Iris Johansen - Bonnie

“I don’t want to argue. You have to think what you have to think. I just answered you. Bonnie knew someone was going to die today, and she was sad about it.” She reached out and touched Catherine’s arm. “I’m glad it wasn’t you.”

“And now you think that the threat is over? I suppose she whispered in your ear?”

Eve smiled faintly. “No, did she whisper in yours? I think perhaps she did.”

Catherine frowned. “What the hell do you mean?”

“You say I was acting out of character when I didn’t go with Joe. But why weren’t you chomping at the bit to get back in the water to keep after Jacobs’s killer? That’s very unusual behavior for you. You’re utterly relentless when you have a target in mind.”

“You believe I gave up the hunt.” Catherine’s eyes narrowed on her expression. “I’m interested in why you’d think I’d do that.”

“Because you realized that it wasn’t the right time, that you weren’t going to catch him.” She didn’t look away from the fog-wreathed bayou. “So why not give in to your concern for Joe and leave Gallo to chase that killer.”

“It’s not the right time? You’re being too weird, Eve.”

“Maybe,” she said thoughtfully. “But I’ve been thinking lately that all of this is like unrolling some kind of ancient scroll. We see a little bit, but not the entire story. And no matter how hard we try, we’re not going to be able to finish it until she’s ready for it to be finished.”

“Well, you’ll have to ask her to forgive me, but I intend to unroll the whole shebang according to my schedule and not hers.” She got to her feet and crossed to the edge of the bank. “Where the hell is Gallo?”

“But you haven’t really been worrying about him since you got back, have you?”

No, she hadn’t, Catherine realized. She had been worried about the gators, not the possibility of his encountering Jacobs’s killer. “He can take care of himself.”

Eve smiled faintly. “And it’s over for the time being. Until next time.”

“Bonnie’s crystal ball again?”

“Call it what you like. I think it’s closer to the concept of faith.”

“And that scroll you spoke about gets unrolled a little bit more?” She turned to look at Eve. “Well, I’ve been thinking of a way to jump-start it. Did you and Joe get a good look at that bastard when he was attacking me?”

Eve shook her head. “He was directly behind you until he actually pounced. He was tall, very thin, and his stride was… springy.”

“His face?”

“No, as I said, he was behind you. And when he attacked, he was bent over you. I couldn’t see his features.”

“Joe?”

“We can ask him. He had a different angle than I did when he got off the shot. He might have seen his face.”

“I hope he did. I had a full view of his features for just an instant or two. It would be good if I had another witness to corroborate my take on him. Gallo was in the bayou, close enough to throw that knife. He probably had a good chance to see him,” Catherine said. “You’ve been trained in police sketching as part of your training, Eve. Can we try to get a recognizable sketch of this guy?”

She nodded. “Since you think that fingerprints aren’t very likely, it would be one of our only options. But it had better be soon. Memory fades in an amazingly short time.”

“I’ve been trained in memory retention for debriefing situations,” Catherine said. “I’ll concentrate and get a picture that will hopefully stay with me.”

“Anything remarkable about him?”

A tan face, pulled tight by the hood of the wet suit. Bushy dark brows flecked with gray. Remarkable? There was something unusual, but it was eluding her at the moment. “I’ll have to think about it. Maybe it will come to me…”

The fog was growing thicker again, she noticed. Gallo wouldn’t be able to see anything. Why didn’t he give up? She hadn’t been concerned before about Gallo, but now she was beginning to feel uneasy. There was no reason for it. It was probably caused by all of Eve’s talk about scrolls and Bonnie, and that other stuff that was pure mysticism.

But she wished Gallo would come back.

HE SHOULD TURN BACK,Gallo thought as he paused to listen for the hundredth time. He’d been out here for at least ninety minutes, and it had been a futile effort.

How had he gotten away?

He knew the answer.

He was sharp and experienced as he’d always been, and never without an emergency escape plan.

Give it up and go back to shore.

Not yet. He would give it a little longer.

Wait. He heard something.

A motorboat!

He turned in the water and swam in the direction from which he’d heard the sound of the motor.

The second line of defense for the escape plan.

Get to him before he got away.

If he didn’t catch him now, the hunt would go on.

And it would lead Gallo straight to hell.

“IS CATHERINE OKAY?”Joe asked, when Eve picked up his call.

“Yes, she came back to the shore not long after you left. But Gallo is still out in the bayou.”

“I’m not worried about Gallo. I just wanted to be sure that Catherine hadn’t been hurt.”

“I take it you didn’t see him?”

“I think we’ve lost him. I’ve been going up and down this road for hours, with no sign of him. But a while ago, I heard the sound of a motorboat in one of the inlets. He might have had a boat stashed there.”

“It’s possible.” She glanced at the truck. “But it would seem like overkill. If he followed her from the casino, it would take some fast scrambling to set up a backup like that.”

“Or someone very practiced in a maneuver like this. I’m on my way back. I should see you in about ten minutes.” He hung up.

She turned to Catherine. “He thinks that we’ve lost him. Maybe a motorboat in the inlet.”

“It took Joe long enough to give up searching,” Catherine said. “I notice you didn’t discuss your theory about the ever-unfurling scroll with him. You could have saved him some time.” Then she made a face. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to be sarcastic. I just have problems with the idea of fate dictating our lives. I believe we mold our own lives, our own fates, and if we work hard enough, we can make a success of things. I thought you believed that, too.”

“I do,” Eve said. “But there appear to be some things that are out of our control. I found that out years ago, when I lost Bonnie. After that, I discovered damage control and to work with what I was given.”

“A ghost?”

Eve slowly nodded. “I don’t expect you to accept the idea. It took me years to come to terms with it.”

“Eve…” Catherine reached out and took her hand. “I admire you, I trust you, I believe in you. I just can’t believe in this particular.”

“You didn’t believe that Gallo was innocent of Bonnie’s death at first. But now you’re willing to fight for him.” She smiled. “And that’s a good sign for an eventual understanding.”

“Don’t count on it. We’ll just agree to disagree. I can’t promise that I’ll ever-” She broke off and whirled toward the bayou. “I heard something.”

Eve did, too. And the next moment, she saw Gallo stand up in the shallow water and wade toward the bank. She felt a rush of relief. He looked tired and discouraged, but he wasn’t hurt.

“No sign of him?” she asked as he levered himself out of the water.

“No. He got away.”

“Joe said he heard a motorboat in the inlet,” Catherine said. “Did you?”

“Yes,” he said. “Where’s Quinn?”

“He’ll be here in a few minutes. He just called.”