Chasing the Night

Chapter 12

The first bullet hit the rear window thirty seconds later.

“Down!”

But Catherine had already pulled Eve to the floor and was reaching in her backpack for her gun. “Not on foot.” She was looking over her shoulder at the tan Volvo racing after them. “How many in the car, Joe?”

“Six,” Joe was taking aim. He fired. “Five.”

Another bullet splintered the driver’s mirrors and ricocheted into the roof of the car.

Catherine was rolling down the window. She tossed off a quick shot before ducking back down. “Four, Joe?”

“Four,” he confirmed. He stiffened. “Move, Kelsov. I don’t like this. I think they’ve got-Shit.”

Eve’s gaze flew to the rear window. “My God.”

A small missile launcher was being aimed at their vehicle by the man in the rear seat of the Volvo.

“Out!” Joe yelled. “Pull over, Kelsov! Everyone out!”

Kelsov didn’t question but skidded to a stop by the side of the road bordering the marsh. He was the first to jump into the muck.

Catherine jerked Eve out her door, and the next moment, she was floundering knee-deep in the mud.

“Joe!” Eve screamed. Where was he? She couldn’t see him.

The car exploded into a fiery mass as the missile hit it.

“No!”

“Easy.” Catherine was dragging her through the mud. “He jumped out the other side. He’s okay.”

“Are you sure?”

Catherine was glancing over her shoulder. “There he is across the road. He’s aiming at-Oh, yes.”

The Volvo’s gas tank exploded as Joe’s bullet hit it. The explosion ignited the missile launcher and the vehicle blew high in the air!

“Yes, your Joe is very much okay.” Catherine’s eyes were glittering with fierce admiration. “Great move. I couldn’t have done better.”

A tribute warrior to warrior, Eve thought.

“Where’s Kelsov?” Joe said as he jumped into the muck and waded toward them.

“Here.” Kelsov called from some distance away. “I was just about to come and rescue all of you. But of course I had to make sure that I was safe first. That’s the only intelligent way to proceed.”

“You’re nothing if not intelligent,” Catherine said dryly as she started toward him. “It was lucky that Joe acted on instinct and not intelligence. It worked out better for all of us.”

“You don’t think that I’d have come back for you?”

“Actually, I do,” Catherine said. “Unless Rakovac was standing between us. Then you’d go after him and let us take our chances.”

“And you wouldn’t?”

“Yes, I’d probably do the same thing.”

“I don’t think so,” Eve said. “Hatred can only twist your character so far. I believe you have the same instincts as Joe and would act on them.”

Catherine looked at Joe. “I’d like to think you’re right, Eve. What do you think, Joe?”

He didn’t answer her. “I think that we’d better get out of this marsh and find a car. Those explosions would have been heard for miles. We don’t know that we’re safe yet. Rakovac might have sent out a second team.” He tucked the forensic case he was still carrying into Eve’s backpack. “Kelsov, if we call Bravski, will he come and get us?”

“Maybe.” He shook his head. “But we can’t trust him not to talk about what he’s doing. It’s safer to get back to the village on our own. Then we can borrow his car to get back to where I dropped off the Mercedes and be on our way.”

“Safer, not quicker,” Eve said. “Six miles, if I remember correctly.”

“You’re not strong enough?” He smiled slyly. “And you were so full of threats of violence to my person when I only mentioned that we might have to leave Quinn. I’ll have no trouble at all slogging my way through this marsh. I might even offer you a hand if you ask prettily.”

“Knock it off, Kelsov.” Joe took Eve’s elbow and half led, half pulled her with him as he started out. “He’s right; we shouldn’t give away our position to anyone. We’ll stay in the marsh for the first few miles to make sure no one else is going to be after us. Then we’ll take to the road. It will make the going faster and easier.” He glanced over his shoulder at Catherine. “Are you all right?”

“Of course.” She smiled brilliantly at him. “It takes a lot to take us down, doesn’t it?”

He stared at her for a moment and then slowly nodded. “You’re damn right it does.”

He turned back to Eve and his arm tightened protectively around her. “And we’ll get through this, too. Just keep moving…”

“Good Lord, you all look as if you survived a mudslide,” Kelly said as she threw open the door. “What happened?”

Her description was probably accurate, Eve thought. She could see what Kelsov, Joe, and Catherine looked like, and she must be the same. She had caught a glimpse of herself in a mirror in Bravski’s house where they had “borrowed” his car. Caked mud up to her waist, in her hair, tennis shoes muddy brown instead of white. The smell was almost as bad.

