Bonnie

  “But before you did that, I conceived Bonnie. That changed everything between us. You told me once that no matter what happened, there would always be a bond we couldn’t break. Bonnie. Neither of us can get away from that, John.” She paused. “You ran away, and whatever you’re going to do now you want to do it alone. I can’t let you do that.”

  “The hell you can’t. You don’t have a choice,” he said roughly. “Everything has changed. Look, there’s been nothing but trouble for you since I came back into your life. I never meant that to happen. I did enough damage to you when I was a nineteen-year-old kid who didn’t care about anything but getting you into bed.”

  “You tried to protect me then.”

  “Not hard enough.”

  “I’m not going to argue with you about the past.” She added, “But you’re wrong: I do have a choice. Because I won’t accept it any other way. It has to be you and me, John. Joe and Catherine will try to help, they’ll support and do everything they can. But in the end, it goes back to what we did together when we were those kids back in Atlanta. Everything else that happened had to have rippled out from that time like a rock thrown into a lake.” She hesitated, then said quietly, “And one of those ripples was Ted Danner.”

  Silence. “You finished that damn sketch. I thought it would take you longer.”

  “Or hoped I’d do a lousy job.”

  “No, that wasn’t a possibility. Not you.”

  “You told me he was dead.”

  “I thought I was telling you the truth. That’s what I was told when I got out of the hospital in Tokyo. I even saw the death certificate signed by the doctor at the VA hospital.”

  “He looked pretty healthy to me when he was running to jump into that bayou. He’s not a young man, and I remembered him to be almost crippled.”

  “He had a bad back injury that he got in Syria.” He added impatiently, “Look, it might not have been him. I have to find out.”

  “So do I.”

  “No,” he said sharply. “My uncle is my business. I’ll take care of it.”

  “It stopped being your business when he killed Jacobs because he didn’t want Jacobs to talk to us. If what he was trying to hide had to do with Bonnie’s death, then it’s my business.” Her voice was steely. “And that means I’ll take care of it. Did he, John?”

  Silence. “Oh, God, I don’t know, Eve.”

  The agony in his voice hurt her, but she had to push it away. “Then we have to find out. Where do we start?”

  He was silent, then finally said, “The death certificate. I’m going to Atlanta to see the doctor who signed it.”

  “Then I’m going with you. Where are you now?”

  “New Orleans airport.”

  “If I join you there, I run the chance of Catherine or Joe being there to intercept us. Get a car and pick me up. I’m at the Marriott in the French Quarter. We’ll leave from Mobile.”

  “You’re avoiding Catherine and Joe?”

  “Only for the time being. I don’t know what’s coming down with all this business, and I don’t want to deal with conflict. How soon can you get here?”

  “I didn’t say I’d take you with me.”

  “No, you didn’t. But if you think about it, you’ll know I’m right. How soon?”

  Silence. “Thirty minutes. Be outside the entrance on Canal Street.” He hung up.

  It was done. She had isolated herself from everyone but Gallo, and she couldn’t be sure that his allegiance would ever be as strong toward her as it was to the uncle who had been his savior as a child. Eve slowly pressed the disconnect and leaned back in the seat.

  Are you happy, Bonnie? This is going to cause me all kinds of turmoil with Joe and Catherine. Is this what you wanted?

  No answer. No feeling either way that Eve had done the right or wrong thing. She would have to rely on herself … and John Gallo. But Gallo wasn’t Joe, who had never failed her. There had never been trust between her and Gallo. All they had shared was sex.

  No, they had also shared Bonnie.

  She would just have to trust in Bonnie.

  But she would not run away and leave Joe without talking to him.

  She braced herself and quickly dialed Joe’s number.

  “I was waiting for your call,” Joe said when he picked up the phone. His voice was tight and she could sense the effort at control. “Catherine just phoned me and filled me in. What the hell are you doing, Eve?”

  “Gallo has to be in this. Danner is his uncle, and I have to work with him. And he wouldn’t cooperate if you or Catherine were involved right now.”

