“Dale?”
“John Gallo.”
“No. Unless you want me to talk about him.”
He didn’t answer for a moment. “Not right now. But we’re going to have to do it. You’re behaving… I don’t know.” He pulled her tighter. “But I don’t like it.”
She didn’t like it, either. She didn’t like the fact that she had worked for hours trying to block thoughts of Gallo and Paul Black out of her mind and hadn’t succeeded. She didn’t like that she felt a tension building whenever Joe mentioned Gallo’s name.
He kissed her and nestled her head into the hollow of his shoulder. “We’ll work it out. Go to sleep.”
She closed her eyes, feeling the pounding of his heart beneath her ear. Life. She brushed her lips against his warm, smooth skin. She wanted to feel the textures, breathe the scents of him. She wanted to cherish this moment.
Because she could feel the choice approaching.
SHE GOT UP WITH JOE AND HAD coffee with him before he left for work. Then she started working on the reconstruction of the little boy. More measurements. Concentrate. They all had to be correct.
But she couldn’t concentrate. By eleven she knew there was no way she could block the decision any longer.
She shook her head as she gazed at the skull on the easel. “I’m sorry, Dale,” she said softly. “It’s not that you’re not important. But you’ll have to wait a little longer.”
She took out her phone and walked out on the porch.
Choice.
He had handed her the phone and must have realized what that meant.
She rolled back the calls and brought up the number from where he’d called her.
She pressed the button for return call.
It rang once, twice.
On the third ring, Gallo picked up.
“Is Joe Quinn standing at your shoulder?”
“No.” She had to gather her thoughts. She hadn’t been sure that he would answer. “I can’t involve Joe any more in this. He was shot last night.”
Silence. “I know. Hanks called and reported after he left the compound. I didn’t want that to happen. Is Quinn okay?”
“Yes. But it did happen. He was hurt. He could have been killed. This is your responsibility. Make it right. Tell me where to find Paul Black.”
He chuckled. “You’re using guilt to get your own way? That’s very ruthless, Eve.”
“I’ll use whatever I have to use. I have to find Bonnie’s killer. I won’t have Joe sacrificed on the altar of my obsession.”
“Yet you can’t give up the hunt.”
“No, and that’s my guilt.”
He was silent. “We’re a fine pair, aren’t we, Eve?”
“Tell me,” she said. “You said you didn’t want to destroy me. But can’t you see? I’m destroying myself and Joe. I have to find him. I have to find her. ”
“You won’t let me do it for you?”
“I have to know. I have to be certain.”
“And you can’t trust me.”
“I don’t know you. I’ve never known you. How can I trust you?” She paused. “But I know that, in spite of what you said, you wanted to leave the door open for me. You wouldn’t have given me back my phone. You wouldn’t have answered the call.”
“My door is always open for you, Eve.”
“And you gave me that key. How did you know I wouldn’t turn it over to Queen?”
“I had to take the chance. I knew Queen would take advantage of what I’d done to make his move. You had to be protected. Has he contacted you yet?”
“No.”
“He will. He didn’t find what he wanted at the house, and he’ll start exploring possibilities.”
“He made me angry.” She paused. “He burned your house.”
“Hanks told me. Judy managed to get out everything that was valuable from the office.”
“Senseless. Queen wanted to hurt you.” She paused. “Did he do it?”
“Yes.” He didn’t speak for a moment. “Stupid. I knew with my head that it was just a shell made out of brick and wood. I knew it could be taken away from me like everything else. I was prepared for it. But I’d never really had a home, even as a kid. I guess I wanted one. Funny. I suppose it sort of crept in when I wasn’t looking. Primitive instinct. We’re all savages once you tear away the trappings.”
“It was a lovely place.”
“It’s gone. Don’t think about it.”
“Is that your philosophy? I don’t think so. Bonnie is gone. You’re still thinking about her.”
“That’s different.”
Yes, everything about Bonnie and her life and death were different and special. “Did Paul Black kill her?”
He didn’t answer immediately. “I believe he did.”
“Do you know where he is?”
“No, but I know how to bring him to me.”
Her hand tightened on the phone until the knuckles turned white. “Then tell me where you are. I have to be with you.”
He didn’t speak.
“I’m not going to plead with you. But I swear I’ll give that key to Queen. Maybe he knows something about Black that he didn’t tell Catherine. And I’ll let Queen use me as bait to try to get you. I don’t think you’d want me to do that.”
“You’d be crazy to deal with him,” John said roughly. “Your just having that key will tell him that you know too much. That was your insurance policy.”
“He’s an Army Intelligence agent. He might have you targeted, but I’m a private citizen. He’d have a difficult time trying to harass me.”
“I’m not talking about harassment.” His breath expelled with exasperation. “I’ll say you’re not pleading. Back off, Eve. This isn’t a good move.”
“I can’t back off. Tell me how to reach you.” She had to persuade him. “I have a right, John. No one has a better right than I do to catch that bastard. You know it, and I know it. Isn’t that the real reason you made contact with me? You say we’re all savages. Maybe that primitive instinct told you that this was something we had to do together.”
He was still silent, and Eve wasn’t sure that she’d made an impact.
Then he said, “Take the Delta flight to Milwaukee this afternoon. When you get in, call me, and I’ll come and get you. Queen will probably have someone following you. He won’t stop you because he’ll hope you’re leading him to me.”
“And I will be.”
“I’ll take care of that when you get here. Be careful.” He hung up.
It was done.
Eve hung up and stared out at the lake.
“We’re going to find you, Bonnie,” she whispered. “This is the time, isn’t it? This is how you wanted it.” Why was that certainty growing within her? She could be fooling herself because she wanted it so much, and the search had gone on so long. She was taking a chance on John Gallo. Joe and Catherine were right that he was the ultimate wild card.
And she had taken a chance on him once before, and it had changed her life. He had given her Bonnie.
Stop questioning. The decision was made.
She got to her feet and moved toward the door. She would make her airline reservations, write a note to Joe, and try to get a couple hours’ sleep.
She went to her worktable and covered the reconstruction she’d started on Dale. “Just a little interruption,” she whispered. “You’ve waited a long time. Wait just a little longer.” He was her job, her duty. This was the part of her life that had been born when she had lost Bonnie. But she had to return to the time before she had become the woman who had brought all those other children home until she could come back and do that duty.
If she came back.
Was that why she was having this feeling of destiny, the conviction that Bonnie was guiding her? Was she going to die and join Bonnie? Did Bonnie know that this time Eve would not come back to Joe?
The prospect held no fear for Eve. Joe would be safe. Joe and Jane would have each other.