Free Bonnie by Iris Johansen Page A

a face. “He thinks Gallo is some kind of Rasputin?” She stared Eve in the eye. “And what do you think, Eve?”
    “I’m the wrong person to ask.” She looked back down at the sketch. “I know that some people have a magnetism that is a virtual knockout punch. I believe Gallo is one of them. Why else would I have jumped into bed with him when I was only sixteen? I wasn’t stupid or careless, and yet I was both with him. For God’s sake, I was in such a fever that I risked getting pregnant.”
    “And that’s one of the reasons Joe has problems with Gallo,” Catherine said. “He still sees him as a threat.”
    “He shouldn’t. Gallo was in my past. He doesn’t exist in my future.” She looked up at Catherine. “Joe is everything to me. You know that.”
    “But Gallo was the father of your child. There has to be some kind of bond.”
    Eve nodded. “I can’t deny that there is. That’s why I wanted desperately for him not to have been Bonnie’s killer.” How could she explain it? She moistened her lips. “It’s as if Bonnie … She’s part of both of us. I think she loves both of us. Even though Gallo and I will never be together, I don’t believe she’d want us to— She’d want that bond to be there.” She smiled crookedly. “It’s complicated, isn’t it?”
    “Particularly since you’re still not sure that Gallo isn’t involved with Bonnie’s killing.”
    “I’m trying to think positive. Gallo isn’t making it easy,” she said. “Is he a victim or the Rasputin Joe thinks him? I’ve been going back and forth like a weather vane for the past weeks.”
    “So have I.”
    “But now you’re defending him. You’re in his camp. You’ve been willing to fight Joe and me and the whole damn world for him. Why?”
    “He didn’t do it, Eve.”
    “Proof?”
    “Dammit, he didn’t do it.”
    “I want proof. I need proof, Catherine.”
    “I’ll get it for you.”
    “You almost died because Gallo didn’t throw his knife when he should have. Are you going to risk being put in that position again?”
    “He didn’t want me to be hurt.”
    “How can you be sure?” She gazed at Catherine’s expression, then slowly nodded. “Poor Catherine. He’s got you, hasn’t he? Have you slept with him yet?”
    Catherine’s face flushed. “No, I have not. I wouldn’t do that.”
    Eve smiled faintly. “That’s what I said when I was sixteen. I had everything to lose and nothing to gain, but it didn’t matter. I did it anyway.”
    “I’m not sixteen. You’re my friend, and I got into this to help you. I’m a professional, and I’ll do my job.”
    “I know you will. Look, I’m not angry or resentful because you’re feeling the same attraction I felt for Gallo. I don’t have the right to be. I’ve moved on, and so has Gallo.”
    “I know that,” Catherine said. “But you could resent my not doing my job in trying to find your daughter’s killer.” She paused and then burst out, “Okay, Gallo does— He makes me feel—” She tried again. “He does have an unusual effect on me.” She finally said bluntly, “He turns me on. Maybe you’re right, and he does have that kind of knockout effect on most women. But I’d never let that interfere. In spite of what Joe said, I wouldn’t be emotional about it.”
    Eve suddenly smiled. “You’re being emotional right now. If it wasn’t about Gallo, I’d think it was healthy for you. You’re usually too tough and cool. A little disturbance isn’t that bad. Now let’s get this sketch finished. Then I can tell Joe what an unemotional and crystal-clear professional you’ve been.” She turned the notebook around. “Is this his mouth?”
    Catherine nodded. “Very close. But his mouth appeared more taut. It was drawn back from his teeth.”
    “Like an attacking animal?”
    “Yes.”
    “Good. That would change the contour of the face. It would make the cheekbones more prominent. We’ll have to take that into account.” She was