Iris Johansen - Chasing the Night

“They’ll listen to me.”

Venable smiled faintly. “They might at that. I’ll give you a dossier on Helder’s background. That’s all I’ll promise right now. And the question is moot until we have a call for the NSA to monitor. Has Catherine heard from him yet?”

“Not yet.”

But it would happen soon and the tension was beginning to tighten within him.

Damn, he wanted to be with Eve now.

“An NSA satellite,” Catherine repeated thoughtfully. “I remember that Venable’s used it before, but most of the time it’s more trouble than it’s worth. Those assholes are so uptight about their precious schedule that it’s a nightmare.”

“We don’t have any choice. Joe said he’d deal with it.”

She smiled faintly. “I’d like to be around when he does. Joe against the establishment. It would be interesting.”

“But it won’t do a damn bit of good if you don’t manage to find a way to manipulate Rakovac into calling you at a given time.”

“So that you can find those records.” Her smile faded. “I knew that was coming.”

“Look, I know you said that it was up to us to take care of finding a way to getting those files from Rakovac, that you wouldn’t do anything to compromise rescuing Luke. But this is our opportunity to grab those records and still give you a chance to save Luke. Rakovac’s probably not keeping Luke with him. He wouldn’t take the chance. We might be able to infiltrate wherever he’s hiding out and steal the plans for Dabala’s raid without his knowing. Then we can follow him to where he’s keeping Luke.” She paused. “Or if Luke is with Rakovac, we don’t have to rely on Kelly to find him. We can go in and rescue Luke, then get the records afterward.”

“So simple. So easy.” Catherine’s lips twisted. “It won’t be either simple or easy. No matter what the scenario. I can see a multitude of problems.”

“I’m not trying to persuade you that there won’t be problems. I’m just saying that we’ll have a valid chance. We don’t have that now. Help us, Catherine.”

Catherine didn’t answer for a long moment. “Do you think I don’t want to help you?” she whispered. “I’ve been ripped apart by doubts ever since I heard about Lima. I’ve spent most of my adult life fighting to keep slugs like Rakovac from destroying all the good things in life. But this is Luke. Don’t I have the right to let someone else step up to the plate, and just be Luke’s mother?”

“I don’t know anything about rights,” Eve said. “Not in a situation like this. The good of the one against the good of the majority? Someone else can decide all that philosophical bullshit. I just want to keep Luke alive and give those other thousands of victims their shot at survival, too. This could be the way to do it, Catherine.”

She looked away from Eve. “I know.”

“Then help us.”

“I’ll think about it.”

She was still holding back, not committing. “What’s your main objection, Catherine?”

“What do you think? I’d be giving up control,” she said tersely. “It’s life or death for Luke. I don’t want to put that power in anyone else’s hands. People make mistakes. I’m the only one who cares enough. I’m the only one I trust.”

It was difficult for Eve to question that argument. It was how she would feel under the same circumstances. “Then you’ll have to make up your own mind. I just want to say that I do care. Joe cares. Whether that’s enough to make you trust us to make Venable and the others toe the line will be your decision.”

“Yes, it will,” Catherine said. “I said that I’d think about it, Eve.”

Eve had done all she could. She got to her feet. “Will you let me know when he phones you?”

Catherine nodded. “Nothing has changed. I told you that I’d always be open with you.” She hesitated. “And I do trust you, Eve. You know what kind of life I’ve lived. I have trouble having faith in anyone. But the moment I met you, I realized that…” She was having trouble putting the words together. “I felt…comfortable. As if I’d come home. I wanted to stay there in that cottage and talk to you, have you tell me what you thought, how you felt. I wanted to be your…friend.” She met Eve’s eyes. “Are you my friend, Eve?”

Eve felt her throat tighten as she gazed at Catherine. So tough yet so vulnerable. “Yes, I’m your friend, Catherine.”

Catherine smiled luminously. “I thought so. I’m glad, Eve.” Her smile faded, then vanished. “But it doesn’t make any difference. I still have to think about this.”

Eve opened the door. “By all means.”

“Eve.”

“What?”

“Don’t tell Kelsov about the satellite. I don’t want him bugging me about it until I make a decision. Kelsov can be difficult. He doesn’t care about Luke. Not really. All he cares about is killing Rakovac.”

“I’m sure he cares about Luke,” Eve said gently. “How could he help it? He’s your friend.”

She shook her head. “We get along, and we have a joint purpose.” She added, “I told you, I have trouble with friendship. So does Kelsov. The closest he’s come is Natalie.”

Eve nodded. “He’s very kind to her.”

“She fills a need. She must make him feel like a god.”

“She was ready to kill Joe when she thought he was hurting Kelsov,” Eve said.

“He’d leave her in a heartbeat if he got his chance at Rakovac. I’ve had to rein him in for years to keep a balance that would keep Luke safe. He’d think that damn satellite was his way to get him at last.”

“I won’t mention it to him. You’re the only one Joe wanted me to discuss it with.”

“Thank you. I know it’s tempting to let him add his pressure to yours.”

She shook her head. “You’d probably balk and go the other way.”

Catherine smiled. “You’re beginning to know me very well.”

“I have my moments. It’s getting easier to gauge your reactions. Do you suppose that’s because I’m your friend?” The door shut behind her.

“What about these holes?” Eve asked an hour later as she sat down at the table across from where Kelly was sitting with her computer. “Yes, I know what Catherine told me, but have you pinned down when, why, and where?”

“You sound like a newspaper editor,” Kelly said. “I wanted to be on the school newspaper at college, but all my professors said that I shouldn’t waste my time. I didn’t think it was a waste of time.”

“Not if you wanted to do it.” Eve wondered how many other fun activities Kelly had been kept from doing because of that extraordinary and unique brilliance. “You should have told them to go jump in the lake.”

“It’s hard to know what’s right when everyone thinks you’re wrong.” She looked down at the yellow note pad on the table beside her. “I think the holes were the periods when Rakovac visited Luke. That was the only secret Rakovac wouldn’t have wanted Venable to know about. I was looking for triggers to his behavior that might give me a clue. I made Catherine think back and try to tell me when Rakovac’s phone calls occurred. But she couldn’t remember everything or every time he called her.”

“Of course not. For goodness’ sake, it’s been nine years. How could she possibly remember?”

“He didn’t call her that frequently. Only several times a year. Just enough to twist the knife and keep her under his thumb.” She made a face. “But there were some calls that she’ll never forget. The ones in which he hurt her the most. She was able to remember where she was, what she was doing, and the approximate date. I was able to pull those periods out of the report and do a graph that indicated where he was approximately and who he was dealing with at that particular time.”