Venable?”
“We’ve worked together many times before and have an understanding.” He added grimly, “And the understanding is that I’ll break his neck if he holds out on me about anything connected with Eve. You might take heed of that understanding, Catherine. I’m very close to that point at the moment. I thought I could trust you.”
She could see how near Joe was to violence. She had seen that tension before, tension that could erupt in lethal explosiveness. It had just never been aimed at her. “You can trust me. That doesn’t mean that I won’t do whatever I have to do to help Eve. After St. Louis, I had to be sure that she’d work with me.” She met his gaze. “And she wouldn’t do it if you’re part of the deal. No risk for Joe Quinn. You mean too much to her. We both know that’s true.”
“Do we? It’s hard for me to embrace the concept since I’ve been feeling like the invisible man.”
“Joe.”
“Okay, I may know why she’s doing it, but it still sucks. It can’t go on. I have to be able to be near her, protect her.” His hands tightened on the steering wheel. “I want to break something, someone. Hell, I want to smash the entire world.”
“Oh, that’s going to help.”
“Dammit to hell, what do you expect me to-” He stopped and drew a deep breath. “I didn’t say I was going to do it.”
“Well, that’s a relief. At least you’re going to limit the damage.”
“I’m counting to ten,” Joe said. “And then you’re going to stop being a smart-ass and tell me where Eve is right now. Then you’re going to tell me exactly what’s going on.”
She thought about it. “The problem still exists. You’ll block my ability to take care of Eve if I get you closely involved. She’ll shut me out, and she’ll shut you out. Solve the problem for me, Joe.”
“I don’t want to solve-” He stopped. “You tell me where she is, and I promise not to go to her. She doesn’t even have to know I’m in the vicinity. I just won’t let Black near her. Is that good enough?”
“It’s going to bug the hell out of you.”
“You’ve got that right. But I’ll do it. The alternative is to choke you until you tell me what I want to know. That’s tempting, but I don’t think that you’d break, and I’d be wasting my time.”
“Heaven forbid you waste your time, Joe.” Why was she hesitating? Joe would keep his word, and all her sympathies were with him in this hellish situation. She had hated having to close him out. Other than her husband, she had never worked with a partner, but Joe would have been her first choice. “It may not be too difficult keeping your distance. Eve and Gallo are luring Black up to Gallo’s property in the woods.”
Joe’s gaze was immediately narrowed on her face. “Place. Conditions. Situation. Talk, Catherine.”
THE LAKE WAS STILL, THE WIND barely causing ripples on the dark surface.
“See the pretty water, Cara?” Black said as he got out of the car. “It looks deep, doesn’t it? I may let you go into the lake later.”
“I can’t swim,” Cara whispered. “Mama was going to teach me.”
“That’s only a small problem. But I’ll have to consider whether I want to do it. Even deep lakes can’t always be trusted with treasures like you.”
His gaze wandered over the low hills surrounding the lake. Thick shrubs, tall pines, and evergreens, and no sign of habitation except for the small cabin a few miles to the west. Gallo would not have remained in that cabin, so he must be somewhere in the woods.
Did I chase you out into the night, Gallo?
I know about hunting prey in the wild. I’ve played this game in a good many countries with prey like little Cara. How good are you? Black wondered.
Not good enough. He had gotten smarter, stronger than when Gallo had come close to killing him that day in Pakistan. Black was ready for him now.
He turned back to the car and jerked Cara out of the car by the ropes he’d tied about her wrists. “Come on. I need to find a place for you, then I need to look around.” He paused a moment, his gaze on the lake. Still, deep, welcoming. “No, I can’t trust you to the lake. There are other places…” He reached for his phone. “But now I believe we need to invite some company to this lovely wilderness. Shall I call my good friend, Queen? He was most upset that I took you from your nice safe home. But he’s such a practical man. Be very quiet, and I won’t be angry with you.” He dialed Queen. “I’ve done as you suggested and called Gallo. Now we only have to set the trap. Where are you?”
“Still in Milwaukee.”
“Then get your ass out of there and come up north to the great outdoors. I need your help.” He gave him the directions. “You want your ledger, come and get it.”
“That’s where Gallo and Duncan are?” Queen asked with barely contained eagerness.
“Yes, somewhere in this five hundred or so acres I’m gazing at right now. We may have to go hunting unless you can draw them into a trap. Are you good at hunting, Queen?”
“No, I hire people like you for jobs like that.”
“Me, and men like Gallo. It’s rather like the hand of fate that you hired both of us so long ago, and now we’re all meeting here.” He smiled. “I won’t object to postponing my hunt if you can think of a way to lure Gallo and Duncan to me. After all, I’m going to have a spirited hunt and chase later. Think very hard on the way here and come up with something brilliant.”
“I won’t have to think hard. Gallo wants you to die. I just have to offer you to him in a way that he’ll think moderately safe. I’m on my way, Black.”
“Good-bye, Queen. Safe trip.” He hung up.
The first rabbit hurrying toward the trap, he thought in amusement. Queen would be trying his best to screw Black all the while he tried to snatch the ledger. But he didn’t have the expertise to deal with Black and Gallo. They would be out of his league.
He looked down at Cara Clark. She looked pale, even more fragile than she had hours ago when he’d left Milwaukee. It was disappointing. He hoped in the final stages that fear would make her more interesting. “That was a boring conversation. Nothing new. Nothing interesting. But I guess I shouldn’t expect it. Do you know who I just talked to?”
She shook her head. “You said… Queen.”
“That was his name, but not his state of being.” He took the rope and started down the trail. “I just talked to a dead man, little Cara. He didn’t know it, but he’s a dead man.”
“I’M BECOMING ATTACHED TO your little paradise, Gallo. It has everything that I require,” Black said, when Gallo answered the phone. “I believe this place will do quite well.”
Black was here!
Eve came out of the shallow cave where Gallo had set up camp, her gaze instinctively flying to the bank of trees surrounding them. Stupid. Just because he was on the property was no sign that he was hovering this close to them. But it might be just what Black would do. He seemed to have no fear.
“I checked out the cabin,” Black said. “Have I driven you into the wilds? You’re a hardy specimen, but what about your Eve Duncan? It’s not kind to expose a lady to such rough country. Tell her to come to me. I’ll take care that she doesn’t suffer.”
“Where should I come, Black?” Eve asked.
“So eager?” Black said. “Maybe she’s a fitting mate for you after all, Gallo.”
“Tell us how we can get Cara Clark,” Gallo said.
“For a start, you have to keep to the proper order. As soon as Queen arrives, I’m going to send him to you to get the ledger. You’ll give it to him and send him back to me.”
“The hell I will. Once you have the ledger, you’ll kill the child.”
