“I agree, but she was halfway there anyway. I did not force her.” He paused. “Any more than I forced you, Catherine. Honor and striving for good in oneself is natural and right. Particularly in certain individuals. You’ve never objected when I exposed your son to that philosophy.”
“No, I didn’t.” Because Luke was everything to her, and his life had been dark and complicated. Now she wanted nothing but good, bright paths for him. But that didn’t necessarily mean Hu Chang’s association with her son was free of complications. “Never mind, I’ll try to persuade Rachel to leave here the minute she contacts me. But I don’t know how long I’m going to have to be here now. I sent Luke down to Eve Duncan’s lake cottage in Atlanta to be with her family while I was gone. Will you stop by and make sure that he’s no trouble and happy?”
“Catherine, you know Luke loves being with Eve and Joe down at the lake. He will be fine. However, I will do as you wish. I can always take a flight out of Atlanta if I so choose.”
“Flight?”
“To San Francisco. Rachel now belongs to me even more than she did before. She’s starting out on a dangerous path that’s going to take her down to places she won’t want to go. You belong to me. Where else should I be?”
“Anywhere but here in San Francisco.” She paused. “I know that you feel you have to be here with her, but it’s not true. Not at this time. It might bring her more pain than comfort. There were occasions when she chose you instead of her father. Having you here would bring it all back to her.”
Silence. “I will think about it.”
“Trust me,” she urged. “I won’t let anything happen to her.”
He wasn’t answering. She held her breath.
“You will keep me informed?”
“Would I dare do anything else?”
“No. You’d dare almost anything, but I believe you’d hesitate to disobey me.” Another long silence. “Be very careful, Catherine. I will not lose you. I would behave in a totally irrational and violent manner if this Max Huber tried to take you from me.” He cut the connection.
Catherine hadn’t been sure she’d be able to persuade him. Once he made up his mind, there was no moving him. But he was also the wisest man she had ever met, and he would realize how complicated his role had been in the relationship between Rachel and Venable. Perhaps he knew by taking a step back he would avoid more worry, more frustration for her.
And more sadness.
Venable dead …
She could feel the tears sting her eyes for the old friend who had also been her mentor.
She swallowed hard.
Give herself a moment to get a grip on herself. This was not the time for tears. She had learned through the years that you didn’t allow yourself to mourn while there was a job to be done. Venable had taught her that lesson when four agents had been killed outside Lima on her second mission.
Find who did it.
Retrieve the information.
Dispose of the perpetrators.
On your way back to home base, grieve for fallen comrades.
And now Venable was the fallen comrade.
And it was not time to grieve.
She went to the bathroom, washed her face, and drank a glass of water.
Then she squared her shoulders, left her room, and took the elevator down to the fourth floor.
She knocked on the door.
No answer.
She knocked again.
The door swung open, and Claire Warren stood there. She was still in the silk blouse and expertly tailored black trousers she’d worn when she’d met Catherine in the lobby. She was chic, vibrant, more fascinating than attractive. She was in her mid forties, with glossy dark hair in a sleek chignon, smooth alabaster skin, and magnificent hazel eyes that were now staring coldly at Catherine. “You didn’t call me, Catherine. That was not courteous. I’m very busy. Perhaps we can get together later to—”
“I need to talk to you now.” She brushed past her into the room. “If you tell me what I need to know, then I’ll get out of here, and you can go back to what you were doing that was so important.”
“That’s my choice,” Claire Warren said crisply. “You aren’t invited, and I find your attitude rude and insubordinate. I’ve heard that you’ve always been a trifle—”
“Precipitous?” Catherine whirled to face her. “More than a trifle, particularly where my friends are concerned. I have no desire to be rude, but I don’t give a damn about being insubordinate. I want to know why I wasn’t informed that Carl Venable had been killed.”
Claire went still, but her face was without expression. “It wasn’t your business to know.”
“The hell it wasn’t. I’m hardly a security risk, and he was my good friend. It happened more than two days ago. Why were you keeping it a secret?”
“Don’t be overdramatic. I didn’t even know if it was true for twenty-four hours. Brandon had let us know after he left the cabin, but when we sent our people there, Venable’s body had disappeared. The next day, we found him at the bottom of a canyon where he’d been thrown.”
“I feel like being overdramatic.” And she was sick at the idea of Venable’s body having been thrown away like some kind of garbage. “And that was only twenty-four hours. Why wasn’t anyone told after that time?”
“It was a decision made at the highest level. We didn’t want Max Huber to know that we were aware of Venable’s death. It left our options open about what to do with Rachel Venable.”
“What?” Catherine was staring at her in disbelief. “Options?”
“Do you think we wouldn’t know that she was a target as well as Venable? No one was more responsible to the Company than Carl Venable. Of course he’d let us know that Rachel could be in danger when he realized that Huber was coming after him full force.” Her lips tightened. “He wouldn’t confide why that was true, but when Brandon told us that Venable was dead, we had to take it into consideration. We knew Huber was planning something here in San Francisco, and we were busy looking at every way to stop it.”
