Mazkal, Utah
“Nate Queen is coming up the drive,” Bill Hanks said as he put down his phone. “He said you were expecting him?”
“For a long time.” John Gallo gazed down at the chessboard. “No one is with him?”
Hanks shook his head. “And Brian did the usual search at the gates. He’s clean.”
“As clean as he can be. I’m sure he has some dirty tricks up his sleeve.” Gallo moved his queen. “Checkmate.” He got up from the game table. “Bring him in as soon as he gets here.”
He moved over to stand in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the Rocky Mountains. He’d bought the ranch because of that view.
And the fact that he could not be approached without knowing about it at least twenty minutes in advance. He’d ordered that Nate Queen pass through the first barricade without a challenge, but no one got past the gates without being searched.
“You’re completely paranoid, do you know that?” Queen asked irritably from the door. “And I didn’t appreciate the body search.”
“You should expect paranoia.” Gallo turned to face him. “I have a mental problem. Haven’t you heard?”
“Oh, I’ve heard,” Queen said as he came into the study. “You’ve caused me nothing but problems. And you’re going to cause me more, aren’t you?”
“Probably.”
“I didn’t have to come here. You could have talked to me on the phone.”
“But then I wouldn’t have been able to see your expression. You’ve lied to me before, Queen. I needed to know that I had a chance to catch you in one if you tried it again.”
“Paranoia,” Queen repeated. “I didn’t tell Catherine Ling anything. I’ve just been setting her up for a regretful refusal. She’s stirring up too much shit for me to totally ignore her. It seems Eve Duncan is a good friend, and she’s trying to help her.”
“I found out that much for myself. How close is Catherine Ling coming?”
Queen hesitated. “Close. But we’ll take care of it.”
“I might have to take care of it myself.”
“No!” Queen said. “Stay away from her. She’s CIA.”
Gallo smiled. “Do you think that would make a difference to me?” He could see the anger and frustration in Queen’s face. But there was also the fear. Gallo made sure that the fear was always there. It was easy. All he had to do was look at them and let them see. “All your tight little agencies and bureaus with all their rules. They make me sick.”
“You’re already sick.” He was silent a moment, gathering his arguments. “Look, you do anything to a CIA agent, and it will be twice as hard for me to protect you.”
“Do you protect me, Queen? It’s rather like a wolf protecting a sheep, isn’t it?”
“You’re no sheep,” Queen said roughly. “And I’ve protected you for years, and you know it. You made sure of that.”
“Now how could I intimidate a powerful colonel with Army Intelligence?” He tilted his head, pretending to think. “Maybe because it gave you the opportunity to position yourselves outside my lair to wait for me to make a mistake?”
“That’s a possibility,” Queen said. “I’d like nothing better than to bring you down, Gallo.” He was clearly trying to overcome his anger. “Be reasonable. Let me handle this. You don’t want the CIA on your ass.”
Gallo shrugged. “Why do you say that? I don’t care, Queen.”
Queen shook his head. “I can see that you don’t. That’s why you should have been exterminated years ago.”
“A lot of people agree with you. I assure you that it’s not from lack of trying. From the moment I was born until your appearance in my life.”
“Let me handle it,” Queen repeated. “Leave Catherine Ling and Eve Duncan alone.”
“I’ll think about it.” He turned back to the window. “You may go now, Queen.”
“May? You arrogant bastard.”
“I can afford to be arrogant. You’re on my turf.”
“You’d be arrogant anyway, you crazy, murdering, son of a bitch.” The door slammed behind him.
Should he go after him, Gallo wondered idly. It wasn’t good to let Queen’s fear of him dissipate when it took very little to reinforce it.
No, it wasn’t necessary, and he wasn’t in the mood. He could deal with Queen at any time. Queen might have thought it was pure arrogance when he’d dismissed him so summarily, but he did have some thinking to do.
He gazed out at the mountains. He must think clearly and carefully and not let emotion get in the way. Queen might think he was a cold-blooded killer to be exterminated, but the emotion was definitely there. He did not feel cold.
He was eager.
For the prospect of the deaths and torment that might come? That would be Queen’s interpretation.
Or eager for something else?
Either way, it was not a decision to be taken lightly.
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” JOE was standing behind Eve in the porch doorway. “You look like you’re communing with the moon.”
“Maybe I would if I thought it would do any good. I was only getting some air.” She turned and came toward him. “I just finished talking to Montalvo.”
“I was about to call him myself.”
Which only showed Eve Joe’s sense of urgency. Montalvo and Joe were on guarded terms most of the time. She could see that tension now. “Now you don’t have to do it.”
“Did Montalvo offer to come and help you?” he asked. “It wouldn’t surprise me.”
She didn’t answer directly. “I don’t need anything but information from Montalvo. He couldn’t give me much.” She handed him her telephone. “A photo of Paul Black. Montalvo still hasn’t been able to get a lead on his current
