Iris Johansen - Eve

“There can’t be a next level.”

“Yes, there is. We’ll find it.” His tone was absolutely positive as he got out of bed and strode toward the bathroom. “Maybe I can’t ever know what made up the psyche of that sixteen-year-old girl, but I can make sure that our chemistry comes out way ahead of anything you knew back then.”

“It always did, Joe.”

“Maybe.” He stood there in the doorway, naked, confident, handsome, totally mature. Joe, who had been her salvation and her love. Joe, who could raise her to the realm of complete eroticism.

He smiled. “But I’m an overachiever. I think we’ll stretch our limits.”

He disappeared into the bathroom.

She lay there, her gaze on the door. Her body felt flushed, lazy, yet her muscles had an underlying tingle that wouldn’t leave her. It was as if they were waiting for the next touch, the next-

Her cell phone rang on the bedside table.

She reached over to get it.

Catherine.

“Sorry to call you in the middle of the night, but I thought you’d want to know as soon as I did. I just talked to Nate Queen.”

“And?”

“Nothing. He says he can’t find any more information than he gave me before. Bullshit. He knows something. He’s stalling.”

“So what are you doing?”

“I’m going to keep after him. What else? And if I don’t get answers, I’m going to zero in on him in person. I won’t let him weasel out on getting us what we need.”

Joe had come back into the room and was staring at Eve. “Catherine?”

Eve nodded, before saying to Catherine, “You thought he’d be able to tell us. What changed?”

“How do I know? His superiors stomped on him? He got panicky? I don’t know much about him. Queen wasn’t my original contact. I’d done a favor for Dan Murphy, an agent on the lower rungs at Army Intelligence, and I tapped him for help. He was willing at first, but he just handed me off to Nate Queen like a hot potato when I brought up Gallo. I’ll call you back when I know more. What did you find out from Montalvo?”

“Not much. As far as anyone knew, he never worked with a partner and was never in the service.”

“That’s a start. Elimination can be valuable, too. Bye.” Catherine hung up.

“Am I to be told what Catherine found out?” Joe asked quietly.

“Zero. Nate Queen, with Army Intelligence, thought he might be able to find John Gallo. He just told Catherine he was mistaken. She thinks someone got to him. She’s going after him.”

His lips tightened. “Maybe she needs help.”

“Believe me, she can handle him.”

“You’re probably right. It appears half the Intelligence community owes Catherine a favor, and the other half is wary of her.” He got into bed. “And she’s collecting all of their debts in your cause, Eve.”

“I told her she didn’t owe me anything. Catherine doesn’t listen to anything she doesn’t want to hear.”

“Single-minded? Is that the pot calling the kettle black?”

Catherine and she were alike in so many ways and also had a multitude of differences. “Whatever. This time, I’ll take what she’s offering.”

“Naturally.” He had not pulled her close. He was lying on his own side of the bed. “That goes without saying.” He was gazing into the darkness. “She’s offering you Bonnie.”

CATHERINE CALLED HER BACK AT TEN the next morning. “Still no luck with Queen. He’s not taking my calls. I did find out that he wasn’t at headquarters. He was out in the field.”

“Where?”

“I couldn’t find out. He’s supposed to be back this afternoon and I’m going to fly up to INSCOM and ask him.”

Eve chuckled. “And Joe was wondering if you were going to need his help with Queen.”

“I might call him if I can’t get the bastard to talk. Joe and I could play good cop-bad cop. We’d be a good team. Is he at the precinct today?”

“Yes, it’s a wonder he keeps a job the way I constantly pull him away from it.”

“I didn’t notice any pulling. Are you working?”

“Not yet. My adopted daughter, Jane, just called me from London, and we talked for a while.”

“But I bet not about Gallo.”

“No. Why would I worry her? She’d want to jump on a plane and come here. This is my problem.” She added, “But I’ll be working soon. I’m expecting a skull from Austin, Texas, today. A little boy they found buried in the woods near the freeway.”

“I’m glad you have something to keep you occupied. Otherwise, you’d be a basket case. I’ll try to give you a heads-up as soon as I corner Queen.” She hung up.

Eve pressed the disconnect. Nice of Catherine to be concerned about Eve’s mental health, but she would be a nervous wreck whether or not she was working. It was all a matter of degree.

It was after ten. The FedEx truck should be bringing the skull from Texas. She got a cup of coffee and went out on the porch to wait for it. It was a sunny day and the lake was reflecting the incredible blue of the sky. It would be good to sit here and enjoy until she had to start work.

Her cell phone rang.

Catherine again?

She checked the caller ID.

She stiffened.

It was not Catherine.

A NUMBER SHE DIDN’T RECOGNIZE.

Unknown number.

Why get so tense? It could be a marketing or sales firm.

She punched the button. “Eve Duncan.”

“You sound very curt and businesslike. But then you always were a no-nonsense woman… in some areas.”

The breath left her body. She closed her eyes, struggling for control.

John Gallo.

“I can almost feel your shock.” His voice was mocking. “But I don’t understand. The moment you decided to stir up the pot, you must have known that I’d have to contact you. I couldn’t just let you fade into the great beyond. Though God knows I did try.”

“John?” she whispered. She tried to pull herself together. “You’re damn right I’m shocked. I didn’t even know you were still alive until yesterday.”

“Really? Then it was all due to Catherine Ling that I have this excuse for our rapprochement? I thought you’d stumbled across something that led you toward me and were just using her. I must thank her when we meet. And here I was so annoyed with her.”

“She’s my friend. She knows how much I want to find my daughter’s killer.”

“Our daughter,” John corrected.

Shock rippled through her. “No, Bonnie was mine and always will be mine. You had nothing to do with her.” She paused. “Unless you were the one who murdered her. Catherine thinks it might be you.”

“What do you think?”

“I don’t know. It might be true.”

“And what would you do if you found that it was?”

“I’d kill you.”

“Interesting.”

“Is it? I’m glad you find the prospect entertaining. I mean it, John.”

“I know you do. That’s why it’s interesting. You’ve developed the killer instinct. Whenever I thought about you, I thought of you strong, driven, the huntress, yet never violent. What did you think about me?”

“You were out of my life; and then I thought you were dead. I didn’t think of you.”

“Yes, you did. You may have pushed it into the background, but the memory was always there, wasn’t it?”

“No, my life was too full to remember a kid who dropped into it, screwed me, then disappeared.”

“I had years of fullness, too, and of emptiness, and of darkness, and of a haze somewhere in between. But I always remembered you, Eve. You were something to hold on to in the darkness.” He chuckled. “And in the haze you could be anything I wanted you to be. I must tell you about that period in my life.”