Iris Johansen - Eve

“No, it isn’t,” Eve said fiercely. “You can ask for the best, the ultimate, if you care about someone. That’s what Joe should have.” Then she wearily leaned back against the wall. “But I couldn’t give it to him.”

“Your coffee is getting cold,” Catherine said. “Stop all this emotion and drink it. You need the caffeine if you’re going to spend any more time here.”

That was like Catherine, Eve thought. Blunt, authoritative, cut to the chase. But on occasion she could be as warm and comforting as a hand-stitched blanket passed down through loving generations. Lord, she was glad she’d had Catherine beside her for the last few days.

She lifted her cup to her lips and tasted it. “It’s not cold yet.” She asked, “How is Cara?”

“Short-term, fine. No physical damage but a few scratches. I hired a nice motherly woman who had nursing experience to take care of her in a small house near St. Louis County Hospital. Judy Clark is getting better, and Cara will be able to go to see her mother every day. I think that’s what she needs.” She grimaced. “Long-term, who knows? She’s going to have nightmares for the rest of her life thanks to Black.”

“Love can do a lot to heal wounds. I’ll bet on Judy Clark to bring her through this.” She didn’t speak for a moment. She took another sip of coffee. “Have the police found John Gallo yet?”

“No, it’s as if he disappeared off the face of the earth.” She paused before saying, “You haven’t spoken about Gallo since the first day we got Joe to the hospital. I didn’t know how you were feeling, so I didn’t want to push you. Is there anything you didn’t tell me? I will find him, Eve.”

“No, I told you that he as much as confessed to killing Bonnie.” She looked down into her cup. “A fit of madness, Black called it. I don’t think John even remembered it.” Then the rage returned, sweeping reason aside. “But how could he not remember? It was Bonnie.” She fought to control herself. She was on the edge of spiraling into an emotional tailspin about Joe, and she didn’t need thoughts of Gallo to push her over. “I didn’t want to believe it. Isn’t that stupid?” she said unevenly. “Yet there have been so many times that I realized he wasn’t- For God’s sake, he even told me he’d had moments of madness. I just couldn’t connect it with Bonnie. Not after I grew to know him better.”

“And he managed to con you. I can see how he would be able to do that.” Catherine frowned. “But why would Queen bribe Black to take the blame?”

Eve rubbed her eyes, trying to think. It was hard to concentrate on anything but Joe. “Let’s see, Gallo was unstable. If he’d found out that he’d killed his own daughter, he might have broken down and gone ballistic. He knew too much, and Queen had to maintain at least minimal control of him. He didn’t want Gallo thrown into an asylum, where he’d probably spill everything. So he set up Black as the patsy for John to blame and hunt down. It was safe as long as Queen kept Black just out of John’s reach.”

“But then there was a glitch, and Black and Gallo were brought into firing range of each other.” Catherine nodded. “It makes sense.” She glanced at Eve. “And you’re angry as hell.”

“Yes, and I’ll be more angry when I can manage to feel more than token emotions for anything but Joe. I’m pretty much on automatic right now.” She took another sip of coffee. “I felt sorry for him. I think I wanted to help him. He made me feel… I don’t know. Or maybe I can’t explain. It all had to do with Bonnie.”

“But that’s all gone now?”

“I hope it is. I can’t be sure. But it doesn’t matter if it is or not.” Her voice hardened. “The anger is stronger. The sense of outrage is overwhelming. The bitterness… I can’t even tell you about that. I’ll be able to do what I have to do.”

“Forget it. Just focus on Joe. I told you, I’ll find Gallo.” Her lips tightened. “And if he’s as good as Queen said, he may be too much for me to bring him back to you alive. Wouldn’t that be just too bad?”

“Yes, it would. You’ve done enough for me, Catherine. Just find him. That’s all I ask.” Eve finished the coffee. “Caffeine fix accomplished. Are you satisfied?”

“For the time being. Now what else can I do for you?”

Eve smiled crookedly. “You mean besides killing Gallo and laying him on my doorstep? I meant what I said, Catherine.”

“I know you did.” She paused. “And have you forgiven me for bringing Joe with me to Gallo’s property that night?”

“Don’t be idiotic. I knew you couldn’t stop him. If you hadn’t brought him, he’d have found another way.” She added, “And there is something else you can do for me. My daughter, Jane MacGuire, is flying in to Milwaukee in a few hours. Will you pick her up and get her settled? Then bring her here to the hospital.”

“I expected her to be here before this.”

“I didn’t want to tell her about Joe while he was in surgery. She couldn’t do anything, and I wanted to give her good news when I told her. But there wasn’t good news.” Her voice was starting to break, and she had to stop and steady it. “He’s still in that damn ICU, and he won’t wake up.”

“Eve.” Catherine’s hand gently touched her shoulder. “He has a chance.”

“Not a good one. All the doctors think he’s going to die. I can tell. They’re so damn nice to me.”

“Yeah, that’s a pretty good indication.”

“You think I’m being ridiculous.” She sounded that way to herself, too. “Maybe I am. I feel so helpless. They brought in all those specialists, and they can’t do anything. Someone should be able to do something. I even called my friend, Megan, and asked her to send a healer she knows up here. But he’s working in Africa right now, and wouldn’t be able to break away and get here in time.”

“Healer?” Catherine asked warily. “Some kind of witch doctor?”

Eve probably shouldn’t have mentioned Megan and the healer. But Megan had confidence in him, and that was enough for Eve. “What the hell do I care? As long as he can save Joe. I’d hire a voodoo priest and furnish him with a snake and a doll.” She put her cup down on the coffee table. “I’m going to go to ICU now. They won’t let me go inside. They only allow you a short visit every couple hours. But I can stand in the hall and look at Joe through the windows.” She got to her feet. “They even try to discourage me from doing that for long periods of time. They say it’s not good for me, and they don’t want another patient.” She headed toward the door. “As if that would matter. But they’re the ones who take care of Joe. I don’t want to cause any disturbance that might take their focus off him.” She paused and looked back over her shoulder. “You’ll pick up Jane?”

“Of course I will.”

“It’s British Airlines-8 P.M. ”

“Got it.” She stood up. “And it would matter if you get so exhausted you break down. It would matter to me. It would matter to Jane. And it would damn well matter to Joe. So don’t do it. We’ll get through this.”

Eve nodded. “I know we will.” She didn’t know, but she prayed. “Call me if there’s any problem with Jane’s flight.”

She walked down the corridor toward ICU.

Soon she would be able to see Joe again. He’d be pale and drawn, his features appearing as cleanly carved and beautiful as the visage on a tomb. It would scare her to death as it always did to see him like that.

But it scared her more not to see him and to imagine him slipping away with her not by his side.

That was where she should always be. Next to Joe.

If God would let him stay with her. And if Joe still wanted her if he did come back. The memory of that last day at the lake house was suddenly before her. His eyes looking down at her as she sat in the swing.