Chasing the Night

Chapter 17

Venable received the information Joe had asked him to request about Czadas twenty minutes after they’d left the farmhouse.

“I’ve got it.” Venable had to shout to compete against the noise of the helicopter rotors as they strode across the tarmac toward the aircraft. He shoved his phone into his pocket. “Mikhal Czadas. Still active in the resistance movement, but more discreetly these days. He purchased the family home of a rich businessman, Nikolai Savrin, some years ago. It’s out in the middle of the back of beyond, which must be convenient for his less-than-legal activities. Some question of how he came by the funds to buy it.”

“How many years ago?”

“Nine.”

“Curious coincidence. What do you want to bet that those funds came from Rakovac to ensure that Luke was kept in the most out-of-the-way place possible.” He boarded the helicopter. “What else?”

“Not much,” Venable said grimly. “Except there are rumors that Czadas has an illegitimate son who he took on several raids over the last few years. The boy was very quiet. Czadas didn’t allow him to talk to strangers.”

“And everyone was a stranger.”

“Exactly.” Venable buckled his seat belt. “It’s shaping up to be an interesting evening. They transmitted a photo of Savrin House. It’s located on a lake. I’ll show you the photo after we get in the air. According to the last report we have, Czadas has a few men patrolling the area, but very few at the house itself. He’s reputedly too full of bravado and a king-size ego to believe anyone can invade his space successfully.”

“We’ll have to see if he’s right. How do we get to the house after we land?”

“I’ll have a car and men waiting at the closest airport to Savrin House, which is in the town of Sergriev. We’ll go there and see what we can find out.” He added somberly, “And damn carefully.”

He was a strange boy, Eve thought as she studied Luke’s intent face while he listened to Kelly. He had fired questions at her for the last twenty minutes, some of them random, some of them searingly personal. All the while the flitting expressions on his face had been a mixture of curiosity, distrust, and a kind of insatiable thirst. There were so many things he didn’t know about people and the world around him. How could he, kept in this remote house and only allowed limited access to the outside world?

Yet melded with that strangely spotty ignorance was an overlay of wariness and cynicism that could have belonged to a man in his thirties. It was evident Luke had never had a childhood. He’d mentioned being cared for by a village woman as a tiny child but had been immediately turned over to Czadas when he’d left babyhood. She wanted to feel sorry for him, but it would be like pitying a wild animal. He was so much on the defensive that she doubted he would ever allow anyone close enough to pity him.

Or to love him.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Luke’s gaze had suddenly narrowed on her face. Those intense dark eyes were probing, weighing, judging. “What are you thinking?”

“I was thinking that Catherine is going to have a very hard time with you.”

He shrugged. “I don’t care about her. She’s not here. You’re the ones I have to worry about.”

She suddenly realized something about him. “You live totally in the present, don’t you?”

He stared at her in bewilderment. “What else is there?”

No, his past, except for a dim memory of his mother, was a nightmare fight for survival, his future, uncertain and lacking in hope.

“A great deal.” But this was not the time to try to explain that to him. She had listened intently to the exchange between Luke and Kelly. Kelly had not only answered questions; she had asked them. Luke had not replied to all of them, but Eve had heard enough to start to piece together the enigma that was Catherine’s son.

The violence, the beatings, the cruelty that extended far beyond the physical.

The loneliness.

Even when Czadas had taken him out into the world, he had not permitted him to socialize with anyone. It was a wonder he had not withdrawn entirely within himself.

But then there had been the library of books. They had probably been his salvation. Feeding that quick, agile mind and giving him refuge.

“You’re looking at me again. I don’t like it.” He was frowning. “Is it because you’ve got that funny kind of job Kelly was talking about?”

“You think she’s seeing you as a skeleton?” Kelly scoffed. “Don’t be dumb. Eve wouldn’t waste her time on you.”

“According to what you said, she’s already wasted a lot of time on me,” Luke said. “So I’m not the one who’s dumb.”

“I was wondering if you think you knew enough about us by now,” Eve interceded quickly. These two young people, who were ordinarily mature far beyond their years, were striking sparks off each other and reacting in a way that was out of character. Hell, maybe that was healthy. It was just getting in the way right now. She glanced at the stream of light that was now pale and fading. “The sun is going down. Czadas said Rakovac was coming tonight. He didn’t say what time.”

