Iris Johansen - Chasing the Night

“No, that’s up to you.” She straightened and turned away. “The most I’ll do is tell her what you’ve told me and let her judge.” She turned off the light. “Good night, Kelly. I’ll see you in a few hours.”

“Good night.” In the darkness, Kelly’s words were a breath above a whisper. “I was wondering…”

“Wondering what?”

“As you work on those skulls, do you see a pattern, too?”

A pattern of darkness and murder and violence. A puzzle that she hoped to solve every time her fingers touched the skulls. “Only in my imagination, Kelly.”

Kelly rolled over and huddled under the blanket. “You’re lucky.”

It was after ten o’clock when Catherine got out of the shower, dressed, and strode into the living room. The couch was neatly made up, and Eve was sitting at the bar drinking a cup of coffee. “Where’s Kelly?”

“Out on the porch. I told her to go get some sun.” She poured Catherine a cup of coffee. “I wanted some time alone with you.”

“Why? I told you when you came to my room last night that I couldn’t be either a sister or psychologist to Kelly. Not now.”

“You were upset then, and you didn’t want to deal with her.” She lifted her cup to her lips. “But I think you’re going to find that you have no choice.”

“I have a choice.”

“Go over to the worktable and look at that work she did on Cindy’s skull last night.”

“I don’t want to look.”

“Are you being stubborn?”

“Yes.” She was silent a moment, then burst out, “Dammit, I’m not like you. I’m harder, more ruthless. Even though I don’t want her involved, I’m capable of ignoring what’s good for her if I decide she could help me find Luke. I don’t want to make that decision.”

“You could limit her input, find ways to keep her on the sidelines.”

“Anyone close to me may be a target if Rakovac decides to make a move. She’s fourteen years old.” She shrugged. “Besides, all that pattern business could be crap. I prefer to believe that it is.”

“And I prefer to believe that it’s not. You have to face the possibility. Stop hiding your head in the ground. Go look at Cindy.”

Catherine hesitated, then turned and strode across the room to the work desk. “Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe you are as ruthless as I am. I thought you-Oh, shit.” She was gazing down at the skull fragments put together by Kelly. “She did this in a couple hours?”

Eve nodded.

“Hell, I know how difficult-I nearly went blind straining to tell those pieces apart.” She murmured, “Incredible.”

“Two hours.”

“But this was a physical puzzle, it doesn’t mean she’d be that good at anything more abstract.”

“Like finding a lost boy?” Eve nodded. “That’s right. We have no proof. Other than Venable thought she was promising enough to be interesting to the CIA.”

She shook her head. “Too vague.” She studied Eve’s expression. “Why are you trying to convince me to use Kelly? I thought you’d be against it.”

“I want you to bring your Luke home.” She smiled. “I’ve grown attached to him. It doesn’t seem to me that you have a plan that is even close to being foolproof.”

“I’m working on it.”

“I know you are,” Eve said quietly. “But Kelly is offering you an opportunity that could be…hopeful. I think you should explore the possibility. Face it, she’s going to be hard to get rid of, so let her help you, but keep her out of the line of fire. As I said, I’d be glad to have her stay with me.”

Catherine frowned, then shrugged. “I’ll think about it.” A faint smile curved her lips. “And I thought I was obsessed. Luke has you, and you’ve only seen his photo.”

“What do you expect? I’ve been watching him grow up before my eyes,” Eve said. “Or should I say within my computer?” She turned and headed for the door. “Let’s bring Kelly in and have breakfast. I want to get back to work on him.”

Kelly was sitting on the swing, and her expression became wary as she saw Catherine. “Am I in trouble?”

“Yes and no,” Catherine said. “You shouldn’t have touched Eve’s work without her permission. But since she’s forgiven you, I don’t have the right to be angry.”

Kelly looked relieved. “I just thought I’d get it done for you.”

“Since I was being so slow and inefficient,” Catherine said dryly.

Kelly shook her head. “I think you did a fine job since you were going at it blind.”

“Blind?” Catherine asked curiously. “Do you actually see where you’re going when you start working on a pattern?”

“Sometimes. Sometimes I have to jump from piece to piece and hope it comes to me as I travel.” She turned to Eve. “Is that how it is when you do a reconstruction?”

“In a way. During the last stage of the reconstruction.” She looked at Catherine, and said meaningfully, “But it’s much better to not go at any endeavor blind if there’s any way around it.”

“Point taken,” Catherine said. “But not necessarily accepted.”

Kelly was focused and oblivious of the undercurrents. “I knew where I was going with the skull the moment that I saw the pieces,” she said. “That’s why it went so fast.”

Catherine gazed at Eve, then back at Kelly, and finally said, “Then, in the name of speed and efficiency, I think you should finish what you started.”

Kelly’s face lit. “You’ll let me help?”

“Only with the bone fragments. And with Eve’s permission.”

“She has it.” Eve made a face. “Though I can’t believe I’m saying that. I never let anyone touch my work, and now I’ve let both of you help me. But it’s only under my strict supervision.”

Kelly’s gaze was on Catherine’s face.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. The idea was to free Eve to work on the age progression. I’m not going to be hurt because you’re doing it better than me. I can spend the time reading the Rakovac e-mail surveillance report.”

“Come in and eat breakfast, Kelly,” Eve said. “You haven’t had anything but orange juice since you got up this morning.”

“And I think I’m hungry.” Kelly’s voice was surprised as she stood up and moved toward the door. “I haven’t wanted to eat since-a long time.”

“That’s obvious,” Catherine said. “A breeze could blow you away.” She stepped aside so that Kelly could enter. “You’re not going to be any good to anyone if you let yourself get weak and puny.”

Kelly nodded. “I’ll remember. I won’t disappoint you.”

“Disappoint? Kelly, it’s only the bone fragments,” Catherine said.

“I won’t disappoint you,” Kelly repeated.

Catherine gazed at her in frustration. “Kelly, I’m not going to-”

“Breakfast,” Eve said firmly, and whisked both of them inside the house.

“What’s wrong, Kelly?” Catherine had been studying Kelly’s expression from where she was sitting reading the e-mail report on the couch across the room. “You’ve been working for five hours on that skull. You only had a little left to do. I thought you’d be finished before this.”

“I’m almost there,” Kelly said absently. “These fragments are much more delicate. I didn’t want to risk breaking them.”

“Good decision,” Eve said grimly as she glanced up from her computer. “I would have been most displeased with you. So displeased I would have felt like breaking you into fragments.”

Kelly shook her head gravely. “I told you I wouldn’t disappoint you. I’ll be done in a few minutes.”

Eve leaned back in her chair. “Then I’m ahead of you.”

Catherine sat up straight on the couch. “You’re done with the progression?”