  “Then tell him to go screw himself.”

  She was silent. “I can’t do that. It has to be this way.”

  He didn’t speak for a moment. She could almost hear the mental wheels clicking. “Bonnie?”

  “He’s her father. She wants him to stop hurting,” she said wearily. “Do you think I want it to be this way? I want you with me. I want to hold you. But I told Gallo that the two of us had started all of this, and we had to face the results together. That was the truth, Joe.”

  “You’re shutting me out.”

  “No, how could I do that? You’re always with me. I thought you’d realize that we’re way past that now. I’ll bring you into this as soon as I can. Help me, Joe.”

  “I hate this.”

  “I know you do. So do I.” She repeated, “Help me. From the moment you came to my house after Bonnie was taken, you’ve made my life worth living. There hasn’t been an hour that I haven’t felt that I could get through anything if you were there to help me.”

  “But I won’t be there, dammit.” She could sense the struggle that he was going through. For an instant, she thought he was going to lose it. “Okay, I’ll give you a little time to work this out with him and try to find out about Danner. But that’s not going to stop me from going forward on my own. To hell with Gallo.”

  She felt a rush of relief. She had not been sure that she could persuade Joe to agree to what she was doing. It was a testament to the way that their relationship had grown in the last weeks that he trusted her to such an extent. When Gallo had first come back into her life, there had been an element of jealousy in his resentment of Bonnie’s father. There might still be a little competitive emotion in the way he viewed Gallo. Hell, that was Joe and the way his character worked. If he cared about something or someone, he wanted to be first. But he now knew there was no question about that truth. “I’ll let you know where I am and what I’m doing.”

  “You’d better. Or I’ll hunt you down.” He paused. “Be careful, Eve. I know that you think Gallo had reason to hesitate when he should have acted at that bayou.” His voice was sour. “Catherine says he was in shock. Screw that. Catherine almost died. If he cares so much about Danner, how the hell do you know he won’t act the same way if it’s your life in the balance?”

  “I don’t. I won’t give you any arguments as Catherine did. I only know I have to do this.”

  “Then do it, but don’t be surprised if I’m right behind you.” He hung up.

  She wouldn’t be surprised, she’d be grateful to have Joe hovering over her. He’d probably be even more concerned if he knew the love that existed between Danner and Gallo. How could you fight an affection a victim had for his savior? It was a tie so strong that it was nearly unbreakable.

  Stop sitting here and thinking about all the problems ahead. Be grateful that Joe understood even if he hadn’t approved. She wouldn’t dwell on it, taking one step at a time. She would just do what she had to do. She checked her watch. It was time to meet Gallo.

  She got to her feet, grabbed her suitcase, and headed for the Canal Street entrance.

  That was easier than I thought, Bonnie. I wonder … did you give me a little help?

  * * *

  “YOU HEARD FROM EVE,” Catherine said the moment she pulled up in front of the police station. Her gaze scanned the grimness of Joe’s face as he got into the passenger s
eat. “Where is she? Did you talk her into—”

  “I didn’t talk her into anything.” Joe slammed the door shut. “She’d made up her mind, and there wasn’t anything I could have said that would have shifted her even an inch. She thinks that she has to work with Gallo and that we’ll cause him to shy away.”

  “She may be right,” Catherine had to admit. “Though it surprised me that she managed to persuade him to let her go with him.” Yes, she’d been surprised, and there was a touch of some other emotion she refused to identify. “She said that she had a card he wouldn’t refuse. I guess it’s that they have a history.”

  Joe shook his head. “Maybe, in a way.” He was looking out the window. “But that’s not what she meant.”

  “Don’t tell me.” Catherine pulled away from the curb. “Bonnie, again.”

  “Okay, I won’t tell you. But that’s what this is all about.”

  “I know what this is all about. Bonnie’s murder, Bonnie’s killer. I can accept both of those things as the prime motivators. It’s the rest of the other baggage that I have problems with.” She held up her hand as Joe started to answer. “And I don’t need to accept what you believe or what Eve and Gallo believe. All I have to do is do my job and let the rest of you worry about all that mystic stuff.”