No, worse.

“We need baths,” she said, as Natalie came to stand beside Kelsov. “I hope you have a large water heater.”

She nodded, her gaze never leaving Kelsov. “You are well?”

“I will be when I get clean,” Kelsov said.

“You will have the first bath,” Natalie said.

“No, that wouldn’t be polite. We have guests.”

But Natalie didn’t care about politeness when it interfered with her caring for Kelsov, Eve thought. “We could draw straws,” she suggested.

“Ladies first,” Joe said. “I saw a creek about a mile from here. If you can give me soap, I’ll make do there.”

Catherine nodded eagerly. “Great idea. I’m used to roughing it. I’ll go with you and-” She stopped suddenly. “No, I guess not. I’ll have a hot bath. You go first, Eve. I’ll wait for you.” She turned to Kelsov. “And you’re right, you’re our host. You go down to the creek with Joe. I guarantee that it will feel better than trekking through that marsh.”

“He will be cold,” Natalie was frowning. “I do not think that-”

“He’ll survive. Kelsov always survives.”

Eve smiled. “And he’s been telling me how strong and hardy he is. What’s a little fresh springwater to a titan like him?” She moved toward the bathroom. “I’ll hurry, Catherine.”

“Take your time. Don’t worry about me. I need to talk to Kelly anyway.” She made a face as she sat down gingerly on one of the wooden kitchen chairs. “Though I’ll have to scrub this chair as soon as I get up.”

Eve didn’t doubt it. They were all so filthy that she was reluctant to touch anything herself. Into that shower so that she could feel human again.

And the warm water did feel wonderful as it ran over her naked body. She worked the shampoo into her hair. Just stand here a moment and let the warmth seep into her muscles. She hated to be dirty.

But Catherine hadn’t been too bothered about her foul condition. She had bounced back and that wonderful vitality had gone into high gear. She was like Joe in that reaction to adversity. The adrenaline began to flow, and they came alive. It had been a perfectly natural response when Catherine had been about to go down to the creek with Joe. Considering her assignments in the jungle, she probably had no qualms about bathing with the men she worked with. It was more unusual for her to have caught herself and quickly changed her mind.

Had she thought that Eve would resent that intimacy?

And would she?

She had a sudden visual picture of Catherine naked and beautiful, covered with drops of water.

Hell, yes. Eve wasn’t perfect. She had the usual twinges of envy and possessiveness. She hoped that didn’t translate to giving in to the green-eyed monster. She had no right. Joe had given far more to her than she ever had to him during these last years. The only thing she could give him in return was love and freedom.

Somehow, the fact she was telling herself that she had no right didn’t seem to matter. The emotion was still there.

It had to matter. If Joe ever wanted to leave her, then she had to make it easy for him. He had lived with her obsession and endless hunt since the moment he had met her. He was entitled to walk away without having to look back at her. Whether it was alone or with another woman.

She had never thought of him with another woman until now.

Was it because Catherine was so much like him? Watching them together had been amazing. She and Joe were close, but Catherine was like his other self.

Stop it. She was borrowing trouble. She wasn’t going to go around spying on them just because she had noticed that affinity. She trusted Joe, and Catherine was becoming closer to her than anyone but her Jane. She had an idea that Catherine’s abrupt change of mind a few minutes ago was an indication that she was on guard to keep that closeness intact. Eve would not destroy either relationship because of doubts.

She began to wash the shampoo from her hair.

Enough of this soul-searching. What would be, would be. She could only do what she thought was right.

Loving Joe was right.

Helping Catherine find her son was right.

The rest would have to sort itself out as time went on.

“The Rakovac file,” Catherine said to Kelly. “Have you found anything we can use?”

Kelly shook her head. “Not yet. Though I think I have a glimmer of a hope in finding him. Before he disappeared, he did establish his own pattern, but there’s no regularity to it. Perhaps that will reveal itself the more I know about him. It may be numerical or it might have to do with his history. Everyone has a life pattern that they establish over the years. Rakovac wouldn’t feel comfortable veering too far from his pattern. It would take some enormous upheaval to cause him to break his routine.”

“Or he may be the exception to prove the rule.”

She shook her head. “I don’t think so.”

