Chasing the Night (29 page)

Rakovac suddenly moaned and staggered back.

“Ah, now it’s hitting. It’s mamba venom mixed with one of Hu Chang’s more painful additives. At first, he didn’t want to use it. I told him to replace one of my canine teeth with a hypodermic containing the poison, then cap it. He was worried that the cap might break and loose the poison into my system.” Her smile was tiger bright. “But we worked it out.”

He was trying to stagger toward her throat.

She took a step back. “I knew that you’d be searching every orifice if you ever got your hands on me, and it had to be a part of the tooth and completely hidden. I had to promise to come back to him and let him replace it with something a little more stable right after I’d used it.”

His face was growing red, livid. He was starting at her with hatred…and fear. “Hurts…hurts…stop…it.”

“Did you stop?” she asked through set teeth. “Did you stop the taunts and the torture? You took my son, and you hurt him. I don’t even know all the ways that you hurt him yet. When I find out, I’ll probably want you to live for a hundred years so that I can keep you writhing with agony.”

He was panting, his eyes bulging from his swollen face. “Stop…it.” “The venom attacks the respiratory system, Hu Chang’s additive adds heat to the mix. He promised you’d feel as if your lungs and every nerve in your body were on fire. Is that how it feels, Rakovac?”

He groaned, his hands reaching for her throat.

She took another step back. “Yes, I can see it does. Do you feel helpless? That’s how you like your victims to feel. I wanted you to feel helpless.”

He was sinking to his knees. Tears were running down his cheeks from eyes that were almost bulging from his face. “Please…”

“Please what? Please forgive you for taking and hurting my son? Please stop punishing you for doing it? No way on earth, you bastard.”

He was reaching blindly for the weapon he’d dropped to the floor.

She put her foot on the gun. “In five minutes, it will be over. But those minutes will seem like a millennium. Hu Chang promised. I could have made it quicker, it would have been safer for me. But I had to have at least this much time.” She bent down and looked into his eyes. “You’ve lost everything. I’m going to ruin all your fine plans. I’m going to take back everything you stole from us. I’m going to make my son’s life so good that he’ll never even remember what you did to him.” He understood, she could see that realization through the twisted agony in his face. “So suffer, Rakovac. Suffer…”

Chapter
18

Catherine was still standing over Rakovac’s body when Eve ran into the room.

Eve stopped short, her gaze flying from the dead man on the floor to Catherine. She looked…barbaric. Half-naked, her long hair lying half-over her breasts, a trace of blood on her lips. No, more like pictures she’d seen of the ancient goddesses in battle.

“Catherine…?”

“He’s dead,” Catherine said regretfully. “I wanted it to last longer.” She shook her head as if to clear it. She picked up the gun on the floor and turned to Eve. “I was coming after you. Are you hurt?”

“No.” She picked up Catherine’s shirt, which was lying on the floor, and crossed the room. “We’re all fine. Czadas is dead, too. Joe and Venable are right behind me. Joe was cursing a blue streak when I ran up here ahead of him.” She shrugged. “I made Venable give me a gun. I had to make sure you were safe.”

“Joe? How did he—Later.” She lifted her hand to her head. “I can’t seem to think right now.” She slipped into the shirt Eve was holding for her. “My son is alive?”

“Yes, Luke is alive. Kelly says he’s a survivor. He’s with her now.”

“Then it’s over, isn’t it?”

“It’s over.” Eve buttoned Catherine’s shirt. She couldn’t blame Catherine for being dazed. She had obviously gone through hell in the past hours, but no more than the hell she had endured for the last nine years. “Or it’s the beginning. It depends on how you look at it.”

“Yes, that’s a good way to look at it. That’s what I told Rakovac.” She looked down at Rakovac’s face, still twisted with agony. “He ruined the last nine years for Luke and me. I can’t let him take anything else from us. He’d win. I can’t let him win.”

Eve gave her a quick, hard hug. “Not you. That’s not going to happen.”

“I didn’t want this to happen to you and Kelly. I thought I was going to keep him away from you.”

“It didn’t happen. You couldn’t know. Don’t think about it right now.”

“How is she?” Joe stood in the doorway.

“Good enough.” Eve nodded at Rakovac. “He’s dead.”

Venable pushed Joe aside and strode into the room. “I checked the car out front. There was a computer, but I didn’t see—” He was searching Rakovac’s pockets. He pulled out a keychain. “Thumb drive! This has got to be it. I’ll go to the study and check it out on his computer.” He jumped to his feet and ran out of the room and down the stairs.

“You didn’t find what you needed at Rakovac’s house?” Catherine asked.

“It was purged. Venable says we can get it eventually, but we need it now.” Joe crossed to look down at Rakovac. “You got him. How?”

She smiled faintly. “I struck him with my fangs. Mamba venom.”

“A fitting end. I thought you’d have made preparations. You wouldn’t have just gone in without a plan.” His glance shifted to her face. He reached out and took both her hands in his and looked into her eyes. “Did it feel good, Catherine?”

“Oh, yes.”

“Then forget about the bastard.” He squeezed her hands and turned away. “I’ve got to go down and check with Venable on that thumb drive. Eve, why don’t you take her down to see her son?”

