Chasing the Night - Iris Johansen [29]
Joe gestured for her to precede him. “Go in. I’ll find a towel so that you can dry your hair.”
“You need one yourself.” She walked past him into the cottage.
Eve looked at her with a smile. “You took long enough. I knew you’d give Joe an argument. But he always perseveres.”
Catherine watched Joe disappear into the bathroom in search of that towel. “I can see that.” She turned back to Eve and asked brusquely, “There are wonderful smells drifting from the kitchen. What can I do to help?”
“It’s still pouring,” Eve said as she leaned back in the porch swing and gazed out at the veil of rain enclosing them. “See, Catherine. You’re much better off here for the night.”
“If you say so.” Catherine lifted her cup of coffee to her lips. “I spent most of the last year in a tent in the jungle. I would have survived.” She smiled. “But just surviving isn’t macaroni casserole and a warm, cozy home. I enjoyed dinner. Thank you for having me. I should be grateful for the storm. I am grateful.”
“That’s saying something since I had to blast you away from that tent.” Joe was leaning against the porch rail a few yards away. “More coffee?”
“Yes.” Catherine jumped to her feet. “But I’ll get it. You’ve waited on me enough for one day. I’m not accustomed to it.” She headed for the door. “Joe? Eve?”
“Not for me,” Joe said.
“I’ll take another cup,” Eve said. “I need the caffeine. I want to work an hour or two more tonight.”
“Good. I’ll join you.” Catherine disappeared into the house.
“You’ll probably both be working until dawn.” Joe’s gaze had followed Catherine as she’d gone into the house. “And through no manipulation by Catherine. Amazing.”
“She’s trying to be fair,” Eve said. “It’s difficult for her. She wants so desperately to forge ahead.” She lifted her cup to her lips. “She didn’t mention Luke or Rakovac once this evening.” Catherine had spoken of her life growing up in Hong Kong, her years working for the CIA, her last job trying to rescue the Winters father and daughter. She had led a bizarre and colorful existence, and her recounting of it had been matter-of-fact and completely without self-pity. Eve had gotten an entirely different view of her. Tough, cynical, she certainly was, but there was a humanity that tempered that hardness. “It must have been difficult for her. I know that must be all that’s on her mind now.”
“But she’s smart enough to know that overwhelming melancholy is hard to live with. Instead, we’re seeing her as a complete, balanced person.” He paused. “And, therefore, worthy of any help she needs.”
“You’re thinking she’s that calculating?” She shook her head. “Bullshit. You’re fighting it, but you don’t believe she’s that cold. Admit it, you like her.”
He chuckled. “How could I help it? She made sure we both saw her tonight as warm and human, even vulnerable. Yes, I like her. But I won’t discount the fact that she’s clever as hell and has the potential for being a ticking time bomb.”
“Neither will I,” Eve said. “But you have to accept her as a complete package.”
“Remember that when you’re melting with sympathy. She’s…complicated.”
“Is that why you were watching her all through dinner? You’ve never appreciated the simple in anything.”
“I was staring at her because she’s very watchable. In case you haven’t noticed, she’s damn good-looking. She’s a cross between Lucy Liu and Angelina Jolie with megawattage thrown into the mix. It’s hard not to look at her.”
“I noticed.” But she felt a ripple of surprise that Joe had admitted to being conscious of that attractiveness when he was clearly so wary. “But I don’t think that she’s aware of it.”
“Oh, she’s aware of it.” His lips twisted. “It’s a weapon, and Catherine would know how to use it if it became necessary. She knows all about weapons. Perhaps it’s just not a weapon of choice.”
She nodded thoughtfully. “You may be right. She’s had to live in a man’s world, and that kind of weapon would end in a sexual battle. I can’t see her using sex to beat out an opponent. She’d regard it as beneath her.”
“You