Epilogue

A beep woke Annja, but it was accompanied by the very definite feeling she was being watched. Blearily, she shifted in the chair and cracked her eyes open, wanting to check on Roux.

For the last three days, she'd been his constant companion in the hospital. She was irritated because she thought she'd have been used to all the beeps from the hospital machinery by now.

During those three days, Roux hadn't woken at all. Not even for a minute. Garin had left them at the dig site, before the emergency medical people had arrived. He'd told her that Roux would be fine, that he'd seen the old man survive worse.

But the doctors had told Annja that Roux had lost so much blood – in addition to a broken leg and internal injuries – that they didn't know if he would come out of the coma.

At first there'd been a lot of questions asked by the Chinese police in Shanghai after Roux had been transferred to the hospital. Then an attorney who claimed he represented Roux arrived and made all the questions go away. He spoke with Annja, too, explaining how to get hold of him if she needed anything.

For the last two days, everyone at the hospital had left her alone. Annja was happy with that. She didn't know what to say anyhow. Professor Hu had most of the story and had interfaced with the police.

When she looked at Roux, she expected him to be sleeping comfortably. Instead he was staring right at her. A look of apprehension tightened his features.

Roux glared at all the medical equipment around him. He cursed. "You'd think someone had been hurt."

Relieved at the fighting spirit so evident in Roux's voice, Annja laughed.

"I think they thought you were going to die," she said.

"Fools. It's going to take more than a few bullets to kill me."

How much more? Annja couldn't help thinking.

"Did they say when I could get out of here?" Roux demanded.

"No."

"Well, we'll have to see about that, won't we?"

"If you try to get out of that bed, I'm going to kick your skinny butt."

"Oh, so that's how it's going to be."

"Yes."

Roux looked around the room. "I seem to have a shortage of visitors."

"I think Garin would be here if he could. There were going to be too many questions from the police."

Roux closed his eyes and breathed deeply. When he spoke, his voice was soft. "I judged him too harshly."

"When you needed him, he was there. Garin carried you out of the City of Thieves. He could have left you." That had amazed Annja, and she'd spent considerable time thinking about that when she wasn't worrying about Roux.

"No, he couldn't have. He got me to agree to a favor for him. He won't squander that," Roux said.

Annja had been wondering about that, too, trying to figure out how much trouble that might cause.

"Well, I suppose everybody's rich now," Roux said glumly. "At least, the Chinese government should be richer."

"Actually, no." Annja explained about the desert sand that had poured into the underground complex. "It's going to take a lot of money and effort to dig everything out."

"They will," Roux said unkindly. "After all, there's gold and gems down there. Men can't stay away from such things."

Annja knew that was true.

"What about you?" Roux asked.

"I'm fine."

Roux looked away from her. "You didn't have to stay. Obviously I was well taken care of, and I had an attorney standing by for just such an occasion."

"He was here."

"I presume he took care of everything?"

Annja nodded.

"What about the young woman who was with us?"

"She got out, too."

Roux smiled. "She seemed quite capable. I liked her."

"So did I," Annja said.

"Do you think she's seeing anyone?"

Annja slumped back in her chair and shook her head. "You," she said distinctly, "are a goat."

Roux smiled. "Women who can take care of themselves are exciting, attractive and refreshing in this day and age. You don't find many."

"She's gone."

"Pity. Is she going to be all right?"

"I think so. I gave her one of your cards. And mine. I told her that if she needed help, we would do what we could. Of course, I also told her that you can do her more good than I can."

"Maybe she'll call," Roux said with a grin.

Annja didn't think so. Kelly seemed very complete and self-reliant.

Silence filled the room for a time, interrupted only by the wheezing and beeping of the hospital equipment.

"You didn't have to stay," Roux said again, more quietly than before.

"I know."

Roux stared at the ceiling. "I have to admit, there was a time there that I was worried." He raised his right hand and opened his thumb and forefinger a fraction of an inch. "A little."

"About what?"

"I thought I might not make it back this time. Things are different now. The sword is back." Roux looked at her. "And it's in good hands. There's a possibility that the world doesn't need me anymore."

"Wow," Annja said, "self-centered much?"

Roux grinned at her. "We are all interested in our own lives. We can't help it. It's just how things are for most people." He paused. "But a few of us, sadly a very few of us, can look beyond our own lives to the lives of others. I want to thank you for staying."

"You're welcome." Annja thought about Kelly. For a while the woman had stayed with her. She'd talked about how hard it was to lose her father, how close they'd been when she was younger, before she'd been sent away to the United States to go to school. Before she'd been lured into working for the CIA.

"You should get out of here," Roux said. "Surely there's something else you can do. I'm going to be fine."

"I've got a hotel room I haven't seen since we checked in. A shower. A change of clothes. I'm going to go but I'll be back." Annja stood. "Is there anything you want?"

"You're coming back?" Roux looked vulnerable in that moment.

Annja had to wonder how many people the old man had lost. For that brief instant, she saw the pain in his face. He's afraid of losing me, she realized. He's afraid I'm going to end up like Joan.

That was part of why he treated her so brusquely. She thought of how things had been in her apartment when he'd stayed with her while they figured out what to do. It had seemed natural, not uncomfortable. Two travelers sharing the road.

"I am," Annja said.

"Do you play poker?"

"No. The nuns at the orphanage wouldn't allow it."

Roux looked more interested, almost like a fox in a henhouse. "You've never played?"

"Not ever."

"Bring back a deck of cards and some chips. I'll show you how to play."

"Okay." Annja leaned over the bed and kissed his forehead. Then she left quickly, while Roux was still so surprised he didn't know what to say, and before he could say something that would embarrass them both or infuriate her to no end.

Knowing Roux as she did, it could have gone either way.

She'd lied about the poker. Bart McGilley had taught her to play and she'd learned a lot about bluffing from his fellow cops in several all-night tournaments.

Who knew? Maybe before Roux got out of the hospital he'd owe her a favor, too.