What Doesn't Kill You

by Iris Johansen

  As if she’d tell him if he had. “I don’t know what he’s found out.”

  “That’s right, I was informed that Hu Chang wasn’t with you in Washington. Can you contact him?”

  “I can phone him. He won’t talk to me. But I can leave a message.” She paused. “If I have something worthwhile to say.”

  “Oh, you’ll have something to say.”

  “Shall we cut to the chase? I’m valuable to you. Luke is not. I’ll trade myself for Luke’s freedom. Then I’ll call Hu Chang, and we’ll see how much he cares whether I live or die.”

  “That sounds reasonable. As you say, the boy is no good to anyone but you.” He was silent. “But I might be persuaded to allow a substitution to take place. I’m a bit concerned about making sure that drug will work. I don’t like the fact that it might depend on Andrews’s physical condition. I want to rule it out. My client is uneasy, and that makes me uneasy. My reputation is at stake.”

  “What are you asking?”

  “I want another dose of Pondera of at least equal strength as insurance that it will work.”

  “No way. Hu Chang loves that damn drug. He told me he’d learned his lesson, and he’s not going to let it out of his hands again.”

  “That doesn’t surprise me. Then I suppose I’ll just have to make do with you and see if that will coax him to come out of hiding to save your neck. He might be more amenable after he sees the initial damage on that beautiful body. Now I’ll give you my orders for the exchange.”

  “I want to talk to my son.”

  “He’s not available at the moment.”

  She inhaled sharply. “Why not?”

  “I had a few transportation problems.”

  “You’re lying.” She tried to keep the panic from her voice. “He’s not alive.”

  “Think what you like. I’m not stupid enough to kill the goose that lays the golden egg. And you’re very golden indeed, Catherine.”

  The fear began to ebb. “No deal until he talks to me. I have to be sure.”

  “We’re running very close on time, Catherine. I’ve already decided that Andrews will be given the drug whether there’s a risk or not. But I’d like reassurance that the drug will work properly. I also want Hu Chang’s formula, and I will have it. But if not through you, I’ll find another way. Your son may not be worth anything to me if you keep stalling.”

  “I’m not stalling. He’s my son, but I value my life. I won’t let you get your hands on me until I’m sure I’m getting what I want in return. Now when can I talk to Luke?”

  He was silent. “Perhaps a few hours. It wasn’t easy to arrange to snatch your kid, and I’m going to be very careful not to lose him now that I have him. Your O’Neill had guards all over the neighborhood, and I’m having to move carefully. I’ll try to arrange it as soon as possible.”

  “And when can I see him?”

  “Don’t be greedy. That will be on the timetable that I decide. I’ll call you when it suits me.” He hung up.

  “Was he lying? Could you tell?” she asked Gallo as she hung up. “Is Luke alive?”

  “I’m no psychic,” Gallo said. “But it would make sense that grabbing Luke would be a big undertaking.”

  “But Luke would fight them,” she said unsteadily. “He’s had to fight all his life. I know he’d fight them. And they could hurt him even if they’d had orders not to do it.”

  “I don’t believe Nardik was stalling. I think that you’ll get that call. Perhaps after he lets you sweat a little. His tone was definitely vicious when you came on the line.”

  “I’d made him angry. Hell, I wanted him angry and stinging from anything that I could do to him. At the time, I was so angry myself that I didn’t even think about anything but telling him how little he mattered to me.” She swallowed. “I didn’t think about Luke until later.”

  “I’m sure Luke was already a secondary target when he decided that he might go after you. It’s the way he operates. Stop blaming yourself. You did everything possible to protect Luke. If anyone is responsible for the chain of events besides Nardik, it’s Hu Chang.” He pulled to her feet. “There’s no way on Earth that you’re going to let Nardik hurt anyone who belongs to you. I know that, Catherine. So find me that coffeepot, and we’ll settle down to wait for Nardik’s call. Then we’ll brainstorm until we find a logical way to free Luke and screw that bastard.”