  Joe smiled faintly. “It’s a deal. Do you know, you sound like me a few years ago. I promise I won’t try to ram any of this weird bullshit I feel down your throat.”

  “You’d better not.” She smiled back at him. This was the Joe Quinn she knew and respected, her friend, her partner. “So, I take it that we’re not going to sit around and wait for Eve to call for help? You can’t count on her doing that.”

  “I think I could. She realizes that we’re part of the equation. She’s just trying to strike a balance, and right now, Gallo is on the upswing.”

  “You’re being very reasonable.” She gazed at him appraisingly. “I’m not sure why.”

  “Maybe getting so close to the hereafter had a sobering effect on me.” He grimaced. “Nah, near-death experiences give you an appreciation for life. And maybe a glimmer of what people are all about. That may be it. I thought I knew Eve before, but it’s different now. When I have time, I’ll have to analyze what I went through. But I don’t believe it made me any more reasonable.”

  But there was a difference in him, Catherine thought. It was the first time she had been with him for any length of time since he had gotten out of the hospital. He was familiar, yet there were … depths. Good God, she was thinking like someone from a soap opera. “I’ll take your word for it. But I still don’t believe you won’t go after Danner.”

  “Of course I will. That’s what I told Eve. Only I’ll give her space.” He leaned back in the seat. “But not too much.”

  “What did you find out about the fingerprints?”

  “What I suspected. No prints on the truck from anyone but the kid he stole it from. But I think we might have gotten a couple from the storeroom at the alligator farm. The minute you told me about the sketch of Ted Danner, I asked Julian to run a match check through the National Database. He’ll call me as soon as he gets the report.”

  “And then we’ll know for sure if Danner is alive.”

  “Presumably,” Joe said dryly. “Ghosts don’t leave fingerprints. Now let’s head for the airport.”

  “Where are we going?”

  “You tell me. You said Venable was supposed to start checking on Ted Danner. Get on the phone and see what he’s found out.”

  * * *

  GALLO WAS TEN MINUTES late pulling up before the Marriott in a gray Mercedes.

  “You know this isn’t a good idea,” he said, as she got into the car. “Can I talk you out of it?”

  “You know you can’t. We’ve already discussed it. Drive.” She leaned back in the seat. “And tell me everything you know about Ted Danner. You can bet that Catherine will have a report from Venable anytime now and will be sharing it with Joe.”

  “And will he share it with you?”

  “If there’s anything that might threaten me. Otherwise, he’ll probably try to beat me to the punch.”

  “To protect you.”

  She nodded. “To protect me. Since Danner almost killed Catherine, I have to assume that he has reason to think it’s needed. Tell me about your uncle.”

  He glanced away from her. “You know he’s supposed to be dead. We’re not sure that he’s not.”

  “You’re sure,” she said. “No one knows Danner better than you do.”

  “I only got a glimpse of his profile.”

  “And it shocked you so much that you couldn’t move.” She paused. “I didn’t see his face at all. I only saw him moving toward Catherine. That was why I couldn’t even make a connection with Danner until I saw the finished sketch. That man at the bayou moved like an athlete, a young man. There was a springiness to his step. The Ted Danner I met was almost crippled. He moved slowly, like an old man.”

  “Yes, he did.”

  She was studying his face. “But you still recognized him.”

  He nodded jerkily. “He wasn’t always crippled like that, only after that last mission. All the time I was growing up my uncle was strong as a bull and could beat me in any race. When we were up in the woods, he was so quiet, so good, that he could get within a yard of any forest animal before it knew he was there. I watched him do it any number of times.” He paused. “Just as I watched him when he was coming up behind Catherine. It was as if he’d turned back the clock.”

  “Or had an operation on his spine that turned it back for him. Was that on the books before you left for basic training?”

  He shook his head. “He said they had to do all kinds of testing.”

