Iris Johansen - Eve

She asked unsteadily, “So what do we do now?”

“We get the tent and sleeping bags from the cellar and leave the cabin as soon as possible. Black is right; it’s an easy target. We’ll keep on the move while Black does his reconnoitering. We have to keep one step ahead of him until he gets back to us.” He strode toward the door in the back of the room. “And while we’re doing it, I’ll teach you everything I can squeeze into the time we have about how to get around in my woods.”

His movements were alert, swift, almost electrified. He was charged by the battle to come.

She realized she was feeling that same sense of vigor and grim anticipation. How could it be otherwise?

The waiting years were almost at an end.

YES.

Catherine turned off the listening apparatus of the Celltec and carefully adjusted the calibration.

This version of Celltec was fantastic, she thought. The spy equipment had been around a few years, but the CIA had refined and improved it beyond recognition of the first one she had used. The software enabled her not only to tap into Queen’s conversation with Black, but latch on to Black’s line and transmit a virus into his phone. It amazed her that, even as BlackBerrys and iPhones and other smartphones had become as powerful as many desktop computers still in use, they still lagged so far behind in antivirus technology.

The Celltec system contained malware code that could infect many of the most popular phones. Once implanted in the phone’s operating system, the virus could take location info from the phone’s GPS chip and continuously relay it back to her Celltec handheld unit. But if Black was using an unfamiliar or unsupported phone, she would be totally out of luck.

Please let him be using one of the smartphones Celltec could access.

Time to see if it worked.

She held her breath as her finger hit the red button.

Come on…

The red light came on!

And it was beeping.

And there was a square indicated on a map that had come up on the Celltec.

She had him.

And then he vanished from the screen!

Calm down. He had probably only passed out of the cell-tower area. If she drove where she’d seen the last indication, she’d probably pick it up again.

Now what to do with it. Let it lead her to Black right now.

Or wait until he was in a position where he could more easily be taken? Cara’s life could be in the balance.

Catherine couldn’t judge until she found out what had transpired in that call of Black’s to Gallo.

She quickly dialed Eve. “You heard from Black. Did he try to make a trade?”

“He’s in the process. He’s going to check out the acreage around the cabin and make sure it suits his purpose… and is free of traps. How did you know we’d heard from him?”

“I managed to get a fix on his phone when Queen contacted him a little while ago.”

“The miracle of technology,” Eve said. “A fix. Can you spot his location?”

“There’s a good chance. This miracle isn’t foolproof. It can go in and out depending on signal dropouts between cell towers. But I think he’s on the move.”

“John and I are hoping he will be. It may distract him from doing any harm to Judy’s daughter.”

“I could distract him,” Catherine said grimly. “Just give me the chance. I’ll cut his heart out.”

“Only if you can find him, and you said that it was an iffy proposition.”

“So you want me to hold off until I have a clearer focus at him? Okay, I’ll do it. But I don’t want to put it off too long. You didn’t see what he did to Judy and her mother. He liked what he did, and that kid isn’t going to be safe until he’s dead.” She was moving toward her rental car in the parking lot as she spoke. “I’ll see you in a couple hours. If Black is heading your way, then I’m going to be right behind him or ahead of him.”

“We’re not in the cabin any longer. John said we’d be safer moving from site to site in the woods.”

“I’ll find you. I’m good in the woods. I spent the last three years chasing drug smugglers in the jungles of Colombia.” She had reached her car and took out her keys. “Just make sure Gallo is certain who’s tracking him before he goes on the attack.” She hung up.

The car door swung open before she could unlock it!

She ducked to one side, drawing her gun.

“Yes, it’s always wise to know who’s the enemy,” Joe said. “I seem to be included in that number. Get in the car, Catherine.”

Oh, shit.

She went around the car and got in the passenger seat. “I don’t have to ask who told you I was here. Venable?”

“We’ve worked together many times before and have an understanding.” He added grimly, “And the understanding is that I’ll break his neck if he holds out on me about anything connected with Eve. You might take heed of that understanding, Catherine. I’m very close to that point at the moment. I thought I could trust you.”

She could see how near Joe was to violence. She had seen that tension before, tension that could erupt in lethal explosiveness. It had just never been aimed at her. “You can trust me. That doesn’t mean that I won’t do whatever I have to do to help Eve. After St. Louis, I had to be sure that she’d work with me.” She met his gaze. “And she wouldn’t do it if you’re part of the deal. No risk for Joe Quinn. You mean too much to her. We both know that’s true.”

“Do we? It’s hard for me to embrace the concept since I’ve been feeling like the invisible man.”

“Joe.”

“Okay, I may know why she’s doing it, but it still sucks. It can’t go on. I have to be able to be near her, protect her.” His hands tightened on the steering wheel. “I want to break something, someone. Hell, I want to smash the entire world.”

“Oh, that’s going to help.”

“Dammit to hell, what do you expect me to-” He stopped and drew a deep breath. “I didn’t say I was going to do it.”

“Well, that’s a relief. At least you’re going to limit the damage.”

“I’m counting to ten,” Joe said. “And then you’re going to stop being a smart-ass and tell me where Eve is right now. Then you’re going to tell me exactly what’s going on.”

She thought about it. “The problem still exists. You’ll block my ability to take care of Eve if I get you closely involved. She’ll shut me out, and she’ll shut you out. Solve the problem for me, Joe.”

“I don’t want to solve-” He stopped. “You tell me where she is, and I promise not to go to her. She doesn’t even have to know I’m in the vicinity. I just won’t let Black near her. Is that good enough?”

“It’s going to bug the hell out of you.”

“You’ve got that right. But I’ll do it. The alternative is to choke you until you tell me what I want to know. That’s tempting, but I don’t think that you’d break, and I’d be wasting my time.”

“Heaven forbid you waste your time, Joe.” Why was she hesitating? Joe would keep his word, and all her sympathies were with him in this hellish situation. She had hated having to close him out. Other than her husband, she had never worked with a partner, but Joe would have been her first choice. “It may not be too difficult keeping your distance. Eve and Gallo are luring Black up to Gallo’s property in the woods.”

Joe’s gaze was immediately narrowed on her face. “Place. Conditions. Situation. Talk, Catherine.”

THE LAKE WAS STILL, THE WIND barely causing ripples on the dark surface.

“See the pretty water, Cara?” Black said as he got out of the car. “It looks deep, doesn’t it? I may let you go into the lake later.”