The first dim light of dawn was starting in the east when Joe saw the headlights of Kelsov’s Mercedes.
One car.
No one following him.
But he had been gone almost two hours.
Forget it and approach him diplomatically at a later time?
Hell, no.
He faded into the shadows beside the door.
The car slowed and came to a stop in front of the cottage.
Kelsov got out and came around the front of the car, but didn’t come toward the door. Now he was beside the passenger seat and moving-
Someone was in the backseat!
Joe leaped forward and brought him down.
Kelsov rolled over and was reaching inside his jacket.
A knife.
“Oh, no.” Joe flipped him over and his arm encircled his neck, using him as a shield against whoever was in the car.
“Let him go.” The muzzle of a gun was pressed to the back of Joe’s head. “Hurt him, and I’ll shoot you.”
Natalie. Her voice was shaking but the gun she was holding was not.
“No. Put down the gun. I won’t break his neck if he stops struggling.”
“Screw you,” Kelsov said.
“Stop it.” The back door of the car swung open. “All of you. Stop it. Joe, he’s not doing anything wrong. Let him go.”
“Kelly?”
The girl got out of the car. Her face was pale and she was shaking. But she was standing with hands clenched, her gaze on the other woman. “And you, you’re shaking so badly that you could blow his brains out by accident. Kelsov, tell her to put it down.”
“Some accidents are sent by God.”
“And how would she feel?”
He was silent. “Put it down, Natalie.”
She didn’t move.
“Joe,” Kelly said.
He reluctantly released Kelsov.
Natalie stepped back, but she didn’t lower the gun.
Kelsov sprang catlike to his feet and whirled on Joe.
Joe blocked the first karate chop and kicked Kelsov’s legs out from under him.
“No!” Catherine was standing in the doorway, an automatic weapon in her hand. “Freeze. Or I’ll shoot you both in the knees. It’s not something I want to do since I may need you, but I’ll do it.”
Natalie swung the gun in her direction.
“No, Natalie!” Kelsov dove forward between her and Catherine. He took the gun away from her. “It’s okay.”
“No, it’s not okay,” Catherine said. “What is happening here?” Then her gaze fell on Kelly standing beside the car. “Oh, for Pete’s sake.”
“Hello, Catherine,” Kelly said.
Catherine whirled on Kelsov. “What’s she doing here?”
Kelsov shrugged. “Venable called me tonight just after midnight and told me she was on her way and to pick her up at the airport.”
“Dammit, why didn’t you tell me?”
“He told me you wouldn’t like it.”
“But you did it anyway.”
“It’s a tough world. Venable is valuable to me, and he doesn’t like me helping you. I have to strike a balance. I do a few things he considers as favors, and he turns a blind eye to a few things that tend to annoy him. It didn’t seem much of a favor just doing a pickup and delivery.” He turned and glanced at Kelly. “But he didn’t tell me she was just a kid.”
“But, again, you would have done it anyway.”
He nodded. “It’s a tough world,” he repeated. His expression hardened as he looked at Joe. “What the hell do you think you were doing?”
“Taking down a threat. What was I supposed to do when a prick like you sneaks out of the house in the middle of the night? Catherine may trust you, but should I?”
Kelsov glared at him. “It doesn’t matter. It’s my-” He stopped. Then he slowly shook his head. “Not unless you’re a fool. Put away the gun, Catherine. I’m not going to kill him tonight.” He took Kelly’s wrist and pulled her forward. “Here’s your package from Venable. Delivered as promised.” He turned to Natalie. “Suppose you go in and make us coffee. The task is a little mundane and tame compared to bluffing Quinn with a threat to send him to meet his maker, but we could all use-”
“I was not bluffing,” she said simply as she turned toward the door. “I could not let you die.” She went past Catherine into the house.
“I’m sorry I caused all this trouble,” Kelly said. “Venable said it would be no problem getting me here.” She smiled unsteadily. “He said all the trouble would come later. I guess he was wrong.”
“I guess he was.” Catherine stepped aside. “Come in and tell us why the hell Venable dropped you in the middle of Russia like some kind of atomic bomb.”
“He said he had to do it. He didn’t want me to come, but he-”
“Not out here.” Catherine pulled her into the house. “Good heavens, Kelly, how could you do this? I thought when you left the lake cottage that you’d be safe.”
