spirit.
Had Gallo gotten in the habit of going back to his place in the mountains for the same reason? To heal wounds and quiet his soul after the storms of life? But he no longer had a place to go for sanctuary now.
And she was identifying with him again. She mustn’t do that if she was to get what she wanted from him. Joe thought Gallo was the enemy, and perhaps that was true. But not for the reason that Joe feared.
She set the swing gently rocking, watching the morning breeze stir the tops of the trees.
Help me, Bonnie. I don’t know what to do. Everything is more of a mystery than I dreamed. I believed him, but is it true? If it’s not a lie, did you come to love him? And if you loved him, does that mean I have to help him? You healed his wounds and kept him sane. Is that what you want from me?
No answer.
No sudden wonderful, loving vision of her daughter to give her any of those answers.
Of course not.
Bonnie never came on demand, dammit. That would be too easy.
So work it out for yourself, Eve thought. That’s what life is all about. No easy answers.
“What are you thinking?” Joe stood in the doorway, looking at her. “You’re frowning.”
She forced a smile. “I was thinking that there are no easy answers. And that I was ready for a lightning bolt to flash down and illuminate all the darkness.”
“But that would be an easy answer.” Joe moved over to the swing and stood looking down at her. “Did I ever tell you how beautiful you look with the sunlight on you?”
“You’re blind. I’ve got to have circles under my eyes, and my hair looks like a haystack.”
“It doesn’t matter. You glow from inside out. And then the sun touches you, and it shows how your eyes shimmer with life and every character line.”
“Those are called wrinkles, Joe.”
“Those are called beautiful.” He bent down and gently brushed her lips. “Trust me.”
Lord, she loved him. She pulled him down and held him close. “Why are you saying this? Why now?”
“Because I looked at you, and I remembered that, no matter how many problems we have, it would be worse being apart,” he said gruffly. “I can’t be easy. It’s not my nature. But it’s my nature to love you.” He kissed her quick and hard and released her. “That’s all. Remember that when I’m being a surly son of a bitch and out to hold on to you through hell and high water.” He turned and ran down the porch steps. “Go to bed and try to get at least a little sleep before you call FedEx to bring back that skull. You don’t need to dive into work without any rest. I’ll call you later and bring home dinner.”
She watched him get into the car and back out of the driveway.
No, he’d never be easy. Joe was brilliant, complicated, and wary. He made friends with extreme caution and kept them forever. Dear God, how lucky she’d been that he loved her and wanted to keep her in that same golden circle.
Joe’s car turned the curve in the road and disappeared from view.
As a golden circle could be broken, as a life could so easily be lost.
Joe…
The key John had given her. Why hadn’t she told Joe and Catherine about it? At first, it had slipped her mind, but later it had been a conscious decision. But why had she made that decision?
She took out the cell phone that John Gallo had handed back to her in that bedroom. He had said that it was to communicate with Joe, but had he really meant that to be the purpose? She had come to realize that nothing about John was clear and absolutely straightforward. He had abandoned her to Joe and Catherine tonight, but wasn’t that the best way to avoid the complications he had been trying to skirt?
And then he had given her back her phone. Had he also given her a choice?
She slowly scrolled back to John Gallo’s call the first day that he had phoned her.
Choice?
She wasn’t prepared to make that choice yet. She was tired and emotionally drained. She had to give herself time to think and make sure she wasn’t going to stampede herself into doing something as impulsive as that sixteen-year-old kid she had been might have done.
She started to put the phone back in her pocket, then stopped and dialed the number of FedEx. She would have the skull delivered as soon as possible and start work.
Doing the reconstruction would remind her of who she was and how far she had come from that girl in the Peabody Housing Development.
JOE DIDN’T COME HOME UNTIL almost midnight. He’d called her late in the afternoon and told her he was going to have to work late on a murder case in Vinings.
He quietly slipped into bed. “Awake?” he whispered.
“Yes.” She yawned and cuddled closer. “I was working.”
“I saw the reconstruction on your worktable. I told you to take a nap.”
“I wanted to work. I didn’t do much. Only started the measurements.”
“Have you named him yet?”
“Dale.”
“Do you want to talk about him?” His hand was stroking her hair.
“Dale?”
“John Gallo.”
“No. Unless you want me to talk about him.”
He didn’t answer for a moment. “Not right now. But we’re going to have to do it. You’re behaving… I don’t know.” He pulled her tighter. “But I don’t like it.”
She didn’t like it, either. She didn’t like the fact that she had worked for hours trying to block thoughts of Gallo and Paul Black out of her mind and hadn’t succeeded. She didn’t like that she felt a tension building whenever Joe mentioned Gallo’s name.
He kissed her and nestled her head into the hollow of his shoulder. “We’ll work it out. Go to sleep.”
She closed her eyes, feeling the pounding of his heart beneath her ear. Life. She brushed her lips against his warm, smooth skin. She wanted to feel the textures, breathe the scents of him. She wanted to cherish this moment.
Because she could feel the choice approaching.
SHE GOT UP WITH JOE AND HAD coffee with him before he left for work. Then she started working on the reconstruction of the little boy. More measurements. Concentrate. They all had to be correct.
But she couldn’t concentrate. By eleven she knew there was no way she could block the decision any longer.
She shook her head as she gazed at the skull on the easel. “I’m sorry, Dale,” she said softly. “It’s not that you’re not important. But you’ll have to wait a little longer.”
She took out her phone and walked out on the porch.
Choice.
He had handed her the phone and must have realized what that meant.
She rolled back the calls and brought up the number from where he’d called her.
She pressed the button for return call.
It rang once, twice.
On the third ring, Gallo picked up.
“Is Joe Quinn standing at your shoulder?”
“No.” She had to gather her thoughts. She hadn’t been sure that he would answer. “I can’t involve Joe any
