Eve - Iris Johansen [86]
“I don’t think so. He’s not vulnerable in that way. He’s cold as ice.”
“You have no imagination. We have to accept that Gallo’s temperament can change like a weather vane and take advantage of it.”
“And how are we supposed to do that?”
“Why, if Gallo hasn’t already cut her throat, we might do well to look deeper into the possibility of Eve Duncan.”
* * *
JUDY WAS IN THE STUDY, emptying the contents of desk drawers into boxes, when Eve and Joe came into the house.
“What are you doing?” Joe asked.
“What I’ve been told to do.” Judy glanced at his blood-soaked arm. “Got yourself hurt, didn’t you? It wasn’t Hanks’s fault. He was only protecting John.”
“Where are Catherine and Hanks?” Eve asked.
“In the living room. She tried to stop me from packing up, but I told her she’d have to shoot me. I do my job, and Gallo told me he wanted these out of the house before those military guys decided they’d come calling.” She straightened her gaze on Joe’s arm as she added grudgingly, “But I guess I could bandage that up for you first. There’s a first-aid kit in the kitchen cabinet.”
“I’m going to do it.” Eve’s eyes were on the boxes. “Why doesn’t he want Queen to see those records?”
“We’ll see for ourselves,” Joe said. “And the only thing in which I’m interested is Gallo’s name and address.”
“The only names and addresses you’d find are banks and account numbers,” Judy said. “John spread his funds in banks all around the world. He said that as long as Queen and his buddies didn’t know where it was, they couldn’t find a way to confiscate it.” She looked him in the eye. “I’ll let you take a look if you don’t believe me. I don’t think you’d tell Queen anything about the banks. You want John, not the money.” She turned away. “I’ve got to finish up here. John said that if they found out that he’d gone on the run, Queen would move in quick.” She glanced at Eve. “And to tell you that you should watch out for them.”
“I’ll watch out for them,” Joe said grimly. “And John Gallo.”
“Come into the kitchen and let me clean that arm,” Eve said. “You can go through those boxes after I make sure that wound’s taken care of.” She suddenly turned back to Judy. “You talk as if John’s been preparing to go on the run for a long time. Why? And why now?”
She shrugged. “I just know that he told me right after I came to work for him that there was a good chance that it would happen. He told me what to do. I’m doing it.” Her lips tightened. “He told me to take care of Hanks, too. If you hadn’t gone running after John, this would never have happened. Are you going to have Hanks thrown in jail?”
“Maybe. It depends on what he can tell me.”
Judy shook her head. “He’s a good man. You shouldn’t have—” She stopped and opened another drawer. “Talk to him, Eve. It’s your responsibility. This wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t come here.”
“She hardly had a choice,” Joe said dryly.
“I don’t know anything about that,” Judy said. “But John didn’t hurt her, did he? Everything’s okay.”
“Come on, Joe.” Eve knew she’d better get him out of there before Judy’s simplistic approach to the situation made it infinitely worse. “And a wounded arm isn’t exactly okay, Judy,” she said as she drew Joe out of the room.
“The place seems to be reeking of Gallo’s fans,” Joe said sarcastically. “Everything he does is just fine as long as no one is dead.”
Eve pushed him down in a kitchen chair. “You didn’t hear that from me. I’m a Joe Quinn fan.”
“Are you?” He watched her unwind the bloody shirt from around his arm. “That’s nice.”
“Are you being sarcastic?” She examined the wound. “It’s a flesh wound, but it’s not pretty. I’ll clean it up as best I can, but I want a doctor to give you an antibiotic.” She went to the sink, filled a bowl of water, then searched for and found the first-aid kit. “We’ll get out of here as soon as we can and find a hospital.”
“After