Luke gazed at her without speaking.

“Do something,” Kelly said. “We’re both here because of you. Now get us out of here.” She paused. “If you can do it. I don’t know whether to believe you or not. Maybe you’re just full of bull.”

He gazed at her without expression. “You’re trying to make me show you that I can do it.”

“Yes.”

“It wouldn’t be smart of me to do what you want just to prove I can.”

Kelly threw up her hands. “Oh, for goodness’ sake, then just do whatever you want.”

“I will.” Luke suddenly rose to his feet. “But not because I want to help you. I just won’t let them kill me.” He was moving toward the chest across the room. “But I guess you can come along.”

“Thank you,” Eve said dryly. “Kelly was only guessing that you might know a way out of here. Is it-”

“It wasn’t a guess,” Kelly corrected. “It was a natural progression of his pattern.”

Eve ignored her. “You said you could do it, Luke. You led Natalie out of the house. But I can’t imagine that route wouldn’t have been sealed after they discovered how she had gotten out.”

“They didn’t ‘discover,’ she told them. She told them everything.” He nodded. “And they put double locks on that door.”

And Luke had been brutally punished because she had told them he had been involved. It was no wonder he didn’t trust strangers.

“Chateau d’If.” He opened the lid and fumbled at the bottom of the chest. He drew out a wooden panel that had obviously been the floor of the chest.

“Chateau d’If?” Kelly repeated, bewildered.

He glanced at her impatiently. “The Count of Monte Cristo. Only he had it harder. These floors are wood, not stone. And I was able to cut them with the metal leg of that chair at the table over there. I bent the leg once, but Mikhal didn’t notice. No one thought I’d try to get away when I didn’t go with that Natalie woman.”

“Count of Monte Cristo.” Then Kelly’s frown cleared. “A book. Alexandre Dumas.”

Kelly was of the generation of Harry Potter, and it wasn’t surprising she hadn’t made an instant connection, Eve thought. “Chateau d’If was a prison, and the hero took years to dig his way out to freedom, Kelly.”

“Is that where you got the idea, Luke?” Kelly asked.

“It worked for him,” Luke said as he climbed into the chest. “Or it would have if the other prisoner hadn’t died, and he found a better-” He broke off. “I’ll go first. This floor is above the basement. It’s a ten-foot drop. Hold on by your arms, then jump. It’s a dirt basement, and there’s a high window that leads outside. I’ve piled lots of boxes so that I could get up and down without anyone hearing me.”

“Where does the window lead?” Eve asked.

“A stretch of grass at the back of the house that leads down to the lake. Mikhal keeps a rowboat three miles down the bank.”

“Guards?”

“They aren’t usually at the back. There’s one at the front and another at the side by the garage. One of them usually goes down to the bank and patrols the lakefront once or twice a night.”

“You’ve evidently studied the situation,” Eve said. “Just like the Count of Monte Cristo.”

“But he managed to gather lots of money together,” Luke said. “I didn’t do so good.” He was gazing at Eve critically. “Kelly will fit. But you’re kind of big. Oh, you’re skinny enough, but I’m not sure you’ll fit through this hole.”

“Then make it bigger,” Kelly said curtly.

“You go on.” Luke got out of the chest. “And don’t knock over the boxes.”

“I’ll wait for Eve.”

“Stop arguing, Kelly,” Eve said quietly. “Get out of here. I’ll be right behind you.”

Kelly hesitated, then stepped into the chest and levered herself through the hole. The next instant, Eve heard a soft thud as Kelly hit the dirt floor of the basement.

“You go on, too, Luke,” Eve said. “There’s not much time. I’ll find a way to make that opening big enough for me.”

He was gazing at her with a strange expression on his face. “You’re not afraid, are you? If you stay here, you could die.”

“No, I’m not afraid.”

“I am. I’m afraid of dying.”

“Then you’d better hurry and get out of here.”

He slowly turned toward the chest. Then suddenly he whirled. He was across the room and turning over the chair. In a minute he had pried the leg off the chair and ran back across the room.

“Luke.”

“Shut up.” He was prying up the boards around the hole in the floor until there was a wide jagged opening. He threw the metal leg aside. “Go on. Hurry.”

