Iris Johansen - Eve

“Go screw yourself.”

Joe’s hand was suddenly on his throat, his thumbs on the carotid muscles. “Be respectful, Queen. You’re not going to die yet, but you’ll hurt. I’m really good at pain.”

Queen’s face was turning beet red, and his eyes were bulging. “Catherine, stop him from-”

“Let him breathe, Joe. At least for a minute or so.”

“What are you doing to me?” Queen gasped. “You’re a government agent, Catherine. We’re on the same side.”

“I’m not on your side,” Catherine said. “You lied to me. I want to know where Gallo took Eve Duncan.”

“Eve Duncan?” Queen moistened his lips. “I don’t know anything about her. Or Gallo.”

“Gallo knows a lot about you. He told Eve that he owned you.”

“That son of a bitch.” Queen’s expression turned ugly. “Crazy, arrogant bastard. Someday, I’m going to find a way to cut his heart out.”

“Stand in line,” Joe said. “The problem may be moot. Where’s Eve Duncan?”

“I told you, I don’t know anything about-” His head snapped back as Joe’s fist crashed into his jaw. “Shit.” He shook his head to clear it. “He never mentioned Eve Duncan. You were the one who was causing problems, Catherine. I thought he might go after you.”

“And you didn’t warn me?”

“I tried to convince him to leave you to me.” He was gazing at Joe. “How could I know he’d go after her? It was Catherine who was stirring up the trouble. Catherine can take care of herself.”

“Where is John Gallo?”

He shook his head. “I can’t talk about him. I’d lose my job in a heartbeat.”

Joe leaned forward, his face close to Queen’s. “Do you know what you’ll lose if you don’t talk?” he said softly. “I’ll cut off your dick and stuff it where the sun doesn’t shine.”

“Joe, don’t bother your head with little things,” Catherine said, straight-faced. “I have a friend in Hong Kong who taught me much more sophisticated methods to get what we need.”

“Don’t get involved in this, Catherine,” Queen said. “Gallo is our problem. We’ll deal with him.”

“You didn’t deal with him,” Joe said. “Now it’s up to us.”

“Where is he?” Catherine asked softly.

“I don’t think he’ll hurt her.”

“But you don’t know.”

“He’s been interested enough to insist we give him reports on her.” He added quickly, “But he never made a move.”

“Until now,” Joe bit out. “You said he was crazy. What made you think he wouldn’t be volatile as hell?”

“Our psych people think that he’s keeping it under control these days. Though they say he has signs of dissociative identity disorder-a split personality.” He stared at Catherine accusingly. “Why couldn’t you leave it alone?”

“Where is he, Queen? You mentioned Utah. A lie?”

He shook his head. “I was thinking about turning you loose on him. I thought maybe I could convince my superiors to let you at him. I’m sick to death of Gallo.”

“Where in Utah?”

Queen didn’t answer.

“You will tell me, Queen,” Joe said softly. “You’ll tell me where he is, how to get to him, and everything else you know. You’ll either tell me now or later. You’ll be a lot clearer and more coherent if you choose now.”

Queen glanced at Catherine. “Stop him, or I’ll make things so hot for you that the CIA will throw your ass out so fast your head will spin.”

“Eve’s my friend, Queen.” She held his gaze. “You made a mistake. Correct it, and you’ll get out of this without too much damage. Where is Gallo?”

His glance shifted from her face to Joe’s. Then he looked away. “Oh, what the hell. What do I care? I’m not going to take any more punishment to protect that bastard. Gallo has a place in Mazkal, Utah. A big compound in the mountains. If he has Eve Duncan, he probably took her there. I’ll give you the address, but it’s guarded as tight as Fort Knox. You’re not going to get in.”

“I want to know everything you can tell me about access,” Catherine said. “We’ll get in.”

“And you’re going to tell Gallo that I told you?”

He was afraid, Catherine realized. Queen wasn’t a coward. Gallo must be formidable. The knowledge was making her uneasy. “It may not be necessary.”

“No, you can’t kill him,” Queen said. “He has to stay alive. We’re safe as long as he’s alive.”

“Meaning your branch of Army Intelligence?” Joe asked. “Then you may all start having to live on the edge.” He took a step back from Queen. “I want an address, a map, and anything else I can use against Gallo.” He picked up the robe on the floor and threw it to Queen. “Start moving.”

“I have to go to my office downstairs.” Queen shrugged into his robe. “I have a map we made of his compound about a year ago. At least what we knew about it. He’s a secretive bastard.”

“Now why would you want to go to that trouble?” Catherine said. “Planning a raid? Or were you going for extermination.” She followed him as he left the bedroom. “I’d say a raid. Gallo must have something on you. You’d want to get in and make sure the evidence wasn’t left carelessly about if something unforeseen happened to him.” She glanced over her shoulder. Joe was going through the drawers on the nightstand. Smart move. Queen might want to keep anything of importance close to him. She followed Queen down the stairs. “What does he have on you?”

“Screw you. I’m giving you what you want. That’s all you’ll get from me.” He turned on the light in the office. “I can still get out of this if I work it right. And who knows, Gallo may kill you.”

“You can always hope.” She watched him go over to the desk and unlock the drawers. “But you’d better hope Eve is still alive when we get there. Otherwise, Joe is going to explode, and no one may come out alive. He’ll go nuts.”

“Another one?” Queen asked sourly. “I’m used to dealing with nutsos after Gallo.”

“Are you? Why deal with Gallo? Why not just lock him up and throw away the key?” She tilted her head. “Oh, that’s right; you did that, didn’t you? But the North Koreans decided to keep that key.”

“He volunteered,” Queen said defensively. “He was a Ranger. He knew that going in on that mission was dangerous. He made the choice.”

“He was there for a long time. You couldn’t arrange a trade?”

“It wouldn’t have been wise. If we’d acknowledged Gallo, then we’d have had to make awkward explanations.”

“My God.”

“Horrified?” His lip curled. “Why? You know how it works. You do what you have to do to get the job done.”

Yes, Catherine knew, but this was nasty beyond belief. “But he escaped. Did you at least help?”

He didn’t answer. “I have the map here.” He pulled out a folded paper and pushed it across the desk. “And a few possible scenarios that we thought might work to take him down.”

“Did you help him escape?” she repeated.

“It would have been too risky.” He scowled. “He made out all right. After he reached the coast, he was picked up and taken to Tokyo. He had good medical attention.”

“What kind of shape was he in?”

“Why are you asking? Why do you care? He’s your target.”

“You said he was crazy. If he’s crazy, he’s a threat to Eve. I have to know how crazy… and why. What will trigger him?”

“He was half-starved. He was in solitary for the first two years. He was tortured. No permanent physical damage that the doctors could tell.”

“Physical. Mental?”

“Hallucinations. Periods of total withdrawal. Nightmares. Episodes of uncontrollable rage. After six months, we convinced the doctors that he was well enough to be released into our custody.”