Chasing the Night - Iris Johansen [127]
Eve held out her hand. “Give me one, too. I’ll leave Catherine to whip everyone into shape. I’ll just make sure that they know why it’s being done so she can go on to the next one.”
“Right.” Joe handed her the list and went back to the printer.
They didn’t finish the phone calls till close to midnight. Even then, Venable was still on the phone with Homeland Security when Eve, Joe, and Catherine walked out of the house to get some fresh air.
The air was not only fresh, it was chilly.
The coolness felt good to Eve. She took a deep breath. “I think we got to everyone. Lord, I hope no one slipped through the cracks.”
“We had the identity of the cities. Their airports will be on alert, too. It’s all we can do,” Joe said. “And if there’s a leak, maybe it will scare off Dabala from trying to ram through an attack.”
“Maybe,” Eve repeated.
“Probably,” Joe substituted. “It’s been a lucky night. I don’t think that luck’s going to go sour on us now. We’ll know pretty soon.”
“Where are Kelly and Luke?” Eve’s gaze was wandering around the grounds. “I haven’t seen them since Kelly stopped by the study about midnight. She said Luke didn’t want to come back inside, and she’d stay out here with him.”
“I don’t blame him for not wanting to go back into that house. It was a prison,” Catherine said. “Hell, I’d probably camp out in a tent if I were him.”
“Not surprising,” Joe said. “I recall you camped out at our place in one. He evidently shares your—” He stopped, his gaze on the hill leading down to the lake. “There’s Kelly coming back. I don’t see Luke.”
“I’ll go meet her.” Catherine was already gone, halfway down the hill before she finished speaking. Kelly was trudging slowly along the rocky bank, and Catherine reached her in less than a minute. “Where’s Luke? Is he—”
“He’s cool.” Kelly held up her hand to stem the flow. “Actually, he’s probably cold. He decided to go skinny-dipping. Though he didn’t recognize the term for it. I told him to go ahead. I wasn’t about to follow him into that lake.”
“Will he be all right? I don’t even know if he can swim.”
“He can swim. Like a fish.” Kelly hesitated. “I saw his back, Catherine. He has scars. He didn’t even try to hide them. It was as if he assumed everybody had them.”
“Oh, shit.” Catherine could feel the tears sting her eyes. She wished Rakovac was still alive, so that she could kill him again.
“Don’t feel sorry for him,” Kelly said. “I’m not sure if he’d know how to handle it. I don’t think he’d know what it was all about, and it would make him uneasy. He’s a strange kid, Catherine.”
“No wonder you two are getting along,” Catherine said. “You’re not the usual run-of-the-mill kid yourself, Kelly.”
“No, I’m weird.” Kelly smiled. “But I’m coming to terms with it.” She looked out at the lake. “He looks like he’s coming back in. Why don’t you go down and be there when he gets out? You don’t need my help with him any longer. I only wanted to come to meet you to tell you about Luke’s back. I didn’t want you to burst into tears and embarrass both of you.” She glanced back at Catherine. “Don’t do it.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Good, I’m going to the house and see if I can find something hot to drink.” Kelly started up the hill. “I spent the last year in Colombia, and I’m feeling this chill. I’ll see you when you come back.”
“Yes.” She called after her, “Thank you, Kelly.”
“Sure.” Kelly waved but kept on walking and didn’t look back.
Catherine stood staring after her for a moment. So small and delicate and yet full of strength. Who would have known when she’d first seen Kelly huddled in that tent in Munoz’s camp how close they would become in such a short time.
She turned and looked out at the lake. The moonlight was streaking it with silver, and she could see Luke’s head bobbing as he swam back toward the bank. He appeared very small from this distance.
He was not small, but he was only a child.