“I know you did.” She glanced at Joe. “I didn’t mean to cause you any trouble. I didn’t know Mr. Kelsov wouldn’t tell anyone he was picking me up.”
“Then it was his fault, not yours.” He smiled. “And the night wasn’t all that bad. I enjoyed parts of it.”
“I bet you did,” Catherine murmured.
“But now I’ve got to go and wake Eve and tell her what-”
“Wake?” Eve said grimly. She was standing in the bedroom doorway. “I think you should have done that some time ago.” She glanced around the room. “I seem to be the only one who was sleeping.” She shook her head as she looked back at Kelly. “I can’t believe it.”
“You thought you got rid of me. I must be the bad penny.”
“Not bad,” Catherine said gruffly. “Just damn stubborn.” She looked at Eve. “Venable sent her.”
“Not again? Not here?”
“Don’t ask. I don’t know.” She took Kelly’s elbow and led her toward the table. “But we’ll find out. Sit down. I’ll get you a cup of coffee.”
“Thank you.” Kelly leaned back in the chair and gave a deep sigh. “I was scared. I was afraid that woman would shoot Joe.”
“Shoot Joe?” Eve sat down across from Kelly. “I believe I missed more than I thought. Talk.”
“Give her a moment,” Catherine said.
Eve nodded. “We’re standing around staring at her as if she’s a murder suspect, and we’re cops giving her the third degree.”
“More like a murder victim,” Catherine said as she put a cup of coffee down in front of Kelly. “If Rakovac comes knocking on our door. Why, Kelly?”
Kelly didn’t speak for an instant. “The same reason I’ve been giving you since I came to the lake cottage. I want to help you.”
“I’m not even going to discuss that,” Catherine said. “I’ve already told you my feelings. What I’m really asking is why Venable gave in to you and sent you here? I can see his reasoning when he sent you to the lake cottage, but he’s no reckless fool, and he does have a conscience. There’s no way he should have sent you into the line of fire no matter how much you begged and pleaded.”
“I didn’t beg or plead.” She sipped her coffee. “I didn’t get the chance. I called him right after I left the lake cottage. I was going to try to persuade him to talk to you, but every time I tried to get through to him, I got his voice mail. I thought he was trying to avoid me. Then later in the evening he phoned Agent Dufour at the motel where he’d taken me and told him that he needed to talk to me.”
“He called you?” Joe repeated. “Why?”
Kelly’s gaze never left Catherine. “Because he’s not like you. He believed that I could help you. He said to tell you that he had no choice. He said desperate situations require desperate measures.”
“And you’re the desperate measure? That’s bullshit. Even Venable wouldn’t send a kid into a situation like this.”
“He did, didn’t he?” Kelly cradled her cup in her two hands. “So that must mean you’re wrong. This hot coffee feels good. I’m a little chilly. Could I get my suitcase and find my sweater?”
“Why didn’t you say so?” Catherine took off her terry robe and draped it around Kelly’s shoulders. “Didn’t anyone tell you that Russia was colder than Atlanta? No, they just bundled you onto a plane and sent you off.”
“They were in a hurry. Venable said that he didn’t know how or in what direction you’d be traveling once you reached Moscow. He wanted to make sure that I’d be able to hook up with you. He said it would be safer for me.”
“How considerate,” Eve said dryly. “But he sent you anyway.”
“Desperate measures,” Kelly said. “And I told him I’d take the chance of missing you. He said that if I didn’t find you, he’d set me up somewhere else safe to work. I told him it wasn’t a deal unless I could be with you.”
“A deal?” Catherine said.
Kelly met her gaze. “He said you might think he was putting another roadblock in his way, but it isn’t true. He wants you to find Rakovac now, and he doesn’t care how you do it. He said the time was over for being diplomatic.”
“Interesting,” Kelsov said. “Does that mean he’s going to help us nail the bastard?”
“He would if he could.” She smiled tentatively. “That’s why he sent me. He said it was urgent. None of his agents have been able to find Rakovac, and he has to find him soon.”
“Urgent?” Catherine said. “How soon?”
“He’s not sure. A week or ten days. He doesn’t know how much time he has left. That’s why we have to get to Rakovac.”
“And why is he suddenly so urgent?” Joe asked.