“You don’t know.” Catherine’s hands clenched into fists. “And even if we find Rakovac, will Luke be with him? And will it be in time?”

Kelly didn’t answer. “You found the skeleton?”

Catherine nodded. “We brought the skull back. Eve said that the reconstruction won’t be too difficult. The bullet didn’t shatter the skull.” Her lips twisted. “I was so weak I couldn’t even look at the bullet hole. I kept seeing…” She stopped, thinking of that fragile skeleton lying on the mound of dirt. “I was ashamed. Eve was hurting, too, but she did her job.”

Kelly reached out and touched Catherine’s hand. “And you’ll do yours when the time comes to help Luke. You saved me.”

“It may be Luke’s skull in that case in Eve’s backpack. She said it was possible.” She straightened and shook her head. “But he lied. I know it.”

“He does lie,” Natalie said from across the room. “But not all the time. Sometimes he makes the lies come true.”

“Be quiet, Natalie,” Kelly said. “She doesn’t have to hear that.”

Kelly was being protective, Catherine realized. She had come to a sorry pass when a fourteen-year-old felt she had to protect her. “Maybe I did. If it’s the truth.”

Natalie met her gaze. “It’s the truth.” She turned away. “I’m making chicken soup for Kelsov. I’ll make enough for all of you. He says I make good soup.”

“I’m sure you do,” Catherine said gently. “That stew you made the night we came was excellent.”

“Your turn, Catherine.” Eve came out of the bathroom dressed in a terry robe, her hair wrapped in a towel. “It felt wonderful. You’ll enjoy it much more than the creek.”

Was there a hint of hidden meaning in that last sentence? Catherine’s gaze flew to Eve’s face. No, Eve was smiling and met her eyes with nothing but friendliness. “That wouldn’t take much.” She got to her feet. “But Kelly and Natalie will be glad to get me out of here and in that shower. Natalie is ready to purify the room.”

Natalie nodded gravely. “It may be necessary.”

“I was joking,” Catherine said. “Kelsov has to work on your sense of humor.” She started toward the bathroom. “Remind me to talk-”

Her cell phone rang.

She stopped in midstride as she saw the ID.

She inhaled sharply. “Rakovac.”

Eve went still, her eyes widening.

Catherine pressed the volume and answered. “What do you want, Rakovac?”

“Why, I just wanted to congratulate you, Catherine. You’re proving to be a worthy opponent. Our little duel is turning out to be everything I hoped. Quinn and Kelsov must be extraordinary. Those three men I left to guard the grave were very competent.”

“Not that competent. You had to send a carload of more scum-bags after us when they didn’t do their job.”

“I really didn’t want to have to do it, but that’s the way the game is played. I didn’t know they had a missile. That was a little more fire-power than I expected. I must have come very close to losing you.”

“Not that close. As you said, I have extraordinary friends.”

“And you managed to tear the skull from that poor child’s skeleton. Did that hurt you, Catherine?”

Her hand tightened on the phone. “A little.”

“I knew it would. It almost makes losing those men worthwhile. I knew I would win either way. And Eve Duncan is going to do the reconstruction. Is she there with you now?”

“Yes.”

“Tell her to do her usual fine job. I want you to be able to recognize Luke with no problem. I imagine the period while you’re waiting to know is going to be excruciating.”

“He’s not Luke.”

“Of course he is. Look at the bone structure of his face. It’s just like yours. Can’t you see the resemblance?”

She was beginning to feel the panic rising. “Children change a lot in those first years.”

“Duncan taught you that. How annoying. It modifies my efforts in increasing your pain. I’m going to remember that when I have her at my disposal.” He paused. “I’ll be thinking about you while Duncan is doing her wizardry. I’ll be imagining every expression on your face, every bit of agony that you’re feeling. Is it really your little Luke? Did the bullet hurt him before he died? I wish I could devote more time and concentration, but I’ve had to initiate the prologue to my farewell party, and it’s requiring my attention.”

“Prologue?”

“It was an opening foray worthy of what’s to come. I was very pleased. But there are ends to tie up and congratulations to extract from doubting Thomases. It all takes time. But I’ll be back on the phone with you as soon as possible. It adds a certain zest to realize how close you are to me. I can’t tell you how I’m enjoying our being together at last. Remoteness does have its disadvantages.” He hung up.

“Bastard.” Catherine pressed the disconnect. “All he wanted to do was taunt me. No real threats. Except to you, Eve.”