Eve nodded. “Right.” A moment later, she was hanging by her hands, then dropping to the basement floor.

“Where is he?” Kelly whispered.

“Following. It seems Luke has the instincts of a gentleman. Odd, isn’t it?” Odd and encouraging. For a moment she had thought the boy would leave her to her own devices. Considering his background, she couldn’t have expected anything else.

Luke dropped down beside them. “Come on. The window.”

He was climbing on a box and gently prying the window open, then he was hoisting himself up and wriggling through the opening.

Eve followed Kelly as she went after the boy.

It was dark now, and Eve hadn’t been able to see what lay beyond the glass. Not that she would have been able to anyway. As she climbed through the window, she found the outside of the glass was smeared with mud so that no one could look into the basement.

Luke’s work?

Probably. She was finding the boy amazingly inventive and detail-oriented.

Like Catherine.

What was happening to Catherine now?

Pain!

“Wake up!”

Catherine’s head jerked sidewise as another slap rocked her.

“Come on. You pretend to be so strong. A little sedative shouldn’t have put you under for this long.”

Rakovac…

Another slap.

She opened her eyes. Rakovac’s face loomed above her. He was smiling.

Bastard.

“She’s appears to be a little fuzzy, Czadas.” Rakovac was talking to a man standing beside him. A big man, muscular, bearded…

She was lying on a couch in a spacious room with high ceilings. “Where am I?”

“Now that’s a trite question. Can’t you be original?” He slapped her again. “I’m becoming bored. It’s time to move things forward.” He gave a sly glance at Czadas. “Though the search wasn’t boring, was it, Czadas? I told you that she was a fine piece of flesh.”

“You were right,” Czadas grinned. “Thank you for sharing.”

Search?

She became suddenly aware that both her blouse and black slacks were unbuttoned, and her bra was lying on the floor beside the couch. Her gaze flew to Rakovac’s face.

“You might be a bit sore,” he said. “Our search was very thorough.” He smiled. “But with such a competent and lethal CIA agent, we had to make sure that you had no weapons to trouble us.”

She was already feeling sore, tender. Don’t feel dirty. Don’t think of their hands on her, in her. It would be a victory for them if she let it bother her. She was just glad she hadn’t been awake through it. Rakovac had made a mistake giving her too much of the sedative. He would have been much happier seeing how she hated going through that search.

“Besides your gun, we found this.” Rakovac picked up a dagger from the end table. “Pretty little toy. It was in a holster in your bra underneath your armpit. Were you going to sting me with it, Catherine?”

“I was considering it.”

He threw back his head and laughed. “Oh, I imagine you were.”

“Where am I?” she asked again.

“Savrin House,” Czadas said. “Isn’t it a fine place? Rakovac made a present of it for doing him a special favor. I thought it was a great bargain.” He chuckled. “Though that favor ended up lasting nine years. So who got the best of it?”

“You had no problem with taking care of the boy,” Rakovac said.

“Not in the beginning. He was very docile and eager to please. But then he changed. I haven’t had it entirely easy during these past years.” He paused. “You should keep that in mind. You owe me.”

“I paid you,” Rakovac said. “And you took care of those changes with a whip.”

“Only because that was your wish.” He looked at Catherine. “I would have been a wonderful father to the boy if Rakovac hadn’t urged me in another direction. I have a tender soul.”

“You…hurt him.”

“Of course he did,” Rakovac said. “And enjoyed every minute of it. I told you that Luke was not having an easy time of it.” He added softly, “And every time the whip fell, I showed him your photo and told him that all his pain came from you.”

“It did come from me. I should have found a way to kill you before you took him from me.”

“Oh, you must tell him that. It will be confirmation of all my teachings.” He smiled. “And when I kill him, I’ll tell him the same thing. Only I won’t have to show him a photo. I can have him look at the real thing as I pull the trigger.”

Panic was tearing at her. Don’t let him see it. She had to keep a clear head and work out a scenario that would save as many as possible. “Where are Kelly and Eve? Are they still alive?”

“Would I deprive myself of the pleasure of watching you as I rid myself of them? Mikhal, here, took them to the room where we keep the boy when I want him available to me. Well, it’s more of a cell, really.”

Catherine’s heart skipped a beat. “Available?”