“I was planning on it,” Eve said. “As soon as I get the blood off her. Neither of you appear to have noticed it.”

“From what I saw of Luke out there, he wouldn’t have noticed either,” Joe said as he left the room.

“Luke…” Catherine said. “I didn’t think I’d feel like this. I’m scared, Eve. All the things I meant to say to him have flown out of my head.”

“They were probably the wrong things anyway. You can’t comprehend what Luke has become.”

Her eyes widened in alarm. “What’s wrong? Why do you say that?”

“Calm down. I didn’t mean anything is wrong.” She caught her lower lip between her teeth. Catherine had been looking forward to this reunion for nine years. How to warn her, without dashing that hope? “You’ll have to decide that for yourself. I didn’t have enough time with him to judge. Luke is going to be difficult. You may have a long way to go. There’s no way around that.” She paused, feeling her way. “But he’s like you, Catherine. That’s a very good start.”

She smiled shakily. “Then heaven help him. I was always so glad that my baby wasn’t like me.”

“But he’s no longer a baby, and he has many of your qualities.”

“You’re being so gentle,” Catherine said. “That’s scaring me even more.”

“Then it’s time I shut up and took you down to see him.” She took Catherine’s hand. “Come on. He’s with Kelly, and she’s not always patient with him. I don’t want him walking out on her.”

“They don’t get along?”

“I didn’t say that. They may be good for each other. They’re just…young.”

Catherine pulled her hand away from Eve’s as they reached the stairs. “You don’t have to treat me like a child. I’ll be fine.” She started down the steps, her gaze searching the foyer below. “Where is—” Her breath left her as she saw Luke standing beside Kelly by the door. “Oh, my God,” she whispered. “He
is
beautiful, isn’t he, Eve? Just like that progression you did.”

“Yes, I did a good job. But I only did the computer rendering; you’re responsible for the actual creation.” She watched Catherine go slowly down the steps. She was so vulnerable right now. Please don’t let him hurt her.

As if he felt her gaze on him, Luke suddenly looked up with that wary instinct that seemed such a part of him.

He tensed as he saw Catherine on the stairs.

His expression closed, became even more shuttered.

“Catherine!” Kelly pushed past him and ran up the steps to her. “I’ve been scared to death. Are you okay?”

Catherine gave Kelly a hug, her gaze still on Luke over the girl’s head. “I’m fine.”

Kelly stepped back and gazed at her a moment. “Come on, I’ll go down with you.” She slipped her arm protectively around Catherine’s waist and started back down the stairs. She said softly, “He’s not so bad. You just have to take him down when he gets too full of himself.”

“I’ll remember that.” Catherine hadn’t taken her gaze from Luke’s dark eyes staring up at her.

She was now face-to-face with him.

But Kelly was suddenly standing between them. “You listen to me, Luke,” she said fiercely. “This is Catherine, this is your mother. She’s wonderful, and you don’t deserve her. But you’ve got her, and you’d better not hurt her.”

Then she whirled away and ran back up to where Eve was standing on the stairs.

Luke didn’t answer Kelly. He hadn’t taken his eyes off Catherine.

“Hello, Luke, I’ve waited a long time,” Catherine said awkwardly. “Now that you’re here, I don’t know the right things to say. Maybe there aren’t any right things. I’ve tried so hard to get you back.” She paused. It was so difficult. She wanted desperately to take him in her arms and tell him all the hurt and loneliness was over. But she had to move with such heartbreaking slowness. “I love you. If you give me a chance, I’ll try to give you a good life. Those are the only things that are important, I think. What do you think?”

He didn’t answer.

“Talk to me, Luke. Are there any questions you’d like to ask me?”

“Yes.” He asked baldly, “Did you tell Rakovac to hurt me?”

“No!” Her eyes closed for an instant before they opened to reveal them shimmering with unshed tears. “As God is my witness, Luke.”

“I didn’t think so. He lies. I don’t believe anything he says.”

“You won’t ever have to worry about him again, Luke.”

His gaze flew to the staircase leading to the upper floor. “He’s dead?”

“Yes.”

“You did it?”

“Oh, yes.”

“Good.” The ferocity was back in his expression. “I’m glad. I was going to do it if I had to.”

She flinched. “No. Don’t say that. You shouldn’t have to do anything like that to protect yourself. I’ll protect you from now on.”

He stared at her skeptically.

“You don’t believe me? I love you, Luke.”

“Why should I believe you? I don’t know you. I don’t love you. I don’t love anyone.”

She drew a deep breath. “You’re right. Trust has to be earned. Will you give me a chance to earn it? You have a choice now.”

“I do?” he asked warily.

“Did you think I was going to force you?” she asked. “You can come with me and see if you like it. Everything is going to be strange for you for a while. I think we can work through it together. Or, if you don’t want to give me my chance, then I’ll find a place for you where you’ll be happy. That’s all I want. For you to be happy.” She smiled unsteadily. “What makes you happy, Luke?”

He hesitated, then said slowly, “Books. Mikhal burned them.”