“And Rachel might prove a distraction to Huber? If he felt safe about having time to scoop her up, you’d have more time to find out what he was planning. So you took your time finding Venable’s body.”
“Shocked? Don’t be naïve. I’m sure Venable was thinking in the same vein until he drew his last breath. Besides, Brandon was on his way down to Guyana to run interference with Venable’s daughter. Venable told me he was very good. I had no doubt he could handle the problem temporarily.”
“Until you could clear the decks to examine your ‘options.’” She shook her head. “If Venable told you that Huber was after Rachel, he meant you to protect her, not find a way to use her. He spent years working for the CIA. I think he deserved to have you do that.”
“I did protect her. I gave her to Brandon,” she said coolly. “It was my decision, and I don’t regret it. I don’t have time to regret any action I take at this point. We’re on the verge of a national catastrophe, and I will use any means I can to prevent it.” She stared her in the eye. “And I did not bring you or the other agents here to question my judgment. You’re here in San Francisco for one thing, and that’s to prevent Huber from doing megadamage. You’ll do anything and everything to find and disarm any device Huber’s managed to smuggle into the city. Do you understand?”
“I understand. And there’s no question I’ll do what I have to do.” Catherine took a step closer. “But I also understand that you knew what my attitude was going to be about Venable and Rachel. It would have been easier for you to ask for another operative. But you didn’t do it because you knew I’d work harder, try harder than anyone else. Because I wouldn’t let the bastard who killed my friend destroy this city. And you thought perhaps because Rachel is also my friend, that I might be able to manipulate her if it became necessary. Because you knew she was on her way here, didn’t you?”
“Did I?” she asked mockingly.
“Yes, be
cause Brandon is as obsessed as Venable was, and he’d want to be here if Huber was set to take action. Or maybe you even told him to bring her here? That was why you were pleased Brandon was going after Rachel. It gave you the opportunity to pull your strings.”
“Very perceptive.” Her brows rose. “And Clever. Venable always told me how clever you were.”
“And he told me that on many levels he admired you.” She added deliberately, “I don’t believe this would have been one of those levels.” She turned to leave. “I’ll do everything I can to obey any of your orders pertaining to finding what Red Star is planning to do here. But you’ll leave Rachel Venable alone and not involve her in any of your games. If you do, you’ll have me to contend with. You can put me on report, try to have me dismissed, take away my operative officer’s credentials, and set me to scrubbing floors at Langley. But I won’t let it happen.”
“Really?” There was no expression on that smooth face. “You persist in indulging in melodrama. You don’t want to go against me, Catherine. I’ll do whatever it takes to get the job done. Just as Venable would do.” The tiniest smile lifted the corners of her lips. “Just as you would do.”
“There are limits.” She headed for the door. “And you’ll find me loyal within those limits.” She looked over her shoulder. “Don’t go beyond them.”
She closed the door behind her. She stood there and drew a deep breath. There was every chance that she’d deep-sixed her career with the CIA. Claire Warren was clearly a powerhouse and not averse to using that power. She had not been able to read all the facets of the woman, but she could see ruthlessness and that sharp brilliance that Venable had so admired. There was probably no question that she and Catherine would collide before this was over.
Well, what if they did? Just because she had been a CIA operative since her teens did not mean that she couldn’t do something else. She would probably see more of Luke if she had another job.
So she would not worry about Claire Warren. She would take the situation as she found it and go forward. She would do as Hu Chang had taught her all those years ago. It might frustrate and drive her slightly mad, but there was no better advice.
Just do the very best she could and let the chips fall where they might.
And be wary of the Claire Warrens of the world.
EAGLES REST
CANADA
“Morales didn’t get Venable’s daughter for us,” Adolf Kraus said as he hung up his phone and strode across the concrete tiles to where Huber was sitting watching the new fighter being tested in the fight ring. The kid wasn’t going to last, he thought absently, as he saw the fair-haired young boy weaving on his feet. The boy was slim and fit, but he was being beaten by two of Max Huber’s strongest pugilists. He’d be dead before midnight. “The fool is making excuses about running into interference from Brandon. We know Brandon’s helicopter left Georgetown for Miami several hours ago. She might be aboard. We’ll be at Miami Airport when it lands.”
“Son of a bitch.” Huber’s eyes were blazing. “Don’t I have enough problems without you bungling a simple retrieval? You told me Morales and his men would have no problem.”
Kraus had known this would be coming, but it still annoyed him. “We didn’t realize that Brandon would move so quickly. We didn’t even know that he knew about the woman.”
“You should have known. He and Venable have been hand and glove for the past year.” He got to his feet and moved over toward the portrait on the far wall. “Just as you should have known that bitch murdered my father.” His eyes were glistening as he looked up at Conrad Huber’s portrait. His admiring gaze going over the strong features, the powerful shoulders and body encased in Conrad’s favorite taupe-and-gray militia uniform. “Just look at him, he was as strong as a bull. As strong as all the Hubers have been through the generations. You should have realized that there was nothing weak about his heart. He was a true lion.”
