Chasing the Night Read Online Free PDF Page A

time. Does it make good coffee?”
    A woman’s voice.
    Eve whirled toward the shadows of her lab across the room. “What the hell—”
    “Don’t be afraid. I’m not here to hurt you.” The woman who spoke was sitting on Eve’s stool in front of the reconstruction of Cindy. “I just have to talk to you.”
    “The hell you do.” Her gaze raked the woman from head to toe. Thin, dressed in dark jeans and sweater. No apparent weapons. That was good. Joe had taught Eve how to defend herself in any hand-to-hand battle. “Get out and call me on the phone. How did you get in here anyway? Joe always sets the alarm.”
    “He did this time, too. It’s a good alarm. It took me a little while to get past it after he left.” She was gazing wonderingly down at the shards of bone on the tarp. “Are you really going to be able to put this face back together?”
    “Yes. Get out.”
    “I’m not handling this right.” She looked away from the bones to Eve’s face. “It’s just that when I saw those bones, it blew me away. My name is Catherine Ling. Venable might have mentioned me. I work with him.”
    “Venable?” Eve relaxed a little. The invasion was still totally unacceptable, but if she was associated with Venable, there was no physical threat. “No, he didn’t mention you.”
    Catherine Ling grimaced. “He didn’t even get that far? The age progression. He did call you about it?”
    “Yes, I told him to get someone else. I’m too busy.”
    “I want you. I need you.”
    “Too bad.” She picked up her cup of coffee. “You and your CIA can go take a flying leap. I don’t work on Venable’s orders.” She went to the front door and opened it. “Now get out.”
    Catherine didn’t move. “I don’t want you to work for Venable. I don’t want you to work for the CIA. This has nothing to do with them. It’s my job. I knew you had a relationship with Venable, and I thought if I could get him to offer it to you, that it would be easier to get you to do it.”
    “Wrong.” She jerked her head at the open door. “Don’t come back. Next time, I’ll call the police.”
    Catherine slowly rose to her feet. “Will you listen to me?”
    “I might have listened to you if you hadn’t invaded my home like a cat burglar. Now you don’t have a chance in hell.”
    “I was in a hurry. I didn’t want to have to argue with you. I thought if I hit the ground running, the shock would get us down to basics early.”
    “Don’t come back.”
    Catherine moved toward the door. “I will come back. It’s something I have to do. I’ll come back time and time again until you listen to me.” She passed Eve and went out onto the porch. “And until you do, I’ll sit out here and wait.”
    “Not in my house, not on my porch, not on my property.”
    “Here. You’ll have to stumble over me.” Catherine sank gracefully down on the floor and crossed her legs tailor fashion. “Until you listen.”
    Eve gazed at her in frustration. Early dawn light was now filtering onto the porch and dimly illuminating the woman. Catherine Ling looked to be in her late twenties. She was tall, thin, with small breasts and long legs. Straight, shoulder-length dark hair framed a face that was an interesting mixture of Western and Asian characteristics. High cheekbones and faintly tilted dark eyes contrasted with full lips and a square chin. Her brows were as dark as her hair and slightly winged over those large, intense eyes.
    Everything about Catherine spoke of intensity, Eve thought. She was surrounded by it, burning with it. “I’m not about to stumble over you. I’ll either throw you out myself or call the police.”
    “Then I’d have to fight. I’m very good at fighting. Someone would get hurt. Wouldn’t it be better just to listen to me?”
    Eve slammed the door shut and locked it.

    She hadn’t handled the situation well, Catherine thought.
    She had been caught off guard. When Eve had come into the room, everything else had flown