Quinn

taught himself in prison.

Her telephone rang.

Eve.

“How is he?” Catherine asked when she picked up the phone.

“Better. I wanted to let you know Joe asked for you. He wants to see you.”

“Did he tell you why?”

“Yes, he said to wait for him.”

Catherine chuckled. “Tell him to tend to his job of getting well, and I’ll tend to mine. He’s afraid he’s going to be left out of the action.”

“Is he? What are you doing?”

“Not much. I’m at Gallo’s cabin.” She glanced around the living room and kitchen. “It’s nice. Rough, but all the basic comforts. I like it much better than those A-frame luxury cabins I’ve seen. That’s not even like being in the woods. You were here when you were setting a trap for Black, weren’t you?”

“Yes.” Eve paused. “I can’t imagine you lolling around doing nothing.”

“I didn’t say I’m doing nothing. I’m thinking and trying to get a mental fix on Gallo,” she said. “But it’s hard without having the most important piece to the puzzle.” She paused. “I know that for years Queen had Black in his employ as an assassin who removed everyone who got in Queen’s way. I know that Gallo supposedly thought that Paul Black had killed Bonnie as revenge against him and went after him. He searched for him for years.”

“So what’s the missing piece?”

“Bonnie. John Gallo never had any contact with Bonnie. He couldn’t have even known about her until after he got out of that prison. Why did he care enough about her death that he would devote all that time to finding her murderer?”

Eve was silent.

She obviously didn’t want to answer, but Catherine couldn’t drop it. She had to know. “You told me once that he’d told you that he loved Bonnie, and I said that he couldn’t. He never knew her. But he had to have told you something that convinced you. What was it?”

“What difference does it make? I was gullible. He spun me a tale, and I wanted to believe him.”

“What tale?”

“It doesn’t matter. You don’t have to know that to be able to find him.”

“You’re wrong. I have to know him. ”

“Then heaven help you. He’ll probably dazzle you as he did me.”

Dazzle. Yes, it was a good word for the way Gallo was manipulating everyone around him. “You’re not going to tell me.”

Eve was silent again. “You wouldn’t believe me.”

“We’re friends. I know you.”

“You wouldn’t believe me. If you catch up with John Gallo, ask him.”

“I will. But by that time, the question may be moot.”

“I’m going to hang up now and go back to Joe. I’ll keep you informed of his progress. He’s already making great strides.”

“Then I’d better stop thinking and start moving.” She chuckled. “I don’t want you to have to keep that promise to tie Joe to the bed. How is Jane?”

“Protective, loving. She’s with Joe now. Good-bye, Catherine. Take care.” She hung up.

Catherine slowly put the phone back in her jacket. Eve had been of little help. Catherine wouldn’t believe Eve? They were close friends. Eve should know that she’d trust anything she told her.

But the bond that was between Eve and Gallo was complicated, and Catherine had been aware of the emotion that still lay between them. No longer sex. Not love. Eve loved Joe with her entire being. But that clearly didn’t stop her from feeling something for Gallo.

What? If Catherine was forced to kill him, would Eve feel a hidden sense of resentment? She said she’d kill him herself because of Bonnie’s murder, and Catherine had believed her.

Eve was not going to talk to her about it, so she might just as well block it out and work it through on her own. That was her usual procedure anyway. Why was this any different?

Because Eve was her friend, and that was a treasure beyond price, and Catherine was trying to bend over backward to keep from hurting her.

Stop fretting about it. She got up from the table and went to the tiny bedroom and lay down. Four hours’ sleep. Then she’d be up and leave the cabin.

She pulled up the coverlet and closed her eyes. She was lying in Gallo’s bed. It felt… strange to have this strong sense of awareness of him. If anything, she should be aware of those deputies who had recently used this bed. Before they left, they had changed the linens and made up the bed in case she wanted to use it, but it wasn’t of them that she was thinking.

Gallo.

He was dominating her thoughts, and it was natural she would imagine him lying in this bed in the cabin that belonged to him.

But it was closer to feeling. She could almost smell the scent of him. The mattress was hard against her body, and she wondered if that was the way he liked it.

She had promised herself that she was going to be as close to Gallo as a lover.

Was this the way it started…?

St. Joseph’s Hospital

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

“I JUST SPOKE TO CATHERINE,” Eve said as she sat down beside Joe’s bed in ICU. “She said to tend to your business of getting out of this hospital and not to nag her. Or words to that effect.”

“She’s on Gallo’s property?”

Eve nodded. “She’s at the cabin.” She added quietly, “She’ll find him, Joe. I know how you’re feeling. I want to be out there hunting Gallo, too. It’s my job, not Catherine’s. But we have to wait until you’re better.”

“I am better. They’re moving me out of ICU in a few hours,” he said impatiently. “What would it hurt to give me a little more time?”

“It would be more than a little. You almost died, Joe.”

“Yeah, I know.” He was silent. “But I’m going to heal fast. She won’t have to wait long.”

“Tell that to the doctors. Their most optimistic prediction is four weeks.”

“Then they’d better go back to the drawing board. I’m not going to be here that long.”

“Joe…” Her lips tightened. “Dammit, stop this. Do you want to scare me? You can’t jump out of bed just because you want to do it. Let yourself heal.”

“You think I’m just being bullheaded.” He didn’t speak for a moment, looking down at their clasped hands. “And considering the fact that I’m usually the most stubborn ass on the planet, you have a right. But I’m not about to get out of this bed until I’m strong enough to function. I’m just telling you that time is coming very soon.”

“That’s not what-” There was something in his expression that caused her to stop the protest she was about to make. Her gaze searched his face. “How can you know that?”

“We’re coming to the end,” Joe said simply. “She says I have to be there for it.”

She stiffened. “Catherine?”

He shook his head.

She whispered, “Bonnie?”

“She brought me back. She took my hand and told me it wasn’t time for me to go.” He looked up and met her gaze. “She said you were going to need me.”

“I always need you.”

“No, this is different.” He paused. “We’re coming to the end, Eve.”

She laughed shakily. “Does that mean we’re going to be called to the great beyond?”