“I know exactly how we got on the subject. My mind is never very far from it. It just kind of slid into it. Of course there’s no way we’d leave Sasha alone to deal with them. I’ll work on it.” He shook his head. “Correction: We’ll work on it. But we can’t do anything to stop them until we manage to get to Jubaldar. However, the options for finding it are multiplying. We have the hack on Reardon’s phone, and we know he intends to join Masenak for the race in two weeks. Vogel might be able to arrange to follow him. If that doesn’t pan out, we might still be able to do what we planned and locate it by using one of the village workers. I’ll call Gilroy this evening and see what progress he’s making at Samlir. Margaret will join us tomorrow and you said that the two of you should be able to track down that other village.” He smiled. “What are you worried about? We’re golden. All we have to do is wait for one of those options to drop in our laps.”

“Yeah, we’re golden. What was I thinking?” She forced a smile. “After all, this is nothing after I conquered the cockroaches.” She finished her coffee. “I want to look at that map again and then I guess we should break out the rations.”

“I’ll do it.” He turned away. “But first I need you to take off your shirt and bra.”

“What?”

“You were a little too determined about losing that sling from now on. I won’t be able to talk you out of it, so I have to examine that wound and make certain the bandage isn’t going to give you any trouble. Any objection?”

She frowned and then started to carefully remove the sling. “No, I guess it’s a sensible precaution.”

“Glad you think so. But then I knew you would, since you’re such a sensible woman. Always doing what’s necessary…” He was reaching into his backpack for a bottle of water and the first-aid kit. “Sit down by the fire. Let’s get it over with.”

She’d already removed her shirt. “You’ll have to help me with the bra. You should have told whoever bought these clothes for me to get a front opening.”

“The discussion never came up.” He unfastened the bra and slipped it carefully off her shoulders. “Just another mistake I made in my dealings with you. I’ll remember next time.”

“But then I might not need it. I could manage it if I didn’t have this wound.” She stepped back and took the bra from him. “You said you wanted me to sit by the fire?”

“Did I? I don’t remember.” He was staring at her breasts. “Beautiful…”