The Phoenix Encounter by Linda Castillo Page A

the hospital,” she said. “His sister is pregnant. The general is fanatical about his sister’s unborn child because that child will become his only heir.”
    â€œDoes DeBruzkya know who you are?” he asked.
    Lily turned to look at him, her expression troubled and stubborn at once. And suddenly Robert got a very bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.
    â€œDoes he know who you are?” he repeated.
    â€œHe knows my face.”
    Robert cursed.
    â€œHe doesn’t know I’m with the freedom fighters,” she said quickly.
    â€œDoes he know what you do?”
    She stared at him, a hunted animal trapped in the crosshairs of a high powered rifle. “No.”
    He scrubbed a hand over his jaw. “I can’t believe you would do something so incredibly foolhardy.”
    â€œRobert, I can handle this. I know what I’m do—”
    â€œYou’re so far over your head you don’t know up from down,” he growled.
    â€œI’m not afraid of him,” she snapped.
    He shot her a hard look. “You’re too damn smart not to be afraid.”
    She evidently didn’t have anything to say to that, so she turned away. Robert contemplated her in profile, liking what he saw even though he was dangerously furious.
    He wanted to believe he was just being paranoid, but his instincts were telling him there was a hell lot more to the situation than what she was letting on.
    Lily was lying to him. She was hiding something important. Something dangerous. And for the first time in his life Robert found himself hoping his instincts were wrong.

Chapter 3
    L ily’s knees trembled as she walked down the narrow hall toward the main room of the cottage. Robert had only been there an hour, and already she was a wreck. She honestly didn’t know how she was going to get through this. It was bad enough having Robert in the cottage, dredging up all the old emotions. But it was infinitely worse knowing Jack could be seriously ill. She’d suffered so many losses in her life. She didn’t think she could bear it if something happened to her precious child.
    In the last hour it seemed as if every nerve in her body had been stripped bare and exposed. Every new bit of information had those nerves jumping like a bad tooth prodded with a sharp instrument. Her entire world had been rocked off its foundation when she’d seen Robert standing on her porch, glaring at her with those cool blue eyes.
    Because she couldn’t seem to get herself settled down, Lily took a few minutes to stack some logs on the grate in the hearth. When the fire was blazing and she finally ran out of things to do, she turned to face Robert. He’d takenone of two chairs and was staring at her intently, as if she were a puzzle that had just befuddled him.
    â€œStop looking at me that way,” she snapped.
    â€œI’m just trying to figure out what you’ve gotten yourself into since I left.”
    â€œI haven’t gotten myself into anything.”
    â€œYeah, I guess you blindfold all your visitors.”
    â€œThat’s just a precaution. In case you haven’t noticed there’s a civil war going on.”
    â€œI’ve noticed,” he shot back. “I’ve noticed a lot of things since I’ve been here, and I’ve yet to get a straight answer out of you about any of them.”
    She tried to laugh but didn’t quite manage.
    â€œWhat the hell are you up to, Lily?”
    â€œI don’t know what you’re talking about.”
    â€œThe bits and pieces I’m getting from you don’t fit,” he said. “Why don’t you tell me the whole story?”
    She glared at him. “And what story would that be?”
    â€œThe one that explains what you’re still doing in this godforsaken country with an innocent child in tow.”
    Because she was much more comfortable with anger than any of the other emotions boiling inside her, she