Codename: Jumping Spider [Published]

Twenty-Two

"Catherine?" Ben asked warily, not believing his eyes. He brought a hand up to her face and touched the side of her cheek gently. "Catherine, can you hear me?"

"I was stabbed in the stomach, you know, not the ears," she replied in a hoarse voice, blinking her eyes a few times to adjust to the bright fluorescent light that hit her eyes. "Water?"

Ben laughed quietly at her witty remark and reluctantly withdrew his hands from her to get the bottle of water on the coffee table near the couch in the room. He returned to her side quickly, fumbling to open the bottle and put in a straw for her to drink from. "Here, let me help you." He supported her head so she could drink from the straw. When she was done, she gave him a nod and he laid her head gently back onto the pillow. He set the bottle on the floor beside the bed, not willing to step away from her this time. "How are you feeling? Does your body hurt anywhere?"

She smiled half-heartedly. "I'm a big girl, Ben. I can survive a little knife wound."

Obviously, that was the wrong thing to say, for Ben's face suddenly twisted into a mask of anger as he balled his hands into fists. "That little knife wound nearly killed you, Catherine," he spat through clenched teeth, his tone mirroring his emotions. "Did you ever consider how big of a danger you put yourself in that night? You could've gotten yourself killed."

"But I didn't." She shrugged. "And I've gotten what I wanted. Have you guys closed the case yet?"

"Yeah, you got the confessions from him all right. And the case is officially closed," he muttered darkly. "But was it worth it? Risking your life and getting stabbed – was it worth it?"

"That," she said with a pointed look, "was not part of my plan at all. I would've gotten myself out of there alive in the end if you didn't come looking for me."

"You're pinning this on me?" He scoffed. "You know what? Never mind that. What I want to know is how exactly you had planned to get yourself out of the situation." He said this with a deep frown, staring at her intently.

Catherine studied him for a while and remembered the recording she had made for them. Well, he must have heard the last part, then. "You think that I was going to manipulate him into killing himself. Commit suicide out of guilt," she stated, quirking an eyebrow.

Hearing her say that only made him feel a whole lot more frustrated. "Honestly, I don't know what to think of you right now."

She expected that from him, but hearing it said in reality hurt more than she thought it would. She sighed and looked away from his intense gaze. "Oh, I truly doubt that, judging from the anger and accusation that is written all over your face right now."

He released a breath that he was holding. "You won't even deny it?" he said in a defeated tone, sounding disappointed.

"Sometimes I really wonder if you know me at all," she mumbled to herself tiredly. Then in a louder voice, she explained, "Okay, I guess I'll have to spell it out for you. I was planning to turn the tables around, make him the puppet so that I could convince him to untie me, go to Turner, and turn himself in. Guilt is the best way to placate someone in such a hostile situation. I was never going to let him as much as draw blood on himself.

"I would never stoop so low for revenge," Catherine said. "Rotting away in jail sounds better than a free ticket away from the worldly miseries, plus I did go through great lengths to get his confession to all the murders he had committed. So I would really be contradicting myself if I just went and convinced Nick to end his life right there and then, right?"

Ben stared at her with pursed lips, though he seemed satisfied with her explanation. "I'm still not letting you off the hook. Even if you weren't seeking revenge, that doesn't mean that you were doing the right thing by improvising on your own. A team means no secrets, remember?"