Read Online Silencing Eve by Iris Johansen - Free Book Online Page B

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?”
    “You don’t have to answer to me, Gallo.”
    “Yes, I do. In spite of the fact that you’re pushing me away.”
    “Why? I have nothing to do with your relationship with Eve.”
    “You know why. Though you’re having trouble admitting it.” He suddenly chuckled. “I’m in a fever to have sex with you. It’s all I can think about. Well, almost. And I won’t allow you to put any barriers between us because everything isn’t clear to you about my relationship with our mutual friend, Eve.”
    She felt a surge of feeling that was hot and sweet and bewildering. She quickly changed the subject. “You never told me why you didn’t come here for the service.”
    “I decided I’d get a head start. No one expected me to go to her memorial. I flew to Vancouver instead to try to track down Zander when I heard that he was the key to trapping Doane. That’s where I am now.”
    “And did you find him?”
    “No, I’ve been to Zander’s place here, but it’s deserted. I even did a little housebreaking to make sure. I’m going through some of his papers to see if I can find a clue to where he might have gone.” He paused. “Zero in on Venable. If anyone knows anything about Zander, then he should.”
    “I’ll do that. I’ll let you know.”
    “I phoned Hu Chang in Hong Kong after I got your call and told him to tell Luke you’d been delayed.”
    “I called Luke myself the minute I got into Miami. He was down in Hu Chang’s lab and was so excited he could only talk about their latest experiment. Luke trails behind Hu Chang night and day.” She could hardly blame her son. Hu Chang was fascinating, and she had found herself trailing after him herself when she was just a few years older than Luke. “He probably won’t even miss me.”
    “He’ll miss you. Though I admit your friend Hu Chang is something of a spellbinder. How long are you going to leave Luke with him?”
    “I’m bringing him back to Louisville to go to school in two weeks.” She sighed. “At least, that’s what I was going to do before I found out about Eve. I’ll have to leave him a little longer now.”
    “I hate to admit it, but you couldn’t ask for him to be in safer hands than Hu Chang’s,” Gallo said dryly. “As long as you get a promise from him not to teach the boy how to concoct any of his poisons.”
    “He wouldn’t do that. He’d know that I’d kill him.”
    “Would you? I’m never sure how much leeway you’d give Hu Chang to do anything he wanted to do. Sometimes, I think he has you hypnotized.”
    “Don’t be absurd. He’s my