Eve - Iris Johansen [113]
“And she’ll want to live for her daughter. She made Catherine promise to save her.”
John nodded. “Completely unfair to your friend, but that’s how the ruthless maternal streak works. You’d understand and empathize.”
“Absolutely.” She glanced at him. “And it is ruthless. I may be able to think rationally about Queen, but Paul Black is a different matter. I have to find Bonnie, and I have to kill her murderer. There’s no question about it.” She looked back at the lake and suddenly shivered. The water looked cold, the entire forest appeared silent and without warmth or life. Was it because she was thinking of death? Or was it some kind of harbinger of things to come?
“Are you cold?”
“A little.” She turned back to the cabin. “The sun is down. It’s time we went back.”
“You go on.” He leaned back against a tall pine. “I’ll stay here for a while. I’ll watch you until you get inside the cabin.”
She didn’t argue. She had an uneasy feeling that … it was almost as if she was being watched. But there could be no one watching in this very private sanctuary.
She glanced back over her shoulder to see John still leaning against the tree beside the lake. His gaze was on her, but there was a remoteness about him that was as chilling as everything surrounding him.
She was glad to get inside the cabin and slam the door. Imagination. They were getting close to Bonnie’s murderer, and Eve’s nerves were raw and on edge. It was no wonder that she wasn’t thinking with any degree of clarity.
The remedy was to get her mind working on a real problem and solution.
Catherine. She still had to call Catherine.
She reached for her phone and quickly dialed.
“I’m in Milwaukee. I just got off the plane from St. Louis,” Catherine said, when she picked up the call. “Where are you? Still at the Marriott?”
“No, we’re at a cabin in the woods about seventy miles from the city.” She paused. “Queen should be on his way to Milwaukee. John told him that he’d give him a ledger he desperately wants if he could get Black to release Cara Clark.”
“Fat chance. I saw what he did to that kid’s mother and grandmother. He likes what he does. I can’t see him giving up another kill because Queen wants him to do it.”
“Neither does John. But he’s hoping for a distraction.”
“And I’m thinking Queen will go for a double cross,” Catherine said. “But we might be able to use that, too.”
“Listen, Catherine, I know you have a stake in finding Black, too. But you can’t kill him until I can talk to him. I have to be certain he killed Bonnie. I have to know what happened and where I can find her.”
“It’s going to be hard to remember that when I think about that kid, Cara, watching what Black did to her mother. But I promise I won’t do anything that will hurt you, Eve. How is Queen arriving? Military or commercial?”
“I don’t know.”
“I’m thinking commercial. He’s crooked, and he tries to keep MI from knowing anything about his less legal moves. I believe I’ll stick around here at the airport and see if I can spot Queen.”
“And then what?”
“I’ll play it by ear.” She paused. “I just called the hospital. Judy Clark is out of ICU. They think she’ll make it.”
“Wonderful. John called and inquired, but they wouldn’t tell him anything.”
“It’s a murder case. They probably weren’t sure that he wasn’t checking to see if he had to go to the hospital and finish the job. It’s a cynical world.”
“And you were just as doubtful about him.”
“Not anymore. Not about this murder. But that doesn’t mean I’m convinced he’s one of the good guys. A good guy doesn’t dope you and lug you to his lair in Utah.” She went on before Eve could answer. “I’ll call you if I find out anything interesting. Have you talked to Joe?”
“No.”
“Neither have I lately. He called once, and I ignored it, so that I wouldn’t have to lie to him. But you will hear from him. Joe isn’t going to let you fall off the face of the earth. Particularly since he knows Black is surfacing.”
“I’m hoping