  He was trying to get her moving forward and into battle mode, she thought. Gallo and she were so different in a multitude of ways, but they were both warriors in instinct and experience. Tonight, he had given her strength and truth, not lies or pity. Now he realized that this fear and guilt could be paralyzing and was trying to temper it. It could not be erased, but she could deal with it if she kept her mind busy and focused and her imagination at bay. She was suddenly passionately grateful that she had Gallo here to remind her of who she was and that this was only one more battle that she had to win.

  And she would win it.

  “You’re right.” She reached out and quickly squeezed Gallo’s arm before turning away. “We’ll screw the bastard.”

  CHAPTER

  17

  “IT’S BEEN OVER TWO HOURS.” Catherine’s grasp tightened on the coffee cup that contained her fourth or fifth cup of coffee. She couldn’t remember how many she’d tossed down. “He should have called by now.”

  “Easy,” Gallo said. “It’s not been that long in the scheme of things. It just seems like forever to you.” He reached over and took the cup from her and set it on the coffee table. “But the caffeine is probably—”

  Her phone rang, and she tensed. “That has to be—” But the ID was Kelly Winters. She answered quickly. “Kelly, I’ll talk to you later. I’m expecting a call.”

  “I know,” Kelly said. “Sam told me when I came back with the security guys from searching the neighborhood for Luke. I tried not to call you, but it was driving me crazy, and I had to do it.”

  “Look, I know how you feel. I know you’re sorry about Luke. You don’t have to say anything.”

  “Yes, I do. I have to tell you—it may not mean anything. But it could mean that things aren’t quite as they— Anyway, you have to know everything in case you can figure out something that I can’t.”

  “So tell me. Quick.”

  “Right before Luke went downstairs to the library, we were talking about that blasted book and how Luke was obsessed with it. He was actually relieved that I couldn’t find a reasonable explanation about why he felt as if he knew more than indicated by the translation. He said that he’d wanted me to come and help because he’d been thinking about weird stuff, and I’d know if it was okay to go in that direction.”

  “Weird stuff?”

  “Yeah, and who can be more weird than I? Anyway, he went downstairs to the library right after that.” She paused. “But he was looking out the window while he was talking to me and mentioned Jordack standing under the tree.”

  “Jordack is the security guard who was killed?”

  “Yes, Luke said that he didn’t look as tall huddled against the trunk to get out of the rain.”

  “You think that the guard had already been taken out?”

  “I don’t know. I didn’t see him. All I know is that Luke saw him and thought he looked different. And then he left his room and went downstairs. I followed him and saw him at the window beside the front door looking out at the rain. Then he went to the library, and that was the last I saw of him.”

  “But that doesn’t tell me anything that will help—” She stopped. If Kelly thought there was a thread to be pursued, then it probably existed. “What are you saying?”

  “That there may be a pattern we don’t know about. Maybe one that Luke was following. Oh, I don’t know, Catherine. But there was something … not usual. I had to tell you about it in case you could put the pieces together.”

  “I’ll think about it. Is that all, Kelly?”

  “No, one more piece. The book he was r
eading in the library. I found it on the window seat. I’ve e-mailed a photo of it to you. I’ll get off the phone now. I hope this all helps. God, I hope it does.” She hung up.

  “Well?” Gallo asked Catherine. “Pretty flimsy. And it doesn’t appear to be leading us any closer to Nardik. Is it going to be useful?”

  “Kelly is never flimsy.” Catherine rubbed her temple. “She instinctively coordinates and builds patterns even if she can’t see them. If she thinks there may be an alternate pattern to examine, then we should do it. But my brain is spinning, and this info she heaped on me is making it worse.” She was trying to assimilate everything Kelly had told her and find logic.

  The Chinese chemistry book that had obsessed Luke since he’d started to read it.

  The fact that Luke had recently been worried if thinking in a weird direction was okay.

