Iris Johansen - Quinn

“Where are you going?” Jane hurried to keep up with her. “As if I couldn’t guess. Look, you can’t go after Catherine. You don’t know what kind of situation you’d uncover up there in the woods. Particularly if you think she’s been bamboozled by Gallo.”

“You think Catherine would hurt me?” Eve shook her head. “Don’t be ridiculous. You don’t know her, Jane.”

“No, I don’t. But you said that she wasn’t behaving normally. So how well do you know her, Eve?”

“Very well.” Eve punched the elevator button. “I just have to see her face-to-face so that I can set her straight. I need you to do me a favor. Joe won’t like this when he hears about it. Stall him as long as you can.”

“Stall him? He’ll be out of this hospital and on your trail the minute he hears that you’re not here.”

“He’s already had his night sedative. All you have to worry about is when he wakes tomorrow. Find a way to keep him here. One day, Jane. That should be all I need to find Catherine and talk to her.”

“That sounds simple, but it would be hard as hell. I’d have to lie. I’ve never lied to Joe.” Jane’s lips thinned. “And I won’t let you go up there alone. You may trust Catherine Ling, but I don’t.”

“And leave Joe here in this hospital without either one of us? Joe is the reason you came here, Jane. When you first arrived, you asked me what you could do to help me. Well, now I’m telling you. Dammit, Joe is due to be released in the next couple days, and I was trying to think of a way to delay him going after Gallo. This thing with Catherine is going to blow away any chance of that.”

“You bet it is.”

“Then give me at least a day to get up there and contact Catherine. I’ll try to get her back on track.”

Jane shook her head.

“Don’t you refuse me.” Eve’s voice was shaking. “You give me that day. I almost lost Joe. I can’t prevent him from going after Gallo, but I can keep Catherine on the job to help him.”

“That’s not all you’re doing,” Jane said bluntly. “You’re going to go after Gallo yourself.”

Eve should have known that Jane would guess her intentions. They were too close not to be able to read each other. “Joe said Bonnie told him that we’re reaching the end,” she said unevenly. “If that’s true, then I should be the one to reach it first.” She reached out and grasped Jane’s arm. “I’m not afraid of Catherine, and I’m not afraid of Gallo. Give me my day, Jane.”

“Damn you.” Jane’s eyes were glittering with moisture. She reached out and hugged Eve close. “One day, Eve. After that, Joe and I will both be on your trail.”

Eve brushed Jane’s cheek with her lips and let her go. “Thanks, Jane. This means a lot to me.”

“I know. Do you think that if I didn’t realize you were on the edge, I’d have given in? It’s nearly killing me to let you go.” Jane watched her get into the elevator. “I hope Bonnie is right. I hope this nightmare is coming to an end.”

“So do I,” Eve said, as the elevator door closed, shutting her away from Jane. The search for Bonnie had been a nightmare for Jane also, she knew. Jane’s strength and courage had caused her to downplay any pain or loneliness that might have resulted from Eve’s obsession with finding Bonnie. But those emotions had been there, and Eve had been aware of them.

It’s been too long for all of us, Bonnie. Let me bring you home.

“ARE YOU awake?”

Catherine opened her eyes to see Gallo sitting by the fire a few yards away from her. “I am now,” she said dryly. “Since it’s obvious you want me to be.”

He smiled. “Yes, I do. I was lonely. I held off for a little while, but then I yielded to temptation. I knew I wasn’t going to sleep, and I wanted company. I never said I wasn’t selfish.” He crossed his legs Indian style. “Or that I wasn’t curious. About an hour and a half ago, you tucked yourself into that sleeping bag immediately after you talked to Eve. It had all the signs of an escape move. But I’d judge that you’re not one to hide your head under a blanket.”

“I wasn’t trying to escape you. If I had, I would have taken off when you gave me the chance. I had some thinking to do.”

“And?”

“I did it.” She stared him in the eye. “And I decided you were the most outrageously idiotic individual on the face of the Earth, and Eve wasn’t far behind you.”

His smile faded. “Indeed? I assume you’re referring to what I told you about Bonnie. I told you that I didn’t expect you to believe me.”

“I don’t know whether I believe you or not. It would take a hell of a lot more than a tall tale about a red-haired ghost-child skipping merrily through your life to make me give up reality for that kind of fantasy.” Her lips tightened. “But it’s clear you and Eve have bought into it and won’t be argued out of your Bonnie visions.”

“Eve told you?”

“Hell no, she danced around it very warily, but it was clear she was talking about the same bond that you were. She sees Bonnie.”

“And that makes us both idiots?”

“I told you, that wasn’t what I was talking about. You’re both idiots because you believed Paul Black when he told you that he knew that you had killed your daughter.”

“He was telling the truth.”

“You and Eve kept saying that. Because I trust and admire Eve’s judgment, I went along with her when she said she was certain. As for you, why should I doubt anything bad about you when you were the enemy?”

“No reason at all.”

“Except your blind belief in what Black said has been bothering me lately. It didn’t seem right. And the more I thought about it, the more ridiculous it became to me.” She shook her head. “I’m no psychiatrist, but I don’t think anyone is capable of murdering a child they love unless they’re totally mad. You may have had bouts of instability, but you’re not crazy, Gallo.”

“How do you know?”

“Because I know you. Just as you know me. After these weeks in the woods, I know you very well. Sometimes I feel as if I can read your mind. I know your slyness, your cleverness, your recklessness; but you’ve never shown me any hint of cruelty or insanity.” She added flatly, “Which means that both you and Eve have to be wrong when you accepted Black’s word.” She held up her hand as he opened his mouth to speak. “Don’t give me that bullshit. I don’t care if Black believed what he was saying. So what if he wasn’t lying? That doesn’t mean he couldn’t be wrong.” She glared at him. “You and Eve are both so tormented because of your love and guilt about Bonnie that you can’t see straight. She’s doubted you from the moment you came back into her life. Part of that was my fault. You were number one on my list as Bonnie’s killer. You doubted yourself because of the blackouts you were having and the doctors who told you that you were a little bonkers.”

“More than a little.”

She shrugged. “Whatever. At any rate, you should have thought instead of reacted. Eve was terribly upset about Joe, so she had some excuse. But you should have known you weren’t capable of killing Bonnie.”

His lips twisted in a one-sided smile. “According to you, Catherine?”

She was suddenly up and kneeling before him. “Dammit, yes. According to me.” Her hands closed on his shoulders, and she shook him. “I’m the only one with any sense around here. You were trying to throw yourself off a cliff, and Eve and Joe were going to hunt you down and kill you. Do you know how that would have made them feel when they found out Black was wrong? Guilt and more guilt. And that damn search for Bonnie would have started again.” Her breasts were rising and falling with the force of her breathing. “And I would have been right in the middle of all that angst. No way. I’ve done enough things in my life that earned me my portion of guilt without you bringing me more. Now stop it, and let’s clear this up.”