“We’ll locate him.” Gallo was already moving down the trail. “Call your chief Venable as soon as we get to the car and see if he can trace him.”

Gallo’s tone was as grim as his face. He was in battle mode.

Well, so was she, Catherine thought. It was strange that after being enemies these last weeks, they were walking this path together.

Strange and somehow right.

*   *   *

AN HOUR LATER, SHE HUNG UP from the callback she’d received from Venable and turned to Gallo, who was in the driver’s seat. “Jacobs took a leave of absence from the office the day after he returned from Milwaukee. His superiors have been trying to get in touch with him since all hell broke loose about Queen’s death. The questions began to fly about Queen’s and Jacobs’s possible criminal involvement. No luck. Jacobs is not answering his phone, and he’s just recently moved out of his apartment.” She shook her head. “We may be too late. He could have panicked and decided to go on the run. He’s probably flown off to someplace in the South Seas from which he can’t be extradited.”

“Possibly.” Gallo was thinking. “But Jacobs wasn’t the type to turn into a beachcomber. It would be too savage for his tastes. He was very urban oriented.”

“How do you know? I thought you said he was the invisible man.”

“That doesn’t mean I didn’t make the effort to see him for what he was. He worked closely with Queen. There was always a chance that I’d find a use for him. If he did go on the run, it shouldn’t be too hard to track him.”

“You don’t think he’d go undercover?”

Gallo shook his head. “Maybe. But if he did, then I know what to look for.”

“What?”

“A casino. Jacobs is a gambler, an addict. It’s one of the reasons that he never left Queen no matter how hot the situation got. He was nervous all the time, but he couldn’t let go. He needed the money, and he lost more than he won at the tables.”

“There are a lot of casinos in the world.”

“Then we’ll narrow them down.”

“How?”

He shrugged. “First, we’ll go to Jacobs’s apartment and see if we can find a clue as to where we’d have our best shot. Did you get his address?”

She nodded at the number she’d typed into her phone. “His apartment is in Georgetown.”

“Then call and see what’s the quickest flight we can get to Washington out of either Milwaukee or Chicago.”

She hesitated. “Orders, Gallo?”

“I believe in balance. You were giving me enough orders before we got on the road.”

And now he was moving, thinking, functioning with lightning efficiency. Why was she complaining? She should be glad she was going to have to fight for dominance. It would make the possibility of finding Jacobs all the more likely. “Have you forgotten that the police are looking for you? We’d do better to hire a private plane. I have a contact with—”

“No time. I have several sets of false ID that Queen and Jacobs supplied me and a couple I purchased from private sources. I could never be sure when Queen or Jacobs would decide to send one of their hired killers after me, and I might have to go undercover for a while.”

“Like Jacobs.”

“Exactly like Jacobs.”

“You’re not afraid that security will recognize you?”

“I’ll send you through in front of me. No one is going to look at me when you’re around. Like Jacobs, I’ll be the invisible man.”

“Yeah, sure. But if you’re willing to take the risk, it’s okay with me.” She took out her phone. “I’ll bet we’ll find our flight out of Chicago. The traffic is much heavier …

*   *   *

CATHERINE RECEIVED A CALL from Eve two hours later, when they were heading for Gate 23 at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport.

Dammit, she didn’t want to face Eve now. Should she ignore it?

Of course not. Eve would not forgive her.

Deal with it.

“Where are you, Eve?” she said when she picked up the phone. “And is Joe with you?”

“I’m on my way to Gallo’s place in the hills. I wanted to see you.” She paused. “And by the noise I’m hearing in the background, you’re not there. An airport?”

“Yes, I knew I blew it when I was talking to you before. I had to get out of there before you descended on us. Joe?”

“He’s not with me. I needed a little time to persuade you to forget this idiocy. Jane is trying to give me a day before she tells him.”

“She won’t be able to do it. You know it as well as I do. Joe is too sharp.”

Eve ignored her words. “Us. You said us. You’re with Gallo.”

“You knew I was, or you wouldn’t have come running to save me,” she said quietly. “I don’t need saving, Eve. He’s not going to hurt me.” She paused. “And he didn’t kill Bonnie.”

“For God’s sake, he has you believing him.” Catherine could hear the despair in her voice. “He did it, Catherine. I know how convincing he can be, but you have to think.”

“No, you have to think,” Catherine said. “You and Gallo are both so twisted and turned around about how you feel about Bonnie that you’re willing to jump at any explanation that sounds halfway reasonable. Only this isn’t reasonable. Just because Black believed what he was saying is no sign it was the truth.”

“You’re the one who is jumping at explanations. What did he do to persuade you?”

“Nothing. Except try to get himself killed. I figured that was unusual behavior and deserving of a little thought.”

“What?”

“Never mind. There’s no way that I have time or enough valid arguments to make you listen. All I can say is that I know you’re on the wrong track. I feel it. You’re a great one for believing in instinct. You believed in Gallo when I thought you were a gullible fool for doing it. Now the situation is reversed. All I can ask is that you trust me.”

Eve was silent. “I do trust you. But I think you’re— Where are you going, Catherine?”

“When you can tell me honestly that you’ll help instead of try to stop me, I’ll talk to you.” She drew a deep breath. “Please. I don’t want to do this without you, Eve. I’ve fought my way through this. I’m doing the right thing.”

“Then tell me where you’re going.”

“Start where I did and work it out for yourself. Good-bye, Eve.” She hung up.

Gallo was gazing at her expression. “That was painful for you.”

“Of course, it was. She’s my friend.” Her throat was tight. “All I ever wanted to do was help her, and now she thinks I’ve betrayed her.”

“And that I lured you from the straight path.” They had reached the gate, and he turned to face her. “Eve should know better than to think I’d have that kind of power over you. She’s usually more clearheaded.”

But he did have an alluring charisma, and she had been struggling against it for weeks. She only hoped she’d been telling Eve the truth when she’d told her Gallo hadn’t unduly influenced her.

Hope? Dammit, of course she’d been honest with Eve. She had to trust in herself as she always had. Otherwise, she had nothing. “You’re Bonnie’s father. Evidently you were Eve’s Achilles’ heel when she was a kid of sixteen. It’s probably easy for her to imagine that you might be able to sway me to your way of thinking.”

“Achilles’ heel? That could have all kind of meanings.” He looked away from her, and said haltingly, “If it makes any difference to you, it means a good deal to me that you believe so deeply that you’re doing the right thing. In a way, that means you believe in me.”

“You act as if that’s completely unheard of for anyone to have any trust in you.”

“Not completely. But I can remember only a couple of people who trusted me to that extent. Maybe my commanding officer, Ron Capshaw, who was in charge of our mission to Korea. I was just a green kid fresh out of Ranger school but he took me under his wing and told everyone he knew I could do the job. I … liked him. He made me feel as if I could do anything if I tried hard enough.” His lips tightened. “But we had to split up, and he and Lieutenant Silak were killed, and I was taken prisoner.” He shrugged. “Other than Ron, I guess the only other person who trusted me to do the right thing was my uncle Ted when I was a kid. He was the only one who gave a damn about me when I was growing up.” He grimaced. “Not that I deserved it even then. I was a real hell-raiser. But sometimes you get more than you’re entitled to get.” He turned toward the gate agent, who was starting to call the flight. “Like now. Like Catherine Ling fighting the friend she loves to save my ass.” He took her elbow. “That’s our section being called. Come on, let’s get this show on the road.”