Free Shadow Zone by Iris Johansen, Roy Johansen Page A

told you, the artifacts she’s brought up are valuable but not priceless.”
    “Something about your work here attracted Gadaire. He’s definitely involved.”
    “That’s insane,” Melis said. “We’re not doing anything that you can’t watch on the Discovery Channel.”
    “I guarantee Gadaire isn’t interested in the Discovery Channel. What else are you doing that could be important to him?”
    Melis shook her head. “Nothing.” She frowned. “A weapons dealer? Around the time we discovered Marinth, there was some thought that their ancient technology could be harnessed as a weapon. It was impressive, but in the end it was too inefficient to be used that way. I really don’t think the Marinthians possessed anything that Gadaire could use.”
    “What you think doesn’t matter,” Baker said tersely. “It’s what Gadaire might think, even if he’s wrong. You said this stained-glass piece was important to you. Could it have been just as important to him?”
    She shook her head. “It’s important only from a historical perspective. We’ve put together almost all the pieces regarding their civilization except the last one. Thousands of people have been studying Marinth ever since we found it, but no one knows how the civilization died out.”
    “The island sunk, right?”
    Melis made a face. “You probably saw that awful TV miniseries, with waves crashing over the island while the residents tried to escape. We do believe the actual submersion was caused by a tsunami that happened in the Canaries. But that was the last tragedy that took place. Marinth was already dying before that catastrophe. It was almost a ghost town at the time of the tsunami. We don’t know what happened to them, or if it was disease, invading armies, or some other natural catastrophe that cleared out this place. Whatever it was, the tsunami was only the final deathblow. The Marinthians documented everything, but until yesterday, we didn’t think anyone had recorded what ended their civilization. Once we restore the trellis, it might tell us exactly what we’ve been looking for.”
    “Or maybe what Gadaire is looking for.” Baker glanced at Hannah. “I wonder if I may speak to Ms. Bryson alone for a moment.”
    Melis started to leave, but Hannah put a hand on her arm. “No, anything you want to say to me, you can say in front of her. This is her city, dammit. It’s her artifact that was stolen. Melis and I have been friends for years. If you want to talk to me, she stays.”
    His lips tightened. “This is a national security matter. The choice isn’t yours to make, Ms. Bryson.”
    “Then we’re done here, Baker. Good luck with your case.”
    Baker cursed under his breath. He pulled up a pair of pictures on the computer and displayed them side by side on his tablet. He swung them around toward Hannah and Melis. “Go ahead, look. Not the prettiest pictures, are they?”
    Hannah instinctively recoiled. The photos were of two male corpses, one in a small boat, the other floating in a canal. Blood covered the seat of the boat and drenched the corpse.
    Blood. She had a sudden memory of her brother’s blood-soaked body the night he died.
    Push it away. These bodies had nothing to do with that horrible night when Conner had been shot. Focus on the here and now.
    She looked up at Baker. “Gadaire killed them?”
    “No. They’re victims of a friend of yours.” He paused. “Nicholas Kirov.”
    Kirov.
    She felt as if she’d been punched in the stomach. Baker’s gaze was on her face. The arrogant bastard had obviously hoped to get a reaction from her. Don’t let him see he’d scored. She was determined to deny him that pleasure.
    She stifled the shock and tried to keep her face without expression. “What do you want me to say? I don’t know anything about this.” She paused. “But in my experience of him, Kirov never killed anyone who didn’t deserve it.”
    “That gives him the right to act as judge, jury, and