“And what you’re feeling for Catherine is like what we felt?”
“Yes. No. It’s different, but it… means something. I don’t know what.”
“That’s clear as mud. And so is your reasoning. There’s nothing between us, John. Whatever we were together vanished when you left me. Why the hell should you feel guilty?”
“I shouldn’t. You and I tried to keep what we felt from meaning anything but sex.” He added hoarsely, “You may have succeeded, but even back then I wasn’t so sure that I did. And after I was thrown into that prison, the memory of you stayed with me.” He paused. “And then there was Bonnie. I told you once that she’d bind us together forever.”
And Eve couldn’t argue with him on that score. Why else was she with him?
“You were special to me,” he said. “You’ll always be special. I know you’ve moved on. Hell, I’m beginning to think I’ve moved on, too. God knows, it took me long enough. So maybe next time I want to screw Catherine, I won’t feel as if I-” He drew a deep breath. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to let all this loose on you. Forget it.”
“I can’t forget it.” She stared at him in frustration. “And I can’t ignore it. This is nuts. You were not unfaithful to me because you want to go to bed with Catherine. We both know that.” Her lips thinned. “Absolution? John Gallo, that’s the height of absurdity.”
“Yes.” He smiled. “And I’m beginning to feel better with every word you’re hurling at me. What’s between us is so damn complicated that it’s good to get it out in the open. Now I can try to seduce Catherine and not worry about anything but having a good time.”
“I didn’t say that,” she said, exasperated. “You don’t have any responsibility to me, but you’d better act responsibly with Catherine.”
“You know I don’t have a history in that direction.” His smile faded. “But I’ll try to change my ways if it will please you, Eve. I guess I could try this pure, noble crap.”
“Bullshit,” she said bluntly. “You like your way too much, and I never remember you not trying to take it.”
“Not if you said no.”
But she had never said no to him. She had been too dizzy and hot and completely involved with her first sexual experience. And she doubted if Catherine would say no to him either. Not for long. He still possessed the sensual magnetism that had drawn Eve to him, but now it had matured and become even more potent. Eve could see it, feel it, but it didn’t touch her. As he’d said, she had moved on.
But to Catherine, Gallo’s charisma would be fresh and stormy and strike sparks.
“Don’t hurt her, John.”
“You flatter me.” He moved into the lane that led to the Mobile airport. “Catherine is probably tougher than either one of us. She wouldn’t let me hurt her.”
Eve hoped that was true. It was true that there was no one more wary than Catherine. But her friend had never met a man like John Gallo.
He glanced at her when she didn’t speak. “I’m trying to be good, Eve,” he said quietly. “I know I’d be rotten for her. That’s one of the reasons that I took off and put some distance between us. Catherine has the misfortune to believe in me.” His lips twisted. “Even after I came within a heartbeat of letting her be killed.” He shrugged. “So instead, I let you come along for the ride. Here we are together again, Eve.”
“Only until we find Ted Danner. It’s all about-” Her phone rang, and she glanced at the ID. “It’s Catherine.” She pressed the button and turned up the volume. “What’s happening?”
“I could ask the same of you,” Catherine said. “I didn’t like the way you left me, Eve. It wasn’t fair.”
“I know. I didn’t want an argument, and you would have given me one.”
“You’re damn right I would have.” She paused. “Is Gallo listening?”
“Yes.”
“You take care of her, Gallo. If you don’t, I’ll cut your heart out.”
“Always to the point,” Gallo said. “I have no intention of letting anything happen to Eve.”
“Intentions don’t always translate to the final product. Joe wants to talk to you, Eve. But I wanted to make sure you heard about the fingerprint tests that Joe had New Orleans PD run on the prints found in the gift shop at the alligator farm. The results just came in.”
“Danner?”
“Absolutely positive.”
Gallo muttered a curse as his grip tightened on the steering wheel.
“I heard that,” Catherine said. “It’s too bad you don’t like it, Gallo. Face it. He’s a murderer.”
“There could have been reasons.”
“And what reason did he have for tossing that night security guard to the alligators?”
“Self-defense. Quinn said there were signs of a struggle. He could have been surprised and acted instinctively.”
“Maybe. I’m not counting on it. I’m handing the phone to Joe, Eve.”
“Right.” She braced herself. “Where are you, Joe?”
“At the gate in New Orleans waiting for a flight to Atlanta. We’re going to go check out Danner’s records at the Atlanta VA Medical Center.”
“Gallo tried to do that. The administrative office wouldn’t give him any info. I knew you and Catherine would be able to find out about him.” She paused. “Gallo and I are going to San Antonio to check out the doctor who signed the death certificate for Ted Danner. I’ll let you know what we find out.”
There was a silence. “You will?”
“Joe, for Pete’s sake, I told you I wasn’t trying to close you out. It’s just not possible for me to work with you right now.”
“Because of Gallo,” Joe said harshly.
“No, because of Bonnie.” She added quickly, “I’ve got to go, Joe. I’ll call you when I have an update.” She hung up and turned to Gallo. “You heard it. There’s no doubt any longer. It’s Danner.”
“But how?” he asked through set teeth. “Why?”
“That’s what we have to find out.”
“You told Joe we were going to San Antonio,” Gallo said. “How do you know that they won’t be there before us?”
“I don’t. But it wouldn’t be smart of them now that I’ve explained my position. And Joe and Catherine are both very smart. They don’t like it, but they trust me.” She added quietly, “And I won’t violate that trust, John. They’ve gone through hell, and they deserve to see the end of this. You set the rules, and I had to go by them.” She shook her head. “No, I wanted to go by them. You scared me. I know how you feel about your uncle. I’m not sure how you’d respond if it came to a choice.”
“I didn’t let him hurt Catherine.”
“But Joe said you took a chance on a risky throw. Why?”
“I wasn’t thinking, dammit. I couldn’t believe it was happening. I meant to aim for his back.”
“But you aimed for his hand.”
“It was too late to-” He drew a deep shaky breath. “I could have killed him with that bowie if I’d struck his back. I couldn’t kill him, Eve.”
“I know. And that’s why I don’t want to expose Joe and Catherine if you’re faced with that choice again.”
“But you’re willing to risk yourself,” he added mockingly. “It appears you’re not as smart as Joe and Catherine. Where’s your sense of self-preservation?”
“You’ll do what you have to do. I’m not afraid no matter what choice you make.”
“How fatalistic,” he said. “I’m not sure I like your attitude. You were always a fighter, Eve.”
“Who says I’m not now?” She shrugged. “But I guess I am a fatalist in this. I’ll do everything I can to survive, but this time I may not have any say in it.” She stared him in the eye. “And you might not either. It could be that’s why we’re supposed to be together.”
“Don’t be melodramatic. We’re not going to die,” he said. “I won’t accept any of that bull.” He was silent a moment. “I don’t want to die. There was a time, when I thought I might be the bastard who had killed Bonnie, that I didn’t want to live. I thought I should burn in hell. Then Catherine came along and told me in her less-than-gentle way that I was an idiot to take Black’s word, anyone’s word, without positive proof and kicked me into high gear. She said she’d learned a hell of a lot about me when we were playing cat and mouse while she was stalking me in those woods in Wisconsin. If she didn’t believe I was capable of killing Bonnie, why should I? She convinced me. I’d
