It’s the kind of place where you’d want to linger and talk.”
His gaze followed hers to the bookshelves lining the room and she was surprised to see pride and affection in his expression. “I like it, too. I made the entire house into a haven. When I knew you, I had no use for havens, but that changed.”
“You must like books. I don’t remember that about you. I can’t recall you ever mentioning it.”
He chuckled. “Not surprising. We didn’t do much talking, did we?”
“No.” She veered immediately away from that implied intimacy. “And I didn’t know much about you in any area.”
“At the time, I was more interested in physical than mental exercises.” He held up his hand as he saw her expression. “I’m not talking about sex. I always had too much energy, and my uncle Ted managed to channel it by teaching me everything he had learned in the Rangers.”
She nodded. “Rick Larazo. I remember you saying something about it.”
His brows rose. “You have a good memory.”
And she didn’t want him to know that more was coming back to her all the time. She picked up her water glass. “It comes and goes. What about the books?”
“Another form of starvation. It actually was more intense because after a while, physical hunger diminishes. The mind doesn’t give up so easily. I stole a Bible, a book of verses, and a copy of
“Like card counting?”
“One of the more profitable. There were others that were more abstract, but I-” He broke off as a small, thin woman in jeans and a denim shirt came into the room. “You’re late, Judy. Here I’ve been bragging about your-”
“I’m never late.” She plopped the two huge covered dishes down on the table. “I had to wait until you got in here to start cooking. If you’d been in here on time, I might have had a head start, but how-” She stopped and tilted her head, studying Eve. “I’ve seen your photo before. And you’re sure no movie star like he sometimes brings here. No offense. These days movie stars don’t have to be glamour queens, but you don’t look-”
“Judy Clark, Eve Duncan,” John said. “And Eve is a star in her own realm.”
“Skulls.” Judy snapped her fingers. “You do something with skulls.”
“Reconstruction,” Eve said. “Definitely no glamour.”
Judy nodded. “But solid work, good work. I have a six-year-old little girl myself. I don’t know what I’d do if my Cara disappeared. I remember thinking that it probably made those parents feel better that they at least know, Ms. Duncan.”
“Eve. Mr. Hanks told me you had a daughter. She’s six now?”
“Yep.” Judy’s face lit up with a smile. “She’s real pretty. Not like me. And smart as a whip. She’s in the kitchen now, helping me. Would you like to meet her? I’m trying to get her to be more social-like. She’s kind of shy.”
An abusive husband, Hanks had said. That usually translated also to abuse toward the children. “I’d like that very much.”
“Then I’ll have her bring in some of the sauces when I bring in the tortillas.”
“I want to thank you for lending me these clothes. It’s very kind of you.”
“No problem. They’re not fancy but, like I said, you don’t look fancy yourself. They suit you just like they do me. Though I’d think John would-” She stopped. “I’ll go get the tortillas. I’m letting the food get cold.” She disappeared through the side doorway.
“Movie stars?” Eve asked Gallo.
“Not often. I was curious.”
“Another form of starvation?”
“No, as I said, curiosity. I wanted to sample, not devour.” He lifted the lid, and steam ballooned off the fajitas. “Like I do these fajitas.”
“You should have waited.” Judy had appeared with two covered plates. She was trailed by a little girl with sandy brown hair and huge brown eyes with extravagantly long lashes, who carried a tray of condiments. “You’re too impatient. I keep telling you, John.”
“Life’s too short.” John met Judy’s gaze. “Isn’t it?”
An indefinable expression flitted across her face. “Yeah, I guess maybe you’re right.” She set the covered plates on the table. “Which is why you should enjoy the hell out of my fajitas. Eat.” She pushed the little girl forward. “Cara, this is Ms. Duncan. She’s a friend of John’s. Say hello, honey.”
Cara stared at her gravely. “Hello. You’re wearing Mama’s shirt.”
“She was kind enough to lend it to me. I’m glad to meet you, Cara.”
Cara nodded. “I wanted to see you. Mama said you were better than the movie star.” A smile suddenly broke the gravity of her expression as she turned to John. “How is she better, John?”
“In all sorts of ways.” John smiled back at the little girl. “I’ll explain later. It would take too long.”
“Come along, Cara.” Judy gave the child a gentle shove toward the kitchen. “I’ll let you help load the dishwasher and then off to bed you go. Say good night.”
Cara looked over her shoulder. “Good night, Ms. Duncan. Good night, John.”
“Good night, Cara,” Eve said.
Then the door swung shut behind mother and daughter.
Eve smiled as she gazed after them. “Sweet child. So solemn. And Judy’s… unusual.”
“They broke the mold. Or she broke it. That’s more likely.”
“Not the ordinary employer-employee relationship.”
“I don’t do employer well. I just have people who work with me. I don’t have time for any other crap.” He handed her the steaming plate and the plate of tortillas. “Like I told Judy. Life’s too short. What were we talking about before she came in?”
Eve had to think for a minute. “Books?”
He nodded. “After I escaped and got some semblance of a mind back, I started collecting and reading. I like having books around me.”
“You’d get along with Catherine’s son, Luke. He has a passion for books, too.” She unwrapped the tortillas. “And for the same reason.”
“I didn’t know she had a child. How old?”
“Luke is eleven.” She looked at him. “I’m surprised you don’t have a dossier on Catherine, too. She was the one who Nate Queen was dealing with.”
“Oh, I do. But I guess he didn’t think her personal life would be of any interest to me.” He picked up his fork, and added casually, “Or maybe he was protecting her.”
She was abruptly jarred. The conversation had not been ordinary by any means, but it had possessed an odd, almost comfortable, familiarity. That last remark was not at all comfortable. “Why should he think her child should be protected from you?”
He warily looked up. “I said the wrong thing.”
“Did you? Nate Queen knows more about you than I do. Why should a child be threatened?”
“He shouldn’t be threatened.” His lips twisted. “But Nate Queen thinks I’m capable of any atrocity. I can’t blame him. I don’t have a great track record.”
“Against children?”
“No,” he said quietly. “I’ve never hurt a child to my knowledge.”
“You’d either know or not know.”
“I hope you’re right. I’d never do it deliberately.” He shook his head. “But there were missions when I was so messed up, I didn’t know what was going on. Sometimes I even blacked out, sometimes for days at a time. I just obeyed orders and got the job done.”
“And what if a child was in the way?”
“I don’t remember any-” He broke off. “What do you want me to say? Dammit, I
