“You think I’m that complicated?”

“I think that you’re an unsolvable Rubik’s cube.”

“That you’ve solved?”

“No, but perhaps you’ve given me enough clues to see a way to do it.” He grimaced. “Maybe. You’re fighting so hard not to care about Eve. For God’s sake, she’s your daughter. It’s pure instinct to care about her.” He gestured to the TV. “And there are dozens of people at that damn memorial service who will testify that she’s a life worth saving. She’s a very special person, Zander.”

“So eloquent. You must have been storing that dissertation up for a long time.”

He was silent a moment. “It’s what you want to hear from me, Zander. Now accept it and go save her.”

“Is that an order?” he asked silkily.

Stang found himself tensing. He was on very shaky ground at that moment. “Yes, and a plea. She must have gone through hell. She deserves to have it end.” He paused. “You had a meeting with her up in the mountains, didn’t you? Before Doane captured her again. You must have some idea what kind of person she is after that.”

Zander was silent. “Yes. She’s extraordinary.” His shoulder lifted in a half shrug. “And it has nothing to do with me. I could never have given her what her life experiences have done to shape her. It was good that I stayed away from her.”

“No regrets? What about her daughter, Bonnie? If you’d been there, you might have saved her.”

“Or brought a horde more of the scum of the earth down on her, who would only use her to destroy me. By the time I was twenty-five, I was on the enemies list of half a dozen countries and targeted by four criminal networks. The only way I could survive was to do it alone and with no encumbrances. Would you like to know how many people have died because I allowed them close to me? When I was a young man, I was arrogant enough to think I could keep it from happening because I wanted to reach out and pretend I was normal. That didn’t last long. Revenge and greed are powerful motivations, and I attract the bastards who go after both.” He gazed directly in Stang’s eyes. “So don’t try to lay any guilt trips on me, Stang. If I’d allowed myself to feel guilt, I would have put a bullet in my head a long time ago.” He added impatiently, “And stop staring at me with that sickeningly maudlin look on your face. I didn’t start being cautious with my associations because I wanted to spare anyone. I just realized that it wasn’t safe for me either.” He shrugged. “And it gets boring having to replace the people close to you. It’s better to keep them at a distance.”

“I see.”

“And I know all the philosophies and psychological explanations you’re probably stifling at the moment. Think what you like. I’ve made my life what it is, and that’s how it will remain.”

“After you get Eve away from Doane.”

“You’re not listening.”

“I’m listening very carefully. So carefully I’m hearing all the undertones and nuances.” He pulled out his phone. “Should I call Weiner and tell him to speed up trying to find that Toyota? We need to locate Doane very quickly if you think he may be on the move after the memorial service.”

Zander gazed at him for a moment. “No, I’ll do it.” He started to dial his phone. “You may have become bold as brass lately, but you lack a certain ability to inspire fear. Fear is our friend at the moment.” As he waited for the phone to ring, he looked up at Stang. “And if you try to pressure me again, I’ll broadcast to the four corners of the earth how much I value you. How I’d have a horrible time replacing you. I might even say I consider you as close as a brother.” He smiled gently. “You’d be dead within two days.

“Weiner.” He was speaking into the phone. “Zander. I hear you got my message, and you’ve started tracking. A Toyota 4-Runner? Where else was it seen? I need the results right away. I’ll feed you as much additional information as I can, but pull every string on the Internet and that network that you’ve set up. Now give me every location that you have on hand…”

CHAPTER

4

Lake Cottage

Atlanta, Georgia

SHE SHOULD BE ABLE TO TALK to Joe soon, Catherine thought.

It was getting dark, and the guests were gradually saying their good-byes to Joe and drifting away. The last photographer had snapped a few mood shots of the darkening lake and taken off.

However, Venable was still here and socializing with various guests, which was completely out of character for him. If she didn’t know him better, she’d think he was avoiding her. But Venable was never averse to facing anyone. He was probably just marshaling his thoughts and his arguments and would—

Her cell phone rang, and she glanced at the ID.

John Gallo.

Oh, shit.

She started talking as soon as she accessed. “I didn’t know, Gallo. I would have told you about Eve, but I only found out this morning, when I got to Miami. I did call, but I got your voice mail. It’s not my fault if you don’t answer your phone. It seemed all I was getting was people who didn’t want to talk to me. It was driving me—”

“Calm down,” Gallo said curtly. “I didn’t need you to tell me about Eve. I saw the story online three days ago. I was trying to get hold of you, but Venable blocked me at every turn.”

“I know.” She paused. “I thought you’d want to be here. If you knew three days ago, why didn’t you come to the service?”

“At first, I was trying to be diplomatic and kind to Quinn and Jane MacGuire. I was Eve’s past, and she had my child, Bonnie, when she was only a teenager. But Quinn was her present and future. I had no part in building that life, and I had no right to intrude.”

“At first? What followed?”

“I talked to Joe Quinn. We had an interesting discussion.”

“He told you.”

“He thought I was qualified to be helpful, and he didn’t mind using me or anyone else if it meant saving Eve. He’s desperate.”

Qualified? Yes, John Gallo was qualified in any enterprise that had to do with violence and mayhem. He had been a prisoner of war in a North Korean concentration camp, then had become an Army Special Forces agent whose specialty was infiltration and assassination. He was smart, experienced, and completely lethal. He had also had a few mental problems, fits of rage, due to torture while he was incarcerated in that hellhole of a prison. Catherine had met him when she had suspected he might have killed Eve’s daughter, Bonnie, during one of those fits of rage. Their relationship from that moment had been as turbulent and volatile as a perfect storm that neither of them could fight.

No, that wasn’t true. She was drawn sexually to Gallo, but there had definitely been a struggle to resist that magnetism. She had made her life what she wanted it to be. She was a CIA agent who was expert in her job. After she had found and rescued her son, Luke, he was tentatively coming to accept her. She did not need Gallo to disturb her and cause ripples in her life.

“You don’t agree Quinn’s desperate?” Gallo asked, when she didn’t answer. “Those were the vibes I got, but you’re on the scene.”

“Oh, he’s desperate.” She tried to concentrate on the problem at hand. Gallo always managed to distract her. “He loves her. They’ve been through a lot together.” She paused. “How are you feeling, Gallo?”

“Do you expect me to say I love her, too?” Gallo asked. He was silent a moment. “I do, you know. She was a big part of my life when we were young. We didn’t know about love then. It was all about sex. But years later, when I came back, we had our memory of Bonnie and the realization that she would have wanted us to have some kind of bond. Neither one of us could walk away from that bond. Although God knows we wanted to be free from each other and go about our lives.” He was silent again. “That bond still exists, will always exist, because of Bonnie. There are all kinds of love out there. She’s my friend and the mother of my child. I will never be her lover in the conventional sense, that’s Joe Quinn, but I’ll be there for her if she needs me. Is that honest enough for you?”