never seen anything like it in her life. She took an involuntary step back. “John?”
He whirled away from her. “Don’t talk to me.” His voice was hoarse, almost guttural. “Give me a minute.”
She watched him walk to the window and stand with his back to her. The line of his spine was almost painfully stiff, as if he was striving not to let loose that rage.
She remembered Hanks’s words describing John Gallo when he lost control. This had to be what he had meant. The rage was being contained, but just the intensity of the emotion and the violence hovering on the brink were frightening. She could imagine how terrifying he would be if he did lose control.
He didn’t speak for a few minutes. “I’m sorry.” His back was still turned to her, and his words were halting. “I didn’t want you to see me like this. I told you that I wasn’t always stable. I get… angry.”
An understatement. “I can see that you do.”
“Judy has been with me for three years. I like her. I didn’t think that she’d be hurt if I gave her a job. I should have been more careful.”
“How could you know that Black would target her? You said that you had been chasing Black for years. There was no way you could know that he would appear in your life with no warning. Queen had to have been the one who triggered all of this. Stop kicking yourself and put the blame where it belongs.”
“Oh, I’m willing to share the blame.” He turned around to face her. His face was still pale; but the wildness was only a shadow, not a living presence. “It’s time I put an end to Queen. He’s not going to be of use to me any longer. He’s brought me Paul Black and all the ugliness that means. He had to have given the info about Judy’s mother to Black. I’m going to have to pull Queen into the circle.”
Total ruthlessness and ferocity.
“Ugly.” He was reading her expression. “Yes, I am. I tried to tell you. I’ve worked through some of it, but I’ll never get rid of all the hate. I’m twisted, Eve.”
She smiled sadly. “So am I.” She added, “And I’ll have no problem with your hating Black or anyone protecting him. Not if Paul Black killed Bonnie. Now stop all these melodramatics and tell me why we’re moving.”
A slight smile touched his lips, and suddenly the last trace of menace vanished. “Trust you to deflate me.”
“I told you that I wasn’t afraid of you, John. Though I can see why you might intimidate. It’s a civilized world, and you apparently forget that occasionally.”
“I’ll try to remember around you.” His smile disappeared. “It’s no use our staying here and trying to trap Black. He’s not going to spring it. He’s going to set a trap of his own.”
“With Judy’s daughter, Cara.” Eve nodded. “And that bloody carnage in St. Louis was to prove he was serious.” She felt sick as she thought of the monstrous brutality that Black had committed just to prove there were no limits to what he would do. That little girl… “He’ll contact you.”
“Without the shadow of a doubt.” He turned and picked up his duffel and put it on the bed. “Get your things together. We’re not going to wait around for Black to move on us. We’re out of here. Then we’ll work on turning the situation around.”
“Right.” Eve had already unzipped her carryall. “Can we get out of here without being seen? You said I was followed.”
He nodded curtly. “Service elevator. End of the hall. It leads to the kitchen, and we can go out the employees’ entrance.”
He had thought of every contingency, Eve thought. But he hadn’t thought of Black ignoring the obvious trap and going his own way. The realization sent a chill through her.
“We’ll get him, Eve.” John was reading her expression. “He’s smart, but he’s not invulnerable.”
Yet he had killed her little girl years ago and had since killed and killed again and no one had been able to stop him. “He seems to be-” She broke off and picked up her case. “Of course he’s not invulnerable.”
She headed for the door. “Let’s go. I’ll have to call Catherine soon and tell her that we’ve left the hotel. I suppose you do know where we’re going?”
“Yes.” He opened the door for her. “We’re going back to my childhood, Eve.”
“SON OF A BITCH.” QUEEN’S hand tightened on the phone. “Did you have to cause such a stir, Black? Taking that kid was a bad move. People get upset about children. Do what you like on your own, but this is my job you’re doing.”
“Then find a way to take the heat off me,” Black said mockingly. “Why are you so upset? You’ve done it before. Plant some evidence, find a convenient witness to give a false description. Judy Clark will probably die anyway, and that will make it safer. I decided I needed the little girl.”
“Don’t kill her. There’s too much publicity already.”
“Don’t tell me what to do. You want your ledger. I’m going to get it for you.” He added softly, “Cover me just like you’ve always done, and everything will be fine.” He hung up.
Queen cursed beneath his breath. Cover the homicidal son of a bitch? How was he supposed to do that when Black was becoming more reckless all the time? He’d planned for this to be Black’s final job for him, but the bastard was going to ruin him if he couldn’t find a way to control him.
And if he killed the kid, Queen hoped to hell he hid her body so that no one would ever find it.
WHINING ASSHOLE.
Black pocketed his phone and turned to the little girl sitting on the chair across the room. She had tousled sandy blond hair and was wearing a pink Cinderella nightshirt. Her feet were bare and dangling a few inches from the floor. She was one of the quiet ones. Her big brown eyes wide and frightened as a doe before the final shot of the hunter.
They were all different. That was what made the child-kills such an exquisite pleasure.
“Did you hear me tell him that your mother was going to die? She wasn’t quite dead when I took you from the house.” He smiled. “But you saw what I did to her, didn’t you?”
She nodded, her eyes filling with tears.
“You mustn’t cry. I don’t like it. If you cry, I’ll do the same thing to you that I did to your mother and grandmother.”
“I won’t cry.” Her voice was almost a sob as she frantically tried to stop. “Please don’t hurt me.”
“You have eyes like a deer, like Bambi. Did your mother ever let you see the DVD about Bambi, Cara?”
“Yes.”
“And do you remember how the hunter killed Bambi’s mother?”
The tears were beginning to roll down the child’s cheeks. “It was sad.”
“But that’s what hunters do, they hunt the pretty deer. I’ve decided that’s what I’m going to do with you. I’m going to turn you loose in the forest, and we’ll play hunter and deer.” He got up and strolled across the space separating them. “I’m a very good hunter, Cara.” He reached out and touched her tear-wet cheek. “You’re going to have to be very clever, very fast to get away from me. I’m afraid that you won’t be able to do it. I’ll catch you and kill you and skin you.”
“Please. I’ll be good.” She was sobbing. “Don’t hurt me.”
“But you’re not a good girl. I told you not to cry.”
“I’ll stop. I’ll stop.”
“Too late.” His hand dropped away. “But we won’t play that game for a while. We’re going on a little car trip.” He took her arm and led her toward the door. “And then I may need you to talk to someone on the phone. You’ll do that for me, won’t you?”
“I’ll do anything you say. I promise. I’ll be so good.”
Those pretty doe’s eyes swimming in tears, gazing frantically up at him. It had been a brilliant idea to go for the hunt. He could hardly wait.
He smiled down at her. “Yes, in the end you’ll be very good for me.”