“You think I might have sexually abused him? I considered it, but I would have had to force myself. I’ve no liking for little boys.” He smiled. “I prefer women like you, Catherine. Breaking a strong woman is utterly delicious.”

“Like you did Natalie Ladvar?”

“She wasn’t strong, just young and pretty. It was enough at the time.” He glanced at Czadas. “Wasn’t it, Mikhal?”

“She was more trouble than she was worth.” Czadas scowled. “Weak.”

“Then you wouldn’t be interested in Eve or Kelly,” Catherine said quickly. “Neither of them is-”

“You’re trying to protect them,” Rakovac interrupted. “It’s not necessary. I don’t have time for anyone but you, Catherine. Shall I tell you how it’s going to go? I’ll take you up to Luke’s cell and let you meet your son. Then I’ll have Czadas kill Eve Duncan and the girl.”

“No.”

“Yes, but I’ll save the boy for myself. I’ll kill Luke before your eyes. I’ll press the muzzle of the gun to his temple and blow his brains out.”

The muscles of her stomach clenched. “What can I do to change your mind?” she asked shakily. “Tell me. I’ll do anything.”

“Yes, you will. Anything and everything.” He reached out and cupped her breast in his palm. “I’ll take you on the floor where your son lies dead. I’ll use you like a whore in a house I know in Istanbul where they know the art of making a woman beg to be put out of her misery. I’ll show you pain as you’ve never known it.”

“Then do it. You’ll enjoy that, won’t you? Just don’t kill my son. Don’t kill Eve or Kelly.”

He frowned. “Are you still being the sacrificing mother? That’s not all I want from you. Think of yourself. I’m becoming annoyed.” His hand closed on her breast with bruising force. His eyes narrowed on her face, devouring every sign of pain. “Yes, that’s better.” He released her breast and jerked her to her feet. “Come along, it’s time we started. I have a plane to catch in a few hours. I want this to be a long and satisfying night.” He was dragging her toward the short flight of stairs. “Come and meet Luke.”

She braced herself. It was coming. Think. How to set it up? Lord, it was going to be difficult. The prospect had been bad enough when she had thought there would only be Luke to rescue. Now she had to consider Eve and Kelly.

Czadas was following Rakovac and Catherine up the steps. It didn’t surprise her. From the short time since she’d regained consciousness, he had seemed a true soul mate to that bastard Rakovac. Okay, she had Czadas and Rakovac to take care of. But she hadn’t seen any sign of guards within the house. After she disposed of Rakovac, she’d have only Czadas to deal with until they got outside.

But how to get Luke to go with her? If he’d been taught to think of her as the devil, wouldn’t he panic? Worry about that later. One disaster at a time.

No, don’t think disaster. It had to go well. She had to save Luke.

Czadas had stepped in front of them and was unlocking the oak door. “Luke,” he called jovially as he stepped inside. “I’ve brought Rakovac. He wants to have a party. You remember Rakovac’s parties. First, he sent you visitors, and now he’s brought a special guest. You’ll recognize her at-” He stopped, stiffening, as his gaze raked the darkness. “Luke?” He reached out to the wall and turned on the light.

The room was empty!

“What the hell!” Rakovac pushed her through the doorway. “Where are they, Czadas? Is this some kind of trick? Are you holding me up for more money?”

“They were here,” Czadas said quickly. “Son of a bitch, I wouldn’t try to double-cross you, Rakovac.”

Rakovac’s face was flushed with anger. “Then where are-” His gaze went to the open trunk and the chair lying on the floor with one metal leg missing. “Is he hiding?” He strode over to the trunk. “Get that kid-” He stopped as he stared down into the chest. He started to swear. “You told me that the kid wasn’t trying to run away any longer. That you’d taught him a lesson.”

“I did.” Czadas was beside him, looking down into the gaping hole that pierced both the chest and the floor beneath it. “It will be all right, Rakovac. I promise.”

Catherine couldn’t believe it. Something had happened. Luke was free. They were all free. Thank you, God. Oh, thank you, God.

“Where does that hole lead?” Rakovac asked.

“Only the basement,” Czadas answered.

“And is there a window in the basement?”

“Yes.”

Rakovac spoke clearly, slowly, each word enunciated with precision. “Then don’t you think you’d better get down there and see if you can find out if they managed to get outside?”

