Your Next Breath

by Iris Johansen

  “And she might not,” Sam said quietly. “Stop blaming yourself. He can’t be targeting everyone.”

  “But I don’t know who he is targeting,” she said unsteadily. “And it’s driving me crazy. Who am I going to miss?” Venable picked up the call, and she spoke quickly, “Look, Venable, I need you to check on Kelly Winters’s surveillance. I’m getting pretty uptight about having her out there alone. I’m going to call her myself later and see if I can’t persuade her to let us come and get her. Don’t let her go anywhere on campus without a tail, okay?”

  “That goes without saying. If there were a problem, I’d know about it.”

  “Okay, so I’m paranoid. Just do it.” She hung up.

  CHAPTER

  4

  “I am paranoid,” she said to Sam after she’d finished speaking to Venable. “I can’t help it.” She leaned back in her chair and tried to compose herself. “I guess that’s all I can do right now.” Her hand clenched on her coffee cup. “I hate this. I want Santos.”

  “So do I,” Sam said.

  “He has me on the defensive. I feel so damn helpless. All I can do is wait for something to happen.” She moistened her lips. “Or someone to die.”

  “You’re not helpless. Erin Sullivan is alive, and she wouldn’t be if you hadn’t acted.”

  “Even that wasn’t a complete victory. A priest died in that village.” She waved her hand as he started to speak. “But I can’t think about that. I’ll accept partial victories.”

  “And it probably pissed off Santos big-time. All of his elaborate schemes down the tube.”

  She smiled. “You’re great, Sam. I’m actually beginning to feel a little optimistic.”

  “No, you’re not. But you might be seeing things a little clearer. You’re going to beat the son of a bitch, but you’re probably going to have to go the distance before you do. Right now, you have the weight of all those lives on your shoulders. You’ll feel better once you’re on the offense.”

  “You bet I will.” She got to her feet. “And I won’t get there until I find a hook to hang him. I’d better get back to the computer. Not that I’ve found anything worthwhile yet. It will come.” And she might have had that hook if she’d been able to talk to Nagoles. Think positive. Cameron had not actually refused her.

  And she hadn’t heard from Cameron since he’d run out of that cave after Nagoles. How did she know he was even alive?

  She quickly rejected the thought. Cameron was alive. She wouldn’t have it any other way. He was too clever, too trained in every form of combat, too much the complete warrior to be brought down.

  And she somehow felt she would have known if he wasn’t still on this Earth.

  “I’ll go check on Luke in the library, then go to my room and hit the computer to see if I can find that hook.” She headed for the kitchen door. “There may be something in the files Venable sent me on Manuel Dorgal. Santos was in prison, but Dorgal was flitting around the world doing his bidding. It could be that one of those errands might be the purchase of a hideaway. It can’t hurt to—” She broke off as her phone rang. She glanced down at the caller ID.

  She stiffened. Hell and damnation.

  T. Santos.

  Shock and excitement exploded through her.

  “Sam, call Venable and have him try to trace this call.”

  She punched the access button. “Catherine Ling. What do you want, Santos?”

  “Your suffering. Your death,” Santos said. “That might satisfy me. Or perhaps not, but it will have to do. Don’t try to trace me, I have a protected phone and I won’t be talking to you for long. I just wanted to touch base with you in case you’re getting too smug. One destroyed helicopter. One inadequate fool who could not perform a simple kill is nothing in the scheme of things.”

  “Nagoles is dead?” Relief. Then Cameron must be alive. “Then I think it’s considerably more than nothing to you that he was taken out. Things aren’t going your way, Santos? What a pity. Get used to it, you son of a bitch.”

  “I’ve no intention of getting used to failure. I knew you’d cause me a few problems once you realized what I was doing. I’ll work through them.” His voice lowered to silky menace. “And I’ll make sure your pain will only be the more intense when it’s your turn.”