“It didn’t bother me.” She added thoughtfully, “He’s looking at this as a supreme cat-and-mouse game. He wants this reconstruction to hurt you. He’s going to enjoy every minute of it.” Her lips tightened. “I’ve got to hurry it along so that I can cheat him of as much pleasure as possible.”

“Unless it is my Luke.”

“And you’ve got to try to block out what he said.”

“I can’t. He knows I can’t.” She moistened her lips. “But I’ll try to keep busy so that he doesn’t dominate my whole world.” She shook her head. “What am I saying? He’s dominated my world since the day he took my son.” She stuffed her phone into her pocket. “When are you going to start to work?”

“Right after supper.” She turned to Natalie. “I’ll need a table set up by the window, clean damp cloths, and enough lanterns to cast a strong light on the reconstruction. Can you help me?”

Natalie nodded. “There’s some old furniture in the barn in the back, and I think I saw a table.”

Eve turned to Catherine. “And I don’t want you hanging around watching me.”

“It bothers you?”

“No, nothing bothers me when I’m absorbed. But it will bother you. At some points in the reconstruction, the skull looks like a voodoo doll or something from a horror film. You don’t need to go through that. Go out and walk or help Kelly with her patterns.”

“I don’t need her,” Kelly said. “She can’t help me with-”

“Kelly, that’s the first time I’ve noticed you acting fourteen instead of thirty,” Eve said. “I’m sure it’s healthy, but you picked the wrong time for it. I was trying for a diversion. Now keep Catherine busy and out of my way.”

Kelly nodded. “But I can’t let her-”

“It’s okay, Kelly.” Catherine headed for the shower. “I’m not interfering in your business. You don’t have to be so protective of your blessed patterns.”

“There’s nothing blessed about Rakovac’s patterns,” Kelly said gravely. “I can already see hints of what he is just from reading this report. It’s all cut-and-dried, with no comments from the people who were shadowing him. But every now and then, they put in a result of what he did the day before.” She sat back down at the table and opened her computer. “And I’m beginning to get…anxious. His pattern is leading him…I don’t know. Somewhere…dark.”

“You can tell that by analyzing these patterns? Sounds like hocus-pocus to me.”

“An astronomer studying black holes isn’t into hocus-pocus, but the darkness is there.”

“Whatever. By all means continue. I didn’t like it when he was talking about his prologue. Prologue to what? I don’t think it had anything to do with Luke.”

“I don’t either,” Eve said as she moved toward the bedroom. “But I’m not going to dwell on it. I have to concentrate on that reconstruction.”

Kelly nodded, her gaze on the computer screen. “But I know I’m right. He’s heading somewhere…dark.”

Venable phoned Catherine while they were having dinner that night. She put it on speaker.

“How close are you?” he asked curtly.

“You shouldn’t have sent Kelly here,” Catherine said. “You don’t have a great deal of conscience, but I’d think a fourteen-year-old girl would be off-limits.”

“No one is off-limits now. How close are you to finding Rakovac?” he asked curtly. “For God’s sake, that’s why I sent her. Is she helping?”

She had never heard Venable sound so tense. She could almost feel the vibrations crackle over the cell. “She’s doing the best she can. It takes time.”

“We don’t have time.” He drew a deep breath. “I think time’s running out.”

She could see Eve straighten in her chair across the table from her. Catherine knew how she felt. Venable’s tension was contagious.

“What are you talking about?”

“Have you been watching the news?”

“No, we’ve been busy.”

“Pull it up on your computer. And then get back to me.”

“What am I supposed to be looking for?”

“Nine-eleven.” He hung up.

She sat there for an instant, stunned. “Nine-eleven?”

“I’ll do it.” Kelly had jumped to her feet and grabbed her computer. She was quickly surfing the Internet for news. She didn’t have to look long. It was the lead story. “Vantaro Airlines. Lima, Peru. Terrorist attack. A suicide bomber took over the cockpit and killed the pilot and forced the copilot to fly low into the heart of the city. He radioed the tower at the airport that he was doing this for the glory of Islam and the Red Darkness, a terrorist group based in Libya.” She paused, reading the next page. “He set off his explosion when he was near the capitol building. The death count may have reached over twenty-two hundred people.”

“Two thousand…” Eve said. “Peru’s 9/11.” She shook her head as if to clear it. She couldn’t clear it. The horror was too overwhelming. “I remember our 9/11. Watching those planes dive into the two towers. I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t imagine the evil that could spawn something like that.”

