she wasn’t there any longer. I tried to tell myself that she was just part of the craziness. But I knew she was real. I’d heard of weird stuff happening in wartime. Wives visiting husbands at the front, telling them things… stuff like that. Astral projection they call it. But it wasn’t like that. She was there, she was real. She was… mine. I got scared. I had to make sure that she wasn’t a delusion, too. Because that would mean that I was truly insane. After they released me, I went back to Atlanta. You’d moved from the old housing development to a house on Morningside.”
“Yes, I wanted Bonnie out of the projects.”
“It was a pretty house, old, but pink geraniums were hanging from the front porch. I stayed across the street and watched until she came home from school. She was wearing a gold plaid top and jeans and some kind of sparkly fairy barrette to hold back her hair. You came out to the bus stop to meet her, and you took her hand. You smiled down at her, and I knew that you both were going to be all right. You were going to college, your mother was straightened out, and you loved that kid. You were going to have everything you ever wanted. You certainly didn’t need me. I was sick and half-crazy, and I’d have been more of a burden than the child I’d given you.”
“No, I didn’t need you,” she said unevenly. “But I wouldn’t have sent you away.”
“Pity?” He shook his head. “I couldn’t have taken it. Besides, I had a place to go. Queen and his buddies had a dozen jobs waiting for me overseas.” He added bitterly, “I was in demand. So I left Atlanta and didn’t come back to the U.S. for over three years. You know what happened during those three years. She was kidnapped about a month after I saw her and I didn’t even know until I’d returned to the country. Do you know how often I’ve wished that I’d gone up to you that day at Morningside? Maybe I could have done something, stopped it.”
Eve could feel his pain, deep, ragged, vibrating in the darkness. “She disappeared right before our eyes,” Eve said unsteadily. “One minute she was there, the next she was gone. Lost in the crowd at that park. Could you have done more than Sandra or me?”
“I don’t know. Life’s funny. Sometimes you move a piece, and everything changes. It’s a question that has haunted me.”
“It haunts all of us. It took me a long time, but now I accept that it’s the man who killed her who is to blame, not me.” Her hand reached out and gently touched his hair. “And not you, John.”
“I haven’t reached that point yet. I didn’t protect you. I didn’t protect her. That leaves me zero for two.” He caught her hand and held it tightly. “When I came back and found out about Bonnie, it blew me away. I was still balanced on the edge and it threw me down into the pit. When I fought my way out, it still took me a long time to come back.” His hand tightened. “I wanted to kill someone, but there wasn’t anyone to kill. So I went looking.”
“So did I.”
“I know. You’d think one of us would have been able to find him in all these years.” He paused. “But I think I’m coming close, Eve. I promise I’ll get him for you.”
She tensed. “Who? Tell me who.”
“So that I can get you killed, too?” He shook his head. “I’m a great destroyer, Eve. But I’m not going to destroy you. I’ve done enough to you.”
“Who is it? Black?”
His lips were warm as he brushed them against her palm, then gently put her hand back on the bed. “You took care of our Bonnie all those years.” He got to his feet. “Let me do this for her now.”
“The hell I will.”
“Now that’s the Eve I remember.” He turned and moved toward the door. “The burn…”
He wasn’t going to tell her. He was just going to leave her in turmoil and bewilderment. But there was one thing she had to know. “John.”
He stopped as he opened the door, a dark shadow outlined by the lights from the hall.
“Did you…” She stopped, then went on. “I know you said that your dreams of Bonnie stopped in that Tokyo hospital. But later…” She had to get it out. “Did you ever… dream of Bonnie after she was taken?”
Silence. He stood there, his head bent.
“John.”
“Yes,” he said hoarsely.
The door shut behind him.
She closed her eyes as the tears slowly started to run down her cheeks.
Magical, the nurse had told Eve when she’d brought Bonnie to her at the hospital. And Eve had always known that Bonnie was special. She had not known how special until that moment. So many questions. How had Bonnie managed to reach out to save the father she had never known? She had never mentioned any dreams to Eve. Was that contact with him on a separate level? Had Bonnie even realized it herself in her daily life with Eve?
And Bonnie was still a presence in his life, still standing guard over John Gallo as she did with Eve.
She had reached out, comforting, loving, saving.
And Eve had never known it was happening.
“Bonnie,” she whispered. “Why, baby?”
She huddled there, remembering John’s words, his voice, the pain that had surrounded him and reached out and enveloped her. In the darkness, she had not been able to see a single expression, but she had known every emotion he was feeling and believed every word he spoke was true. It had created a bond with him enormously stronger than any she had known when she was that sixteen-year-old fighting her way out of the projects.
And that bond was Bonnie.
CATHERINE AND JOE GOT OUT OF their rental car in the foothills halfway up the mountain and Catherine spread the map on the hood of the vehicle.
“We can bypass this checkpoint.” Catherine pointed to the square box drawn on the map. “If we go around the mountain route above the house. We’ll still have to chance the guard just inside the gate, but it’s better than having to do both.” She traced the box to the side entrance. “Then we can get in here if we can disable the alarm.”
Joe looked up at the huge redwood-and-glass house perched on the side of the mountain. “What time is it?”
“Four thirty-five. Queen won’t wake up and be in a position to bother us for another three hours.” She added, “Unless someone goes to his place looking for him. That’s always a possibility.” She was frowning down at the map. “I can take out the video cameras indicated on the map. But Queen wasn’t sure the map was entirely accurate. If Gallo is as smart as they think he is, then he’d have some cameras well hidden. I wish we had time to do our own search.” She held up her hand. “I know we don’t. We have to get in and find Eve.”
“If she’s there. If Queen guessed right about Gallo’s bringing her here.” Joe was looking at the upper floor of the house. “Two bedrooms on the main floor near the garage area. They’re small, maybe servants’ quarters. Four bedrooms on the top level. Eve will probably be in one of them.” I hope, Joe thought desperately. Who knew what the crazy son of a bitch would do with her? The clock was ticking, and he needed to find her. “Once we get inside, I’ll take the bedrooms on the upper level. You check out the ones near the garage.”
Catherine nodded. “And keep cool, Joe. I know you’re mad as hell. But Eve won’t thank us if we kill Gallo when she thinks she can get information out of him.”
“Ask me if I care.” He was moving up the mountain. “I’ll be careful because I want to keep Eve alive, but there’s no way I’ll stay cool. Gallo is going down.”
THE BUZZER WENT OFF ON THE security pad on the nightstand in Gallo’s bedroom.
South slope.
He reached over and activated the video camera. No picture.
His phone rang.
“I’ve got it, Hanks,” he said when he picked up. “Any other alarms?”
“Not yet. Two cameras on the south slope have been disabled. They missed this one. We should have a visual
