“Close enough for him, evidently.” She rubbed her temple. “He has to have been having me followed and tapping my e-mails. He knew I’d been in communication with Erin.” To whom else had she sent warm, affectionate e-mails?
Kelly Winters. Her name jumped first into Catherine’s mind. Kelly was not only Luke’s friend but Catherine’s, and it had been natural to keep in contact with her while she was at college. Kelly and her mother had a very cool, distant relationship, and Catherine knew about loneliness. Would there be something in one of those e-mails to Kelly that would trigger a target?
“I have to go back and check any messages I’ve sent out to anyone within the last six months. If Santos would consider that the present.” She set her cup down on the table. “I’ll call Venable back and let him know Santos’s plan and that Nagoles seems to be out of the picture. Then I’ll call Hu Chang. I need to keep him up to date.”
And she needed to talk to him and hear his voice. She knew that he was doing what was best in keeping Erin safe, but she wanted him with her. It was all very well for him to say that he could take care of himself, but it didn’t keep her from being afraid for him. Hu Chang was her past, present, and, God willing, her future. He was her best friend and the one person who could banish the loneliness that was always with her. Those facts alone would make him a prime candidate for Santos’s hit squad.
How do you know where I’m going to strike next?
Not Hu Chang. Please not Hu Chang.
She started to dial Venable.
Venable rang through before she made the connection. “Fill me in.”
She briefly went over the conversation. “Principally threats and his grand plan. I think he wanted to make sure I knew he wasn’t worried that we’d taken out Nagoles. And it must be frustrating not to be able to actually see the effect of a strike. I may be getting other calls from him if we don’t pull him in right away. No way of tracing?”
“Not unless he’s on the line a hell of a long time.” He paused. “He said you’d hear soon about a new victim?”
“He might have been trying to scare me.”
“Maybe.”
There was a note in his voice that caused her to tense.
“Dammit, something’s happened?”
“No, it’s something that didn’t happen. I checked on the agent monitoring Kelly Winter, and he said she slipped out of her morning class, and he lost her.”
“Lost her? How could he lose her? She’s a college student. He should know they’re always on the move.”
“I’m not making excuses. He knows he screwed up. He tried to phone her at the number we gave him. She didn’t answer her phone.”
“What about phoning Mrs. Smyth, the lady where Kelly boards? Maybe she went back home.”
“We checked. She wasn’t there. Kelly stayed the night with a girlfriend but left her house early this morning.”
Catherine didn’t like this.
Who will be next?
“Tell that agent to find her, Venable.” She jumped to her feet and headed for the door. “And to stay with her. She’s alone, and she doesn’t even know she might be a target. Luke was playing some game with her earlier. I’ll go see if he can contact her.”
“I’ll let you know as soon as the agent reports in.” He hung up.
“Hi, Catherine.” Luke looked up from his book when Catherine entered the library. He was sprawled on the couch, and she recognized the book as one of the chemistry books Hu Chang had sent him. “Sam said you were sleeping late or I would have shown you my new game. It’s really cool. Even Kelly said that it was kind of a challenge. And she can be pretty snooty about—” He broke off as he saw her expression. “What’s wrong? Hu Chang?”
“No, Hu Chang is fine.” Naturally, that had been his first thought. Hu Chang had become almost as close to him as he was to Catherine. Mentor as well as friend. “You’re not playing your game now. Why? Lose interest?”
“No.” His eyes were narrowed on her face. “I lost Kelly. She’ll probably check in later.”
“She just dropped off the game site?”
He nodded. “You didn’t answer me. What’s wrong?”
She had to tell him. He’d keep at her until she did, and she couldn’t lie to him. Besides, he might be able to help. “Maybe nothing. I’m worried about Kelly. When was the last time you talked to her?”
“Last night. When I called her to set up the game. I was kind of edgy and couldn’t sleep. She was at some friend’s house, Barbara … something. I was surprised. Kelly doesn’t usually go out on school nights. But she said she needed a distraction.” He added, “But she must be okay. She’s been playing the game all morning until about thirty minutes ago. You want me to call her?”
“Please.” Maybe Kelly would answer Luke. It couldn’t hurt to try.
He was frowning as he dialed the number. Then he shook his head. “Her phone’s turned off.”
“Okay.” She tried to keep her tone calm. “Keep trying, will you?”
“Why?” Then he asked, “Santos?”
“He may be widening his victim base. I should have arranged to have her brought here. Venable’s agent can’t locate her anywhere on campus.”
“She might not be on campus,” he said slowly.
“What?”
“I told you that she said she needed a distraction. When she gets upset, she usually goes hiking in the woods.”
“The woods?” Lonely trails, shadows, an attacker could be behind any tree on Kelly’s path. “What woods? Where?”
“I don’t know. Somewhere near the campus. Once she mentioned a dam.” He looked down at his phone. “But I don’t like it that she turned off her cell.”
“Neither do I. Why would she do that? Did she tell you why she was upset?”