She shrugged. “He wouldn’t tell me. He just said that you have to let him know when you find him.” She paused. “I have to let him know. He made me promise.”
“Part of your deal?” Catherine asked. “And what are the other details of this deal?”
“I’m to figure out where he’s hidden your son. If Luke is still alive, at some point Rakovac will be near him.” She moistened her lips. “But you mustn’t kill Rakovac. He should have either a journal or computer file in his possession. Perhaps both. Venable said he probably won’t have it on him. You may have to follow him back to his office or residence. But Venable has to have that file.”
“Why?”
“He wouldn’t tell me. But he said that Rakovac mustn’t die until we get the file.” She paused. “That you wouldn’t want him to die.”
“I can’t think of any circumstance where I wouldn’t want Rakovac to die…after I find Luke.”
“Venable said that you…” She trailed off. “I’ve given you his message. That’s all I can do. He’ll have to convince you to pay attention to it.” She took a sip of her coffee. “All I care about is that I’m here with you.”
“Why did he send her?” Kelsov asked. “I still don’t understand. Does she know something about Rakovac that we don’t?”
“No, she’s a whiz kid who sees patterns where no one else does. Sort of a juvenile Einstein,” Catherine said. “She thinks that she can find Luke…and Rakovac. Evidently, Venable believes that she can, too.”
Kelsov gave a low whistle. “Venable isn’t a gullible man. I’d listen to him. How is she supposed to do this?”
“A good question,” Joe said.
“The Rakovac surveillance file,” Kelly said. “The one you wouldn’t let me read, Catherine.”
“And now I’m supposed to turn it over to you?”
Kelly shook her head. “Venable sent me my own copy.”
Of course he would, Catherine thought in frustration. “And that’s going to send you down the right path?”
“Perhaps. Or maybe I can talk to people who know him and try to see which way he would go in certain circumstances.” She met Catherine’s gaze. “I’m not going to get in your way. I know that’s what you’re afraid of.”
“Dammit, yes, I’m afraid you’ll get in my way.” She knelt by Kelly’s chair and brushed the girl’s fair hair away from her face with rough tenderness. “And I’m more afraid you’ll get in Rakovac’s way. Let me call Venable and get him to pick you up and take you back to the U.S.”
“It’s too late. We made a deal.” Kelly smiled. “And he wouldn’t come and get me. He told me I was on my own. I think he considers me…expendable. Isn’t that the word?”
Catherine’s lips tightened grimly. “That’s the word.”
“He’s very worried about something Rakovac is going to do. I’m not very important in comparison.”
“Well, you’re important to me.” She gave Kelly a quick hug and sat back on her heels. “We’re leaving this morning to try to find the grave you saw in that photo. Can I convince you to call Venable and tell him to come and get you?”
“No.”
“Then will you stay here with Natalie and work on the file? That’s what you promised to do, and you can’t do it trailing after us through a swamp.”
Kelly shook her head.
“Use your head.” Catherine took her shoulders and gently shook her. “This is the only way you’re valuable to me. Now stay and do your job.”
“I don’t know what will happen to you in that swamp.”
“Neither do I. But I have a better chance of surviving if I don’t have to worry about taking care of you. You can see that.”
“Yes.” She was frowning. “But I don’t want to see it.” She looked at Eve. “What’s going to happen in that marsh?”
“We’re going to try to find that grave and dig up the skeleton again,” Eve said.
“Won’t Rakovac have left someone to watch the grave?”
“More than likely. We’ll have to take action to avoid them.”
Kelly’s gaze went to Joe. “I can’t see him avoiding anyone.”
Joe smiled. “You think I’m confrontational?”
“You climbed out a window and went hunting the night I came to your house.”
“I was defending my turf.”
“You looked like you were enjoying yourself.” She glanced back at Eve. “What happens next?”
“After we find the skeleton, I do a quick examination to see if there’s even a possibility that it might be Luke.”
“And if there is?”
She hesitated and glanced at Catherine. “I take the skull.”
Catherine inhaled sharply. She had known that would be the procedure. There was no way they could remove the entire skeleton. But the thought of wrenching the head off any skeleton that might be Luke’s was painful. She steadied her voice. “Of course she does. It’s the only way to handle it. She’ll have to bring the skull back here and do the reconstruction.”
“And I can’t help you do that?” Kelly looked at Eve. “Is she right?”