“Right away.” Czadas had turned and was hurrying toward the door. “Even if they’re on the grounds, it won’t be a problem. I’ll have the guards scour the area and call in additional help from the village. We’ll find them.”

“Quickly.” Rakovac met Czadas’s eyes. “No excuses. I’ve planned this ending for years. I won’t have it ruined by your clumsiness.”

“Thirty minutes.” Czadas moistened his lips. “Forty minutes tops.” He hurried from the room.

“He’s a fool.” Rakovac whirled on Catherine. “But he knows better than to spoil this for me. He’ll have your son back in no time.”

“I hope you’re wrong.” How had it happened? Had Eve and Kelly helped her son to escape? It didn’t matter. Now wasn’t the time to analyze the miracle. Just accept it and try to build on it. “Maybe it was meant to be.”

“It was meant to be that I kill him and you, too, bitch,” Rakovac said. “And don’t hope. It won’t do you any good. Nothing is going to happen except exactly what I described to you. It’s just been postponed a short time.”

“If one thing is changed, maybe others will change, too,” Catherine said. “Chain reaction.”

“That sounds a little too optimistic.” He pulled out his gun and pointed it at her. “Don’t try anything, bitch.”

A bullet whistled by Eve’s ear as they reached the bank of the lake.

“Run!” Luke called back to her. “They must have found out that we’re gone.” He sprinted ahead of them.

Kelly was not far behind.

Eve cast a glance over her shoulder as she tore after them.

Men with flashlights, running.

Luke was looking at them, too. “The big man is Mikhal. He’s going to be-”

Another bullet.

Closer.

“Run!” Luke shouted. “Faster. What’s wrong with you?”

What was wrong? She wanted to shake him. “I’m not eleven years old. Go on. I’ll keep up.”

Luke muttered something and slowed. “There’s another guard up ahead. You go hide in the trees while I lead him away.”

“No, we stay together.” Eve quickened her pace. “Where is this boat?”

“A mile. Maybe a little more.”

And the men behind them were gaining.

Don’t panic.

Run…

“It’s Eve!” Joe jumped out of the car, his gaze on the three fleeing figures on the bank. He took off down the rocky embankment. Savrin House was towering on a hill in the distance, but he let Venable go after Rakovac. Joe didn’t know what circumstances had permitted Eve to escape, but he was going to take full advantage of them.

Three men in pursuit. One tall, heavyset man in the lead, two others following close behind.

He ran parallel to Eve and the others, keeping pace, waiting.

Gunshots. The large man was firing.

Take him out.

He fell to his knees and aimed carefully. A little bit in front of the man to take in consideration his impetus.

One…Two…

The big man stumbled, arched, then fell to the ground.

The two other men stopped, confused.

Take out the leader, and you often took out the team.

Just to be sure, he aimed again and took out the man closest to him. The other man stopped, then took a few steps back, turned, and started running back toward the house.

Joe jumped to his feet and started after Eve.

“Behind you!” A boy’s voice.

Joe whirled, lifted his weapon to fire at the other guard, who had come out of nowhere.

The guard was lifting his gun.

But he toppled forward as he was tackled from behind.

Joe was on the guard in an instant and broke his neck with one twist. He whirled on the man who had tackled the guard, ready for anything.

“No, Joe!” Eve was running toward him. “It’s Luke. Don’t hurt him.”

Not a man, a boy. But a boy with dark eyes blazing in his taut face, his body crouched and ready to spring.

Eve ran in front of the boy. “It’s okay, Luke. This is Joe Quinn. He’s here to help us.”

Luke didn’t move, his gaze fixed warily on Joe. “He did help. He shot Mikhal. Did you kill him?”

“I don’t know,” Joe said. “The big man?”

Luke didn’t answer. He was on his feet and running back toward the two fallen men.

“Mikhal Czadas,” Eve told Joe as she followed him.

Luke was standing over the body of Mikhal Czadas when Joe, Eve, and Kelly caught up with him.

Luke prodded Czadas with his foot, staring down at him. “He’s dead. He looks surprised.” His smile was savage. “I wish he’d seen it coming.”

The boy was fierce, Joe thought. Well, who could blame him? He had grown up in a den of voracious wolves. “We can’t have everything.” He turned to Eve. “Did you see Rakovac?”

She shook her head. “But Czadas told us earlier that he was supposed to be coming. He might be here.”

