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He lays his hand on my head and I'm filled with euphoria, warmth emanating from his fingers. Soon, the flow of blood slows and then dries up.
"Seems to have stopped," he says. Soren hooks his hand under my arm, helping me to my feet. The light-headedness is gone. "See your neurologist or ENT when you return to Boston, Eve," he says, his voice soft. "Get that CAT Scan repeated. You had a benign tumor in your sinuses causing those headaches and dizziness. It's gone."
"How do you know?"
He smiles at me. "I just have the gift. You need something to eat. Let me take you to my favorite food stall."
I'm too shocked to argue and let him lead me through the thronging crowds, which seem to part just for him. The vendor sells flat bread and spicy meat and vegetables, and I eat a plate with the bread and vegetables, glad that my dizziness is gone, whatever the cause.
"So, Eve," he says as we walk back to the building where the talks are being held. "The Council sent you to watch me?"
"Why are you here? Is Michel here with you?"
He shrugs. "Work. And no, Michel isn’t here. Don't get your little hopes up." He opens a door to an office, ushering me inside and stands directly in front of me, his hands splayed on his hips."Well, here I am.I'm yours.Ask me anything."
He can't be serious. He’s just taunting me again. A knock on the door interrupts us.
"Come."
A uniformed man enters and nods politely when he sees me.
"Sorry to interrupt, Colonel, but the General wants to speak with you in his office."
"I'll be right there."
The man nods and leaves us alone.
"We'll have to talk some other time. What about a late supper tonight? I'll be in conference all day, and we won't be breaking until 2100 hours. We could talk then, then maybe I'll get you off my back."
He smiles and I stutter something incomprehensible and realize I've agreed to meet him later at the hotel. He shows me out of the office, one hand on my back as if I'm a prized secretary.
"Until later."
The door closes behind me and I wander back to the office to find Sharon waiting.
"Where the heck were you? You shouldn't leave the grounds without me."
I sit on the couch and check to make sure Agent Crosby has his earphones on.
"I just spoke with Soren. He bought me lunch in the market."
She raises her eyebrows. "Well, I guess we can report that you made contact with our target."
"I'm meeting him for dinner at the hotel. I hope you'll be there somewhere in the background."
"Count on it."
The peace talks go on all afternoon.I sit in the foyer across from the main conference room, waiting for the talks to end so I can see and hear Soren and the other officials answer questions from members of the international press. The halls are deserted. Everyone is in the conference room, and it isn't slated to end for another quarter of an hour, but the small office to which Crosby and I have been relegated is hot and cramped.I sit in the cool dimness of the corridor and sip a cup of hot tea Sharon purchased in the market.
Then, Soren and a couple of officials emerge from a room and walk down the long halls.Soren stands in the midst of them as if he's the center of importance.I wonder how he's able to weasel his way into the realm of power so easily, as if this is second nature to him. His face is turned to talk with one official beside him.They speak to each other, serious about the topic of conversation.
Then a figure emerges from a stairwell and something about the man catches my attention. He carries a jacket over his arm and my muscles tense.Soren looks up and must have seen the same thing I do.The man yells something at Soren in an unintelligible language.Then a white-hot flash fills the hallway followed by a huge concussion that knocks me back against the wall. The ceiling collapses around us and the noise is deafening.
Then blackness.
When I regain consciousness, I'm being carried. Stars still sparkle in front of my eyes but I can see. Soren lays me down on a bench and kneels in front of me, wiping blood off my face. At first, an eerie quiet pervades the hallway, but then I realized it's my hearing. My eardrums have been temporarily damaged. Soon, muffled sounds return. Soren holds my head in his hands, checking me, examining my eyes. I feel warmth pervade my skull, and a sense of calmness descends over me.
All around us are bodies and debris. When the dust clears, ambulance personnel come into focus and I watch as they tend to the injured. Stone from the collapsed wall forms mounds between the fallen. The conference room is in big chunks, and sirens wail.
