Eve - Iris Johansen [107]
“Cara?” John said.
“Cara Clark, six years old. I told the police, and they searched the neighborhood. They always search the neighborhoods first. As if they’re going to find the kid wandering around when I told them that he— They did the same thing when my Luke disappeared.”
“No sign of her?” John asked.
“I told you. Judy said he took her. Or maybe I didn’t.” She added wearily, “She was still conscious, and she made me promise … I’m not behaving very professionally, am I? When I was checking her bedroom, it brought back too many memories. Those bastards always target the kids.” She drew a deep breath. “And this time he’s doing something else. This son of a bitch is targeting you, Eve. He wants to have a weapon, and he can’t be sure that Gallo would respond to a threat, but anyone who has researched you would know that you would be vulnerable. He may be trying to get at Gallo through you.”
“You’re wrong,” John said. “If it’s Black, he’d know that he could strike at me that way.”
“I don’t know what’s between the two of you, and I don’t care. All I care about is that little girl and Eve. You’ve got something he wants. Give it to him. But we have to get that little girl away from him first. Eve, tell me where you are. I’m coming to join you.”
“No, Catherine.”
“Don’t tell me no,” she said fiercely. “And don’t try to close me out. I have a hunch that everything that happened here is going to play out with you and Gallo. Judy Clark made me promise to find her little girl, and I’m going to do it. I just hope I find her alive. You’re so busy trying to protect Joe and me and the whole damn world that you’re forgetting we have a stake in this. I’ll let you deal with Joe on your own, but you’re not going to stand in my way. Tell me where you are. Joe said you flew to Milwaukee. Are you still there?”
She should hang up and try to keep Catherine out of it, Eve thought. But Catherine was already deeply involved because Eve had made that attempt. Now that a child was at risk, there would be no way to keep her on the sidelines.
And Eve wasn’t sure she had the right to do it. Everyone should do everything they could to bring that child home. “I’m in Milwaukee. Marriott. Room 1505.”
“But we may not stay here,” John said.
“Then let me know as soon as you leave.” Catherine hung up.
“She’s a tiger,” John said.
“More than you know.” Eve shoved her phone in her pocket. “And there wasn’t a chance in hell of keeping her out of it now.” She was stunned, the full impact of Catherine’s words hitting home. “It takes a lot to shock her or blow her cool. The attack on Judy and her mother must have been hideous.”
John didn’t answer.
Eve glanced at him and stiffened with shock. His expression had changed, hardened. His eyes were glittering and wild in his taut face. But it wasn’t only his expression, but the aura of sheer rage that surrounded him. She had 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.
Berserk.
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