  “I saw him when Bonnie was six months old, and he still looked crippled. That’s a long time to wait for surgery.”

  “Maybe they weren’t sure they could do it.” His lips tightened. “He had spells when he was in terrible pain.”

  “You told me once he was on prescription drugs.”

  “But he kicked the habit. He wouldn’t let himself fall into that hole.” He glanced at her. “You’re trying to build a case for his being a drug addict, and that would be a reason for his killing Bonnie.” He shook his head. “He hated drugs. He told me he’d rather have the pain than mess up his head like that.”

  “I don’t know what I’m trying to do,” she said wearily. “Yes, drugs were a possibility. They can turn men into monsters. I thought your uncle was a gentle man, but the man who almost stabbed Catherine wasn’t gentle. He was a monster. So I’m trying to make a connection.”

  “He’s not a monster. Killing Jacobs doesn’t make him a monster. Jacobs was a total son of a bitch. You don’t know why he did it.”

  “Catherine,” she reminded him. “Why would he hurt Catherine? He could have just avoided her.”

  “The truck. She was standing next to it. He needed the truck to escape.”

  “You’re reaching.”

  “I know,” he said jerkily. “I don’t know why he would do any of this. Uncle Ted was a good guy. Nobody better. None of this makes sense.”

  He was in pain. She could see it in the tenseness of his every muscle, the set of his mouth.

  Well, she couldn’t help him. Not now. She said again, “Tell me about Ted Danner. When did you get to know him? Was he your mother’s brother?”

  “My father’s half brother. They were nothing alike. Ted was younger, and they grew up together in the slums. My father became an alcoholic by the time he was twenty and went straight downhill. Uncle Ted joined the service at seventeen and got out of there. They didn’t like each other, and I don’t know why Ted visited him when he came back on leave.” He shook his head. “Yes, I do know. I think it was me. He wanted to help me. He always tried to step in and keep them from hurting me. He even used to tell me what I should do to keep them from getting angry.” He grimaced. “Though that didn’t work so well after I got older. I hated the
m as much as they hated me, and I let them know it. I was lucky I survived.”

  “Why didn’t your uncle persuade them to give you into his custody?”

  “He was in the Rangers. He only had his pay. He didn’t have a home or a family. He couldn’t take on a kid. He tried to be a friend to me. I couldn’t expect anything else from him.” He added, “He came home on medical leave when I was seventeen, and we got to spend some time together. It was great, like I had real family. My parents were killed in a house fire about four months after he came home. My father fell asleep in bed smoking a cigarette. My uncle and I moved into a flat together. I was planning on going into the Army when I finished high school, but I took off with a couple buddies to see some of the country first. When I came back to Milwaukee, I found out that Uncle Ted was worse and had to go to Atlanta for treatment. I decided to go with him and get him settled before the treatments began.” He glanced at her. “You know the rest.”

  Yes, she knew the rest. She had met John Gallo, and they had gotten caught up in a sexual maelstrom that had altered both their lives and produced Bonnie. “You told me that the death certificate was signed by a doctor at the VA hospital. What was the cause of death?”

  “Pneumonia contracted after surgery.”

  “And what was the name of the doctor who signed the certificate?”

  “Lawrence Temple.” He paused. “I called the hospital, and he’s no longer at the facility. He’s now in private practice somewhere in San Antonio. I tried to check on any record of surgery being performed on a Theodore Danner, and they refused to give me any information on the phone.”

  “So you want to go and question them in person?”

  “No, I think we should go find Temple in San Antonio.”

  She nodded slowly. “We’d do better to contact that doctor and find out why he falsified the death certificate. Catherine can dig out the information about the surgery. We can count on her.”

  “Yes, Catherine won’t let anything stand in her way. She’s relentless.”

  Her gaze narrowed on his face. There was something in his tone … “Do you resent that?”

  “God, no. I admire it.” He grimaced. “It’s just that when her determination is turned on me, it becomes a force to be reckoned with.”