Chasing the Night

have a plan that is even close to being foolproof.”

“I’m working on it.”

“I know you are,” Eve said quietly. “But Kelly is offering you an opportunity that could be…hopeful. I think you should explore the possibility. Face it, she’s going to be hard to get rid of, so let her help you, but keep her out of the line of fire. As I said, I’d be glad to have her stay with me.”

Catherine frowned, then shrugged. “I’ll think about it.” A faint smile curved her lips. “And I thought I was obsessed. Luke has you, and you’ve only seen his photo.”

“What do you expect? I’ve been watching him grow up before my eyes,” Eve said. “Or should I say within my computer?” She turned and headed for the door. “Let’s bring Kelly in and have breakfast. I want to get back to work on him.”

Kelly was sitting on the swing, and her expression became wary as she saw Catherine. “Am I in trouble?”

“Yes and no,” Catherine said. “You shouldn’t have touched Eve’s work without her permission. But since she’s forgiven you, I don’t have the right to be angry.”

Kelly looked relieved. “I just thought I’d get it done for you.”

“Since I was being so slow and inefficient,” Catherine said dryly.

Kelly shook her head. “I think you did a fine job since you were going at it blind.”

“Blind?” Catherine asked curiously. “Do you actually see where you’re going when you start working on a pattern?”

“Sometimes. Sometimes I have to jump from piece to piece and hope it comes to me as I travel.” She turned to Eve. “Is that how it is when you do a reconstruction?”

“In a way. During the last stage of the reconstruction.” She looked at Catherine, and said meaningfully, “But it’s much better to not go at any endeavor blind if there’s any way around it.”

“Point taken,” Catherine said. “But not necessarily accepted.”

Kelly was focused and oblivious of the undercurrents. “I knew where I was going with the skull the moment that I saw the pieces,” she said. “That’s why it went so fast.”

Catherine gazed at Eve, then back at Kelly, and finally said, “Then, in the name of speed and efficiency, I think you should finish what you started.”

Kelly’s face lit. “You’ll let me help?”

“Only with the bone fragments. And with Eve’s permission.”

“She has it.” Eve made a face. “Though I can’t believe I’m saying that. I never let anyone touch my work, and now I’ve let both of you help me. But it’s only under my strict supervision.”

Kelly’s gaze was on Catherine’s face.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. The idea was to free Eve to work on the age progression. I’m not going to be hurt because you’re doing it better than me. I can spend the time reading the Rakovac e-mail surveillance report.”

“Come in and eat breakfast, Kelly,” Eve said. “You haven’t had anything but orange juice since you got up this morning.”

“And I think I’m hungry.” Kelly’s voice was surprised as she stood up and moved toward the door. “I haven’t wanted to eat since-a long time.”

“That’s obvious,” Catherine said. “A breeze could blow you away.” She stepped aside so that Kelly could enter. “You’re not going to be any good to anyone if you let yourself get weak and puny.”

Kelly nodded. “I’ll remember. I won’t disappoint you.”

“Disappoint? Kelly, it’s only the bone fragments,” Catherine said.

“I won’t disappoint you,” Kelly repeated.

Catherine gazed at her in frustration. “Kelly, I’m not going to-”

“Breakfast,” Eve said firmly, and whisked both of them inside the house.

“What’s wrong, Kelly?” Catherine had been studying Kelly’s expression from where she was sitting reading the e-mail report on the couch across the room. “You’ve been working for five hours on that skull. You only had a little left to do. I thought you’d be finished before this.”

“I’m almost there,” Kelly said absently. “These fragments are much more delicate. I didn’t want to risk breaking them.”

“Good decision,” Eve said grimly as she glanced up from her computer. “I would have been most displeased with you. So displeased I would have felt like breaking you into fragments.”

Kelly shook her head gravely. “I told you I wouldn’t disappoint you. I’ll be done in a few minutes.”

Eve leaned back in her chair. “Then I’m ahead of you.”

Catherine sat up straight on the couch. “You’re done with the progression?”

“Yes, do you want to see it?”

“Of course.” She jumped to her feet and was across the room in seconds. “Show me.”

“I only had another two steps to go from the last transition.” She pulled up a photo on the computer. “Luke at nine. You’ll see the face has elongated a little. The chin is a trifle more square. The bridge of the nose is continuing to rise up, and the nostril size and width have increased. His permanent teeth are fully down.” She tapped the screen. “At this stage, the teeth seem too big for the face. But that’s entirely natural.”

“Is it?” Every time Eve brought up a transition, it came as a shock to Catherine. This was no exception. A shock and a sharp pang.

Eve’s gaze was on her face. “Are you ready for the last one?”

“Luke at eleven?”

Eve nodded. “Luke as he is now.”

Catherine was experiencing an odd mixture of eagerness and dread. Foolish. This was what she wanted, what she needed. “By all means.” She swallowed hard. “Luke as he is now.”

Eve accessed the final progression.

For an instant Catherine felt her breath leave her body. “He’s…beautiful.”

“At this age, he’d already have a masculine resentment of that particular description,” Eve said. “I’m sure he’d prefer ‘handsome’ or ‘good-looking.’”

“Yes.” Catherine couldn’t keep her gaze from the boy’s face. “But he is beautiful.”

Eve nodded. “I think so, too,” she said softly. She tapped the computer screen. “Luke at age eleven. You’ll notice the chin is now square and masculine. The bridge of the nose is still higher. His ears are a little too large for his face.”

“They are not,” Catherine said quickly. “They’re fine.”

“Have it your way,” Eve said. “But you will agree that he’s lost almost all his baby fat, and the look of childhood has almost disappeared. The forms of his face are harder, more defined. He’s a juvenile now.” She paused. “On his way to becoming a man.”

Catherine blinked hard. “Yes, I’ll agree that’s true.” She drew a long shaky breath. “Could you put all the transitions up together so that I can see the progression?”

Eve nodded. “No problem.”

“May I see him?” Kelly was at Catherine’s elbow, her voice tentative. “Please.”

“Okay.” Catherine stepped closer to Eve so that Kelly could see the screen. “That’s my son, Luke.”

Kelly studied the photo. “He’s beautiful.”

“Are you saying that because you think that’s what I want to hear?”

“No.” Then she smiled. “Yes. But it’s true. He looks like you, Catherine.” Her gaze was on the collage of photos Eve had just brought up on the screen. “All those transitions look so different, but for some reason I’d know they were the same person. Why is that?”

Eve’s forefinger went to the area around the eyes. “Some of it is here. Most people maintain a certain ‘look’ throughout their lives. It’s a certain ‘something’ that causes others to recognize someone even through age and changes. I tried to incorporate that quality in all the photos. Sometimes it’s ephemeral or hard to discern, but in Luke’s case, I thought it was centered around the eyes and lips.”

“Patterns,” Kelly murmured.

“I never thought of it that way, but it doesn’t surprise me that you do.”

“If it’s eyes and lips, then you’re talking about expression,” Catherine said.