“Then we’ll get you more. As many as you like. I’ll make sure you have an entire library of your own.”

Another silence. “Where? Where would I have to go?”

“We could decide that between us. I used to live in Boston, but I haven’t really had a home since I lost you.”

“I’ve read about Boston in one of my books. They had some kind of crazy tea party there.”

“Yes, they did. You used to live there, too, when you were a little boy.”

Another silence. “Would we go there right away?”

“I have to go somewhere else first. I promised a friend, Hu Chang, I’d go to Hong Kong and have a dental procedure done. He seemed to think it was urgent. But after that, we’ll go wherever you want to go.”

“Hong Kong.” He tasted the words. “It sounds…funny.”

“It’s not a funny place. Oh, I guess it could be. But where I grew up, it wasn’t. I was on my own.”

“Like me.”

She nodded. “Like you. Will you—” She stopped. “I want to push you because I want you to come so badly. But you’ve been pushed enough since you left me. I won’t do that to you.” She impulsively took a step forward, reaching a hand out to touch him. She saw his face tense, become even more shuttered. Her hand fell to her side. She whispered, “It’s so hard, Luke.”

He gazed at her. “I don’t know you,” he said again.

“I don’t know you anymore either. Sometimes getting to know someone can be an adventure, like reading a wonderful book. It could be like that for us.”

“A book? Maybe.” He paused, thinking. “If I don’t go with you, I can just walk out of here? You wouldn’t stop me?”

“I don’t want to let you go. Please. I’d rather you let me find somewhere safe for—”

“You wouldn’t stop me?”

She swallowed, then said, “I won’t stop you.” She added, “But I can’t lie to you. I’ll have to find a way to watch over you even if you leave me. I’ve just found you. I can’t let anything happen to you.”

“Nothing can happen to me now that Mikhal and Rakovac are gone.”

“Czadas and Rakovac were monsters, but there are other monsters out there. I could help you to recognize them.” She held up her hands helplessly. “You see, I can’t stop trying to persuade you. Will you think long and hard about coming with me, Luke?”

He stared at her for another moment. “Yes.” He turned on his heel and headed for the door. “I don’t want to be here anymore right now. You’re confusing me.”

Catherine stared after him as the door closed. “I was clumsy. Did I drive him away, Eve?”

“You weren’t clumsy,” Eve said as she came down the stairs. “You were honest and had more restraint than I would have had. You can’t blame him for being confused. His whole world has changed in a few hours. And I don’t believe that he’s going to run away from here right now.”

“I’ll see that he doesn’t.” Kelly moved past them and headed after Luke. “He won’t run away from me. I annoy him, but I’m no threat.”

“Be careful, Kelly,” Catherine said. “We have to give him space.”

Kelly snorted. “You’re both treating him as if he’s made of glass. Luke is probably stronger than all of us.”

“I hope that she’s right,” Catherine said, as the door shut behind Kelly. “I pray that she’s right.”

“She’s right.” Eve hesitated. “If Luke decides not to go with you, he can come to me, Catherine.”

“Thank you.” Catherine’s lips twisted. “You’re always offering to take in my strays, Eve. At least Kelly is civilized. I don’t know what kind of problems you’d have with Luke.”

“But you’d accept them in a heartbeat.”

“Oh, yes.”

“So would I.” Eve smiled luminously. “He’s alive. This one, we managed to bring home alive, Catherine. Do you know how wonderful that is? What difference does it make that we’re having a little trouble getting him to decide where that home is going to be?”

Catherine took her hand and smiled back at her. “No difference at all. What am I thinking?”

“We’ll work it out,” Eve said. “But now we need to go and see if that thumb drive is giving Venable and Joe the information they need.”

When they walked into the study, it was clear that the thumb drive had been the key they’d hoped it would be.

Venable was on the phone barking out orders. Joe was printing out from the computer. Another one of Venable’s men was on another phone, with a list in front of him.

Eve asked the question anyway. “You got it?”

Joe nodded. “It was to start tomorrow at six
P.M.
Eastern Standard Time. A simultaneous attack that would make sure that at least ten of the targeted thirteen cities would be affected.”

“Ten?” Eve was stunned. “So many? How is that possible?”

“Precise planning. They wanted to strike a massive blow, and it’s been in the works for a long time.” Joe’s lips twisted. “And Rakovac no doubt had been invaluable to Dabala’s cause.”

“Bastard,” Catherine murmured.

“One who we’re all grateful is no longer walking the earth,” Joe said. “You did well, Catherine.”

“It was my pleasure.” Catherine’s gaze was on Venable. “You don’t have much time. It’s close to nine
P.M.
here. That means it’s already one
P.M.
in the U.S. That only gives us five hours. Give me something to do to help. There have to be phone calls to make. Agents to whip into shape.”

“We had to pull the FBI into it. We have no authority within any of those cities. I called the director, and he gave us permission to call the FBI field agent in every targeted city with the name of the airline employee who was going to facilitate the boarding of the explosives. They’ll keep the explosive handoff from happening,” Venable said. “We’re hoping that we can keep our movements quiet from Dabala so that we can pick up the suicide bombers at flight time.”