“Neither could I,” Joe said. “I went up to New York as a volunteer and helped dig out survivors…and bodies.”

“Maybe it’s not Peru’s 9/11,” Kelly said slowly. Her gaze was fixed on the wreckage of the plane in the news story. “Maybe not.”

Catherine’s gaze flew to her face. “What?”

“Prologue,” Kelly said. “Rakovac said prologue.”

Eve inhaled sharply. “My God. Call Venable, Catherine. Call him now.”

Catherine was already dialing the number.

“What does that suicide bomber have to do with Rakovac?” she asked as soon as he picked up. “What actually happened in Lima?”

“It has everything to do with Rakovac. But we don’t know all the details about that suicide bombing yet. We’re still piecing the story together. We weren’t expecting Lima.”

“What do you know?”

“We know what the media tells you about the actual suicide bombing. The bomber was Manuel Camarez. He was an office-supply salesman and lived in southern Peru. No known affiliations to any Islamic group though he did spend a summer in Istanbul a few years ago. He could have been recruited at that time.”

“Recruited? He had to be a fanatic if he blew himself up.”

“Yes, and clever enough so that no one in his immediate circle even realized he was a prime candidate to do it.”

“How did this happen? What happened to all the airport security?”

“It’s only as strong as the weakest link.”

“So he was able to just walk onto that plane with enough explosives to kill that many people?”

“The weakest link,” Venable repeated. “In this case we’re almost sure the link was Pedro Gonzalez, the gate agent who worked the flight.”

“What did he do? Was he an Islamic recruit, too?”

“No, we think he was a victim and forced to cooperate with the terrorists.”

“How?”

“He was seen giving the bomber a black briefcase before he got on the plane. There was a mention that security had sent it up to the gate.”

“And that never happened?”

“Security didn’t know anything about it. Gonzalez probably smuggled it into the gate area the day before.”

“Wasn’t he checked by security before he was hired?”

“He was checked and came out smelling like the proverbial rose. Patriotic, steady family man, religious, took care of his aged father. He was everything he should have been.”

“You said he was a victim. What happened?”

“We don’t have the details yet. We may never have them. We can only make suppositions. When we went to Gonzalez’s home to question him, we found a slaughter house. His wife, son, two daughters, and his father had been shot and killed execution style in the upstairs bedrooms. Gonzalez himself was killed in the downstairs foyer as he came in the front door.”

“You think his family was being held hostage to force Gonzalez to cooperate?”

“That’s my guess. And then, after Gonzalez had done his job, they murdered everyone so that there would be no one to tell the tale.” He paused. “And to make sure that there was no evidence that the bomber’s story wasn’t as factual as it should be.”

“Hideous,” Eve said shakily. “And you’re saying the bomber lied when he gave credit to Red Darkness?”

“We can’t prove it. The spokesman for that terrorist group is claiming it was their work, and the group has scattered and gone under cover.”

“Then why don’t you think it’s their work?”

“It’s too coincidental.”

“Coincidental. What are you talking about?” Joe said. “Spit it out, Venable.”

“We think that the bombing was done by a member of Warriors of Paradise, a group headed by Ali Dabala. The entire operation was too slick and obviously well funded. Red Darkness operates on a shoestring.”

“Then why would they claim this atrocity when it meant they’d know every country in the world would make it hot for them?”

“Not every country. And they’d gain prestige among their own kind. Also they might have been given enough money to make it worth their while.” He paused. “As I said, Ali Dabala is well funded. He has friends in very high and lucrative places in the Middle East. He obviously didn’t want to draw attention to his group at this time.” He paused. “Which scares the hell out of me.”

“Why?” Joe asked.

“Rakovac’s surveillance reported a confirmed visit from Ali Dabala several months ago,” Kelly said. “And another possible meeting between them just before Rakovac went undercover.”

“You’ve obviously been working, Kelly,” Venable added harshly, “but not hard enough. We made a deal. Find me something, anything to nail down where the bastard is.”

“You haven’t given her time,” Catherine said. “And what does Rakovac have to do with Ali Dabala?”

