Night and Day
Page 33
“The hell you will.”
“I will pay, Jock. I was sent to save Eve and Michael, and I did it. I think I’m the only one who could have done it. For some reason, Kaskov wants me to be with him and, if that’s the price, then it was worth it.”
“I’ll kill him.”
“No, you won’t. You said I had a soul and choices, and this is one of the choices.” She smiled shakily. “But Kaskov isn’t going to have it all his own way. Why do you think I’ve been talking to him? He’ll only have me with him for one month a year, and I get to choose the place. Anything else is only open to negotiation.”
“And you actually believe he’ll keep his word?”
“Yes, if I keep mine.”
“You’re crazy. Do you know how dangerous he is?”
She didn’t answer directly. “He won’t hurt me. He wouldn’t damage anything he values. If he wants me with him, he must value me.” She took a step closer to him. She had to make him understand. “Eve might be dead if he hadn’t given her that antidote. There was a reason that I had to be the one to go to him and persuade him to do it. Maybe there’s a reason I have to be the one to go to him now.”
“Bullshit. You don’t have to do this. I won’t allow it. Eve won’t allow it.”
“Then I’ll go to Kaskov anyway. It will just make it more difficult for all of us. One month, Jock.” She tried to smile. “Hey, some of my school friends go away from home to summer camp for that long.”
“Some summer camp,” he said through his teeth.
“It will be what I make it,” she said quietly. “Choices, Jock.”
“It’s not going to happen.”
“Not for a while. I’ll make Kaskov understand I have to be with Eve during these next few months. As long as he knows I’ll keep my word, he’ll be patient.”
“And you think I’ll just let you go off with him?” His gray eyes were shimmering with intensity, his jaw tense. “Think again, Cara. For God’s sake, you’re happy, you love your life with Eve and Quinn. Nothing’s going to destroy that.”
“Only you, if you don’t let me work this out to suit myself.” She reached up and put her hand on his lips as he opened them to speak. “And I’m not going to talk about this any longer. You don’t talk about it either, not to me, not to anyone else. This is the day that Eve has been waiting for, and nothing is going to spoil it or worry her. Do you understand, Jock?”
He stared down into her eyes for a long time. Then he reached up and took her hand from his lips. “Oh, I understand. You’ll have your grace period, Cara.” He lifted her palm to his lips. “Because, when you’re not being totally irrational, you’re full of grace yourself, and this day is important to you, too. I came here to share it with you, and I’ll even promise that I’ll try to handle this particular insanity without involving Eve.” He smiled. “Let’s call it a birthday gift to Michael.”
He might still be upset with her but there was no anger, she realized with relief. There was only warmth and affection and that closeness that had always been there between them. “Michael will like that. He’s always very protective of Eve.” Her hand tightened on Jock’s as she looked impatiently down the long hall. “But I wish he’d get here. Where on earth is he?”
* * *
“Where is he?” Eve asked in panic, reaching out for Joe’s hand. “Where are they taking him?”
“Shh. Everything is fine.”
“No, it’s not.” She was empty. Michael was gone from her body, and she was feeling a terrible loss. She wanted him back. “Not if he’s not here with me.”
“Hey, you’re just exhausted and not thinking clearly. You had a pretty rough labor. You should have a long talk with Michael about putting you through it.” Joe smiled down at her. “The doctors told you that they’d take the baby right away to examine and make sure there was nothing wrong with him.”
She remembered, but it didn’t stop the panic. “So when do I get him back?”
“Fifteen minutes, Eve. Give them a chance.”
“I barely got a glimpse of him before they whisked him away.”
“He looked pretty good to me. I think you did a stellar job, Eve.”
“Michael wouldn’t agree.” She swallowed to ease the tightness of her throat. “He believed he was running the show, and I was just along for the ride.”
“I’ll have to teach him more respect. You’re never just along for the ride.” He bent and kissed her, slowly, deeply. “Thank you for my son, Eve.” His arms were suddenly around her, and he held her tight. “It’s … fantastic. A miracle.”
