All of which were swirling around her like a tornado.

John Gallo was out there somewhere. Who was he now? What had he become during these many years? She could not imagine him a murderer.

Not even when she had seen how violent he could be?

But she could also be violent. She had found out that truth in the years of hunting Bonnie’s killer. There was no question at all in her mind that if she found that John Gallo was the murderer of her daughter, she’d kill him without a single qualm. Bonnie deserved her revenge.

She could feel the anger begin to sear through her and took a deep breath. So much for serenity and the search for peace. There would be no peace for her anytime soon.

It would be better not to think at all.

She would just try to be patient and wait for Catherine’s call.

*   *   *

“YOU’RE NEVER PATIENT, MAMA.”

Bonnie.

Eve looked over at the little girl sitting with her back against the porch rail. Dressed in jeans and the Bugs Bunny T-shirt she’d been wearing the last time Eve had seen her, curly red hair shining in the moonlight. She felt the same rush of love she always felt when Bonnie came to her.

“That’s not true. I’ve been patient for a long time. Since I lost you, baby.”

Bonnie’s face lit with her luminous smile. “But you didn’t lose me, did you, Mama? I’m always here.”

Eve had thought she had lost her forever and had been spiraling downward toward death herself when she had begun to dream of Bonnie about a year after her disappearance. At least, for a long time, she had told herself it was a dream when her little girl came to her, talked to her, brought her healing and comforting. It was only recently that she had accepted that Bonnie was no dream. “I hate to tell you, but the fact that you’re a ghost has a few disadvantages.”

Bonnie chuckled. “What disadvantages? You know I’ll always be with you.”

“Whenever you want to be. You don’t come nearly enough. You dictate all the rules.” She made an impatient gesture as Bonnie opened her lips. “And now you’ll say it wouldn’t be good for me. That I have to live my life. You always do.”

“Then I don’t have to say it.” She leaned back and gazed up at the night sky. “Aren’t the stars pretty? You used to sing me a song about a star.”

“Yes, I did.” Her throat was suddenly tight, and she had to clear it. “But you liked the song about all the pretty little horses more.”

She nodded. “But I like the one about the star, too. It’s nice being able to look at the stars with you.”

“Then come more often.”

“You need to be alone with Joe. You belong with him right now.” She smiled. “I try not to come too often when Joe is around. He tries to accept me, but I make him uneasy.”

Eve couldn’t deny that was true. It was only recently that Joe had started to be able to see her daughter, and he was not comfortable with it. Joe was a complete realist, and the concept of Bonnie as a spirit battered against every bit of training and instinct. Well, Eve had been the same way at first, telling herself that Bonnie was only a dream or a hallucination. But after years she had accepted that, by some grace of God, Bonnie was permitted to come to her. If that made her crazy, then so be it. “It may be different once we’ve found you and the man who killed you, baby.”

“Maybe. But it’s you and Joe who are important. I shouldn’t matter this much to either of you.”

Eve shook her head. “Stop preaching at me. I’ve heard this before.”

Bonnie’s smile faded. “But I have to keep saying it. Particularly now. I’m getting … I’m afraid for you.”

Eve stiffened. “Why did you come tonight? Is it because of Paul Black?”

“Partly. But there’s so much else…”

“Is it … John Gallo? He’s your father, Bonnie.”

“I know.” Bonnie looked back up at the stars. “I always knew…”

“What do you mean?”

“So much pain … so much rage.”

She felt a chill go through her. “Bonnie, what are you saying?”

Bonnie shook her head. “I just want you to take care. It’s all coming … I’m going to go now.”

“Yes, scare me to death, then go off to Never-Never Land.”

“I’d take you with me if I could. Look at the stars, Mama.”

“You just don’t want me to see you go.”

“It hurts you.”

Eve raised her eyes to the starlit sky. “What happens in Never-Never Land, Bonnie?”

“All good things.”

“I’m glad. I want everything good for you, baby.”

Bonnie didn’t answer, and Eve knew that she was gone.

But Eve didn’t look back at the step on which Bonnie had been sitting.

She kept her gaze on the stars and thought about Bonnie and Never-Never Land.

Mazkal, Utah

“Nate Queen is coming up the drive,” Bill Hanks said as he put down his phone. “He said you were expecting him?”

“For a long time.” John Gallo gazed down at the chessboard. “No one is with him?”

Hanks shook his head. “And Brian did the usual search at the gates. He’s clean.”

“As clean as he can be. I’m sure he has some dirty tricks up his sleeve.” Gallo moved his queen. “Checkmate.” He got up from the game table. “Bring him in as soon as he gets here.”

He moved over to stand in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the Rocky Mountains. He’d bought the ranch because of that view.

And the fact that he could not be approached without knowing about it at least twenty minutes in advance. He’d ordered that Nate Queen pass through the first barricade without a challenge, but no one got past the gates without being searched.

“You’re completely paranoid, do you know that?” Queen asked irritably from the door. “And I didn’t appreciate the body search.”

“You should expect paranoia.” Gallo turned to face him. “I have a mental problem. Haven’t you heard?”

“Oh, I’ve heard,” Queen said as he came into the study. “You’ve caused me nothing but problems. And you’re going to cause me more, aren’t you?”

“Probably.”

“I didn’t have to come here. You could have talked to me on the phone.”

“But then I wouldn’t have been able to see your expression. You’ve lied to me before, Queen. I needed to know that I had a chance to catch you in one if you tried it again.”

“Paranoia,” Queen repeated. “I didn’t tell Catherine Ling anything. I’ve just been setting her up for a regretful refusal. She’s stirring up too much shit for me to totally ignore her. It seems Eve Duncan is a good friend, and she’s trying to help her.”

“I found out that much for myself. How close is Catherine Ling coming?”

Queen hesitated. “Close. But we’ll take care of it.”

“I might have to take care of it myself.”

“No!” Queen said. “Stay away from her. She’s CIA.”

Gallo smiled. “Do you think that would make a difference to me?” He could see the anger and frustration in Queen’s face. But there was also the fear. Gallo made sure that the fear was always there. It was easy. All he had to do was look at them and let them see. “All your tight little agencies and bureaus with all their rules. They make me sick.”

“You’re already sick.” He was silent a moment, gathering his arguments. “Look, you do anything to a CIA agent, and it will be twice as hard for me to protect you.”

“Do you protect me, Queen? It’s rather like a wolf protecting a sheep, isn’t it?”

“You’re no sheep,” Queen said roughly. “And I’ve protected you for years, and you know it. You made sure of that.”

“Now how could I intimidate a powerful colonel with Army Intelligence?” He tilted his head, pretending to think. “Maybe because it gave you the opportunity to position yourselves outside my lair to wait for me to make a mistake?”