“All the more reason why he—” She met Hu Chang’s gaze. This was going to go nowhere. Change direction. “What is Sullivan’s situation? Venable didn’t seem to know. Do you?”
“I have an idea where she is. So does Venable.”
And he wasn’t about to tell her. “Listen to me. I won’t ask you any more questions about Erin Sullivan. But if you think that something about her ‘situation’ is going to pose a danger to me or Luke, then I should know about it. Why did you move him to Chen Lu’s island?”
He was silent. “Merely as a precaution. There’s no danger to either of you as yet. That doesn’t mean there might not be in the future. There may be certain tentacles that reach out and try to grab. You’ll be safer on the island than any other place if you choose not to get on that plane to the U.S. Probably safer than there, too. I’ve never found the U.S. any too secure. Too many laws and ways to get around them. Lawless countries have a basic frontier mind that—”
“Tentacles?”
“Very sharp, very deadly tentacles,” he said softly. “That’s why I told Venable I didn’t want you involved. Tentacles can do terrible damage to a woman as wonderfully beautiful as you. I could not bear the thought of it. I’m glad you’re not going to let Venable draw you into this. It’s more comfortable than having to be the one to do it.” He was parking the Mercedes at the pier. “I’ve arranged to rent a speedboat to take us to the island. You’ll be with Luke in a little over thirty minutes.”
“Good.” She moistened her lips. “Don’t do this, Hu Chang. Let Venable handle it.”
“But I will do it so much better.” He smiled as he got out of the car. “And it requires a certain delicacy that only I can offer.” He opened her car door. “You know that no one has a more exquisitely subtle touch than I do.”
“Your ‘subtle’ touch would have a hell of a time fighting against those damn tentacles.”
“No, it wouldn’t. Any one of my poisons could make any battle exceptionally short-term.”
“If you had the time and proximity to administer it.” She paused. “At least, tell me that you’re not having to fight Beijing.”
“Not directly.”
“Hu Chang.”
“Perhaps not at all.” He helped her into the speedboat. “One can never tell.” He added gently but firmly, “But whatever the confrontation, you will not be present. Do you understand?”
“Perfectly,” she said curtly. “I have no intention of letting either you or Venable rope me into this. If you’re going to be fool enough to risk your neck, why should I care?”
“Because that is the nature of our relationship. Now hush and relax, and I will tell you what a splendid few weeks Luke has had under my magnificent guidance…”
* * *
Catherine could see Luke waiting on the pier as the speedboat approached the island. He was dressed in black trousers and a loose white shirt, and his dark hair was lifting in the strong breeze. He smiled and waved. She had seen him only a few weeks ago, but he looked taller, older than his eleven years. She felt a pang at the thought that she had missed those weeks.
God, he was beautiful.
God, she loved him.
She lifted her hand and returned his wave. “Did you tell him to come and meet me?” she asked Hu Chang.
“No, stop thinking that Luke has to be prodded to come to you,” Hu Chang said. “If he is here, it is because he was eager to see you. I never interfere with his free will.”
“If Chen Lu didn’t suggest it.”
He sighed and shook his head. “You’re impossible.” He drew next to the dock, and one of Chen Lu’s servants jumped forward to secure the boat. “Think what you like. You will anyway.” They both watched Luke run down the dock toward them. “But for someone who has to be forced to come and greet you, he appears to be in a great hurry to get over here.”
“Catherine?” Luke was standing before the boat, his eyes sparkling, his cheeks flushed with color. He had never called her Mother since she had rescued him from Rakovac, and that was okay with her. She would be friend or mother or anything else he wanted her to be as long as he let her stay in his life. “I’ve been waiting for you.” He reached down and took her hand and pulled her from the boat to the dock. “Hu Chang says that you might be tired and that maybe we should stay here at the Golden Palace for a little while.”
“I’m not tired.” She stood staring hungrily at him. Don’t be too obvious. Don’t make him feel uncomfortable. “But we can stay for a week or so if you like. You always liked it here.”