  “What a coward you are, Santos. Why not come after me directly? Are you afraid? It’s easy to send your goons to kill my friends. Olena Petrov, a helpless woman in her home, Jantzen and Kirov by ambush. But it’s getting a little harder now. Erin Sullivan should have been simple, but it didn’t turn out that way. Why not cross any other targets off your list and let’s see if you can take me down.”

  “Why should I do that? Because you’re hurting,” he said softly. “I can hear it. You’re trying to mask it, but the pain is there. And that means I’m winning.”

  “The hell you are.”

  “I didn’t choose those targets because they were easy. I chose them because they were your past. The woman who helped you as a child; Jantzen, your friend, who worked with you during the first years you were with the CIA; and Slantkey, who furnished you with information that set you on the path to save your son.”

  “What are you getting at, Santos?”

  “Do you know what Delores was to me? Everything. My past, my present, my future. She was me. When you killed her, you tore my heart out.”

  “How dramatic.”

  “Bitch.” He drew a harsh breath. “Go ahead, spit out your sarcasm. I’ll remember every word you say. I have such ugly memories of you. You standing in my home with that gun in your hand, looking down at my Delores. After they put me in prison, I lived with that memory, and so I set out to find exactly who you were. I know more about you now than that CIA you work for. Past. Present. Future. It seemed fitting that I take those away from you, too. I divided it into phases. Past. Petrov, Jantzen, Slantkey. People whose death would cause you pain and regret but not deep sorrow.” He paused. “The tip of the iceberg.”

  “Go on.”

  “The second phase—present. People who are in your life now, who’ve actually interacted with you in the last year or so. People whose death would bring you wrenching sorrow. Erin Sullivan was on that list.” He paused. “You became very close when you rescued her in San Francisco. She went away, but you kept in communication with her. Warm, affectionate, communication. Phone calls, e-mails. I enjoyed every one of them. But there are so many others. It’s really hard to choose. I know all about you and how to make everyone in your world jump through hoops. I was going to limit that phase to three, but I may have to expand it.”

  “You won’t get the chance, you bastard.”

  “Third phase—future. I don’t think I have to elaborate on that target, do I?”

  Luke.

  She didn’t answer.

  “He’ll have to suffer excruciating pain, you know. I’ve been planning it in detail. You may go through as much agony as I did when you shot Delores.”

  “You can’t convince me you felt anything for her. It’s all ego with you.”

  “You’re wrong. And every time someone dies, you’ll realize how wrong. I’m sure you went over possible victims after you saw what was happening around you. There were more than you thought, weren’t there? How do you decide where I’m going to strike next? It may not be who you think it will be. I have to look at all the ramifications of a kill and see if it has the effect I want. Who will it be? You’ll know very soon, Catherine.”

  “You listen to me.” She had to struggle to keep her voice steady and not show him the panic she was feeling. “I’ve got my people covered. You’re not going to be able to touch them. And I’m not going to wait around and worry about how you’re going to decide anything. I’m going after you. I’m going to punish you and everyone around you for killing my friends. And, if you even get near my son, I’ll destroy you in the most painful way possible. That’s your future, Santos.” She hung up.

  She leaned back against the wall,
fighting for control.

  Sam shook his head as he hung up his own phone. “Venable wasn’t able to trace the call.” He pulled out the kitchen chair and pushed her down. “You need a cup of coffee.”

  “No, I don’t. I need to kill Santos.”

  “That can come next.” He went to the coffeemaker and poured her a cup of coffee. “Nasty?” He brought her the cup. “Of course it was nasty. I heard it from your side. Did you learn anything?”

  “Maybe. I’ve got to think about it.” She took a sip of the hot coffee. “He’s got this plan … Past. Present. Future. We’re in present mode. He’s going after people who are important to me that are currently in my life. That’s why Erin was targeted.”

  “But you haven’t seen Erin in months.”

  “Close enough for him, evidently.” She rubbed her temple. “He has to have been having me followed and tapping my e-mails. He knew I’d been in communication with Erin.” To whom else had she sent warm, affectionate e-mails?

