Iris Johansen - Bonnie

“But you said you’d answer my questions.” She moved forward in the direction he’d indicated. “How far, Danner?”

“It should take us maybe two days if you don’t hold me up. We have to travel through the woods and avoid the roads. It’s rough country.”

“I won’t hold you up, Danner.”

“I’m not so sure. You’re not the tough sixteen-year-old kid you were when we met all those years ago. I would have bet on her. These days, I hear you spend your life messing around with clay and stuff.”

“You evidently have kept track of me.” She glanced at him over her shoulder. “Then you must know my purpose in ‘messing around’ with that clay.”

“Yeah.” His glance shifted away from her. “Skulls. But I don’t like to think about it. You shouldn’t mess with the dead.”

“I don’t agree.” And Danner’s statement had put her on edge. It didn’t bode well for his telling the truth about taking her to Bonnie. “And neither would the parents of those children I managed to identify.”

“I don’t like to think about it,” he repeated.

Don’t argue. She had to balance very precariously on this fragile thread that bound them together. The priest had said that Danner could shift from sanity to madness in the space of moments. Right now, he appeared to be almost normal, but she didn’t want to throw him into that other sphere. She had to analyze every word, every thought that he expressed, sift it for truth or fantasy, and perhaps go back to it later. She had to keep herself from going on the attack so that the words would flow and tell her what she needed to know.

Not an easy task.

There were moments when the possibility that this man had killed her Bonnie stabbed into her, and she wanted to turn and rend him.

But she had to be sure.

And nothing must stop him from leading her to Bonnie.

“No, I’m not sixteen any longer.” She turned and started down the path. “But you’ll find those years haven’t made me less tough. Strength comes from inside. I don’t quit, Danner. I won’t hold you up.”

GALLO WAS STANDING BYhis car in the parking lot of the Shoney’s Restaurant in Calhoun, where they’d agreed to meet, when Joe pulled into the space beside him.

Gallo straightened, his gaze fixed warily on Joe.

He should be wary, Catherine thought, as she got out of the car and pulled out her duffel. Joe was scared and feeling helpless, and that made him ready to explode. The best thing to do was get Gallo away as soon as possible.

“Let’s get out of here. Joe wants to get to that church and question Father Barnabas.” She threw her duffel in Gallo’s car. “I called Venable, and he said he’d get cracking on the GPS fix. I also told him to find a way to get a look at those sealed court records of Kevin Donnelly’s trial. That will take some time, but we’ve got to see who we’re dealing with in our Father Barnabas. He should be calling me back anytime now on the GPS fix.” She turned back to Joe. “I’ll let you know as soon as I hear anything. It’s going to be okay, Joe. We’ll get her back. Come on, Gallo.”

“Wait a minute.” Gallo was still braced and wasn’t moving, his gaze on Joe. “It shouldn’t have happened. You want to say anything? Do anything? I’ll take it.”

Joe looked at him without speaking. Catherine could almost feel the explosive anger vibrating from him. She instinctively stepped forward, readying.

Joe didn’t even glance at her. “Yeah, I want to say something, Gallo. I’d take you out in a heartbeat if I didn’t think that I might need you. Do you know why you let it happen? You’ve been a professional, you’re sharp, and you’re not careless. So why make that mistake? Because even now you can’t believe that son of a bitch, Danner, is a killer. Subconsciously, you didn’t believe he was a threat to Eve. Well, you’re wrong, and I’m going to tell you how you’re going to make it right. The next time you have to choose, it’s going to be for Eve. If someone is going to die, it’s going to be Danner… or you. At the moment, I don’t give a damn which one.”

Gallo’s lips were tight, and his eyes were glittering. “It will be for Eve.” He whirled and got in his car. “I promise, Quinn.”

Close. Very close.

Catherine quickly slipped into the passenger seat. “I’ll be in touch, Joe.”

But Joe was already pulling out of the parking space and didn’t reply.

Gallo didn’t move. He was gazing straight before him. “He’s right, you know. I made a choice, and I didn’t even realize it. I decided not to believe what everyone said about him. And Eve is the one who is paying for it.” His lips twisted. “And I can’t even say that I believe it now. It hurts too much. All I can say is that I have to be sure that whoever gets hurt, it won’t be Eve.”

He was hurting. She wanted to reach out and touch him, comfort him. It was hard for him to admit that pain to anyone.

“It would kill me if anything happened to Eve.” He glanced at Catherine and forced a smile. “I love her, you know. Oh, not in the usual romantic way, we’re past that. But we’ve shared too much not to feel something for each other, and that will go on. Can you understand that?”

“Yes. I’m not blind, Gallo. You should love her. She’s worth loving. I love her, too. Now let’s stop talking about how we’d feel if anything happened to her and set about keeping that from happening.”

“Rebuke accepted.” His smile was no longer forced as he started the car. “I can always count on you to blow away any sentiment that’s clouding the clarity of perception. I apologize.”

“You have a right to be a little less than clearheaded. But only a little, Gallo. We have to-” Her phone rang, and she glanced down. “Venable. I’ll put it on speaker.” She spoke into the phone. “What have you got, Venable?”

“The GPS signal led to a location about forty miles outside the town of Caryville, Georgia. Not in the town itself, but somewhere in the woods surrounding it.” Venable paused. “Then it disappeared entirely. We lost it. Do you want me to send a man from Atlanta to check it out?”

“No, we’ll cover it. Give me the exact coordinates.” She scrawled down the directions as he gave them to her. “Thanks, Venable.”

“No problem.” Silence. “I like Eve Duncan. If you need me, I’ll come.”

“If we need you, I’ll call. Danner isn’t stable. We have to be careful about spooking him with too much manpower.” She hung up. “Caryville, Gallo.”

He nodded. “I checked the GPS while you were talking. It’s about an hour south of here.” His foot pressed hard on the accelerator. “Or less.”

They arrived at the Caryville city limits in forty-five minutes.

Catherine glanced at the coordinates. “There!” She pointed at the lay-by with a strip of road leading off it. “He must have entered the woods there.” She braced herself against the impact as he drove down the rough road. “What the hell…”

“The trees are thinning up ahead.” He drove into the glade and screeched to a stop as he saw the truck parked by a tarp. “Down!” He drew his gun as he dove out of the car.

Catherine was already on the ground on the other side of the car.

No sound but the soft whir of birds and insects.

No shots.

“Danner!” she called.

No answer.

Gallo was on his knees on the ground behind the rear wheels of the truck. “I’ll check under the tarp. You look in the cab of the truck.”

“I think it’s okay. I don’t think he’s here.” But she was still tense as she pulled herself up to glance inside the truck. Danner might not be here, but that didn’t mean he might not have left Eve dead in the vehicle. She expelled a sigh of relief as she saw that neither Danner nor Eve were in the cab. “Empty.” She turned toward the tarp. “Anything?”