the only ones at stake. The information on the disk she carried could lead to the deaths of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands. The moment she’d learned where her research was truly leading, she’d begun looking for ways to halt it. Making a deal with the American government had seemed like the best solution, but what if there had been another way?
Eva touched her lips to Katya’s forehead. The decision had been made, so she couldn’t allow herself any second thoughts. She could only pray this child wouldn’t be made to pay for her mother’s choice.
The truck lurched, then straightened and steadied, as if they had regained the road. As the noise lessened, Eva realized that she could no longer hear any shooting.
The pressure on her shoulder eased as Sergeant Norton straightened his arms, but he didn’t move away yet. His voice came from just above her head. “What do you see out there, junior?”
“Not much except lots of dark,” the man at the rear of the truck replied. “I’d say we lost them. There were three men, maybe four. Vehicle looked like a big sport utility, handled heavy so it’s probably armored.”
“Any damage?”
“It’s hard to tell with this rust bucket, but there’s nothing obvious. They had plenty of firepower but not much accuracy.”
“I’m picking up some chatter.” It was the bald man who spoke, Colbert, the one with the electronic equipment. “It sounds like we ran into a patrol from the research complex, not government troops. They’d be the only paramilitary in this sector. They thought we were smugglers.”
“Then they weren’t trying to hit us, only scare us off,” the man at the tailgate said. Matheson was his name, Eva remembered. As before, he spoke without turning around. “That’s why they broke off the chase. We wouldn’t be their problem once we got out of their area.”
“Hard to say what they would consider their area,” Colbert said. “Intel warned us Ryazan’s enforcing a no-drive zone that covers more territory every year.”
“Well, technically, we are smugglers, Duncan,” Sergeant Norton put in. “The only difference is our contraband came to us.” He brought his head close to Eva’s. His breath was warm on her ear. “Sorry about the excitement back there, Dr. Petrova. How are you doing?”
Unexpected tears sprang to her eyes at the kindness in his tone. She blinked them away, impatient with herself. This man may have saved their lives, yet regardless of his heroic actions, his motive for protecting them hadn’t been personal. He was just following orders. His government wanted her almost as much as they wanted the disk she carried.
She couldn’t afford to trust him. She knew better than to trust any man. “I am fine, thank you.”
He was silent for a moment, then pushed himself off her and patted her shoulder. “Okay, then. And the baby?”
“She appears unhurt.”
“Great. Let me help you sit up.”
“I can manage. We need no special treatment.”
“Dr. Petrova…”
“How much longer—” she grimaced as the truck swayed around a bend “—to the helicopter?”
“Hang on, I’ll find out.” He got to his feet, stepped over her legs and went to crouch beside the electronic equipment. “How’s our timetable?”
“Tighter than I’d like,” Colbert replied. “The detour cost us.”
“Let me see that satellite shot.”
While the men spoke, Eva turned her attention to the task of sitting up. The extra weight from Katya and her bundles of supplies made it more difficult than she’d expected. She groped for the strap that was attached to the side of the truck and used it to haul herself upright. The change in position helped clear her head, but it brought fresh stinging from her waist to her armpit. Though she was no longer being tossed into the air as violently, the road was far from smooth. She felt every rut and pothole. Adding to her discomfort, the wind seemed to have increased since they’d started out, causing the truck to shake with each gust.
Eva took a cleansing breath, closed her eyes to gather her strength and concentrated on breathing shallowly through her mouth, using the same method for mastering pain that had gotten her through childbirth. If she could endure that, she could endure anything, especially a splinter.
Yet what kind of splinter would hurt this much? Or could have penetrated her winter coat? “What’s wrong?”
She opened her eyes to find that Sergeant Norton had returned and was kneeling in front of her. Although her vision had adjusted to the darkness, she still couldn’t see much more of him than his silhouette against the glow from the communication instruments. He looked large and hard, uncompromisingly male, and she had an insane impulse to lean into his chest and feel the shelter of his body once more.
Was she getting delirious? She reminded herself again not to take his concern personally. “How much longer before we reach the helicopter?” she demanded.
“A while yet,” he replied vaguely. He moved closer. “Dr. Petrova, I know you said you were fine, but you don’t look that well.”
“I believe I fell on some wood, that’s all.”
“Hey, Duncan,” he said over his shoulder. “Tell Kurt to ease up for a few minutes.”
“No can do, Jack. Weather’s getting uglier by the minute. We’ve got to hustle.”
“No!” Eva said at the same time. “There is no need to slow down on my account.”
He took a penlight from a pocket on the leg of his pants and clicked it on. “All right,” he said easily. “In the meantime, how about letting me check over the baby? I bet you wouldn’t argue with that.”
He was right. Eva should have thought of that herself. She looked at Katya. The mittens she’d knitted for her had fallen off, as had the cap. Her wispy hair gleamed almost white in the flashlight’s narrow beam, and her face was flushed from her fussing. The sudden light startled her to silence. She looked around restlessly until she spotted Eva’s face and gave a gurgle of recognition.
Eva managed a shaky smile. “There’s my brave girl,” she whispered.
“You did a good job with that carrier you rigged up.” Sergeant Norton pushed apart the edges of her coat as he spoke. “What did you use, anyway?”
“A sheet from my bed. I knew its absence wouldn’t be detected. I did not want to raise suspicions by taking Katya’s stroller.” She panted a few times. “If anyone notices we aren’t in our quarters they’ll assume we couldn’t have gone far.”
“That was good thinking. This carrier would have kept the kid as steady as a seat belt, anyway.” He directed the light at Katya while he ran his free hand over her head and back in a cursory examination. “Did you use the sheet for these extra sacks of stuff, too?”
“Yes. For the same reason.”
“They probably helped cushion her.” He wedged the flashlight between his knees and leaned forward to peel Eva’s coat off her shoulders. “Okay. Your turn.”
She attempted to pull away, but with her back against the side of the truck there was nowhere to go. “You said you were only checking Katya.”
“Hold still. I saw blood on one of those cloth sacks.”
Her heart froze. “Oh, God. No.”
“The blood must be yours, not the baby’s,” he said. “There’s none on that sling except where it goes around your side.” He pulled a folded knife from another pocket and flicked it open. Without any warning, he sliced through the strings that suspended the bundles of spare baby clothes.
She tried to bat his hand away. As she’d learned earlier, though,