  Kelly Winters. Her name jumped first into Catherine’s mind. Kelly was not only Luke’s friend but Catherine’s, and it had been natural to keep in contact with her while she was at college. Kelly and her mother had a very cool, distant relationship, and Catherine knew about loneliness. Would there be something in one of those e-mails to Kelly that would trigger a target?

  “I have to go back and check any messages I’ve sent out to anyone within the last six months. If Santos would consider that the present.” She set her cup down on the table. “I’ll call Venable back and let him know Santos’s plan and that Nagoles seems to be out of the picture. Then I’ll call Hu Chang. I need to keep him up to date.”

  And she needed to talk to him and hear his voice. She knew that he was doing what was best in keeping Erin safe, but she wanted him with her. It was all very well for him to say that he could take care of himself, but it didn’t keep her from being afraid for him. Hu Chang was her past, present, and, God willing, her future. He was her best friend and the one person who could banish the loneliness that was always with her. Those facts alone would make him a prime candidate for Santos’s hit squad.

  How do you know where I’m going to strike next?

  Not Hu Chang. Please not Hu Chang.

  She started to dial Venable.

  Venable rang through before she made the connection. “Fill me in.”

  She briefly went over the conversation. “Principally threats and his grand plan. I think he wanted to make sure I knew he wasn’t worried that we’d taken out Nagoles. And it must be frustrating not to be able to actually see the effect of a strike. I may be getting other calls from him if we don’t pull him in right away. No way of tracing?”

  “Not unless he’s on the line a hell of a long time.” He paused. “He said you’d hear soon about a new victim?”

  “He might have been trying to scare me.”

  “Maybe.”

  There was a note in his voice that caused her to tense.

  “Dammit, something’s happened?”

  “No, it’s something that didn’t happen. I checked on the agent monitoring Kelly Winter, and he said she slipped out of her morning class, and he lost her.”

  “Lost her? How could he lose her? She’s a college student. He should know they’re always on the move.”

  “I’m not making excuses. He knows he screwed up. He tried to phone her at the number we gave him. She didn’t answer her phone.”

  “What about phoning Mrs. Smyth, the lady where Kelly boards? Maybe she went back home.”

  “We checked. She wasn’t there. Kelly stayed the night with a girlfriend but left her house early this morning.”

  Catherine didn’t like this.

  Who will be next?

  “Tell that agent to find her, Venable.” She jumped to her feet and headed for the door. “And to stay with her. She’s alone, and she doesn’t even know she might be a target. Luke was playing some game with her earlier. I’ll go see if he can contact her.”

  “I’ll let you know as soon as the agent reports in.” He hung up.

  “Hi, Catherine.” Luke looked up from his book when Catherine entered the library. He was sprawled on the couch, and she recognized the book as one of the chemistry books Hu Chang had sent him. “Sam said you were sleeping late or I would have shown you my new game. It’s really cool. Even Kelly said that it was kind of a challenge. And she can be pretty snooty about—” He broke off as he saw her expression. “What’s wrong? Hu Chang?”

  “No, Hu Chang is fine.” Naturally, that had been his first thought. Hu Chang had become almost as close to him as he was to Catherine. Mentor as well as friend. “You’re not playing your game now. Why? Lose interest?”

  “No.” His eyes were narrowed on her face. “I lost Kelly. She’ll probably check in later.”

  “She just dropped off the game site?”

  He nodded. “You didn’t answer me. What’s wrong?”

  She had to tell him. He’d keep at her until she did, and she couldn’t lie to him. Besides, he might be able to help. “Maybe nothing. I’m worried about Kelly. When was the last time you talked to her?”

  “Last night. When I called her to set up the game. I was kind of edgy and couldn’t sleep. She was at some friend’s house, Barbara … something. I was surprised. Kelly doesn’t usually go out on school nights. But she said she needed a distraction.” He added, “But she must be okay. She’s been playing the game all morning until about thirty minutes ago. You want me to call her?”

