Quinn (28 page)

She pressed the return call. “I just got your call. Did I wake you?”

“No. We’re not doing much sleeping right now.” Eve was silent. “You said to start with the premise that we were wrong about Gallo being guilty and work from there.”

“But can you do that, Eve?”

“I’m trying. Joe says that we should trust you. That wasn’t easy for him.” She paused. “And either way, it’s not easy for me. I trusted Gallo, and it hurt me to think that I’d been a fool. Perhaps that’s one of the reasons that I was so stubborn about not changing my mind when you were defending him.”

“I can understand that,” Catherine said. “And I can’t tell you I’m 100 percent sure that I’m right. How can I be when Gallo isn’t even sure? But I’m 75 percent sure, and before I’m done, I’m going to know.”

“You’re going after Thomas Jacobs.”

“You bet I am. I see you put two and two together.”

“Joe and I decided he would be one of the only people who would know for certain why Queen hired Paul Black to take the blame for Bonnie’s killing. And we tracked you to the Chicago airport and found out that there was a flight to the East Coast about the time I talked to you on the phone.” She added. “Nonstop to Washington, D.C. Have you contacted Jacobs yet?”

“Not yet. We think he’s on a flight to New Orleans. We’re going to be right behind him.” She hesitated, then asked the question. “What are you going to do, Eve?”

“You mean am I going to notify the police that they can pick up Gallo in New Orleans?” she asked. “No, Joe said I should trust you. Dear God, I want to trust you, Catherine. And I want to trust Gallo.” She drew a shaky breath. “Joe left the hospital this morning. I’m going to talk to him now, but I think he’s going to agree that we’re not going to let the police interfere with what’s between us. I imagine we’ll see you in New Orleans.”

“I’m glad, Eve.”

“Don’t be too happy. When Joe came out of his coma, he said he thought we were heading toward the end, that Bonnie told him that was happening. But I just don’t know.” Her voice was uneven. “What I’m feeling is too damn tentative. I’m wobbling back and forth like a weather vane.”

“What about Jane? Is she coming?”

“No, she’s mad as hell, but I won’t let her run the risk.”

Catherine could see that Jane would be angry as well as worried to death. “She didn’t impress me as someone who would take foolish chances. I agree that the situation may—”

“The situation may be pure hell. I’ve got a gut feeling that it probably will be. Joe almost lost his life. If we’re heading for the end of the search, Jane’s not going to be caught up in any of it,” Eve said fiercely. “I’ll call you when we reach New Orleans.” She hung up.

Catherine slowly pressed the disconnect.

“We’re heading toward the end. Bonnie told him that was happening.”

Bonnie, again.

Catherine seemed to be the only one who was not being affected by that small seven-year-old child who had died those many years ago.

Joe, whom Catherine respected as a friend and professional, was evidently accepting the same bizarre concept as Eve and Gallo. Bonnie, returned from the dead. Bonnie, the ghost, the beloved spirit.

“Catherine?” Gallo had opened the connecting door, his gaze searching her expression. “Are you all right?”

“Yes.” She glanced at her watch. “Sorry. I haven’t called Venable yet. But I can do it on the way to the airport.” She threw her suitcase on the bed and started tossing items of clothing into it. “This won’t take me long.”

He leaned against the doorjamb. “I asked if you were all right.”

She nodded jerkily. “That was Eve on the phone. She said she and Joe would see us in New Orleans.”

He went still. “You told her?”

“She said she wasn’t going to call the police.” She looked up from her packing. “She’s going to give us a chance. Though she still has her doubts.”

“I can imagine.”

Because he still had his own doubts and was fighting desperately to put them aside. Catherine had a few doubts herself, dammit, but she wouldn’t give up either faith or determination. If she was the only one driving this show, then so be it.

“Joe is on our side.” She fastened the suitcase. “Sort of. Maybe. I guess we take what we can get. When are our airline reservations?”

“In another three hours. I could have gotten a connection through Atlanta a little earlier, but it would have only been arriving an hour before the nonstop.”

