just ‘see you’ and ‘don’t worry, I’ll be back.’ ”

“I explained. I told you I had a few things to do.”

“One of them wouldn’t have been getting Baker to call off Lieutenant Sandford and AquaCorp from trying to do a hatchet job on me? They’ve been amazingly low-key. Not a looming jail sentence in sight.”

“We had a few discussions. It’s interesting what physical threats and a little blackmail can do to improve a situation.”

“Blackmail?”

“I pulled out all the stops, from a juicy little tidbit I learned about Baker’s investigational techniques to threats of a media blitz about the Navy sacrificing the glory of Marinth on the altar of modern warfare.”

“And would it have hurt you to have told me what you were going to do?”

“I’m making good progress. You mustn’t expect too much of me.”

“Why not?” She stopped before him and gazed into his eyes. “I want to be able to expect everything from you. I’m tired of being cautious and understanding and—”

“Understanding?”

“Well, maybe not. I don’t have that much patience. But I’d like to work on it.”

He tilted his head. “I believe I’m seeing a change in attitude. Is that true?”

“It’s possible.”

“
Ya blagadaryu boga,
” he said softly.

“Now don’t go spouting Russian to me. You did that before and then took off into the wild blue yonder.”

“I was just thanking God for his miracles.” He reached out and touched her cheek. “This particular miracle.”

“Don’t touch me. Not yet. I have to know where all of this is going. I’m not going to try to tie you down, but I have to know that I’m not just a—I have to mean something to you.”

“Where is this going?” Kirov repeated. “Somewhere solid, somewhere warm, somewhere magical. I’ve wanted to make love to you. I’ve wanted to kill for you. I’ve wanted to protect you. I want to stay with you and listen to you and have your nephew tell you how wonderful I am.” He nodded. “I’d think that would indicate that you mean something to me. Oh yes, I believe I may be much farther along than you on this journey, Hannah.”

Somewhere solid, somewhere warm, somewhere magical.

“Not necessarily,” she said unevenly. “You’re so good at all those pretty phrases. But I’m much more grounded than you are. And I’ve had time to think. Heaven knows you were gone long enough. I was a little insecure when you took off this time, but I got over it. I thought about how we’d been together and I decided you’d be an idiot not to give us a try. I believe you may genuinely care for me. I know I care for you.”

He smiled. “Are you afraid of the word love, Hannah?”

“I’m wary of it. I want you to be wary of it. Before I say it, I want time to explore every single facet of it. Are you good with that?”

“Oh yes, I’m all for exploration.” He bent, and his lips touched hers. “Every single part of you.”

“That sounds purely sexual.”

“Yes. We can address the cerebral and spiritual later.” He kissed her again. “I want to encourage you in the proper direction. Because I believe I’m about to be seduced. Is that a possibility?”

“Yes.”

“Then should I step back and let you do it?”

“No, it’s not easy for me. I think we’d better just let it happen.” She put her hand on his throat. “Your heart’s beating so hard,” she whispered. “I love to feel it . . .”

“It’s about to jump out of my chest.” He took her hand away from him and kissed the palm. “And unless you want to do something socially unacceptable on this balcony, we’d better get out of here.”

She couldn’t breathe. She was so dizzy it was hard to think. “Melis. We have to go see her ring of fire.”

“The hell we do.” He drew a deep breath. “Yes, as a matter of fact, we do.” He took her wrist and started to pull her toward the veranda. “I received permission from Melis to use her giant ring to give you your present.”

“What?”

They had reached the veranda, and in the center was a huge upright ring lit with orange-red flames. Guests were just beginning to trickle in from the museum, and they had no trouble reaching the area before the ring.

“What are we doing here?” Hannah asked.

Kirov took out a large brown envelope from his inner jacket pocket and handed it to her. “The last samples of TK44. I got them from Gadaire’s safe and Lampman’s lab. Baker’s men were all over both places, and it took a while for me to manage to get them. But I knew you’d want them.”

She nodded. “And so will Melis. She destroyed all of the TK44 she had at the labs. It’s dangerous having them out there. Aziz’ remedy is a breakthrough, and we know it works because he tried it out on Lampman’s polluted pond in Ireland and it completely eradicated the alga. But we have to be as certain as we can be that it’s all been totally destroyed.”

He half bowed. “Then would you like to do the honors?”

She took the envelope. “By all means.” She stepped closer to the flames. “Do you know, this is somehow right. TK44 alga destroyed Marinth. Now it’s being destroyed by one of Marinth’s symbols.” Slowly, one by one, she dropped the samples into the fire. She tossed the envelope in after them and stood there watching the flames devour the alga. “Death of Marinth. Death of TK44.”

“Oh, Hannah, you’re so wrong,” Kirov said softly. “Marinth’s still alive. She’s only sleeping.” He took her hand and began leading her from the veranda and down the steps. “Ask the dolphins . . .”