loves both of us. Even though Gallo and I will never be together, I don’t believe she’d want us to- She’d want that bond to be there.” She smiled crookedly. “It’s complicated, isn’t it?”
“Particularly since you’re still not sure that Gallo isn’t involved with Bonnie’s killing.”
“I’m trying to think positive. Gallo isn’t making it easy,” she said. “Is he a victim or the Rasputin Joe thinks him? I’ve been going back and forth like a weather vane for the past weeks.”
“So have I.”
“But now you’re defending him. You’re in his camp. You’ve been willing to fight Joe and me and the whole damn world for him. Why?”
“He didn’t do it, Eve.”
“Proof?”
“Dammit, he didn’t do it.”
“I want proof. I need proof, Catherine.”
“I’ll get it for you.”
“You almost died because Gallo didn’t throw his knife when he should have. Are you going to risk being put in that position again?”
“He didn’t want me to be hurt.”
“How can you be sure?” She gazed at Catherine’s expression, then slowly nodded. “Poor Catherine. He’s got you, hasn’t he? Have you slept with him yet?”
Catherine’s face flushed. “No, I have
Eve smiled faintly. “That’s what I said when I was sixteen. I had everything to lose and nothing to gain, but it didn’t matter. I did it anyway.”
“I’m not sixteen. You’re my friend, and I got into this to help you. I’m a professional, and I’ll do my job.”
“I know you will. Look, I’m not angry or resentful because you’re feeling the same attraction I felt for Gallo. I don’t have the right to be. I’ve moved on, and so has Gallo.”
“I know that,” Catherine said. “But you could resent my not doing my job in trying to find your daughter’s killer.” She paused and then burst out, “Okay, Gallo does- He makes me feel-” She tried again. “He does have an unusual effect on me.” She finally said bluntly, “He turns me on. Maybe you’re right, and he does have that kind of knockout effect on most women. But I’d never let that interfere. In spite of what Joe said, I wouldn’t be emotional about it.”
Eve suddenly smiled. “You’re being emotional right now. If it wasn’t about Gallo, I’d think it was healthy for you. You’re usually too tough and cool. A little disturbance isn’t that bad. Now let’s get this sketch finished. Then I can tell Joe what an unemotional and crystal-clear professional you’ve been.” She turned the notebook around. “Is this his mouth?”
Catherine nodded. “Very close. But his mouth appeared more taut. It was drawn back from his teeth.”
“Like an attacking animal?”
“Yes.”
“Good. That would change the contour of the face. It would make the cheekbones more prominent. We’ll have to take that into account.” She was sketching quickly. “Nose, mouth, eyebrows. We’re getting there…”
“CHIN.”
“I told you, slightly pointed.”
“But when I showed you pointed, you said it wasn’t right. Think.”
“It looked pointed.”
“Then we must have the contour of the face wrong. Since his lips were drawn away from his teeth, maybe it caused the jaw to shift. Why don’t we try a modified square?”
“Whatever. We’ve been at this over an hour, Eve. It’s all blurring.”
“It won’t when we get it right.” She showed her the sketch. “Modified square. Yes? No?”
Catherine straightened in the chair. “Yes.”
“Chin, mouth, nose, eyebrows.” Eve could feel the excitement growing. “Now we go for the eyes. Shape. Round? Oval? Slanted?”
“Not round. Oval, I think.”
Eve’s pencil was flying over the paper. “Big? Small? Medium?”
“Medium.”
“Wide set?”
“No, ordinary.”
“Color.”
“Light. Gray, I think.”
“Skin? Tan? Pale?”
“Sort of tan and weathered-looking.”
“Any lines?”
“On either sides of his mouth. The rest of his face was smooth.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, no. Wait. He was wearing that wet suit, and the rubber headpiece appeared very tight. It was pulling his face taut. I think I remember faint indentations around the corner of his eyes.”
Eve quickly added the lines in a sunburst effect. “That looks more natural.” She held the sketch up and gazed at it appraisingly. She said absently, “But he’s older than-” She stopped, her eyes widening in stunned surprise.
Crazy. It couldn’t be. Impossible.
“Eve?”
She shook her head to clear it. Impossible.
But anything was possible in this crazy world that had become her own.
Her hands were shaking as she turned the notebook and showed Catherine the sketch.
“Is this… him?”
Catherine’s eyes widened. “My God.”
CHAPTER 5
“ANSWER ME.” EVE TRIED TO STEADY her voice. “Is this the man who tried to kill you?”
“Yes.” Catherine took the notebook and gazed down at the sketch. “Congratulations. I had no idea you could come this close. It’s
“You’re absolutely sure?”
“I told you, it’s him. That chin is the-” She broke off as she raised her eyes and saw Eve’s expression. “What’s wrong? You’re pale as this notebook paper.”
“I just have to make sure you’re positive this is the man. I have to know that I didn’t make him up out of some subconscious memory.”
Catherine stiffened. “Memory?”
Eve took the sketch back and looked at it again. The eyes, the facial features, the brows were all the same. Only the deep wrinkles at the corners of the eyes and the ferocity that was imprinted in every line of that face was different.
“What memory, Eve?” Catherine asked. “You’ve seen this man before?”
“I think I have. But it doesn’t make any sense.”
“Who is it? Give me a name.”
Eve shook her head. “But he’s a dead man. Gallo told me that he was dead.”
“Dammit, who is it?”
“His name is Ted Danner.”
