Bonnie

“How close?” Catherine asked.

“I told you about their relationship.”

“Give me details.”

“I don’t know all the details. Gallo rarely talked about his feelings or the past.” She made a face. “We didn’t talk much at all. An exchange of thought or memories was last on our list of priorities. It was all about the physical.”

“Tell me what you do know.”

So that Catherine could put together all the pieces and come up with a defense for Gallo. Well, good luck to her. Eve wasn’t at the point where she could reason this out. “It’s pretty skimpy. John Gallo grew up in a housing development in Milwaukee that was probably a lot like the one where I lived. His family was dirt poor, and evidently his parents were terribly abusive. Gallo once mentioned that his father’s favorite form of punishment was putting cigarettes out on his back.”

“Son of a bitch.”

“That’s what I thought. Gallo’s only defense was to keep out of his way. It must have been hell on earth except for the times when his uncle came home on leave. When his uncle was medically discharged from the Army when Gallo was in his teens, they lived together, and I guess they took care of each other.”

“And they moved down to Atlanta to go to a VA specialist for Ted Da

Eve nodded. “And rented a place in a development a couple blocks from where I lived. That’s all I know. I’ve told you everything, Catherine.”

“You’re right, it’s damn skimpy.”

“I know.” But then everything about those weeks had been fast and volatile as the flicker of a motion-picture film. She had been so caught up in the sexual frenzy with Gallo that everything else had been as ephemeral as the fog outside.

And then there had been Bo

“And the only person who can tell us anything else is Gallo,” Catherine said. “And where is he, dammit?”

“It depends if Ted Da

Catherine just looked at her.

“Okay, it would be too coincidental.” Eve threw the sketch down on the table. “But I wanted to explore every possibility before I made a giant leap.”

“You made it,” Catherine said. “Now let’s go tackle the fact that Ted Da

“And where he was when my Bo

“That goes without saying,” Catherine said quietly. “Bo

“You think he has an agenda?”

“Oh, yes, Venable doesn’t interfere with me unless he has reason. He knows me too well.” She went to the door and threw it open. “On the bright side, at least, he brought the cleanup crew. We would have had problems disposing of Jacobs’s body. After all, he was in the military and supposedly served his country.”

“He was a crook, a smuggler, and possibly an accomplice to murder.”

“We’d still have problems explaining him away. Military bureaucracy is almost as bad as congressional bureaucracy. It’s better that he just disappear.” She strode out of the house and called, “Venable, you took your time. We’ve been waiting for—”

“Don’t go there, Catherine,” Venable said sourly as he got out of the car. “I’m a little fed up with this fog and crawling along on these less-than-wonderful highways. Be polite. Be very polite.”

*   *   *

EVE WATCHED CATHERINE and Venable together for a moment before she turned away. They were sparring with the easy familiarity that spoke of a longtime association. Venable was a powerhouse, but Catherine was having no trouble keeping up with him. Catherine had no trouble keeping up with anyone.

She glanced at the Da

But the expression Eve had drawn of the face of the man who had attacked Catherine had been that of a monster. She pulled her eyes away from the sketch and tossed it on the table before she went out the front door. She needed to get away from the house and Jacobs, who was still lying dead in the bed upstairs. She had to think. The recognition of Ted Da

And that seductive wild card that was John Gallo. Eve knew what confusion he could bring to any woman.

“Eve?” Catherine turned away from Venable as Eve strode past them.

“I needed some air.” She nodded at Venable but didn’t stop. A moment later, she entered the trees that bordered the bayou.

That was better. She drew a deep breath. Silence, except for the sounds of the bayou. The fog was a mere wisp drifting over the waters. Peace. No pushing and prodding for action from Catherine. She could relax and try to get her thoughts together.

*   *   *

“SHE ONLY WANTS WHAT’S best. Catherine doesn’t know any other way.”

Bo