Eve - Iris Johansen [129]
“The hell you will.” Quinn’s knife sliced down and entered Black’s chest.
Black shrieked.
Quinn sat back on his heels, his breathing hard, harsh. His eyes were glittering wildly in his set face. “Don’t die. I was careful. That shouldn’t have been fatal. I won’t have you dead. I still have a use for you.”
* * *
EVE TORE AROUND THE BOULDER and stopped short.
Joe was sitting beside Black, covered in blood.
Joe’s blood?
“Joe?” she whispered. “My God.”
“Stay away from him,” Joe said. “He’s not dead yet, and a viper can kill you with his dying strike.”
“To hell with him.” She came forward anyway. “All that blood…”
“A lot of mine. Most of it is his.”
“Where?”
“Arm.” He bent over Black. “You stay awake. You keep alive, dammit.”
“Oh, I’m alive.” Black’s voice was hoarse, vicious. His eyes were glaring up at Joe. “She’s soft. She won’t let you kill me.”
“I will kill you. It’s only a matter of time.” Joe turned to Eve, and said fiercely, “But he can’t slip away yet. I won’t let him.”
“Joe!” Catherine had come around the rocks. Her gaze went immediately to Black. “Good job. But you should have finished him.” She glanced back at Joe. “Do you need any help?”
“Not now.”
“Then I’m going up the hill and grab that poor kid and bring her down. Eve can take care of you.” She turned and disappeared behind the rocks again.
Eve took another step closer to Joe. “Let me—”
“No, I don’t need you to take care of me.” Joe’s eyes were boring into Black’s. “All I need is for you to listen while this bastard talks to me. It has to end. We both have to be free. He’s going to tell me where he buried Bonnie, or I’ll start cutting him to pieces.”
“Bonnie…” Black was gazing up at him maliciously. “You want to know … where Bonnie is? Screw … you, Quinn.”
“You like making people hurt, don’t you? That kid up on the hill. Her mother.” Joe put the point of the knife at his throat. “You want pain? I’ll show you pain, Black.”
“Joe.”
He didn’t take his gaze from Black. “You’ve got to know, Eve. He’s got to tell you. Where’s Bonnie?”
Black spit in his face.
“Where?” Joe didn’t move the knife to wipe away the spittle.
“Let me have him.” Eve hadn’t realized that Gallo had come and was standing a few yards away. His expression was as grim and savage as Joe’s. No, perhaps more savage. “He’ll talk to me.”
“Gallo.” Black’s gaze was glittering with ferocity. “I’ve been waiting a long time for you. Were you so afraid of me that you had to send Quinn to do your dirty work?”
“Shut up, Black.” Gallo’s voice was almost guttural. “I just came from seeing what you did to Judy’s daughter. She’s so terrified Catherine couldn’t get near her. She’s like a wild animal.”
“But that was the purpose,” Black said. “The hunt wouldn’t be nearly as entertaining if she wasn’t sufficiently primed.”
Joe jabbed him in the throat. Blood ran. Black flinched and began to curse.
“Where did you bury Bonnie?” Joe was ignoring everything around him but his one objective.
“Tell us,” Gallo said.
Uneasiness had suddenly supplanted the mockery in Black’s gaze as it flew to Eve. “Torture? Aren’t you going to stop them?”
“Did you stop when you killed all those children?” Eve said unevenly. “Did you stop when you killed Bonnie? I want to bring my daughter home. Tell me where you buried her after you killed her.”
His lip curled. “Bitch. Gallo’s bitch. I should have killed you when I had the chance. You and your Bonnie and—” He broke off with a cry as Joe’s knife bit down again. “Okay, take him away. I’ll talk to you.”
“Get off him, Joe,” Eve said.
Joe had already swung off Black and moved a few feet away. “Not for long.”
Black was staring malevolently at Eve even as he scooted back. “He doesn’t like to hear the truth. But you were Gallo’s bitch, and now you’re that bastard Quinn’s bitch. All of this is your fault. I wish I had—no!” Joe had made a motion toward him. He scrambled farther away from him. “You want to know about Bonnie. I’ll tell you about her. Such a pretty