“You’re sure,” she said. “No one knows Danner better than you do.”
“I only got a glimpse of his profile.”
“And it shocked you so much that you couldn’t move.” She paused. “I didn’t see his face at all. I only saw him moving toward Catherine. That was why I couldn’t even make a connection with Danner until I saw the finished sketch. That man at the bayou moved like an athlete, a young man. There was a springiness to his step. The Ted Danner I met was almost crippled. He moved slowly, like an old man.”
“Yes, he did.”
She was studying his face. “But you still recognized him.”
He nodded jerkily. “He wasn’t always crippled like that, only after that last mission. All the time I was growing up my uncle was strong as a bull and could beat me in any race. When we were up in the woods, he was so quiet, so good, that he could get within a yard of any forest animal before it knew he was there. I watched him do it any number of times.” He paused. “Just as I watched him when he was coming up behind Catherine. It was as if he’d turned back the clock.”
“Or had an operation on his spine that turned it back for him. Was that on the books before you left for basic training?”
He shook his head. “He said they had to do all kinds of testing.”
“I saw him when Bonnie was six months old, and he still looked crippled. That’s a long time to wait for surgery.”
“Maybe they weren’t sure they could do it.” His lips tightened. “He had spells when he was in terrible pain.”
“You told me once he was on prescription drugs.”
“But he kicked the habit. He wouldn’t let himself fall into that hole.” He glanced at her. “You’re trying to build a case for his being a drug addict, and that would be a reason for his killing Bonnie.” He shook his head. “He hated drugs. He told me he’d rather have the pain than mess up his head like that.”
“I don’t know what I’m trying to do,” she said wearily. “Yes, drugs were a possibility. They can turn men into monsters. I thought your uncle was a gentle man, but the man who almost stabbed Catherine wasn’t gentle. He was a monster. So I’m trying to make a connection.”
“He’s
“Catherine,” she reminded him. “Why would he hurt Catherine? He could have just avoided her.”
“The truck. She was standing next to it. He needed the truck to escape.”
“You’re reaching.”
“I know,” he said jerkily. “I don’t know why he would do any of this. Uncle Ted was a good guy. Nobody better. None of this makes sense.”
He was in pain. She could see it in the tenseness of his every muscle, the set of his mouth.
Well, she couldn’t help him. Not now. She said again, “Tell me about Ted Danner. When did you get to know him? Was he your mother’s brother?”
“My father’s half brother. They were nothing alike. Ted was younger, and they grew up together in the slums. My father became an alcoholic by the time he was twenty and went straight downhill. Uncle Ted joined the service at seventeen and got out of there. They didn’t like each other, and I don’t know why Ted visited him when he came back on leave.” He shook his head. “Yes, I do know. I think it was me. He wanted to help me. He always tried to step in and keep them from hurting me. He even used to tell me what I should do to keep them from getting angry.” He grimaced. “Though that didn’t work so well after I got older. I hated them as much as they hated me, and I let them know it. I was lucky I survived.”
“Why didn’t your uncle persuade them to give you into his custody?”
“He was in the Rangers. He only had his pay. He didn’t have a home or a family. He couldn’t take on a kid. He tried to be a friend to me. I couldn’t expect anything else from him.” He added, “He came home on medical leave when I was seventeen, and we got to spend some time together. It was great, like I had real family. My parents were killed in a house fire about four months after he came home. My father fell asleep in bed smoking a cigarette. My uncle and I moved into a flat together. I was planning on going into the Army when I finished high school, but I took off with a couple buddies to see some of the country first. When I came back to Milwaukee, I found out that Uncle Ted was worse and had to go to Atlanta for treatment. I decided to go with him and get him settled before the treatments began.” He glanced at her. “You know the rest.”
Yes, she knew the rest. She had met John Gallo, and they had gotten caught up in a sexual maelstrom that had altered both their lives and produced Bonnie. “You told me that the death certificate was signed by a doctor at the VA hospital. What was the cause of death?”
“Pneumonia contracted after surgery.”
“And what was the name of the doctor who signed the certificate?”
“Lawrence Temple.” He paused. “I called the hospital, and he’s no longer at the facility. He’s now in private practice somewhere in San Antonio. I tried to check on any record of surgery being performed on a Theodore Danner, and they refused to give me any information on the phone.”
“So you want to go and question them in person?”
“No, I think we should go find Temple in San Antonio.”
She nodded slowly. “We’d do better to contact that doctor and find out why he falsified the death certificate. Catherine can dig out the information about the surgery. We can count on her.”
“Yes, Catherine won’t let anything stand in her way. She’s relentless.”
Her gaze narrowed on his face. There was something in his tone… “Do you resent that?”
“God, no. I admire it.” He grimaced. “It’s just that when her determination is turned on me, it becomes a force to be reckoned with.”
“You should be grateful that she’s on your side.”
“Do you think I’m not?”
“I don’t know what you feel about her,” she said quietly. “But she’s my friend, and for some reason, she believes in you. You’d better be damn grateful.”
“Or you’ll take me out?” His lips twisted. “You’re as fiercely protective of Catherine as she is of you.”
“Catherine doesn’t trust easily. She’s had a rough life. I won’t have her hurt.” Her gaze was searching his face. She was remembering bits and pieces, phrases, expressions that she’d ignored because of the urgency of the situation. But protecting Catherine had its own urgency. “Just what do you feel about her, John?”
He didn’t answer directly. “You don’t have to worry about her trusting me. She’s too smart for that.”
“Dammit, answer me.”
“What do you want me to say?” he asked harshly. “That I admire her, that I’m grateful to her for helping me when I didn’t deserve it. That I wouldn’t have forgiven myself if I’d let her be killed.”
“That’s quite a bit. Noble sentiments.”
“Noble? You know me better than that. There’s nothing pure or noble about me.” He met her gaze. “All that stuff pales beside the fact that I want to screw her so much that I ache with it. I haven’t wanted a woman like this since I met you all those years ago, Eve.”
She stiffened. The words were raw and his expression intense, reckless. Yet she shouldn’t have been so surprised. She had sensed… something when talking to Catherine, but neither Catherine nor Gallo would let down their guard enough to reveal an emotion this intimate.
“Are you satisfied?” Gallo asked. “No, I can see I’ve upset you. You shouldn’t have pushed if you didn’t want me to tell you the truth.”
“You did upset me.” Her gaze was searching his face. “I think you wanted to upset me, or you wouldn’t have just come out with it like that. Why, John?”
“Why? Good question.” He didn’t speak for a moment. “I think I felt guilty. Maybe I wanted absolution.”
“Absolution?” She frowned. “What on earth are you talking about? Because Catherine is my friend?”
“No, because I felt… unfaithful.”
She stared at him, stunned.
“Yeah, I know,” he said roughly. “It’s crazy. But then, everyone knows that about me.”
“Unfaithful to me? That doesn’t make sense. Good God, how many women have you had over the years?”
“That’s different. They didn’t matter. I didn’t feel… It wasn’t anything like what was between us.”
