“Very much. She’s as close as I’ve ever had to a woman friend.” She reached out and squeezed Jane’s arm. “Except you. I’m glad you’re here.”
“Me, too.” She lifted her cup to her lips. “Catherine’s at the Hyatt getting me settled.”
“You don’t have to get settled. You can go back to London if you like. Everything is going to be okay here.”
“Stop trying to get rid of me. Do you mind if I stay and be with you? I’ll go when Joe is better.”
Eve nodded. “I just wanted to give you the option.”
“You’re rushing me out of here, and you haven’t even heard that he’s definitely on the mend.”
“I’ve heard.” Eve took another sip of coffee. “Joe told me.”
“And no one with more authority.”
“Well, Bonnie told him, and who has more authority than that?”
“Impossible.” Jane chuckled. “But I’m so glad that you’re this happy and giddy that I don’t give a damn. It was the last thing that I was expecting. You’re absolutely certain, aren’t you?”
“Yep.” Eve leaned back in her chair and felt the happiness flowing through her. She did feel giddy. After the tension of the last days, the relief was overwhelming. “And you will be, too. We’ll just sit here and give those doctors time to congratulate themselves, then come out and tell us how clever they are.” She lifted her cup in a mock toast to Jane. “And then we’ll call Catherine and tell her to come and celebrate with us.”
* * *
“I CAN’T BELIEVE IT.” Catherine’s face was luminous as she came into the waiting room. “The doctors confirmed it? Joe’s going to be okay?”
“Believe it,” Eve said. “It’s true.”
“No danger of his slipping back?”
“Oh, they tried to tell me that we had to be cautious. That there was a possibility of a relapse.” She shrugged. “That’s what they always say when they’re confused. But I’m not confused. It’s not going to happen.”
“She has it on the highest authority,” Jane said with a grin.
“I’ll take your word for it,” Catherine said. “Next question. How long before Joe is on his feet again?”
“It depends on his progress. Joe usually heals quickly.”
“Months?”
“Weeks,” Eve said. “But I don’t know how many weeks. It will take as long as it takes. I don’t want him to hurry and injure himself.”
“Once he starts to recover, it’s going to be hard to keep him down.” Catherine frowned. “You know that, Eve.”
Eve’s smile vanished. “I’ll keep him down even if I have to tie him to the bed.”
“That may have to be the solution,” Catherine said grimly. “Once he finds out that you believed Paul Black when he said it was Gallo who killed Bonnie.”
Eve’s smile faded. “Black believed what he was saying. I could see it.” She paused. “And so did John Gallo. That’s why he ran away.”
“And Joe will be right after him.”
“No.” Eve could feel the fear tighten her chest. “We can’t let him do that.”
“No, we can’t,” Catherine said. “Which means I have to find Gallo first.”
“You’ve been trying. Everyone’s been trying.”
“Then I’ll try harder. I haven’t had a chance to concentrate yet. I’ve split my time between searching those woods and running back here and checking on Joe.” Her lips tightened. “I’ll find him.”
“He may not even be in those woods,” Eve said. “If he got clear of them, he could be anywhere in the world. He has plenty of money, and he worked for Army Intelligence for years as a troubleshooter and assassin. It’s not as if he won’t know how to slip in and out of the country.”
“I know that,” Catherine said. “But it wouldn’t have been easy for him to escape the sheriff and deputies we called in when Joe was hurt. They had him on the run. He was sighted at least twice.”
“And then they lost him, and he hasn’t been seen since,” Eve said. “You told me yourself that it was as if he dropped off the face of the Earth.”
“I think he’s still in those woods. He owns the property. He knows it better than anyone hunting him,” Catherine said. “I have a feeling.”
“Instinct,” Jane murmured. “I believe in instinct.”
“So do I,” Catherine said. “And it’s saved my ass too many times for me to ignore it.” She met Jane’s eyes. “I don’t like leaving Eve here alone. Are you staying?”
“I’m staying,” Jane said. “I wouldn’t leave her.”
“Good.” She turned back to Eve. “Is there anything I should know about Gallo? Anything that could help me?”
Eve thought for a moment. “He’s not … When he killed Bonnie, he may not have been aware of doing it. He claimed he loved her, and I believed him at the time. He had blackouts after those years of torture in that North Korean prison.”
“And does that mean you think she should be easy on him?” Jane asked in surprise.
“Hell no; if he killed Bonnie, he deserves everything anyone could do to him,” Eve said coldly. “I’m just telling Catherine that he’s definitely unstable, particularly where Bonnie is concerned. She may be able to use it.”
“It’s a possibility.” Catherine turned to Jane. “And no, I won’t be easy on him. It’s tough that he went through hell in that prison through no fault of his own. But if that turned him into a child killer, then he deserves to be exterminated.”
“No, you can’t do that,” Eve said quickly. “Not until he talks to me. I have to know where my Bonnie is buried.”
“If he remembers. He might not if he’s as unstable as you say.”
“I have to talk to him,” Eve repeated.
Catherine didn’t speak for a moment, then shrugged, and said, “Okay, I made you a promise, and I’ll keep it.” She smiled. “And now I think I’ll go to the ICU and see Joe.”
“They won’t let you visit him,” Eve said.
“Then if he’s awake, I’ll make faces at him through that glass window. He’ll get the message.” She gave Eve a hug. “Take care. I’ll be in touch and tell you how it’s going.”
“See that you do.”
Eve watched her leave the waiting room and walk quickly down the hall. There was purpose in Catherine’s steps and determination in her demeanor. She looked like a warrior going into battle.
“I was right. She’s tough,” Jane said. “Is she as good as she thinks she is?”
“Better, probably.” And Eve was feeling a rush of relief about having Catherine moving quickly to find Gallo. Having Gallo out there was a double-edged sword. He’d be both a threat and temptation to Joe once he was in his right senses. And she was still experiencing the pain of that moment when Black had told her that Gallo was guilty. The bond between them as Bonnie’s mother and father had turned tight and bitter, but she found that it still existed. It was Eve’s job to go after Gallo and bring him to justice, but for the moment, she had a more important job in helping get Joe well. She could rely on Catherine to search in Eve’s place until she was able to turn her attention away from Joe.
“I’m going to call the Hyatt and get a room for you, too,” Jane said. “We’ll probably both be here at the hospital most of the time, but we don’t have to live here as you’ve been doing. It seems the urgency is gone.”
“Yes.” She again felt that profound rush of thanksgiving she had felt when Joe had opened his eyes. “The urgency has definitely been downgraded. You make your call, and I’ll go back to the ICU and try to get the nurses to let me go in and sit with him again.”
Jane smiled. “You feeling lucky? You said the rules were pretty stern.”
“Yeah.” Eve threw her cup in the disposal. “I’m feeling very lucky, right now.”
* * *
JOE WAS sleeping.
Catherine stood at the window and gazed at him and the nurse moving around the ICU.
His color was good, and the sleep appeared normal.
Catherine let out a sigh of relief. She had believed Eve when she’d told her Joe was on the mend, but she’d had to see for herself. It was too easy for love to paint a false picture.
And the love between Eve and Joe was very strong. Catherine had had moments of envy when she had seen them together. When Catherine had married, she was seventeen, and her husband was sixty-two. They had both been CIA, and it had been more a partnership than a love affair.