Shadows painted the space between the trees, lengthening with the coming evening.The impatient voices of the sepoys and the crunch of their boots felt like an intrusion thatthe Dandakaranya did not welcome.
The men set up camp with practiced efficiency.Ellie had quickly determined that she was unlikely to find allies among them here as she had in British Honduras.These weren’t hired hands simply along for a paycheck.They were rigorously disciplined professional soldiers trained to follow Borthwick’s orders.
Only Singh Rao was fluent in English.The sepoys conversed in Punjabi, a language Ellie could barely recognize, never mind speak.
To her surprise, Kalb had stayed by her side all day.As she sat on a rock by the edge of the camp, he stood sentinel by her knee, occasionally letting out a mournful sigh.She might almost think that the animal felt responsible for protecting Ellie while Adam was away.
Ellie gave in and rubbed him between his ears.The dog panted happily at the attention—then stiffened, going still.
She slowly turned her head to see Jacobs standing beside her.
He wore his usual plain black suit and waistcoat, despite the lingering heat of the afternoon.Ellie couldn’t see even a gleam of sweat on his skin—unlike Dawson, whom she could hear complaining about the climate from across the camp.She wondered if Jacobs could compel his pores to behave by sheer force of will.
“I assume the day hasn’t gone quite the way you planned,” Jacobs commented mildly, keeping his eyes on the sepoys.
The fact that he remained standing while Ellie sat on the rock left her feeling uncomfortably vulnerable.She supposed that was deliberate.This wasn’t a casual chat.Jacobs had come for a reason—which made this conversation dangerous.
“You might say that,” Ellie returned carefully.
“I do hope you’re not expecting me to stand by while you sabotage this expedition.”
Ellie’s mind spun as she absorbed the significance of his words.Clearly, Jacobs assumed that she and Adam had come intending to get in Borthwick’s way.That conclusion was perfectly logical… if Jacobs had no idea about their connection to Vanika.
And he didn’t, Ellie realized with an unsteady wash of relief.He wouldn’t have seen Vanika with them.So far as he knew, she was just a girl from the village who had gotten herself in over her head.
If he figured out she was more than that, everything would change.Jacobs wouldn’t hesitate to use the child as leverage to force Ellie and Adam to get out of his way.
Ellie had to keep their interest in Vanika a secret… and she was talking with a man who would know the minute she lied.
The threat of that settled over her.Ellie swallowed thickly and forced herself to go on.“You helped us on the bridge.”
“Don’t mistake that for anything more than it was.”
“And what was it?”
“I kept you free of bullets—for the moment.If you’d like to stay that way, you’d best figure out how to extricate yourselves from this situation.”
“I’ll take that into consideration,” Ellie coolly replied.
Jacobs gave a dark, tired chuckle.“Sure, you will.”
Ellie took a chance, keeping her voice even.“What about the girl?What’s she doing here?”
“She’s our guide.”Jacobs’ voice dripped with irony.
“You don’t sound convinced of that.”
“Why should I be?She’s lying.”
Ellie’s pulse thudded dangerously.“Then why hasn’t Borthwick gotten rid of her?”
Jacobs’ expression iced with a brief flash of anger.“The colonel does not share my assessment of the situation.”
Surprise pushed the words from Ellie’s lips before she could think better of them.“You mean he doesn’t know what you can do.”
Jacobs was no longer pretending to watch the soldiers as they set up the tents.“I’m not sure I know what you mean.”
Ellie recognized the words as a warning—and ignored it.She was too caught up in the implication of what he had just inadvertently revealed.
