Iris Johansen - Eve

“No.” He nodded at the wall of lockers across the terminal station. “When I was looking for a place to hide Queen’s ledger, I thought of this spot. I have only ugly memories of this site, and I thought I’d add another bit of ugliness to the place. Why dirty up any other area?” He held out his hand. “The key I gave you?”

She reached in her bag and located it. “The ledger is here?”

He took the key and his pace quickened. “Yes. Locker 57. Come on, let’s retrieve it and get the hell out of here.”

She watched him unlock the locker. “It still bothers you? Even though the place was torn down years ago?”

“There’s nothing more vivid than childhood memories.” He pulled out a leather briefcase, checked inside, and slammed the door of the locker. “Yeah, it bothers me.”

That had been a stupid question. A father who had put his cigarettes out on his son’s back? That was not a memory that would vanish with time. “But you had your uncle Ted.”

He nodded. “And that saved me.” He took her elbow. “Let’s go. I’ve got what I came for. This place suffocates me.”

She didn’t speak until they were in the car and driving away from the bus station. “Then why didn’t you find another place for the ledger? It hurts you. It’s not worth it.”

He shrugged. “Maybe it’s a form of self-flagellation. It could be I feel the need to punish myself for all my sins.” He paused. “Or perhaps just for one particular sin.”

“What sin?”

“I’m not going to use you as a confessor, Eve.” He nodded at the briefcase he’d put on the floor of the passenger seat. “Take a look at the ledger. I want you to be able to identify it if it becomes necessary.”

She undid the briefcase and pulled out a thin, cloth-wrapped brown leather volume. The pages were stiff, brittle, the entries clear, but in a script that must have been Korean. “I wouldn’t be able to identify any of these entries.”

“There’s a mark in green ink at the bottom of the sixth page. The color is very close to the blue of the other entries. You probably wouldn’t know it was there if you weren’t aware of the difference.”

“I see it.” She looked at him. “You believe that there’s a possibility the ledgers could be switched?”

“It’s possible. If I’m not around, I want you to be able to identify it.”

“Why wouldn’t you-” Then she understood. “You think you might be killed.”

“I have every intention of staying alive. Anything can happen. Now take a photo of the ledger and a few of the pages with your camera phone.”

She took the photos, then replaced the ledger in the briefcase. “Now what?”

“Now we go up to my cabin about seventy miles north of the city.” He smiled faintly. “It’s on a lake, and that place has only happy memories for me. My uncle rented it and took me up there several times when he was on leave. When I managed to start making money after I broke with Queen, I bought the cabin and several hundred acres around it.”

“And why are we going there?”

“I know the area. Queen does not. Neither does Black. That’s enough reason.”

“You’re going to call Queen and make a deal?”

He didn’t speak for a moment. “Yes, I’ll call Queen.”

But he wasn’t committing, she realized. She felt a chill as she remembered that rage that had so shocked her. Well, she had been angry with the senseless atrocity, too. What measures would she take to save little Cara Clark?

She would just have to see how the scenario unfolded.

THE CABIN WAS SMALL, ONLY a bedroom, living-kitchen combination, and a tiny bathroom.

“Nothing fancy.” John put their bags down inside the door. “I don’t entertain here. I’ll get the broom out of the closet and sweep up after I make a pot of coffee.”

“I’ll sweep.” The place could use it. It didn’t appear neglected, but the dust was a fine film on the floor. “How long has it been since you were here?”

“I don’t remember. A year?” He was at the cabinet getting down a can of coffee. The vacuum hissed as he opened it. “When I used to come up here with my uncle, he made sure I cleaned the place up before we spent even an hour here. He hated dirt. That was his military training.”

“I remember him as being a very kind man. He loved you.”

“Yes.” He put the coffeepot on the burner. “And I loved him.”

She opened the door and swept the dust outside. The clean air rushed in and made the interior smell of pine and earth. She paused a moment to look out at the incredible beauty of the blue lake. “I can see why you liked it as a boy. It’s night and day from the stink of the projects. I would have loved it here.”

“Sorry. You wouldn’t have been invited. It was strictly a man-to-man outing. No girls allowed.”

She smiled. “Chauvinist.”

He smiled back at her. “Well, maybe we would have let you come. You’re not the usual female. You’d have held up your end.”

“You’re darned right.” She put the broom back in the closet. “I was planning on taking Bonnie camping, but I had school and was too busy.” Her smile faded. “Sometimes life goes by too fast, doesn’t it?”

“Yes.”

“And then it’s gone.”

“Sit down.” He got down two cups and was washing them at the sink. “Bonnie didn’t miss what she’d never known. You gave her a great life.” He set the cup in front of her. “Maybe the next time around, we’ll be able to do it all.”

“Do you believe there’s a next time?”

“Why not? Millions of people believe in reincarnation. I believe in hope. I believe good people like Bonnie and you deserve a second chance.” He poured coffee in her cup. “And I believe that even not-so-good people like me might have a chance to work it out.”

She could feel her throat tighten with emotion. “I believe in hope, too. I’m still working on everything else.” She took a drink of the coffee. “It’s difficult when I want so badly to have Bonnie given a second chance. I ask if I’m fooling myself.”

He shook his head. “You always were a complete realist. So was I. But in that prison, I found that reality faded and was only as true as I believed it to be. And dreams could be far more authentic than any reality.” He lifted his cup. “And they called me mad. But madness can make life bearable, Eve.”

“You’re not mad, John.”

“You haven’t seen me fall from grace. Not really. Tell me that after you have.” He looked out the window. “The sun is going down. It will start getting chilly. I’ll make a fire as soon as I call Queen.” He took another swallow of coffee and pushed back his chair. “Which will be right now.” He took out his phone and put it on speaker. “Let’s get it over with.” He dialed the number. “Then we can get the stench off us by taking a walk down by the lake.”

Queen answered after the third ring. “Gallo? Where are you?”

“What an absurd question. Do you really think that I would tell you? As I recall, you sicced your dogs on me and burned my place to the ground.”

“That was a misunderstanding. I merely wanted to stop you from making a mistake. Taking Eve Duncan could have been a terrible disaster for both of us. You were much too impulsive.”

“No more lies.” John’s voice was terse. “I know what Black did to Judy Clark and her mother. It’s not your style. You called him in to find out where I was. And you let him take the kid.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I told you I’d find him for you.”

“And you did, in Samoa. But I think you screwed up, and now he’s pulling the strings. But you must have some control of him, or you wouldn’t be furnishing him with information.”