Eve nodded. “You don’t need me to tell you that.”
“I guess I don’t.” Her glance shifted back to Catherine. “Okay, I’ll stay here and work.” She added fiercely, “But you come back. Don’t let anything happen to you.” She looked at Natalie. “I guess you’re stuck with me. I’ll try not to be any trouble.”
Natalie nodded but turned back to Kelsov. “Is that what you want?”
Kelsov was already moving toward the door. “Take care of her. Answer any questions she asks.” He glanced back over his shoulder at Kelly. “You say you might need to contact people who have known Rakovac for a long time. That’s me, and that’s Natalie. I’m not going to be around and Natalie is going to find it difficult to answer any questions. You’ll just have to make do.” He looked at Catherine. “I’ll put gas in the car. You, Eve, and Quinn get ready to move out in the next forty minutes.”
“I’ll be ready.” Catherine got to her feet. She brushed a light kiss on the top of Kelly’s head. “I think you’ll be safe here. Kelsov assures me that you will be. But if you or Natalie gets spooked for any reason, grab that gun Natalie was brandishing around, take off and call me. Do you understand?”
Kelly nodded. “Yes, can I help you get ready?”
“No, just hang out and keep out of the way until we leave, then take a shower and get a nap. You probably didn’t get any sleep on the way here.”
Kelly smiled. “I was too nervous. I don’t like you to be angry with me, and I knew you would be.”
“But it didn’t stop you.”
Her smile faded. “You need me. And Venable says he needs me. That’s reason enough to bring me here. Maybe I’ll be able to prove to myself that I’m worth something after all.”
“Don’t talk nonsense. You’re worth more than practically anyone I’ve ever run across.” She turned away. “Just keep yourself safe.”
“No problem. I’m stuck here in this house with my computer. My big threat is going to be a bad headache or eyestrain.” She leaned back in the chair. “I’ll try to have something for you when you come back. But I hope you come back so soon that I won’t have time to get anything together.”
An hour later, Kelly and Natalie stood outside the house and watched the Mercedes disappear around the corner of the road.
Kelly’s nails dug into her palms. She should be with them. Catherine had saved her life, and now she couldn’t do anything to make sure that Catherine didn’t die in that swamp. It was all very well for Catherine to say that analyzing the patterns was the only way that Kelly could be valuable to them. It was a very sterile and cerebral path when she wanted to be slogging away with them in that swamp, trying to find that skeleton.
“I want to go, too,” Natalie said quietly.
“Then why didn’t you argue? You didn’t say a word when they just assumed that you’d be staying behind.”
“I never argue with Kelsov.”
“Why not?”
“I have to stay with him. He might send me away.”
“Then it would be his loss. From what little I’ve seen, you seem to run this house and keep everything ticking.”
“I have to stay with him.”
“Anyone would be happy to have you work for them.” She smiled. “Particularly since you’re willing to protect them by shooting anyone who threatens them.”
“But I wouldn’t be happy.” She turned away. “Catherine said you need a shower and rest. I’ll make up Kelsov’s bed for you.” She looked back over her shoulder. “Can you really do what Catherine said? It sounds very strange. Can you find Rakovac?”
“If I have enough pieces to the puzzle. Will you help me?”
“You mean talk about Rakovac.” Natalie was silent. “It will…hurt me.”
“I don’t want to hurt you.”
“But Kelsov wants me to talk to you.”
“That doesn’t mean you have to do it. The report Venable gave me may be enough.”
“But you’re not sure.”
“No, I’m not sure.” She shrugged. “But I’m very good at this, Natalie. My brain is kind of…kooky. And I’ve been doing this since I was a little girl. Sometimes I see a pattern right away. Sometimes it takes me a long time, but it always comes.”
“Always?”
She nodded. “There are times when I wish it didn’t. Sometimes it scares me.”
“I can see that it might. It would scare me to know where Rakovac was. Right now, he’s like an ugly storm in the distance. But if I knew where he was, then he’d be real to me again.” She whispered, “And I’d know I’d have to go and find him.”
“There seem to be plenty of people who are willing to do that for you.”
“Yes, but I have to do it. I’m frightened, but it has to be me.”
“Why?”
She was silent. “Because I think that’s the only way the nightmares would stop.”