“An hour isn’t going to make a difference.” She picked up her suitcase. “Let’s go.”

*   *   *

BUT IT TURNED OUT TO BE
nine hours. The entire Gulf Coast was fogged in, and their Delta flight had a six-hour delay. They didn’t arrive in New Orleans until close to noon. It was still damp and foggy when the plane landed at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International, and the forecast was for more heavy fog later in the day.

“Where do we go from here?” Catherine asked as she retrieved her bag. “Where’s this casino? A high-rise off Bourbon Street or a riverboat on the river?”

“Neither, it’s outside the city. The Cadalon is across the Mississippi and has a very exclusive clientele of jet-setters and high rollers. We’ll register at the hotel as man and wife. We’ll use the Brookman name I used on the airline ticket.” He checked his watch. “It’s a little early for play, but in a few hours the casino should be humming. We should wait until after midnight to make a play. Though probably Jacobs is at the tables right now. He’s going to be very focused.”

“You should know a lot about casinos. You made a great deal of money from them, didn’t you?”

He nodded. “I taught myself card counting in prison. It’s the most valuable lesson I learned in that rathole.”

“It’s going to be difficult extricating him from a crowded casino. Have you thought about a plan for taking him?”

“A tentative plan.” He smiled as he opened the door for her. “But I’m sure that you have one that’s not at all tentative. You were very quiet on the plane.”

She shrugged. “Simplicity is best. We find out in what room he’s playing. I go in and pretend to greet him. He falls unconscious, and we are very upset. He’s obviously ill, and we have to get him to a hospital. We take him away from the casino. End of scene.”

“Yes, very simple,” Gallo said dryly. “Up to the time that he falls unconscious. That might get a little complicated. One of your friend Hu Chang’s magic potions? Hypodermic?”

She nodded. “It will keep him out for at least twenty minutes. That should give us time to get him away from the casino.”

Gallo opened the passenger door of the rental car for her. “Unless the casino manager wants to handle his transfer to the hospital himself to prevent liability issues.”

“That’s why I allowed twenty minutes. Otherwise, we could have Jacobs out of there in seven. I’ve had Venable send me a dossier on the manager of the casino. I’ll study it and see how I can get around him.” She looked at him as she got into the car. “Or I’ll let you handle it. I’d judge you’re very good at manipulating people to suit yourself. I’ll do everything else. You get us out of that casino before Jacobs wakes up.”

“I’ll work on it.” He got into the driver’s seat and started the car. “Anything else?”

“Yes.” She took out a slip of paper from her notebook. “Stop at this address on the way out of town. Neither of us has suitable clothes for that kind of casino. It’s a boutique that will supply me with a gown that will make me look as if I belong in a casino frequented by the jet set. I told Venable to arrange for a tux for you, too. It won’t be designer, but it will be okay. I’m the one who all the attention will be focused on.”

“You don’t need a designer gown to garner attention. You walk into a room, and every man will do a double take.”

“That is true,” she said calmly. “Do you expect me to pretend modesty? That would be foolish. Good looks can be a valuable weapon. They can also be a handicap if you want to fade into the background. Either way, you have to accept what you are and make the most of it.”

“I gladly accept what you are,” he said softly. “I celebrate it.”

Sensuality.

She looked away from him, feeling the familiar rush of heat. How many men had hit on her through the years? Why was Gallo different? She didn’t know, but she’d better learn to handle his effect on her.

“You’d better not celebrate anything until we get Jacobs,” she said flatly. “And I know you like the way I look. I’d have to be blind if I wasn’t aware that I turn you on. But it doesn’t mean anything. Looks don’t matter.”

“Looks don’t matter. Age doesn’t matter. What does matter, Catherine?”

“Kindness. Love. Fighting for what you believe and the people you believe in.” She paused. “And, again, knowing who you are.”