“Do you think I’m not aware of that?” Kraus said sharply. “I spent twenty years serving your father, working for the cause, showing the world what men could do if they had the courage to be bold enough. Your father and I knew how to make all those politicians and world leaders bow down to us. He might have been a lion, but together we were kings.” He had said too much, but the situation was grating on his nerves. Sometimes pretending to kowtow to this weak, vicious boy who was nothing like Conrad was unbearable. He tried to hold on to his temper. “I ordered all the right tests. They all came back negative. What was I supposed to do?”
“Dig deeper. Once you were told what to look for, you had no trouble checking for her damn poison.”
“But I had to be told where to look,” he snapped. “And it took me four years to get that information. It’s not as if I pulled it out of a hat. I told you it was given to me as a gift.”
“And, in turn, you gave it to me as a gift,” Huber said coldly. “For all the good it did me. I had enough to do making the arrangements for our grand celebration in San Francisco. All I asked you to do was to see that I had Rachel Venable to complete it.”
“It will still happen. I had to go through that fool Morales, or we would have already had her. Once we have our own people after her, it will be easier.”
“You don’t even know where she is right now.”
“She’s with Brandon, and he wants you enough to take any chance to get you. There are boundless opportunities in that scenario.” He looked at the face of the man in the portrait. And his old comrade would have seen every one of those opportunities and exploited them, he thought. It had been hellishly difficult pushing and leading Max Huber down the path his father would have wanted him to go. Kraus had been the one who had held on to the power he and Conrad had forged and made certain Red Star wasn’t taken down. But now he wasn’t certain how long he could continue without disposing of this little bastard. He had been useful as a figurehead, but his arrogance was proving infuriating. “We’ll find the best one and move.”
“It has to be by the twenty-fifth,” Huber said. “All my plans are for the twenty-fifth.”
And the prick was so consumed by his “statements” and grandiose plans that he couldn’t adjust them if something better came along. Conrad would never have been that foolish. But Kraus could go along with him and bring his plans to a glorious climax. Then make his decision when he’d make his own move. “You’ll have her by the twenty-fifth.”
Huber smiled without mirth. “Promises.”
Kraus was getting too angry. Change the subject. Lead Max away from that path. His gaze went to the young boy, who was now trying to stay on his feet, then to the hungry expressions on Max Huber’s militia favorites gathered outside the ring. “You don’t usually pick them that young. How old is he?”
“Fourteen. Old enough for the test.” He was instantly distracted, and his expression was almost as intent and hungry as his men’s as he watched the boy struggling as the two fighters pummeled him mercilessly. “But he’s failing to please me. We have tradition and the heritage of clean, strong Aryan bloodlines. Even you can see that he’s a weakling.”
“I yield to your judgment. You have much more experience in this than I do.”
“Yes, I do.” Max’s head lifted as the boy stumbled and fell to the mat. “There. See. He’s down.” He turned and strode toward the ring. “He’s failed me.” Then he was inside the ring and gazing down at the boy. “You’ve wasted my time.” He told him softly, “That’s not permitted.”
“Please…” The boy could barely speak. “Don’t…”
“And you’re a coward, not worthy of me.” He pulled back his leg and kicked him in the ribs with his steel-toed boot. Again. Again. Again.
The boy screamed!
Kraus thought the distraction was firmly in place and turned to leave. Max Huber would continue to kick the boy until he was dead or he possibly lost interest in the sport. At that time, he would turn the boy over to his militia guards, who were waiting their turn.
; But Max paused and looked over his shoulder at Kraus. “It might help if you tell me the name of that ‘giver of gifts’ so that I can contact him and talk him into letting me know where I can find her.”
Kraus shook his head. “It’s rather difficult. Though naturally as head of Red Star you’re the only one he considers important. Which is as it should be. Perhaps you intimidate him. If I’m contacted, I’ll let you know.”
“I expect you to do your duty in every way. I hope that you don’t disappoint me again, Kraus.” He turned back to the boy and kicked the boy in the stomach. “You can be replaced.”
“I realize that,” Kraus said humbly. “But I trust you’ll remember that old friends are the best friends. We’ve been together a long time.” He turned away, headed for the door, and added blandly, “You know I only wish to serve you as I did your father. It will always be my privilege.”
HYATT HOTEL
Catherine’s cell phone was ringing when she woke at six the next morning. No ID. At least it wasn’t Claire again, she thought wryly. She’d had more than enough of her since their vitriolic interchange last night. But it could be Rachel if Brandon had given her a burner phone, so she’d better answer it. “Catherine Ling.”
“You sound a little annoyed, and I haven’t even had the opportunity to make you that way.”
Cameron!
She couldn’t speak for a moment. She could hardly get her breath. It had been a long time since she had heard from him, months and months. At times she had thought she might never hear from him again. “You’re not the only who can annoy me, Cameron.” She had to steady her voice. “Though you’re definitely the frontrunner. Isn’t it splendid that I haven’t had to worry about that lately?”
“Is it? You crush me. But then you’ve always been able to devastate me with that tongue … in more ways than one.”
She had a memory of her tongue on his body, his hands threaded through her hair as he looked down at her.
Heat seared through her. Other memories of Richard Cameron were cascading through her, and she was starting to shake.
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