Iris Johansen - Chasing the Night

“Thank you.” Kelly leaned back in the chair and gave a deep sigh. “I was scared. I was afraid that woman would shoot Joe.”

“Shoot Joe?” Eve sat down across from Kelly. “I believe I missed more than I thought. Talk.”

“Give her a moment,” Catherine said.

Eve nodded. “We’re standing around staring at her as if she’s a murder suspect, and we’re cops giving her the third degree.”

“More like a murder victim,” Catherine said as she put a cup of coffee down in front of Kelly. “If Rakovac comes knocking on our door. Why, Kelly?”

Kelly didn’t speak for an instant. “The same reason I’ve been giving you since I came to the lake cottage. I want to help you.”

“I’m not even going to discuss that,” Catherine said. “I’ve already told you my feelings. What I’m really asking is why Venable gave in to you and sent you here? I can see his reasoning when he sent you to the lake cottage, but he’s no reckless fool, and he does have a conscience. There’s no way he should have sent you into the line of fire no matter how much you begged and pleaded.”

“I didn’t beg or plead.” She sipped her coffee. “I didn’t get the chance. I called him right after I left the lake cottage. I was going to try to persuade him to talk to you, but every time I tried to get through to him, I got his voice mail. I thought he was trying to avoid me. Then later in the evening he phoned Agent Dufour at the motel where he’d taken me and told him that he needed to talk to me.”

“He called you?” Joe repeated. “Why?”

Kelly’s gaze never left Catherine. “Because he’s not like you. He believed that I could help you. He said to tell you that he had no choice. He said desperate situations require desperate measures.”

“And you’re the desperate measure? That’s bullshit. Even Venable wouldn’t send a kid into a situation like this.”

“He did, didn’t he?” Kelly cradled her cup in her two hands. “So that must mean you’re wrong. This hot coffee feels good. I’m a little chilly. Could I get my suitcase and find my sweater?”

“Why didn’t you say so?” Catherine took off her terry robe and draped it around Kelly’s shoulders. “Didn’t anyone tell you that Russia was colder than Atlanta? No, they just bundled you onto a plane and sent you off.”

“They were in a hurry. Venable said that he didn’t know how or in what direction you’d be traveling once you reached Moscow. He wanted to make sure that I’d be able to hook up with you. He said it would be safer for me.”

“How considerate,” Eve said dryly. “But he sent you anyway.”

“Desperate measures,” Kelly said. “And I told him I’d take the chance of missing you. He said that if I didn’t find you, he’d set me up somewhere else safe to work. I told him it wasn’t a deal unless I could be with you.”

“A deal?” Catherine said.

Kelly met her gaze. “He said you might think he was putting another roadblock in his way, but it isn’t true. He wants you to find Rakovac now, and he doesn’t care how you do it. He said the time was over for being diplomatic.”

“Interesting,” Kelsov said. “Does that mean he’s going to help us nail the bastard?”

“He would if he could.” She smiled tentatively. “That’s why he sent me. He said it was urgent. None of his agents have been able to find Rakovac, and he has to find him soon.”

“Urgent?” Catherine said. “How soon?”

“He’s not sure. A week or ten days. He doesn’t know how much time he has left. That’s why we have to get to Rakovac.”

“And why is he suddenly so urgent?” Joe asked.

She shrugged. “He wouldn’t tell me. He just said that you have to let him know when you find him.” She paused. “I have to let him know. He made me promise.”

“Part of your deal?” Catherine asked. “And what are the other details of this deal?”

“I’m to figure out where he’s hidden your son. If Luke is still alive, at some point Rakovac will be near him.” She moistened her lips. “But you mustn’t kill Rakovac. He should have either a journal or computer file in his possession. Perhaps both. Venable said he probably won’t have it on him. You may have to follow him back to his office or residence. But Venable has to have that file.”

“Why?”

“He wouldn’t tell me. But he said that Rakovac mustn’t die until we get the file.” She paused. “That you wouldn’t want him to die.”

“I can’t think of any circumstance where I wouldn’t want Rakovac to die…after I find Luke.”

“Venable said that you…” She trailed off. “I’ve given you his message. That’s all I can do. He’ll have to convince you to pay attention to it.” She took a sip of her coffee. “All I care about is that I’m here with you.”

“Why did he send her?” Kelsov asked. “I still don’t understand. Does she know something about Rakovac that we don’t?”

“No, she’s a whiz kid who sees patterns where no one else does. Sort of a juvenile Einstein,” Catherine said. “She thinks that she can find Luke…and Rakovac. Evidently, Venable believes that she can, too.”

Kelsov gave a low whistle. “Venable isn’t a gullible man. I’d listen to him. How is she supposed to do this?”

“A good question,” Joe said.

“The Rakovac surveillance file,” Kelly said. “The one you wouldn’t let me read, Catherine.”

“And now I’m supposed to turn it over to you?”

Kelly shook her head. “Venable sent me my own copy.”

Of course he would, Catherine thought in frustration. “And that’s going to send you down the right path?”

“Perhaps. Or maybe I can talk to people who know him and try to see which way he would go in certain circumstances.” She met Catherine’s gaze. “I’m not going to get in your way. I know that’s what you’re afraid of.”

“Dammit, yes, I’m afraid you’ll get in my way.” She knelt by Kelly’s chair and brushed the girl’s fair hair away from her face with rough tenderness. “And I’m more afraid you’ll get in Rakovac’s way. Let me call Venable and get him to pick you up and take you back to the U.S.”

“It’s too late. We made a deal.” Kelly smiled. “And he wouldn’t come and get me. He told me I was on my own. I think he considers me…expendable. Isn’t that the word?”

Catherine’s lips tightened grimly. “That’s the word.”

“He’s very worried about something Rakovac is going to do. I’m not very important in comparison.”

“Well, you’re important to me.” She gave Kelly a quick hug and sat back on her heels. “We’re leaving this morning to try to find the grave you saw in that photo. Can I convince you to call Venable and tell him to come and get you?”

“No.”

“Then will you stay here with Natalie and work on the file? That’s what you promised to do, and you can’t do it trailing after us through a swamp.”

Kelly shook her head.

“Use your head.” Catherine took her shoulders and gently shook her. “This is the only way you’re valuable to me. Now stay and do your job.”

“I don’t know what will happen to you in that swamp.”

“Neither do I. But I have a better chance of surviving if I don’t have to worry about taking care of you. You can see that.”

“Yes.” She was frowning. “But I don’t want to see it.” She looked at Eve. “What’s going to happen in that marsh?”

“We’re going to try to find that grave and dig up the skeleton again,” Eve said.

“Won’t Rakovac have left someone to watch the grave?”

“More than likely. We’ll have to take action to avoid them.”

Kelly’s gaze went to Joe. “I can’t see him avoiding anyone.”