“You did contribute, Joe.” She chuckled, but she held him even closer. “Thank you.” This was a precious moment that she wanted to cherish. When she had given birth to Bonnie, she had been almost alone, and there had been no one like Joe to hold and share the wonder.
But she wasn’t sharing the wonder yet. She didn’t have Michael.
He let her go and looked down at her with a quizzical expression. “You want me to go and hurry those doctors along?”
“Please.”
He laughed and straightened away from her bed. “No problem. On my way, I’ll stop and give Cara the good news.” He moved across the hospital room and out the door.
Cara. Yes, they had to tell Cara, who had become such an integral part of their family during the last months.
Jane. Eve should call her and tell her that Michael had been in too much of a hurry to wait for her. But she would be here soon anyway.
Lord, Eve was lucky to have people around her who were loving and loyal and totally unique. She had never felt that gratitude more than after what she had gone through during the last months.
But where was Michael? She could feel her tension growing as the minutes passed. Those doctors wouldn’t have said there could be a possible problem at birth if they hadn’t had reason.
Caleb had not been worried. Trust Caleb.
But where was Michael?
Joe wouldn’t leave her alone to worry when he knew that she was on edge. She just wanted to see her son and know that he was well. She would ring for the nurse if Joe didn’t come back soon. Or, dammit, she would get up from this bed and go get Michael herself. It had been too long for—
“Here he is.” Joe was holding the door open for a nurse carrying a small blue-blanket-wrapped bundle. “I had to commandeer Nurse Carey here to bring him back to you.”
The nurse smiled and carefully put the soft bundle in Eve’s arms. “And maybe I wanted to keep him a little longer. He’s pretty wonderful.”
“I know.” Michael’s softness was against her instead of in her body. It felt strange but wonderfully right. Don’t look at him yet. Stretch out this moment she was going to remember forever. She looked at Joe. “What did the doctors say?”
“Eight pounds, two ounces. Twenty-one inches.” He crossed the room and stood beside the bed. “And absolutely healthy.”
She closed her eyes for an instant. “Thank God. No effect from the capsule?”
“Evidently nothing nasty touched him during the transfusion. I believe I’m going to have trouble being annoyed with Caleb whatever he does from now on.”
Her eyes opened. “You’ll get over it.” But she wasn’t sure that she would. Anything or anyone that kept her son safe was a gift beyond price. “They’re certain?”
“Positive.”
“Don’t you want to see him?” The nurse was gently shifting the folds of the blanket. “He’s one cool dude. He’s going to be a heartbreaker when he grows up. He didn’t cry at all when he was born. We had to make him do it while we were cleaning him up. Then he looked at us as if we’d insulted him. But then I swear he smiled at us. Really smiled. I know they say that babies don’t smile before six weeks but he—” She shrugged. “Anyway, all the nurses are crazy about him.”
“I bet they are. Michael has a talent in that direction.” Eve felt Joe’s hand on her shoulder as she moved the blankets away from her son’s face. “Some
one I love very much once told me that he was special.”
Eve could see his face now. So small … Bright blue eyes, pale satin skin, dark tufts of hair on that tiny head. He was staring solemnly up at her.
“Hi,” she said softly. “How are you doing? Glad to meet you at last. We made it through, didn’t we? Now we’ll just concentrate on all the good things.” She reached down and touched his cheek with a gentle finger.
He became still, alert, as if he was trying to hear her, understand her.
It’s a new way for us, isn’t it? But we’ll get used to it, and it will be just fine.
Everything was fine in this moment. The waves of love were overpowering in their intensity, and she was having trouble keeping back the tears.
I told you he was extraordinary, Mama.
Bonnie.
She looked up, expecting to see her.
No. Later. It’s his time now. I just wanted to be with you.
And Bonnie was with her, and it made this time all the more golden.
Bonnie … Michael … Part of her, the very best part.
Perfect.