“Admirable,” he said quietly. “We’re alike on many levels. I’m just a bit more shallow and far more attuned to the physical. I’m afraid I can’t get over that particular barrier.” He paused. “And I believe you may be having a few problems in that area, too. It’s been there since the first time we came together, and you’ve been trying to ignore it. But it keeps coming back, doesn’t it, Catherine?”

“Yes.” She wouldn’t lie to him. That would be a defeat in itself. “But I’ll find a way to not let it get in my way. That’s not why we’re together.”

“No, we’re together so that you can help Eve and bring me along for the ride.” He was looking straight ahead. “And I’m trying to stop being an ungrateful son of a bitch and forget how you looked in all your rotting-leaves glory. I have to warn you—it’s not working too well.” He gestured to a street up ahead. “I think that’s where the address you gave me should be. Do you want me to wait or go inside with you? I have some calls to make to set up my part of our exit plan.”

She felt a little of her tension leaving her. His voice was much more crisp, and it was obviously the end of the intimacy that had caused the tension. She was grateful to ignore anything connected to that intimacy at the moment. Honesty and boldness were fine, but she had to regroup and step back from Gallo. “I’ll go in alone.” When the car pulled to the curb in front of the elegant stone house, she opened the door. “If they need you to be measured for your tux, I’ll give you a call. My fitting shouldn’t take long. I’m a standard size and Venable knows my measurements.”

“Venable must know a lot about you. How long did you say you’ve been together?”

“He’s been my superior since I was seventeen. He recruited me.” She slammed the car door and headed for the front entrance. “And by the time I had Luke, he knew more about me than even my husband did. I was an agent and that’s all part of the job.”

“If I’d been living with you long enough to have a child, I guarantee that no one would have known you better.” He smiled and leaned back in the seat. “And to hell with the job.”

Cadalon Casino
2:35
A.M.

“I’M READY.” CATHERINE CAME OUT
of the bedroom into the sitting room and gazed at him critically. “You look very polished.”

“I was aiming at being very James Bond.” He tilted his head. “I have to keep up with the competition. But 007 never had a Bond girl like you.”

She was totally breathtaking, he thought as his gaze moved from the top of her shining dark hair to the silver heels peeping out of the slit in the dark burgundy strapless gown she wore. The golden skin of her shoulders and upper breasts gleamed under the lights, and he wanted to reach out and touch her, stroke her. Exotic, sexy, and so vibrantly alive she lit up the room.

“I’ve always thought the Bond girls lacked a certain strength of will.” She smiled. “But they usually managed to get things done. Did you locate Jacobs?”

“He’s playing blackjack and doing very well. He’s excited about it. His cheeks are so flushed, you’d think he had a fever.” He opened the door to the hall. Don’t touch her. Not the time or the place. “I can stay out of Jacobs’s way until after you’ve taken care of him. But both he and Queen must have read the dossier on you that they gave to me. The photo didn’t do you justice, but he’ll probably recognize you.”

“Then I won’t give him time for it to register. I can’t let him see me until the last minute.”

“He’d have to be distracted not to notice you.” The hall was decorated in the same elegant nineteenth-century décor as the rest of the hotel casino. Catherine looked like a splendid peacock strolling past the soft pastels of the wall hangings and faded Aubusson rugs, he thought. “But I’m sure that you’ll find a way to do it.”

“I’m sure I will, too,” she said absently. “Eve just phoned me. I tried to call her earlier, but I got her voice mail. They’ve canceled all the flights out of the Midwest to New Orleans, so they were on a plane to Atlanta. But they ran across the same problem there. They’re waiting for a break in the weather. Damn this fog.”

“I thought she might be here by now.” He gazed out the window at the thick mist that obscured everything beyond two feet. “It’s as thick as any London fog.”

“Yes, I hoped it might lift before this.” She got into the brass-and-beveled-glass-paneled elevator. “I’m glad that they’re not here yet. I told them what we planned, but I don’t want Joe and her coming into this mess until we have Jacobs secure. If everything blows up in our faces, I don’t want them involved.”