“We’ve been getting information for the past three years that the Warriors of Paradise have been planning a massive 9/11-type attack on the U.S. But Ali Dabala regarded that attack as clumsy and lacking in scope to show the world how weak and ineffectual the U.S. was against the power of Islam. He wanted an attack to stun the world. He had the suicide bombers who he could send to paradise and the money to fund the attack. The only thing he lacked was someone to set up the individual airport personnel and arrange for the explosives to be put in the hands of his men at the correct time.” He added, “So he went to Rakovac and obviously made him a deal he couldn’t refuse. He was to locate the vulnerable and the greedy and set up ways to override airport security.”

“Like Gonzalez,” Catherine said. “But why Peru?”

“A test? It would make sense. Too far away from the U.S. to arouse real panic. I can talk myself blue in the face and still not get Homeland Security to do more than raise the security code level.”

“Prologue,” Catherine said softly. “Rakovac said he was involved in a prologue and didn’t have time to give me the concentration I deserved.”

Venable muttered a curse. “And how long before they delve into the main selection?”

“You tell us,” Joe said. “You obviously have informants. When and how many cities are going to be affected?”

“I don’t know. I’m just getting dribbles of information, and some of that could be red herrings. Do you think I’d be relying on a fourteen-year-old kid if I could get reliable intelligence?”

“Thank you,” Kelly said dryly.

“How many cities?” Joe persisted. “You have to have some idea.”

He was silent a moment. “I’ve got a map with nineteen red flags on it.”

“My God.”

“It could be less. It probably is less. I told you, red herrings. But even if it’s only half that number, it’s a disaster.”

“One city would be a disaster,” Eve said. “Two thousand people in Lima…”

“New York, Washington, Chicago,” Catherine said. “Those cities are prime targets. Where else?”

“You name it. L.A., Atlanta, Miami, St. Louis. Large population centers and areas that have patriotic or sentimental value to the American people. Strikes to the wallet and the emotions.”

“Those sons of bitches,” Joe said.

“Yes. And Rakovac is making it all possible. That’s why we have to find him. He has to have all the information about the airport personnel who are going to help the terrorists. His people have to be on-site and ready to roll when Rakovac gives the orders. He has to have records, disks…something. You can’t touch him until I have those records, Catherine.”

Catherine was silent. “If he’s dead, then he couldn’t give any orders.”

“And what if Ali Dabala knows the names and contacts Rakovac is using and tries to initiate the attack without Rakovac’s go-ahead?”

“Listen to me.” She drew a deep breath, her hand tightening on the phone. “When I find Rakovac, his first act is going to be to try to kill Luke in front of me. He’d consider that the ultimate revenge. I’ve got to find some way to save Luke and you’re trying to take away one of the only ways I can do it. You want me to risk Luke to keep Rakovac alive until you get those records? How can I promise to-”

“Catherine, think. I know what you’re going through. But this is-”

“You don’t know what I’m going through,” she said harshly. “You’ve never known. Now you’re saying I should give up Luke on the chance that-” She drew a deep breath. “I can’t talk to you any longer. I’m not thinking straight. All I can do is feel.”

“It has to be done, Catherine,” Venable said quietly. “I have to have those records, and soon.”

“We’re not even close to finding Luke yet. We’ve just started.”

“But there’s a promise if Rakovac’s gone to the trouble of luring you into his world. Act on that promise.”

“You don’t think we are? We’re doing everything we can.”

“And I’m not seeing any signs that you’re doing much to help, Venable,” Joe said. “Don’t you have any idea where Rakovac could be?”

“I’m working on it. I’m heading for Moscow now so that I’ll be on the spot,” Venable said. “But I don’t have your advantage, Catherine. He’s waving Luke like a toreador does his cape at a bull. You might be able to get close enough to gore him.”

“After we find those records,” Joe said grimly. “Catherine’s right, it’s not a win-win situation.”

“Those people in Lima didn’t have a chance. If you want to see a no-win situation, take a look at the photos of the aftereffects of that explosion on your computer. It looks like-” Venable stopped. “It’s hell. I don’t want to have to see the same thing happen on our turf. I’ll sacrifice Catherine’s son and all the rest of you if I can stop that from happening. Now find that son of a bitch. If you tell me where he is, I’ll send an army to get him. But you’d better be damn sure that you have those records before he can destroy them.” He hung up.

The room was silent as Catherine pressed the disconnect.

“I won’t give up Luke,” she said shakily. “Venable may be ready to sacrifice all of us for the general good, but not my little boy. I can’t do that.”

“I know,” Eve said. “Venable is desperate.”

