Iris Johansen - Bonnie

“Emergency?” Eve repeated. “He didn’t look as if he were rushing off to the hospital.”

“I can’t help how it looked,” she said shortly. “Dr. Temple told me it was an emergency. Would you like to make an appointment or not?”

“He had a golf bag in that sports car,” Gallo said. “Does he play at a local country club?”

She started to nod, then repeated, “It was an emergency. Excuse me, I have to go back inside and phone him.” She turned and went back into the medical center.

“What a charming man,” Eve murmured ironically. “It’s a beautiful day, and he ditches all his patients and takes off.” She headed back to the car. “But I have no intention of waiting around to see him tomorrow. I’ll check out all the country clubs in this general area on the computer, then start calling. I’d bet it’s not too far from the medical center. He impressed me as a man who wouldn’t want business to interfere with pleasure.”

Twenty minutes later, she turned to Gallo and handed him the number she’d scrawled on a notepad. “Diaz Country Club. It’s near the river. About a fifteen-minute drive.”

“Right.” Gallo started the car. “You did the search. Now I’ll do the interrogation. Okay?”

“I’ll see when we get there.” She was thinking of what Gallo had told her. “When did Temple leave his job at the VA hospital?”

“Three months after he signed the death certificate for my uncle.”

“What a coincidence. How convenient. And then he came here and settled down in the lap of luxury.”

“A payoff? Look, my uncle had no money. He couldn’t have even had treatment if it weren’t paid for by the government.”

“But Nate Queen and Thomas Jacobs had money to burn with all the drugs and smuggling they were doing. And Ted Danner had some connection to them, or he wouldn’t have killed Jacobs.” She glanced at him. “So we have to look for that connection, John.”

He shook his head. “Uncle Ted wouldn’t have-” He stopped. “Okay, I’m in denial. But it doesn’t make sense.”

It didn’t make sense to Eve either. But that didn’t mean it wasn’t true. “Then prove me wrong. Heaven knows that I feel like I’m walking through a maze. I’m just trying to follow the trail and hope I get a break.”

“DR. TEMPLE?” EVE ASKED.“Could we have a moment?”

“No, can’t you see I’m busy?” Lawrence Temple frowned as he glanced up at Gallo and Eve, who had pulled up in a golf cart next to where he was teeing off. He looked down at his ball again. “Who told you where to find me?” Then he glanced back at Eve. “Didn’t I see you at my office?”

“Barely. You were in a hurry.”

“Make an appointment.”

“I don’t think so,” Gallo said. “We’re in a hurry. Answer our questions and we won’t bother you again. I want to know about a patient, Ted Danner, you had at the Atlanta VA Medical Center shortly before you came here.”

Temple stiffened warily. “I don’t have time for past history. Please leave, or I’ll call security.”

“That might not be a good idea. Falsifying a death certificate is a criminal offense. Your new patients might not appreciate being treated by a doctor who might be picked up by the police at any time.”

Bingo, Eve thought. Temple had turned a little pale beneath that golden tan.

But he recovered quickly. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’d caution you not to risk a lawsuit by this nonsense. I know how to protect myself.”

“I imagine you do,” Gallo said softly. “But I have no intention of bothering with bringing you up on charges. I don’t have the time. I think we’ll just go to my car and have a discussion. Then, if I like your answers, I’ll let you walk away.”

Temple moistened his lips. “I’m not going anywhere with you. Who are you anyway?”

“John Gallo. Theodore Danner is my uncle.”

“Was,” Temple said. “He died of pneumonia. I regret your loss, Mr. Gallo.”

“My uncle was seen in Louisiana only yesterday. We’ve verified his fingerprints. Which means that you’re in trouble, Temple.”

“That’s not possible,” Temple was no longer pale but flushed with anger. “It’s some sort of a mistake. You can’t pin anything on me.”

“I’m not going to argue with you,” Gallo said softly as he crossed to stand before Temple. “I’m only going to listen to you. I’m very angry, you know. I loved my uncle, and I have an idea he was victimized. You can either prove you weren’t the one who did it or face the consequences.” He stared him in the eye. “You’re a doctor. You know how easy it is to cause a massive hemorrhage if you know what you’re doing. I do know what I’m doing. It would take me less than fifteen seconds.”

“It’s broad daylight.” Temple said hoarsely. “There are people all over the green. You wouldn’t do it.”

“Fifteen seconds. And no one is noticing anything but their own games. I’d put you in that golf cart and just walk away.” He took a step closer. “Look at me. Then tell me I wouldn’t do it.”

Eve inhaled sharply as she looked at his expression. She had only seen that raw ferocity once before in Gallo, and it was truly intimidating.

Temple jerked his gaze away. “You asshole. I think you’d do anything.”

“Get in the cart, Eve,” Gallo said. “You drive us to the parking lot, and I’ll sit in back with Dr. Temple.”

“You’re going to let him do this?” Temple asked Eve. “It’s kidnapping, you know.”

“No, it’s an invitation to join us in our car for a drive and have a discussion,” Eve said as she got in the cart. “Anything else is entirely in your court.”

Temple hesitated, then moved jerkily toward the cart. “It’s all a mistake. I’m innocent of any wrongdoing.”

“Pat phrase. You sound like you’re in a court of law already,” Gallo said.

“You can’t prove anything.” Temple got into the cart. “And Danner would be a fool to testify that I was guilty of anything. He’d be convicting himself. They came to me. He was supposed to just disappear, dammit.”

“You may be right.” Gallo got into the cart. “You may not be worth our while. We’ll take a little drive along the river, and you can convince us…”

“LET ME OUT HERE, AND I’LLforget this ever happened,” Temple said, as they cruised by the river thirty minutes later. He turned to Gallo, who was sitting next to him in the backseat. “I have a decent amount of money. We can make a deal.”

“I believe you’ve already made a deal,” Eve said over her shoulder from the driver’s seat. “Who approached you? Danner himself?”

He hesitated. “Look, I can’t talk about this. I was warned that it could mean-” He broke off. “I didn’t do anything to harm anyone. I just signed the damn death certificate. Nobody cared whether Danner lived or died.”

“I cared,” Gallo said. “Who paid you off?”

Temple was silent. “You wouldn’t really cause a stir and tell everyone that I committed a crime? That would be… awkward for me. I have a reputation here.”

Eve couldn’t believe it. Temple was sitting next to Gallo, who was angry and probably the most dangerous man he had ever met, and he was worried about his reputation? Either his vision or his priorities were seriously awry. “We don’t care about your reputation, Temple. Give us answers, and you just might survive to play another golf game.”

He frowned. “Golf is important. It’s not only a game, it’s a way to cement my status in the community. I realized as soon as I got here that an affluent practice could be just a stepping-stone to get me where I want to be. I have a chance to run for lieutenant governor next year.” He gazed warily at Gallo. “You can see that I can’t let you libel me.”