Chasing the Night - Iris Johansen [45]
“She has it.” Eve made a face. “Though I can’t believe I’m saying that. I never let anyone touch my work, and now I’ve let both of you help me. But it’s only under my strict supervision.”
Kelly’s gaze was on Catherine’s face.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. The idea was to free Eve to work on the age progression. I’m not going to be hurt because you’re doing it better than me. I can spend the time reading the Rakovac e-mail surveillance report.”
“Come in and eat breakfast, Kelly,” Eve said. “You haven’t had anything but orange juice since you got up this morning.”
“And I think I’m hungry.” Kelly’s voice was surprised as she stood up and moved toward the door. “I haven’t wanted to eat since—a long time.”
“That’s obvious,” Catherine said. “A breeze could blow you away.” She stepped aside so that Kelly could enter. “You’re not going to be any good to anyone if you let yourself get weak and puny.”
Kelly nodded. “I’ll remember. I won’t disappoint you.”
“Disappoint? Kelly, it’s only the bone fragments,” Catherine said.
“I won’t disappoint you,” Kelly repeated.
Catherine gazed at her in frustration. “Kelly, I’m not going to—”
“Breakfast,” Eve said firmly, and whisked both of them inside the house.
“What’s wrong, Kelly?” Catherine had been studying Kelly’s expression from where she was sitting reading the e-mail report on the couch across the room. “You’ve been working for five hours on that skull. You only had a little left to do. I thought you’d be finished before this.”
“I’m almost there,” Kelly said absently. “These fragments are much more delicate. I didn’t want to risk breaking them.”
“Good decision,” Eve said grimly as she glanced up from her computer. “I would have been most displeased with you. So displeased I would have felt like breaking you into fragments.”
Kelly shook her head gravely. “I told you I wouldn’t disappoint you. I’ll be done in a few minutes.”
Eve leaned back in her chair. “Then I’m ahead of you.”
Catherine sat up straight on the couch. “You’re done with the progression?”
“Yes, do you want to see it?”
“Of course.” She jumped to her feet and was across the room in seconds. “Show me.”
“I only had another two steps to go from the last transition.” She pulled up a photo on the computer. “Luke at nine. You’ll see the face has elongated a little. The chin is a trifle more square. The bridge of the nose is continuing to rise up, and the nostril size and width have increased. His permanent teeth are fully down.” She tapped the screen. “At this stage, the teeth seem too big for the face. But that’s entirely natural.”
“Is it?” Every time Eve brought up a transition, it came as a shock to Catherine. This was no exception. A shock and a sharp pang.
Eve’s gaze was on her face. “Are you ready for the last one?”
“Luke at eleven?”
Eve nodded. “Luke as he is now.”
Catherine was experiencing an odd mixture of eagerness and dread. Foolish. This was what she wanted, what she needed. “By all means.” She swallowed hard. “Luke as he is now.”
Eve accessed the final progression.
For an instant Catherine felt her breath leave her body. “He’s…beautiful.”
“At this age, he’d already have a masculine resentment of that particular description,” Eve said. “I’m sure he’d prefer ‘handsome’ or ‘good-looking.’”
“Yes.” Catherine couldn’t keep her gaze from the boy’s face. “But he is beautiful.”
Eve nodded. “I think so, too,” she said softly. She tapped the computer screen. “Luke at age eleven. You’ll notice the chin is now square and masculine. The bridge of the nose is still higher. His ears are a little too large for his face.”
“They are not,” Catherine said quickly. “They’re fine.”
“Have it your way,” Eve said. “But you will agree that he’s lost almost all his baby fat, and the look of childhood has almost disappeared. The forms of his face are harder, more defined. He’s a juvenile now.” She paused. “On his way to becoming a man.”
Catherine blinked hard. “Yes, I’ll agree that’s true.” She drew a long shaky breath. “Could you put all the transitions up together so that I can see the progression?