Chasing the Night - Iris Johansen [19]
“Very wise.” She was getting Joe’s voice mail. “But you have a reprieve. I’ll call him back later.” She hung up and focused on the program she was pulling up on the screen. She reached into the drawer beneath the table and pulled out her scanner. “Now let’s get busy. Give me that photo of Luke.”
Moscow
“She’s left Colombia,” Russo said as he hung up the phone and turned to Rakovac. “According to our informant, Prado, in the CIA, she boarded a flight out of Bogotá yesterday afternoon.”
“Destination?” Rakovac asked.
“Houston, Texas. But she missed her connecting flight to Los Angeles.” He smiled. “But a woman of her description boarded a flight to Atlanta an hour later, a last-minute booking. She’s traveling under the name of Patricia Loring.”
“Atlanta,” Rakovac repeated. “Now what could the bitch be doing in Atlanta…”
“Venable could have sent her. There have been some communications between them, but Prado couldn’t determine what they were about.”
“Then we need a new man in Venable’s camp. He knows that Catherine Ling is one of his top priorities.” He leaned back in his chair, his brow furrowed in thought. “She could be making a move. I’ve been sensing that something was building the last few times I talked to her.”
“You don’t seem upset.”
“No, I look forward to it.” He suddenly smiled. “It’s been going on too long. I’m growing bored. She needs to bleed a little.”
“You’re going to go after her?”
“Or let her come after me.” He gazed at the framed photo of Catherine Ling he had on his desk. In all the years since he had taken her son, he had never put that photo away. It had served to remind him that he was the one in control, and she was only a victim to be punished. The bitch had almost taken him down. If he hadn’t scrambled desperately to right his empire, he’d have been back in the sewer where he’d been born. “Beautiful, isn’t she? If you can call a demon beautiful. I think it’s time I brought her closer.”
“Not a good idea,” Russo said. “She’s CIA. It’s not safe. As long as you kept her at a distance, there was—”
“I wouldn’t be where I am if I worried about safety,” Rakovac interrupted. “You have to take chances to become what you’re destined to be. You’ve always cringed at the bottom of the ladder, afraid to climb. That’s why you answer to me.”
Russo flushed. “And if you didn’t have men like me propping up your ladder, you’d be crashing down on your ass. I’ve never seen why you snatched the kid. He’s always been a threat to all of us. She’s always been a threat.”
Russo had surprised him. He didn’t often lose his temper with him. “No, Catherine Ling ceased to be a threat when I took her son.”
“It’s gone on too long. You should have killed her instead of stretching out this idiocy. There’s always the chance that the CIA will take action.”
“Not as long as I give them what they want.” He grimaced. “Or that they think that I’m doing it. It’s merely a question of striking a balance.”
“And how long can you do it? Venable isn’t a fool. You haven’t been spending enough time and attention on the business they’re paying you for. He’ll know that you’re up to something.”
It wasn’t the first time Russo had spoken out against Rakovac’s persecution of Catherine. Time to shut him down. “I’ll do what I have to do. Stay out of my business.” He gave him a cold glance. “You don’t understand. I don’t allow anyone to humiliate me the way Catherine Ling did. She came close to destroying me, and everyone knew it. I swore that I’d make her pay. And I’ve done it.”
“Yes,” Russo said. “But maybe it’s time to end it.” He paused. “Is the boy still alive?”
Rakovac smiled but didn’t answer.
Russo’s eyes widened. “Good God. You’ve killed him?”
He shrugged. “Perhaps. Again, that’s my affair. She thinks he’s still alive.” He smiled maliciously. “Sometimes. It’s the eternal seesaw. There’s nothing more painful. I’ve made sure she’s regretted that last mission in Moscow.”
“But not enough?”
He shook his head. “Not while I can squeeze