She couldn’t take her gaze from Michael’s brilliant blue eyes. They seemed to be holding her, talking to her, telling her wonderful secrets about Cara … Jane … Joe …
Oh, maybe those secrets were not as wonderfully perfect as this moment, because they were all human and so would change and grow through the years as Michael was going to grow and change. Still, pretty darn wonderful, and all the more so because of that very humanity.
And he was wonderful and that was all that was important right now. “Isn’t he beautiful? He reminds me of someone, Joe,” she said softly. “But I just can’t place who…”
“Well, it’s not me. I’m definitely not beautiful.”
“Yes, you are.” But it wasn’t Joe, and the baby didn’t have her features either. “Maybe he’s a throwback.” She looked down at him again, and she felt an enormous rush of sheer love that filled all her mind and heart. “Welcome to our world, Michael.”
Warmth. Comfort. Love.
All flowing toward her in an eternal stream from this tiny individual she was holding in her arms.
And then Michael smiled at her.
ALSO BY IRIS JOHANSEN
Hide Away
Shadow Play
The Naked Eye (with Roy Johansen)
Your Next Breath
Sight Unseen (with Roy Johansen)
Live to See Tomorrow
Silencing Eve
Hunting Eve
Taking Eve
Sleep No More
Close Your Eyes (with Roy Johansen)
What Doesn’t Kill You
Bonnie
Quinn
Eve
Chasing the Night
Shadow Zone (with Roy Johansen)
Eight Days to Live
Deadlock
Dark Summer
Quicksand
Silent Thunder (with Roy Johansen)
Pandora’s Daughter
Stalemate
An Unexpected Song
Killer Dreams
On the Run
Countdown
Blind Alley
Firestorm
Fatal Tide
Dead Aim
No One to Trust
Body of Lies
Final Target
The Search
The Killing Game
The Face of Deception
And Then You Die
Long after Midnight
The Ugly Duckling
Lion’s Bride
Dark Rider
Midnight Warrior
The Beloved Scoundrel
The Magnificent Rogue
The Tiger Prince
Last Bridge Home
The Golden Barbarian
Reap the Wind
Storm Winds
Wind Dancer
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
IRIS JOHANSEN is the New York Times bestselling author of Hide Away, Shadow Play, Your Next Breath, The Perfect Witness, Live to See Tomorrow, Silencing Eve, Hunting Eve, Taking Eve, Sleep No More, What Doesn’t Kill You, Bonnie, Quinn, Eve, Chasing the Night, Eight Days to Live, Blood Game, Deadlock, Dark Summer, Pandora’s Daughter, Quicksand, Killer Dreams, On the Run, and more. And with her son Roy Johansen, she has coauthored The Naked Eye, Sight Unseen, Close Your Eyes, Shadow Zone, Storm Cycle, and Silent Thunder. You can sign up for email updates here.
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CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Epilogue
Also by Iris Johansen
About the Author
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
NIGHT AND DAY. Copyright © 2016 by IJ Development, Inc. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
www.stmartins.com
Cover photographs: man on boat © Russell Kaye / Sandra-Lee Phipps; woman © Don Bayley / Getty Images; Scottish Highlands © CHBaum / Shutterstock; woman with gun © Stephen Carroll / Arcangel Images; beach with crashing waves © Pierre LeClerc / Shutterstock
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Johansen, Iris, author.
Title: Night and day / Iris Johansen.
Description: First edition.|New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2016.|Series: Eve Duncan
Identifiers: LCCN 2016000032|ISBN 9781250075833 (hardcover)|ISBN 9781466887213 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Duncan, Eve (Fictitious character)—Fiction.|Facial reconstruction (Anthropology)—Fiction.|Women sculptors—Fiction.|BISAC: FICTION / Suspense.|GSAFD: Suspense fiction.|Mystery fiction.
Classification: LCC PS3560.O275 N54 2016|DDC 813/.54—dc23
LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2016000032
e-ISBN 9781466887213
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First Edition: July 2016