He grinned. “After the fire here, I got to replant a lot of Chen Lu’s garden. I kind of feel as if it’s mine. I like being at Hu Chang’s shop and lab, too. But it’s different.”
“Every place is different.” She wanted to reach out and hug him, hold him. “We just have to enjoy what we can wherever we are at any given time.”
His smile faded. “Hu Chang said that you would have come sooner but that your friend, Eve Duncan, was in trouble, and you had to help her. Is she okay now?”
She nodded. “She’s home and safe. But I had to stay and find her.” She moistened her lips. “I wanted to come right here to you, but she helped me when I needed to find you, Luke. I couldn’t let her down.”
“I know that. I like Eve.” He was silent. “If you’d told me, I would have come to search for her, too.”
“That was my job.” She smiled. “You’re just a kid, Luke. Wait a few years.”
“I don’t feel like a kid.” He frowned. “I guess I don’t know what that would be like.”
“I know you don’t.” That had probably been the wrong thing to say. The rough life he had lived had burned the childhood out of him. Occasionally, she saw flashes of it that she celebrated, but they were rare. “And I hate it that I can’t give that back to you.”
“Why? You can’t miss what you’ve never had. Hu Chang says that you grew up on the streets, and that doesn’t sound much better.”
“I was free, you were a prisoner.”
“There is no use arguing with her, Luke.” Hu Chang was getting out of the boat and strolling toward them. “She grew so accustomed to feeling guilty that she couldn’t save you that she’s not reasonable on the subject.”
“I’m completely reasonable.” Luke and Hu Chang were exchanging glances, and Luke was smiling, she realized with a pang. There was a closeness, an intimacy between them that was shutting her out. “And you both realize there are differences in—”
“Catherine.” Luke chuckled as he took a step forward and took her hand. “I can’t realize the difference. It’s hard for me to imagine your running around Hong Kong, hunting for food, and just trying to stay alive. I can only think of you strong and beautiful, the way you are now.”
“I have no trouble imagining your life when you were with Rakovac.” Her hand closed tightly, lovingly, on Luke’s. He had made the first physical move, so she felt safe about responding. He wouldn’t think that she was demanding more than he wanted to give. “But I don’t like to remember it.”
“I don’t mind remembering Rakovac,” Luke said. “I never let him win after I got old enough to fight him.” He added fiercely, “And I like to think about your killing him. I wish I could have seen it.”
“Luke, that’s not the thing to say to make Catherine feel better about the normalcy she evidently wants for you.” Hu Chang was ushering them toward the ornate golden gates that led to the front door. “Though I agree in your case she gave you a gift beyond price.” He nodded at the servant who swung open the gates. “Come along. Is Chen Lu waiting in the garden, Luke?”
Luke nodded. “She wanted to show Catherine how much all the plants have grown since she was here.”
“I thought as much. You take her along to Chen Lu.” He fell back and took out his phone. “I’ll join you later. I have a few arrangements to make.”
Catherine stiffened, her gaze flying to his face. She knew what that meant. He was getting read
y to move. She had hoped to have more time to persuade him. How much time did she still have? “You’ll join us for dinner?”
He smiled. “Of course.”
There was no “of course” about it, she thought grimly. But he wouldn’t lie to her. “We’ll see you then.” She let Luke lead her toward the magnificent palace gardens. “Are the plantings as wonderful as Chen Lu thinks, Luke? There hasn’t been that much time for growth. Those acres of wonderful trees and plants were a blackened ruin only months ago.”
“They’re much better now.” His tone was distracted. “Hu Chang and I have been working in his lab on a special fertilizer. It’s pretty good.”
“You didn’t tell me.”
“It was going to be a surprise.” He looked over his shoulder at Hu Chang. “You’re worried about him. What’s happening?”
“I’m not really worried as much as—” She met his gaze. Her first instinct was to protect him, but that instinct was wrong. Not by lying to him. From the moment she’d gotten him back, she’d promised she’d always be honest with him. It was the only way their relationship had a chance of surviving. “Hu Chang has a friend who is in danger, and he’s thinking about going to help her.”
