Iris Johansen - Quinn

Was this how Eve had felt all those years ago when Gallo had come into her life? Strange that both Eve and Catherine had fallen under Gallo’s spell. But Eve had been little more than a child herself, while Catherine was a woman and should have had more control.

Control. Look away from him. Don’t ask him any other questions because you want the answers to lead you where you want to go.

He looked back at her and nodded slowly. “It’s becoming difficult for you, isn’t it? I think you’d like to believe I didn’t kill her. It would be easier if I’d tell you that Black was lying. I can’t do that.” He got to his feet. “You’ve probably had enough of me. I’ll walk over to the creek and give you some space to make your call to Eve.”

“Don’t you want to know what I say to her?”

He shook his head. “None of it matters any longer. As I said, anything you do will only make the game more interesting.”

And he’d already decided what the end of the game had to be, she thought.

She watched him as he strode toward the creek before she reached for her phone.

“I tried to call you,” Eve said when she picked up. “I was worried.”

“I’m sorry. I wasn’t able to receive any calls.” And she was being deceptive even though she’d been trying desperately to think of a way to avoid it. “How is Joe?”

“Good.” She paused. “How are you? You sound… strange.”

“I’m fine.”

“Gallo?”

“I’m very close to him.” She gazed at Gallo across the short distance separating them. “Very close.”

“Be careful.”

“You think that he’d hurt me? You were defending him for a long time when I was warning you not to trust him. And you were working with him to hunt down Black.”

“I think any man who would kill Bonnie would be capable of any atrocity.”

“And you’re positive he killed her?”

“Gallo as much as admitted that he thought Black had told the truth.”

“Thinking isn’t knowing. You told me once he loved her. I couldn’t figure out how he could do that if he’d never had any contact with her before her death. But you were very sure. How could you be so sure, then change in the blink of an eye? Why were you so sure?”

“He told me something that made me think we had a bond.”

“Something about Bonnie? Something you shared about Bonnie? What was it, Eve?”

Eve was silent. “Why are you asking me these questions, Catherine? I feel as if I’m being interrogated.”

Catherine drew a deep breath. “I’m sorry.” She hadn’t known she was going to ask those questions until they’d come tumbling out. She felt as if she’d been driven to verify what Gallo had told her, to find truth in those strange words about Bonnie. Dear God, she wanted them to be true. She wanted to believe the impossible. Gallo had called her pragmatic, but for that moment she wanted to believe. “There’s just so much I don’t know. But I’m part of this now. I think I deserve to ask about you and Bonnie.”

Silence. “Then go ahead and ask, Catherine.”

She hesitated, then asked jerkily, “Did you-ever think that you saw your daughter-after her death?”

Another silence. “Catherine?”

Catherine was suddenly panicked. “Never mind. Don’t answer. It’s a crazy question. I’ll call you tomorrow and check on Joe.” She hung up.

Why had she done it? That question had been wrong on so many levels. It had not only intruded on Eve’s privacy, but intimated that she was not stable. Because sane people didn’t see spirits.

Or did they?

Catherine wouldn’t have gone forward with that question if Eve hadn’t made that cryptic comment about sharing something with Gallo that had formed a bond.

Added to what Gallo had said about Eve telling him that she, too, had an experience with seeing Bonnie, it had been too close to miss. So she had plunged into questioning Eve with no gentleness or tact, and Eve had responded defensively. It was perfectly natural.

But what would she have said if Catherine had not backed off like a cat on hot coals? Why had Catherine panicked? Because she had not wanted to offend a friend or because she had not wanted to hear her answer?

She glanced over at Gallo, standing beside the creek. Damn him. He was the core of all the trouble she had been going through. He had disturbed her physically and emotionally, and now he was causing a rift between her and Eve.

No, that wasn’t true. How could she blame him for her own responses? She had told herself she had to deal with him, and this was no way to start. She had to think clearly and coolly and not let her emotions get in the way.

And not get too close to him until she had come to a few decisions. She had wasted enough time waffling back and forth about Gallo. She would either accept the situation as he and Eve were accepting it, or she would come to her own conclusions and act accordingly.

She looked away from him and started to settle down in her sleeping bag. She would lie there and before she faced him again, she could come to a final decision.

Until then, getting any closer to John Gallo would be the worst thing she could do.

“SHE’S CAUGHT UP WITH GALLO.” Eve turned to Jane as she hung up the phone. “I know it.”

Jane frowned. “But she didn’t tell you that?”

Eve shook her head. “Not exactly.” She was thinking over exactly what Catherine had said. “It was all very vague and ambiguous. I was uneasy from the moment I picked up the call.”

“If she’s found him, why wouldn’t she tell you?”

“How the hell do I know?” She grimaced. “Or maybe I do know. Gallo is… unusual. He managed to convince me that black was white in two separate periods of my life. I warned Catherine that he was capable of dazzling anyone.” She added with frustration, “But she’s tough as nails. I was hoping that she’d be immune to him.”

“Maybe she is,” Jane said. “You’re only guessing, Eve.”

“She was questioning me about- She’s been talking to him, Jane.”

“About what?” Jane asked.

“She asked if I’d-” She moistened her lips. “She said she wondered if I’d thought that Bonnie visited me after her death. In her wildest dreams, she wouldn’t have asked that question if she hadn’t talked to Gallo. Why would she? There’s no more grounded or realistic person on Earth than Catherine.”

“Except me.” Jane made a face. “And I’ve made giant strides in accepting the unacceptable. But, then, I’ve had a long time to come to terms with Bonnie.”

“And you still don’t feel comfortable with the idea,” Eve said. “Well, neither does Catherine. I could tell that she’s upset as hell and trying to fight her way through it. But Gallo has her going around in circles.”

“What has Gallo got to do with her asking about Bonnie?”

Eve was silent and then said finally. “He’s seen Bonnie, too. At least, he told me he had.”

“Oh, shit.” Jane gazed at her in shock. “And you believed him?”

“I believed him,” she said jerkily. “I believed everything he told me. He said she came to him in that cell in Korea when she was still alive. And that she visited him after her death. I fell for everything he told me. That’s why I went with him to hunt down Paul Black when Gallo told me that he’d killed Bonnie.”

“Why? How could you believe him?”

“Because I was a fool. It all had to be lies. Why would Bonnie come to him if he’d been the one who killed her?” She shook her head. “And now he has Catherine believing his lies.” And that put Catherine in greater danger than Eve had dreamed. An enemy within the gates could be deadly. “It has to stop.” She turned toward the elevator. “I can’t let it go on.”