Chasing the Night by Iris Johansen Read Free Book Online Page A

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?”
    He was silent a moment. “Everything. Catherine can be deceptive, but not about her son.”
    “You bastard. Nine years.”
    “I was under orders not to disturb our relationship with Rakovac. He’s very volatile, and he still has a deep hatred of Catherine.”
    “So you let him keep a child prisoner rather than rock the boat? How do you know that he wasn’t mistreated? That would be the best way for Rakovac to get his revenge.”
    “I made it clear that we wouldn’t tolerate that happening.”
    She couldn’t believe her ears. “How would you know? Did you just take his word for it?”
    “Yes, with appropriate threats of repercussions.”
    “Dear God.”
    “It’s all I could do. It might have been enough.”
    “If I were Catherine, I’d have strangled you.”
    “But you’re not Catherine. She’s CIA. She knows the dirty underbelly of the world better than you ever will. And she’s aware that I was the only man standing between her son and Rakovac.” He added, “If I could have run the risk, I would have sent a Special Forces team in to get Luke. But I didn’t have that option. I couldn’t even give Catherine reports on her son. Rakovac didn’t keep him with him in Moscow. He’d sent him away and undercover almost immediately after he was kidnapped.”
    Eve’s stomach clenched. “Then how do you know he’s still alive?”
    “We’re not entirely sure. Rakovac calls Catherine now and then to taunt her and gives her so-called reports on her son. He hasn’t let her talk to him since about a year after he was taken.”
    Eve felt cold and sick. Eight years with no way to know if that little boy was alive or dead. “But, of course, she still takes the calls.” Eve