“Are you going with him?”
“No,” she said quickly. “I wouldn’t do that.”
“Why not? You told me once that being CIA is something like being a soldier. Isn’t it your job?”
“No, it’s not. And Hu Chang doesn’t want me to go.”
He thought for a moment. “Then I think I’ll go with him.”
“No!”
“Why not? Hu Chang’s not like you. He wouldn’t be afraid of anything’s happening to me. He knows that I can take care of myself.”
And Catherine knew that, too. He’d been forced to learn how to survive in the guerrilla warfare into which Rakovac had deliberately thrust him. It just hurt her to even think of subjecting him to anything resembling that again. “Luke, Hu Chang wants to do this alone. And I don’t want him to go at all. I’ll try to talk him out of it.”
“Can you do it?” He slowly shook his head. “I don’t think so.”
She didn’t think so either, and she was starting to feel the beginning of panic. She felt backed into a corner. She was frightened to death that Hu Chang would disappear into those damn mountains. Now, she was afraid that Luke would find a way to try to go after him. She had seen the strong bond that had formed between them.
Hu Chang’s not like you.
No, he wasn’t. He didn’t agonize, he accepted. And she knew the fascination Hu Chang could weave when he chose. He would not take Luke with him, but that didn’t mean Luke wouldn’t follow.
“I’ll work it out.” She had no choice. Like it or not, she had been tossed in the middle of this brouhaha. “Trust me, Luke.”
“I will,” Luke said gravely. “And will you trust me, Catherine?”
She looked at him in surprise. There was something beyond the obvious in that question. What exactly did he mean?
“There’s Chen Lu.” Luke had looked away from her as they went around the corner.
Chen Lu was sitting on a bench in the garden. Pure white hair framed a face that was youthful, vivacious, and full of vitality and didn’t look a day over forty. She was dressed as usual in a magnificent silk caftan, and she jumped to her feet with a broad smile. “Catherine. Welcome. At last an audience that can appreciate my garden.” She still had a strong Irish accent in spite of her years in Hong Kong, and her eyes were sparkling with humor. “Hu Chang and Luke just dumped their noxious brew into the ground and took off back to the city to their lab.” She threw out her arm. “You remember how blackened and burnt-out it was. All my beautiful roses and tropical plants … I thought it would take years.” She shook her head. “New life. Resurrection.”
“Yes, it’s beautiful.” Catherine was stunned as she looked around the huge acreage. She had been here when the replanting had taken place. In spite of all the money Chen Lu had put into the rebirth of her precious garden, Catherine, too, had thought it would take years. But the plants appeared to be surprisingly mature, and the blooms were vivid and splendidly healthy. “Wonderful.” She turned to Luke. “Noxious brew? Oh, that special fertilizer?”
“Hu Chang had an idea for a better fertilizer than Chen Lu’s gardeners had put down.” Luke smiled proudly. “He let me help create it. He said I did well.”
“Yes, you did.” Chen Lu chuckled. “My gardeners were stunned when they saw what my roses were doing a week later.” She pulled Catherine to the bench. “Sit down and enjoy the scents. You look as if you need to just relax for a while.” She turned to Luke. “Would you run and tell the cook we’ll be ready to eat in an hour and a half?”
He nodded and took off down the path toward the palace.
Chen Lu watched him affectionately. “What a sweet lad. It’s good to have him back. I’ve missed him.”
“So have I.” Catherine smiled. “And you can’t have him back for more than a week or so, Chen Lu.”
“We’ll see. Something’s brewing, or Hu Chang wouldn’t have brought him to me.” She tilted her head. “I don’t suppose you’d like to tell me what it is?”
“I’m not sure.”
“And you’re not talking. That’s fine. I’ll find out eventually.” She was silent. “I remember that a man visited you when you were last here. John Gallo. He didn’t come with you?”
“There was no reason for Gallo to come. He has his life, I have mine.”
“Ah, and he was becoming too possessive?”
“It hadn’t gotten that far. I have enough problems without dealing with a relationship.”