“Not my son,” Catherine said. She gazed around the room at them. “I’m actually feeling guilty. I won’t feel guilty, dammit. I won’t.”

“Venable wasn’t fair,” Joe said. “But the choice isn’t fair. I can see where he’s at.”

“Do you think I can’t?” She shook her head. “The way this damn scenario is shaping up, I may be blamed for Armageddon. Well, let them blame me. I won’t let my son be killed.” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “But what about all those other children who will die if-”

“Enough of this.” Eve got to her feet. “Stop torturing yourself, Catherine. This isn’t only up to you. We’re in this together. We have to figure a way to get the records from Rakovac and still keep Luke safe.”

“All this worry about her son may be for nothing,” Natalie said baldly, speaking for the first time. “What if that skull in that case is her Luke?”

Kelsov flinched. “Natalie, no one can say that you mince words.”

“Why should I? It’s what you’re all thinking. You should kill Rakovac. That’s all that’s important.”

“In this case, it’s not all that’s important.” He turned to Catherine. “I apologize. Natalie is single-minded on the subject of Rakovac.”

“Aren’t we all,” Joe said. “Particularly now.” He turned to Eve. “I think we have to know very soon if Luke is going to be factor in this.”

She pushed back her chair. “I’ll start right away.”

“Could we get DNA instead?” Kelly asked.

“Not enough time,” Joe said. “It’s going to have to be up to Eve.” He glanced at Catherine. “If you’ll trust her.”

“Do you mean will I trust her not to put my son’s face on that skull no matter what is there?” Her lips twisted. “Tell me, how do you like the idea of that much responsibility, Eve?”

“I hate it,” Eve said. “But not enough to lie to you. If you think I will, then all of this is for nothing.” She crossed her arms across her chest and stared Catherine in the eye. “Well?”

Catherine hesitated and then slowly nodded. “I trust you. You’ll tell me the truth.” Her jaw squared. “And I’m going to tell all of you the truth. You want to keep all that horror from happening? So do I. But it’s up to you to save the world. I’m going to save my son. You make your choice, I make mine. They may not coincide. So you’d better watch out for me.” She started clearing the table. “Let’s get these dishes out of the way and leave Eve alone to get to work. Your worktable and your tools are over there by the window. Is there anything else I can do for you?”

“Keep everyone out of my space,” Eve said. “And keep me supplied with coffee.”

“And food,” Joe said. “She tends to forget about it.”

“I noticed that.” Catherine carried a stack of dishes to the sink. “When she was doing the age progression. I’ll see that she’s stoked and primed.”

“You make me sound like a machine,” Eve said ruefully.

“You’re no machine. You’re too human,” Catherine said. “Which I imagine is going to make this one of the most difficult jobs you’ve ever done.”

“We’ll get through it.” Eve moved over to the worktable and began to set out her equipment. “Together.”

“How long will it take?”

She shrugged. “At least a day and a half for the initial setup and depth measurements. After that, I never know for certain. The sculpting can go fast or slow. It depends on…” She made a face. “It’s not like the age progressions. That’s much more logical. The sculpting is more creative and tells the tale.” She looked at Catherine. “It’s during that part of the process that I could lie to you if I chose.”

“But you won’t choose,” Catherine said. “And since you’re going to take that long, I believe Kelly will be stuck with my help while she’s working on the Rakovac report.” She stared sternly at Kelly. “And no complaints.”

Kelly smiled. “I’m not complaining.”

“Joe?” Eve’s gaze was narrowed on his face. “I saw your expression when you were talking to Venable. You’re not going to sit around waiting for me to finish.”

He shook his head. “Everything has changed. I can’t let Rakovac cause a disaster of that scope. I’m a cop and it’s my job to protect. You’re safe here with Catherine and Kelsov and don’t need me. I’m calling Venable back to see what I can do about finding Rakovac on my own. I’m going into Moscow to start pushing Venable.” His lips tightened. “Though this time I don’t believe he’s going to take much pushing. He sounded scared shitless.”

“Why should he be different?” Eve said. “Let me know as soon as you find out anything.”

“If,” Joe substituted as he headed for the bedroom. “The word is definitely ‘if.’”

He was right, Catherine thought. She had thought there was uncertainty before, but now the prospects seemed infinitely worse. Darkness was all around them, and nothing was clear.

Except that the clock was ticking for Luke.

And for all those other thousands of innocent victims Rakovac was planning on destroying.