He waved at Venable, who had pulled the car alongside them on the road above. “Then by all means, let’s go see if he is.”

Catherine stared at Rakovac’s gun pointed at her heart. It was now or never. Czadas was chasing after Luke and wouldn’t be a problem. Luke, Eve, and Kelly were not on the scene to worry about. She had only to contend with Rakovac.

He was enough.

“I didn’t mean that I thought I had a chance to get out of this alive,” she said. “But what about my son and the others? I thought perhaps I could persuade you that they could live.” She stared at him, not hiding the fear that was always with her. Let him see her desperation. It could be a weapon to help her get close to him.

Rakovac shook his head. “Wrong.”

“You want me.” She moistened her lips. “Oh, I know it’s all twisted in your mind. But you do want me. Why not do it now? Let me convince you that you’d be better off keeping me as a toy than killing my son right now. You could always do that later. Let him live until you get tired of me.”

He was silent, his expression arrested. “Interesting.” She had reached him, tapped into the perversity that was an essential element of his character. “I wasn’t expecting this, Catherine.”

“Why not? You know that I’ll do anything to save my son. Maybe if I delay it long enough, it will be like Scheherazade telling her tales every night. It won’t happen.”

“You wouldn’t live past the first night, Scheherazade.”

“Yes, I would. You said I was strong. I am strong.” She stared him in the eye. “You liked your hands on me when you were searching. I could make you like everything about me. You mentioned that house in Istanbul. I grew up on the streets of Hong Kong. Do you think there’s anything I don’t know about the ways to please a man? You want to hurt me? I can endure and bring you to heights you’ve never reached.”

“And try to kill me after you’ve done it.”

“You’re a strong man. Keep me from doing it.” She could see that he was fascinated by the idea. Why not? She was offering him the kind of submissive sex that he adored. Clinch it. Show him.

She reached up and took down her dark hair and shook it about her shoulders. She took off her shirt and dropped it on the floor.

“Before they find Luke, let me show you,” she whispered. “You won’t be sorry.”

“You’ll take anything I do to you?”

“And beg you for more.” She started toward him. Hold his eyes. She knew about seduction. Draw him. Arouse him. Make him look at her eyes and her naked breasts. Glow, shimmer with sexuality. He might be a monster, but he was a man. “Will you let me try to please you enough to save Luke?”

“It won’t work. I’ll break you.”

“I’m not afraid. I know I’ve got a chance to change your mind.” She was standing in front of him so close the muzzle of his gun was pressed against her bare stomach. “And you want to do it.” She could see the pulse leap in his temple. “Do what you want, Rakovac. Anything you want.”

“Whore.” His cheeks were flushed and his lips full and slightly parted. “Oh, I’ll do what I want. You’ll scream for me, Catherine.” His hand closed on her breast. “And it might as well start here and now.”

Ignore the pain. Watch the gun in his left hand. He might have a second to respond.

“How do you like that?” His teeth sank into the lobe of her ear and brought blood.

Good. Perfect. His movement had brought her mouth to press against his neck.

Her tongue ran quickly over the back of her front teeth.

“You’re not answering, bitch.” He was panting, gnawing at her like an animal. “Tell me: how much of this you can stand for your son?”

She had the cap off the tooth. She opened her mouth, and her teeth sank deep into his neck!

He jerked away from her. “What are-” His hand lashed out at her.

She had to get the cap back over that tooth quickly. Done.

Now it would take three seconds.

The gun. She blocked it as he started to raise the weapon.

Three seconds.

He only made it to two seconds.

Rakovac’s eyes glazed over, the gun dropped from his nerveless hand. He was staring at her in horror.

“Is the pain starting?” She was panting as she took another step back and gazed up at him with glittering ferocity. “Hu Chang promised me that it would be excruciating. He said, ‘Don’t worry, my friend, it won’t be as long as you would like, but for him, it will seem forever. A fitting prelude to the hell where you’re sending him.’”

Rakovac was looking at her in bewilderment. He tried to speak, “Hu…Chang…”

“As I said, an old friend from my days in Hong Kong. He made his living concocting very lethal poisons and undetectable delivery systems for them. I did a favor for him once. When I went to him four years ago and told him I needed his help, he was happy to oblige.”

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…”