“That might interfere with your independence.” Chen Lu laughed. “Well, there’s no threat here. You can relax. You need to just sit here and let all the tension kind of … unkink. You have thirty minutes before you have to go to your room and dress for dinner.” Her lips curved in a mischievous smile. “I’ll even be quiet, and you know what a chore that is for me.”
“A terrible burden,” Catherine agreed. “But I can go to my room now, Chen Lu. The same one?”
“Yes, but in thirty minutes.” She closed her eyes. “Now, hush, and breathe deep. Let all these glorious scents soothe you. Are they not wonderful?”
“Magic.” A thousand aromas, all potent and delicious and intoxicating. She made her mind go blank. Thirty minutes. Then she’d start to think about Luke and Hu Chang.
And Erin Sullivan …
DAKSHA PALACE
TIBET
Pain.
“Where is he, Erin?” Kadmus whispered. “All the agony will stop if you just tell me.”
“Go to hell.”
“Now is that a fitting way for you to speak to me? All those peasants who think you’re such a boon to humanity would be so disappointed in you. You’re supposed to be everything angelic and serene.”
“Take these handcuffs off me, and I’ll show you serene.”
“I’m tempted, but you made me quite angry before I decided they were necessary. I don’t want to kill you before I get the information I need.” He frowned. “You should have broken long before this. I’m getting very impatient, Erin.”
“I can’t tell you what I don’t know. I told you where I got the damn necklace.”
“But it wasn’t the answer I wanted. I thought you’d be more cooperative after I shot that stupid kid. Oh, well, I’ll get there.” He looked objectively at her naked body. “The right breast this time, I think…”
She tensed as she saw the flame come closer. She could bear this. At least he wasn’t using the ropes.
Relax.
Close out the pain.
Go to the place where there is no pain.
She could feel the heat of the flame as it came slowly nearer to her nipple.
Close it out.
Help me, Cameron.
The flame touched her.
Searing pain.
Cameron!
CH
APTER
3
HONG KONG
Catherine slammed the door of the elegant suite Chen Lu had assigned her. The young servant girl jumped to her feet and smiled at her. “I’m Susan Mei. How may I—”
“I don’t need help.” She had forgotten that Chen Lu always supplied her guests with servants. She had to get rid of her quickly. She only had forty-five minutes before dinner. “Thank you. You may go. I’ll tell Chen Lu that you did everything splendidly.”
The girl’s smile faded. “Perhaps I could run your bath? I’ve already laid out your caftan. I thought that ivory with the gold would be—”
“That will be fine.” Chen Lu always supplied her guests with what she deemed suitable evening clothes. “No, nothing more.” She smiled. “Perhaps another time.” She opened the door. “I’ll ask for you if I need you.”
The girl reluctantly left the room, and Catherine closed the door.
The next moment, she had pulled out her phone and was dialing.
“How is Chen Lu?” Venable asked when he answered. “A delightful woman. I always wondered if she and Hu Chang were—”
“How do you know I’m at the Golden Palace? Did you have me followed?”
“No, I had Hu Chang followed. You’re bound to be with him, and that’s where he took the boy today.” He paused. “Why are you calling? Let me guess. You’ve found that Hu Chang is going after Erin Sullivan. Tell me, did you persuade him to let you go with him?”
“No,” she said curtly. “You know better than that. Hu Chang doesn’t change his mind.”
“That’s right, and you have no intention of going on this mission anyway, do you? You made that clear.”
“Stop being smug. I’m mad as hell. You’re using Hu Chang and Luke to back me in a corner.”
“No, I have nothing to do with that happening. Those chess pieces were all on the board before Erin Sullivan was taken. I just recognized an opportunity. I needed you, and you were vulnerable.”
And she couldn’t deny that was true no matter how frustrating it was to her. “This isn’t what I wanted. I may still refuse the damn mission.” She paused. “But I need to know details, so that I can judge my chances of coming out of it alive and the amount of time I’d have to be away from Luke.”
Live to See Tomorrow Page 3
