Eve - Iris Johansen [87]
She opened the first-aid kit. “No.”
His gaze lifted to her face. “You object?”
“I’m just telling you it wouldn’t work. It would hurt him, but it wouldn’t bring him back.”
His eyes narrowed. “How do you know? Have you become an expert on Gallo in such a short time?”
“He has a purpose. He wouldn’t let himself be distracted.” She put antiseptic on the wound and flinched as he inhaled sharply. “Sorry.”
“It doesn’t matter.” His gaze was on her face. “What purpose, Eve?”
She was silent as she began to wrap the wound.
“Eve.”
“You won’t believe me any more than Catherine did.”
“What purpose?”
“He’s trying to find Bonnie’s killer,” she said quietly.
Joe began to curse beneath his breath. “He gave you that bull, and you—”
“There are two cars coming up the mountain.” Catherine was standing in the doorway. “Hanks got a call on his phone from one of the perimeter guards, and I let him take it. Hanks thinks it may be MI. He said Gallo warned him to expect a call from Army Intelligence if anything disrupted the status quo.” Her lips twisted. “I think we may constitute a disruption. They may not know Gallo has flown the coop, but they must know we’re here and are using it as an excuse to invade the property.”
“Queen.”
Catherine nodded. “That’s my bet. He’s sent out the troops.” She looked at Joe. “So what do we do? Stand our ground and take whatever they want to throw at us? Or take off and avoid the confrontation until we’re on our own turf?”
“How much time do we have?” Joe asked.
“Hanks says ten minutes.” She paused. “He said Gallo told him it wouldn’t be pretty. There would be interrogations. He gave him orders to take off and have everyone at the compound spread to the four winds.”
Joe thought about it. “Where is Hanks now?”
“Living room. I left him tied up.” She paused. “I talked to him, Joe. I believe him when he said he wasn’t trying to kill you. He was just trying to do his job and protect Gallo.”
“He may know where Gallo is.”
She shook her head. “He might, but I don’t think so.”
Joe glanced at Eve. “Do you know where he is?”
Her eyes widened. “No, I do not.”
He shrugged. “It was a possibility.” He pushed back the chair. “Let Hanks go. Tell him to get the hell out of here and take Judy and anyone else in the house with him. We’ll take that passage back down the mountain and circle down to where we parked the car.” He stood up. “You get Eve down the mountain, Catherine. I’m going to go take a quick look at those records in the library, and I’ll follow.”
“Right.” Catherine turned on her heel and hurried out of the kitchen.
Eve hesitated. She didn’t want to leave him. Joe was on edge and still in battle mode. There had already been one violent encounter tonight, and she wanted him away and safe.
“Get going, Eve.” Joe didn’t look at her as he strode out of the kitchen. Anger, frustration, and tension were in every line of his body. And who could blame him?
And she could do nothing about it now but trust that he’d control the impulse to let loose an emotional flood.
She turned and moved out of the kitchen in search of Catherine.
CHAPTER
14
“THE PLACE IS DESERTED, COLONEL Queen,” Lieutenant Sagalin said. “The house was lit up like a Christmas tree. Hot coffee in the kitchen, the office looked like a tornado had hit it. But no one is around.”
“No sign of Gallo? Or Eve Duncan?”
“A woman’s jeans and shirt in the bathroom of one of the upper bedrooms. Gallo’s clothes were in his bedroom. Our informant said that Gallo took off before Catherine Ling and Joe Quinn got here.”
Queen’s hand tightened on the phone. What the hell? He hadn’t expected Gallo to go on the run. If anything,