  Luke had possibly seen the killer and his potential kidnapper while he was looking out the window.

  If he had suspected that security had been breached, why had he not told Sam?

  “The book that Kelly found on the window seat,” Gallo nudged gently.

  “Yes.” She accessed the e-mail on her phone. “It’s right here. I’ll see what—”

  She inhaled sharply as the gold script title jumped out at her. The Art and Practical Usage of Hypnosis. “Oh, yes, this is weird stuff all right. Why was Luke—” Then it was all coming together, bombarding her, coming clearer with every passing second.

  “Oh, my God.”

  “Catherine?”

  “Another pattern, Kelly said.” Her voice was shaking. “Another path.”

  “And?”

  “I’ve found the pattern. Damn him, I’ve found the pattern.” Her hand was trembling as she started to dial. “Why would he do—” She stopped as she got the answering machine that she had expected. “You answer me, Hu Chang. Pick up. Do you hear me? I’m going through hell, and I won’t tolerate this. I just talked to Nardik, and he scared me to death. I think he was either lying, or he genuinely thought he had my boy. But he doesn’t, does he?”

  No answer.

  She drew a long, deep, shaky breath. “If you care anything about me, you’ll forget about that stupid Pondera and let me talk to my son.”

  Hu Chang came on the line. “Catherine, I never create anything that could be termed as stupid. You should realize that by now. I know you’re emotionally disturbed by what must be happening at the moment, but I—”

  “Let me talk to my son. You have him, don’t you? Let me talk to Luke.”

  “Yes, Luke is with me.”

  Relief made her so weak her head was swimming. Thank God her guess had been right. Oh, thank God. “Let me talk to him.”

  “In a few moments. Since I bear responsibility for most of this disturbance you’re experiencing, I don’t wish to expose him to it until you’re calmer. It might upset him.” He suddenly chuckled. “Luke is frowning at me. I believe he regards those words as an insult.”

  “I’m not going to be calmer. Not until I know he’s safe. I still don’t know that. Did you make some kind of deal with Nardik to kidnap him?”

  “Of course I didn’t. I told you Nardik was Lucifer. Would I let him near your son?”

  “I don’t know what you’d do. How did you get hold of Luke?”

  “Actually, he invited me to step into the scene. I was quite shocked … and very approving. Of course, I paved the way a little ahead of time, but that only aroused Luke’s curiosity.”

  “What the hell are you talking about, Hu Chang?”

  “I had to take care of the boy,” he said simply. “I know Nardik. You do not. He always hits at the weakest link. I knew he would go after Luke. I realize you had guards all around Luke, but I couldn’t risk one of Nardik’s men slipping through the cordon Sam had linked around him.”

  “Why didn’t you talk to me? Do you think I wouldn’t have gone to Luke if you’d said one word about the possibility of his not being safe?”

  “No, but I had other plans that you might not have agreed to put into place.”

  “What plans?” She leaped for the most logical answer. “You have some kind of convoluted scheme to use Luke to get your drug.”

  “Pondera is important. What’s wrong with saving the drug, your fine patriot, Andrews, and Luke? It’s a multifaceted plot that serves many purposes. Luke doesn’t object. He realizes that it could be beneficial to everyone concerned. He didn’t care for the idea that Nardik was going after you with such venom.”

  “Of course Luke didn’t object,” she said bitterly. “Why would he? But he has to know what you did to him. Kelly sent me a photo of that book he was reading tonight before you took him. The Art and Practical Usage of Hypnosis. Luke realized that one explanation for his obsession with that chemistry book you gave him was that you’d implanted a posthypnotic suggestion concerning it.”

  “Yes, wasn’t that clever of him? Considering that he had to work everything out for himself, and he’d had only scant contact with the subject of hypnosis, it was amazing. I was very proud.”

  “That you’d subverted his will?”

  “Would I do that? It was just necessary that I make sure that the book was safe and useful to him.”

