Iris Johansen - Chasing the Night

“Go ahead. It won’t get you anywhere.” She gestured for her to sit down on the couch. “I have a job I have to do. Cindy has been lost too long, and I have to bring her home.”

“She’s dead. Bring my son home instead. He’s alive, and there’s no telling how long he’ll stay that way if I don’t get him away from Rakovac. I can’t wait any longer. I have to go after him. But he’s eleven years old, and I don’t even know what he looks like. I haven’t seen him since he was two.” She whispered, “So many years…”

“Age progression isn’t my area of expertise. Even if I wanted to give up work on my reconstruction of Cindy, I couldn’t do as good a job as someone who does it day in, day out.”

“That’s not true. I’ve studied your reconstructions, and they come amazingly close.” She looked down into the coffee in her cup. “You have all that scientific stuff down pat, but that isn’t what happens in the final step, is it? You make a connection.”

“Do I?” she asked warily.

“Oh, I’m not saying that there’s anything weird going on. I’m too practical to think anything like that. But Michelangelo once said something about the figure coming out of the stone. Certain artists have the passion that makes their work come alive.” She raised her gaze to look at Eve. “You have that passion. I can see it. I could feel it when I looked at your reconstructions. I have to have that passion. I’ll do anything you say if you’ll show me a photo of my Luke as he is today.”

“Working on a computer isn’t like doing a sculpting reconstruction,” she said gently. “Perhaps there is a kind of connection when I feel the clay beneath my fingers, but this is different.”

“Try.” Her gaze went to the bones on the dais. “I know you want to finish what you started. I don’t like to leave anything undone either. But can’t you see this is more important?”

“I can see it’s more important to you. I can see that it might be more important to me if I thought I was the best person to do the progression.” She raised her cup to her lips. “So I’d better continue with what I do best and let you go your own way.”

“I don’t care what you think.” Her eyes were suddenly blazing. “I know you’re the best one to find my son. Time’s running out. I’m not going to let him die. You have to do it.” She stopped. “I’m doing this all wrong, aren’t I?” She raised her shaking hand to her head. “I’m usually not this clumsy. It means too much to me.”

“I can understand that, Catherine.”

“I know you can.” Her gaze returned to the bones on Eve’s worktable. “I think you want to help me. I just have to give you a reason to do it. And a way to remove any roadblocks in your path.”

Eve raised her brows. “And how are you going to do that?”

“Guilt.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“You saw the photo of my son. He touched you. You want to help him.” She stared Eve in the eye. “What if I’m right, and you’re the best one to identify him? What if I went to one of Venable’s techs, and they steered me wrong? Venable doesn’t want me to stir up any trouble. It’s a delicate situation in Moscow, and he knows I won’t give a damn about diplomatic relations if it means rescuing Luke.” She took a deep breath. “What if Rakovac kills him before I can find him? How would that make you feel?”

“Sad. Not guilty, Catherine. I won’t play into your hands that way.”

“Not even a little? Oh, I think you will. You’ll remember that my every instinct was shouting that you were the one who could help me save Luke. I think you’d feel a little guilty. There is always a reaction to an action.” She paused. “Or the lack of an action.”

Eve muttered an oath beneath her breath. “I believe you may be something of a calculating bitch, Catherine Ling.”

“Oh, I am. When I have to be.” Her voice became crisp. “Now for the roadblock. You don’t want to leave your reconstruction of that little girl to do a job that you feel can be done by someone else. Correct?”

Eve slowly nodded. “Yes.”

“Then I won’t ask you to delay your work on her. It shouldn’t take you too long to complete the age progression. It’s going to take a while to put that little girl’s face back together. You can start on Luke’s age progression while the prep work on the little girl is being done.”

“What?” Eve was frowning. “You’re not making sense. I can’t do both at once.”

“No. You’ll need help. I can help you with the little girl.”

“The hell you can.”

“Look, I’m not saying I could do any of the reconstruction. That would be insane. But what you have is a puzzle. I’m good at puzzles.” She made a face. “Though those bones are going to be a nightmare.”

“And I’m supposed to trust you with them? Cindy is my responsibility.”

“Try me. Oh, I know that there’s probably all kinds of training you go through for this kind of thing. But in the end, isn’t it basically just a puzzle you have to solve?”

“Yes,” she said slowly.

“I’ll access the Internet and study bone structure. I’ll consult with you. You can look over my shoulder every minute of the way. I can do it. I can put her back together.” She paused. “And I’ll do it with respect. The same respect you would show her, Eve.”

“No.”

“Please. You’re not losing anything, not even time. Just do this for me, and I’ll owe you for the rest of my life.”

“I don’t want you to owe me.”

“Do you think I’m lying? I’m not lying.”

“Catherine, I don’t think you’re lying.” The woman’s pain was too agonizingly obvious. “I believe you’re going down the wrong road with me. But you’ve got me so dizzy, I have to straighten my head.” She got to her feet. “I think I’ll go for a walk and do a little thinking.”

“May I stay here and wait for you?”

“Politeness?” Eve smiled faintly as she headed for the front door. “That’s the first hint I’ve had of that quality from you. How refreshing. Yes, you may stay. Have some more coffee.”

“I will.” She moistened her lips. “I know you don’t like to be pushed. But I did it for Luke. It’s all for Luke.”

Eve nodded. “I know, Catherine.”

“Eve.”

She looked back over her shoulder.

“I thought I should tell you. Joe Quinn may phone you. I set up the call that took him away this morning. There was no emergency call on the south side.”

“I suspected that might be the case,” she said dryly.

“I had to see you alone.”

“Then you’ve accomplished your aim.” She shut the screen door behind her and drew a deep breath. She could still feel the waves of emotion Catherine was emitting. She’d had to escape before she wavered and gave in to the woman’s plea. She was still wavering and caught in that web of pity and empathy. That photo of Luke Ling had touched her heart.

But Catherine was clever, even calculating, and she had probably planned on that response from Eve. What did she know? That might not even be Catherine’s child. Maybe Luke was just another pawn in one of the CIA’s complicated agendas.

But Eve didn’t believe that. Her every instinct was telling her that Catherine’s story was tragically, painfully true.

Professionals didn’t rely on instinct. Not when it concerned the CIA. She didn’t know Catherine Ling, but she had a minimal knowledge and respect for Venable. He was at least a starting point.

She took out her phone and dialed his number.

“I was expecting to hear from you,” he said with a sigh when he picked up. “You couldn’t just send her on her way?”

“How much am I to believe about the kidnapping of Luke Ling?”