Kelly knew about nightmares. “Maybe it would help to talk.” She made a face. “I sound like one of those psychiatrists that those social workers wanted to send me to. Don’t do anything you don’t want to do. What do I know? I’m just a kid. I know about these patterns and not much else. And even when I can figure out where those patterns are taking me, I can’t do anything about it.” She turned and headed for the door. “But I’m going to do something this time. I’m not going to let it beat me. And you shouldn’t either. Stand up to Kelsov and tell him that you’ll do what you want to do.”
“That’s not easy.”
“I know. We’ll both have to work at it. Come on, I have to get some sleep, so that I’ll be fresh to start to pull up those files.”
Lima, Peru
Santa Theresa Cathedral
2:55 P.M.
Holy Jesus send me a miracle.
Pedro Gonzalez’s hands clenched on the rosary his wife had given him for his birthday, his gaze fixed desperately on the gold crucifix above the altar.
Save us all.
Save me from condemning my soul to hell.
Why was he here? Even God would not forgive the sin he was going to commit.
Yet Jesus had forgiven the world that had crucified him.
Forgive me. Forgive me. Forgive me.
Did God even hear him?
The tears were running down his cheeks as he buried his face in his hands.
The bell was tolling.
Three o’clock. He would have to leave. It was almost time. Blessed Savior, let it not happen.
Holy Mother, save us all.
But there was no answer, no divine intervention. His soul was doomed.
Svedrun, Russia
Ivanova Region
They reached the village of Svedrun late that afternoon. It was a barren, brown, marshy flatland that reminded Eve of the marshes she’d seen in England. She shivered. “It’s very dreary. It’s not like the swamps we have in the South. No cypresses growing out of the water. Just birches and pines. Our swamps are more…lush.”
“And complete with alligators,” Joe said. “I’ll take a little less lushness and no alligators.”
“What do we do now?” Catherine asked Kelsov. “Who is your contact here?”
“I’m probably safest with Valentin Bravski. At one time, he hated Rakovac. I’ve just got to hope he still does.” He got out of the car. “You wait here. I’ll see what I can find out.”
“You’re just going to walk into the village?” Joe asked. “Is that smart?”
He shrugged. “Bravski lives on the edge of the village and I just have to make sure no one else sees me.”
“That’s not easy when you’re ten feet tall,” Catherine said dryly.
“Not quite ten feet,” Kelsov said. “And I usually manage to be fairly inconspicuous if the need arises. Give me one of the photos of the grave site.”
Catherine dug in her backpack and handed him a photo. “You think he’ll recognize the area?”
“I have no idea. But he knows the marsh better than anyone else I know. We have a chance. Wait here.” He disappeared into the trees.
Eve got out of the car and stood looking down at the village. “There’s not much activity. It looks almost deserted.”
“Deserted by the young,” Catherine said. “That’s a problem with these small towns and villages in Russia. The young people don’t want to live here in the country. As soon as they’re old enough, they take off for the city. You can’t blame them. Would you want to live in that village?”
Eve thought about it. “It’s depressing. But with a little effort, you could change things. Most places are what you make of them.”
“And Eve lives in her own world anyway.” Joe got out of the car and came to stand beside her. “She’d take what she needed and be content.”
Catherine glanced at him. “What about you?”
“I’m more restless. Contentment is boring.”
Eve smiled. “He’d be whipping the entire village into shape. Forming co-ops and establishing a police force.”
“Maybe,” Joe said. “It’s likely. If it was worth my while.” He looked at Catherine. “I believe you’d do the same thing. You’re restless, too.”
“I could settle,” Catherine said. “After I find Luke. But not here. In the U.S. And I’m going to build strong walls around him to keep him safe.”
“And he’ll run away like those kids who deserted this village.”
“He won’t want to run away,” Catherine said. “I’ll make him happy.”
“That would be my first instinct, too,” Eve said. “But you’re going to have to be careful. You don’t know what he’s gone through…or what he’s become.”
Or if he’ll be alive to surround with all that love and protection.
In this somber place, it was difficult to take an optimistic viewpoint of Luke’s situation.
Catherine must have felt that same overwhelming sense of depression for she abruptly turned away. “Let’s get back in the car. There’s no sense standing here staring at that stupid village. There’s no telling how long it will be until Kelsov gets through with questioning Bravski.”