“Are you okay? You sound a little shaky.”

“I have a sore neck from a karate chop, and I’m angry and scared that Zander has set off a chain of events that we won’t be able to stop.”

“Karate chop?” Gallo echoed. “Zander? I believe that I need to—”

“Stop it, Gallo. That’s not important. Where are you and Joe? I’m at the Appleton Arms. I’ll pack and come to you.”

“No, we’ll come to you. What room?”

“Two-forty.”

“Stay where you are. Is anyone with you?”

“Stang.”

“That’s no protection. He’s in Zander’s pocket. We’ll be right there.”

“I don’t need your protection,” she said testily. “Though I was a fool about—”

Gallo had hung up.

Stang smiled. “I take it that Gallo doesn’t accept me as a suitable guardian for you. Very perceptive. Now, if the roles were reversed…”

“You’re employed by Zander. You have a certain loyalty to him.” She dropped down in a chair. “You could be as tough as Rambo, and Gallo would still not trust you.”

“Rambo. Rather dated but descriptive.” He grinned. “And no one would recognize me with a machete between my teeth. I never wanted to be anything but what I am. An accountant with a talent for the stock market.” He studied her. “Could I get you a glass of water, a cup of coffee? You still don’t look so hot.”

“I’m fine. I’m just angry with myself.”

“I’ll get you the water anyway.” He disappeared into the bathroom and came out with a glass of water. “You shouldn’t be upset.” He handed her the glass. “It was a lost cause to begin with. Zander is a law unto himself.”

“Bullshit.” She took a sip of water. “He’s a law until someone stops him. It will happen someday. It’s only a matter of time.” She met his eyes. “And then you’ll be looking for another job.”

“Yes.”

“Would it be a relief? I’ve watched you with Zander, and I can’t figure out your relationship. You’re on edge with him, and yet…” She shrugged. “You’d be much more comfortable if you didn’t have to deal with him.”

“Without doubt. But he does make life interesting. Now, I’m not one to embrace challenges, but I got used to walking the tightrope.” He added softly, “And you do love challenges, and being with Zander gave you a jolt of adrenaline, didn’t it?”

“I don’t need any jolts of adrenaline.”

He gazed at her quizzically.

“All right, I admit that he’s … unique.” She added, “But if you don’t like challenges, why did you come to work for him?”

“It seemed the thing to do at the time.”

“You’re evading answering. Money?”

“No, money was never a problem for me. The stock market is usually my friend. Are you sure you don’t want a cup of coffee?”

“No, I don’t. I want you to answer me.”

“Why are you so curious?”

“I’m not curious, I’m on the hunt,” she said curtly. “Zander took me down, but he left me with you. You’re all I’ve got right now. I may be able to use you in some way to get my own back and find Zander.” She shook her head in despair. “If Doane doesn’t already have him.”

“The chances are Doane does have him. Because that’s the way Zander wanted it.” He added gently, “And that may not be as bad as you’re thinking. Zander always has a plan.”

“And will that plan include Eve? Talk to me. Help me. Tell me everything you know about Zander. I tried to convince myself that he wanted her to live, but how can I be sure, dammit?”

“You can’t be sure.” He was silent a moment, his gaze on her face before he finally said, “You want to know why I came to work for Zander? Didn’t Venable tell you anything about me? I’m surprised he didn’t share. I’m sure he dug deep and hard about everyone surrounding Zander to find something he could use to manipulate him.” He grimaced. “But no one really regards me as being important in that area. No influence. I was probably just being watched to make sure I wouldn’t kill Zander at an inconvenient time.”

“Kill him?”

“My parents and my brother, Sean, ran a medical missionary in Africa. Good people. I loved them, but I didn’t understand them. They didn’t care about money or possessions and were perfectly satisfied working at that mission. On the other hand, I lived in New York, and I was fascinated by the game of acquiring money. I was very good at it.”

“What has this to do with Zander?”

“Patience. A terrorist group overthrew the tribal leaders in the village, and the mission and everyone connected to it were murdered. My parents were lucky. They were killed almost immediately. My brother Sean was taken prisoner and held for four days. He was not lucky. When they finally let me see him in the hospital, he was praying to die. After I saw him, I prayed with him. He died that night.”

His tone was without expression but Catherine could feel his pain. “I’m sorry.”

“So was I. Sorry and angry and wanting revenge. The government had rounded up the terrorists except for their leader, Abu Karr. He was in hiding in the jungle. No one could find him. The entire country was in an uproar about the massacre, and the president and his government were about to topple. The president was very dirty and involved with the pirates who raided the sea-lanes. He knew he had to give the people Abu Karr’s head to save his own. The American ambassador told Sean and me there was a rumor the president had hired Zander to go after Abu Karr and kill him.”

“And he did it?”

“Abu Karr was found shot in the head outside his cave. There was some controversy about whether Zander did it or not. The president claimed one of his generals found him and fired the shot. Zander was nowhere in the vicinity. A week later, the president was assassinated. So the question was did Zander kill the terrorist, then kill the president when he refused to pay? Or was the ambassador wrong, and Zander was not involved at all?”

“And what difference did it make?” Catherine said. “The beast was dead.”

“It made a difference to my brother,” he said quietly. “And that made a difference to me. Before he died, Sean made me promise that if Zander managed to kill Abu Karr, I would try to keep him safe, that I would never leave him until the day he died.”

“But you said you didn’t know if he killed him.”

“I still don’t. But I had to try to find out. I had money. I told you that was easy for me. I hired ballistic experts, and they studied the shot that killed Abu Karr. It was done at an extremely difficult angle, and the shooter would have had to be a magnificent shot. I hired local private detectives, and they found people who had seen a man of his description in two of the villages that bordered the jungle. It took a long time to get the report because Zander is like a shadow figure. I bribed people in the CIA, and they confirmed that Zander was in Africa at the time. They’d even had an agent report that Zander had something to do with the uprising.” He shrugged. “No proof either way, and Zander would never admit to anything. So I was left with making the decision myself.”

“And you went to work for him.”

“I thought the chances were good that he’d killed Abu Karr, and I had to keep my promise. I figured that I might be able to find some more concrete evidence if I worked for him. So I changed my name and applied for the job of his accountant.”

“And did you find any other evidence?”

“No.” He made a face. “As Venable must have told you, Zander doesn’t confide in anyone, and he certainly wouldn’t leave records around concerning his ‘business.’”

“You fooled him all these years?”

He shook his head. “I think he found out soon after he hired me, but he never mentioned it. I’m sure that he knew that the CIA had spread rumors of a report about his possible involvement in the terrorist uprising. I believe the situation intrigued him.”

“I can see how it might,” Catherine said. “Twisted bastard that he is.” She smiled without mirth. “I told him that I was his bodyguard. There’s a certain black humor about the fact that you’ve been acting in that capacity all these years.”