  “You hypnotized him while he was with you downstairs in the lab in Hong Kong. I didn’t even know you practiced hypnosis.”

  “But you suspected it. You’ve even joked about it.”

  “You never confirmed it.”

  “But if we knew everything about each other, our relationship might grow stale.”

  “You promise me that you didn’t use hypnosis to control Luke in any other way?”

  Silence. “Well, I did inspire him to respect and admire me above anyone but you. But I made sure that could be diminished by personal contact if it proved to be false. But I felt I deserved a head start since I’m not with the boy that often.”

  “Nothing else?”

  “Nothing but the contents of the book. You see, it is not so terrible.”

  “It is terrible.” She closed her eyes. “But I’m trying to remember that you may have saved my son.” Now that Hu Chang had admitted that he had Luke with him, and she knew that Luke was unhurt, the relief was enormous. Hu Chang’s silence and manipulation were maddening, even frightening, but he had Luke with him, and her son was safe from Nardik. “But Nardik believes one of his men has Luke. Why?”

  “Because his man, Mark Townberg, got close enough to Sam’s security man to take him out. I’d been watching down the street and decided I had to step in. So I persuaded Townberg that he was sleepy and needed a nap in my car.”

  “Hypnosis?”

  “No, hypnosis takes time. Drugs are good, drugs are fine. I went back to the oak tree and stood there for a few moments, thinking about my next move. I looked up and saw Luke standing at a window on the second floor.”

  “And then just decided to walk into the house?”

  “I thought he might be ready for me. I was right, he’d unlocked the front door.”

  She could see why Luke had been ready, Catherine thought. He had been curious and eager to know what was happening to him. And he had welcomed the only man who could tell him. “What happened to Nardik’s man, Townberg?”

  “I decided he might be useful and that I should keep him alive and functioning. So when Luke and I left the neighborhood, we took Townberg with us.”

  “Luke was riding around in your car with that murderer?”

  “You’re speaking like a mother. It was no shock that could damage him. It’s not as if Luke hadn’t spent most of his years with men like Townberg.”

  “No, but that doesn’t mean I want him to spend one more minute with them.” She dropped the subject. “What did you do to Townberg?”

  “I persuaded him to make a phone call to Fowler, Nardik’s assistant, and tell him he had Luke.”

  “Persuaded?”

  “I have a very good drug that accomplishes amazing feats of persuasion. I also
had him stall Fowler and say it would take a little time to get the boy to Nardik. You said that Nardik called you?”

  “Yes. And I’m angry as hell that you let him put me through that hell.”

  “It will fade once you consider the alternatives if I hadn’t taken the boy. But I will not ask you to be grateful to me. I realize that would be difficult when you—”

  “Grateful? You closed me out. You just got on a plane and ignored everything but what you wanted.”

  “I wanted Luke alive, Catherine,” he said quietly.

  “And your damn drug safe and sound.” But that first sentence had disarmed her. He had kept Luke alive, and, in the end, that was the most important thing to remember. “I’m supposed to be waiting for another call from Nardik who promised to put Luke on the phone. We’re going to arrange to trade me for Luke.” She added dryly, “Nardik believes I’m a valuable bargaining chip either to lure you or get you to furnish him information. He doesn’t realize that you don’t give a damn for anything but your Pondera.”

  “That was a cruel blow. Nardik is actually correct. He couldn’t choose a more desirable lure.” He was silent. “I was hoping to find a way to keep you out of it. It doesn’t seem to be happening. Oh well, I will force Townberg to call Nardik one last time and tell him that he will be able to deliver Luke sometime tomorrow. Nardik will tell Townberg to call you and put the boy on the phone.”

  “One last time? You’re not to kill Townberg in front of Luke, Hu Chang.”

  “Am I a savage? I will restrain myself.” He was silent again. “I do not like that you’re involved in these negotiations. I was planning that Luke and I would handle the matter ourselves.”

  “Keep my son out of this.”

  “I will make every effort not to endanger him.”