  “Please.” Maybe Kelly would answer Luke. It couldn’t hurt to try.

  He was frowning as he dialed the number. Then he shook his head. “Her phone’s turned off.”

  “Okay.” She tried to keep her tone calm. “Keep trying, will you?”

  “Why?” Then he asked, “Santos?”

  “He may be widening his victim base. I should have arranged to have her brought here. Venable’s agent can’t locate her anywhere on campus.”

  “She might not be on campus,” he said slowly.

  “What?”

  “I told you that she said she needed a distraction. When she gets upset, she usually goes hiking in the woods.”

  “The woods?” Lonely trails, shadows, an attacker could be behind any tree on Kelly’s path. “What woods? Where?”

  “I don’t know. Somewhere near the campus. Once she mentioned a dam.” He looked down at his phone. “But I don’t like it that she turned off her cell.”

  “Neither do I. Why would she do that? Did she tell you why she was upset?”

  “Yes.” He raised his eyes to meet her own. “She said that she got something in the mail that reminded her what day it was. Not that she needed a reminder.”

  “What day is—” Then it hit home to her. “The day that her father was murdered while the two of them were being held by those kidnappers.” Of course. Kelly handled the trauma of that day extraordinarily well for a teenager, but she had been a witness to that murder. She even blamed herself because her father had died protecting her. “What did she get in the mail?”

  He shrugged. “I think it was a note. I didn’t ask her anything about it. I had trouble even keeping her on the phone. I just talked about the game and your face when you were trying on that fluffy red hat. I wanted her to laugh.”

  “And did she?”

  “Yes, she said she’d like to see it. But, like I said, she didn’t stay on the line very long.”

  A note. What had been in that note? Who had sent it? She doubted that it came from Kelly’s mother, who was too involved with her busy social life to bother to communicate with her daughter.

  I know all about you and how to make everyone in your world jump through hoops.

  Did Santos know that a disturbing note would cause Kelly to leave the safety of the campus, making her more vulnerable? Had he been waiting, planning to take advantage of this day?

  Dear God, she was afraid he had.

  “Catherine?” Luke was sitting upright on
the couch. “She’s in trouble?”

  “I can’t be sure. But she might be.” She tried to think. “I have to go and make sure. You’ll be safe here with Sam and the guys. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

  “I’m going with you.”

  “No!”

  “Yes,” Luke said. “Kelly is my friend. Maybe I should have made her talk last night. Maybe I should have told her what’s happening here. It’s hard to know what to do.”

  “I’ll tell you what to do. Stay here and keep safe while I find Kelly and make sure she’s safe.”

  He shook his head. “I can help. When we’re in the woods, I might remember other stuff she’s mentioned that will lead us to her.” He got to his feet. “Hu Chang would let me go.”

  He was maddeningly correct. “Hu Chang is not me. I know you believe what you’ve gone through has earned you the right to be treated as an adult, and I’m trying, Luke. But this is different. We’ll both be vulnerable out there while were searching for Kelly.”

  He smiled. “I won’t feel vulnerable. You’re a very good agent, Catherine. You’ll take care of me. And I’m not stupid. I’ll take orders.” His smile faded. “And if I don’t go with you, I’ll go alone. She’s my friend. You know I don’t have many friends. I don’t understand the kids my own age, and they don’t understand me. But Kelly’s different.”

  She wasn’t going to be able to talk him out of it. He’d do exactly as he’d told her he’d do. Worst-case scenario, he’d be out on the road alone. He and Kelly had both had tragedies in their lives that had shaped their friendship in the last months. Tragedy that had made Luke strong and robbed him of his childhood.

  “Blackmail, Luke?”

  He nodded. “It will be okay, Catherine. Let’s go find her.”

  No choice. How to do it and keep him as safe as possible. “You do everything I say. You don’t waver, down to the last syllable.” She turned away. “Go get a map of the area around the university and find out where there’s a dam that would be within hiking distance. Hurry.”