{"id":5619,"date":"2026-01-04T01:39:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-04T01:39:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/iris-johansen-eve-johansen-iris\/"},"modified":"2026-01-04T01:39:00","modified_gmt":"2026-01-04T01:39:00","slug":"iris-johansen-eve-johansen-iris","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/iris-johansen-eve-johansen-iris\/","title":{"rendered":"Iris Johansen – Eve – Johansen, Iris"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Book Preview<\/h3>\n
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<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\nCHAPTER<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n1<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\nMalua, Samoa<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\nPresent day<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n
\nTWO MINUTES.<\/span>
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThe explosive was in place beneath the back veranda of the house. The charge set.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nAgent Art Benkman slid behind the garden wall that surrounded the pool and house and waited.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nNo mistakes this time. His superior wouldn\u2019t tolerate another near miss. It had been made clear that Black must be destroyed. He was a monster who knew too much.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nNo, he\u2019d seen Paul Black go into the house an hour ago. It was the best time for the kill. Only one person in the house besides that son of a bitch. A housekeeper who occupied the end bedroom of the rambling bungalow. He\u2019d seen her light go out two hours ago. She\u2019d be asleep by now.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nGood night.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nAnd good-bye.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nNo one would survive this blast. He\u2019d had to be sure.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nOne minute.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThe flames from the blast would probably reach the top of those palm trees hovering over the roof.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cI\u2019ve got you, Black,\u201d he murmured. \u201cBurn in\u2014\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n
\nPain.<\/span>
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nHe was flipped over and was looking up at the man who had sent the needle-sharp stiletto deep into his back.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nBlack. But it couldn\u2019t be Paul Black. He was in the house.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nNo, he was here. That dark, devil\u2019s face\u00a0\u2026<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cWho sent you?\u201d Black asked. \u201cWho told you I was here?\u201d He was searching in Benkman\u2019s pockets, pulling out his wallet and the e-mail that he\u2019d received two days ago. He glanced at it and smiled. \u201cVery explicit. And you obeyed blindly like a good agent? Never mind. You don\u2019t have to answer. I don\u2019t need you now.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cKill you\u2026\u201d Benkman whispered. \u201cI have to\u2014\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cDie,\u201d Black supplied as he picked up Benkman as if he were a child. \u201cThat\u2019s all you have to do.\u201d He was carrying him over to the house. \u201cHow do you feel about cremation?\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cNo!\u201d He started to struggle as panic overcame pain. \u201cDon\u2019t leave me here. It\u2019s going to\u2014\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cBlow?\u201d Black dropped him on the floor of the great room. \u201cIn about forty seconds.\u201d He looked down at him. \u201cWhy don\u2019t you see if you can make it through the French doors and out onto the terrace? You might survive then.\u201d He turned and strolled out of the house.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nBastard.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nBenkman rolled over and started to crawl toward the French doors.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nPain.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThe blood was pouring out of the wound as he moved.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nWeak.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThe blood was slippery\u00a0\u2026<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nHe was dying.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nNo, he\u2019d be okay. He was always okay. He just had to get out of this damn house.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nSo slow. He was moving so slow.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nHe reached the French doors. Now crawl out onto the veranda. He was almost there\u00a0\u2026<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nAnd then he saw Black standing by the garden wall and watching him. He was smiling.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nHe tapped his watch.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nToo late, Benkman realized frantically. He was too late. Time had run out.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cDon\u2019t leave me!\u201d he howled. \u201cGet me out of\u2014\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThe house exploded and became an inferno.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n*\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0*\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0*<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n
\n\u201cHERE\u2019S THE REPORT, SIR.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n Shall I call Atlanta and give it to her?\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nVenable scowled as he looked down at the report that Agent David Harley had put in front of him. This inquiry was shaping up to be a king-size headache. Why had he become involved in this mess?<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nHe knew the answer. He liked Joe Quinn and Eve Duncan, and they had helped the CIA on many occasions. When Catherine Ling had asked him to pull strings and get this report concerning the death of Eve\u2019s daughter, he\u2019d thought it might be a way to pay back.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nHe wasn\u2019t sure that would be true any longer. Eve Duncan was very fragile where anything connected to her murdered daughter, Bonnie, was concerned.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cIs anything wrong?\u201d Agent Harley asked. \u201cI used three sources. It all checked out. And Catherine Ling is usually very accurate.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nAnd Harley would be careful, Venable thought. He was new, but he was eager and conscientious.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cNo, I\u2019m sure you verified it correctly.\u201d He shrugged. \u201cI can just see a blowup looming on the horizon.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cBut Catherine Ling\u2019s e-mail said that\u2014\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cI know.\u201d Venable held up his hand to stop him. Harley had met Catherine Ling only once, but he had been dazzled by her. Most men had the same response to Catherine. She was not only a top CIA agent, but she was part Caucasian, part Asian, and was one of the most gorgeous and exotic women Venable had ever met. \u201cCatherine may be accurate, but that doesn\u2019t mean she might not trigger an explosion. She\u2019s ramming her way through every source I have to get that information, and she\u2019s not going to stop.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cEve Duncan,\u201d Harley repeated tentatively, glancing at the report. \u201cI\u2019ve heard of her. I saw some photos. Skulls and stuff. She\u2019s a forensic sculptor, isn\u2019t she?\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cHave a little respect. She\u2019s <\/span>
\n
\nthe<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n forensic sculptor,\u201d Venable said. \u201cShe\u2019s probably the best forensic sculptor in the world. Every police department in the country is standing in line to get her to work on their cold cases involving skeletal remains. Totally dedicated.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cNot totally.\u201d Harley smiled. \u201cI read that report. She\u2019s been living with her lover police detective, Joe Quinn, for a number of years. In real life, she obviously prefers a warm body to those skeletons.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cHe\u2019s a good guy,\u201d Venable said. \u201cAnd tough as hell. He\u2019s an ex-SEAL. As I said, have a little respect, or you might regret it. He\u2019s been with Eve since her daughter Bonnie was kidnapped by a serial killer years ago. The kid was only seven years old, and it nearly destroyed Eve.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cI can see how it might be traumatic. Was she murdered?\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cAlmost certainly. Though Bonnie\u2019s body was never recovered and the real killer never arrested. That\u2019s why Eve went back to school to become a forensic sculptor, to help bring other lost children home. But Eve\u2019s been on the hunt for Bonnie\u2019s killer all these years.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cMy wife\u2019s pregnant and should be delivering my son any day,\u201d Harley said. \u201cI don\u2019t know what I\u2019d do if anything happened to him.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cGo on the hunt,\u201d Venable said. \u201cAs Eve Duncan is doing. As Joe Quinn is doing.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cWhat about you, Agent Venable? Do you have any children?\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nVenable shook his head. \u201cDivorced. No kids. I have a job. A family would get in the way.\u201d He tapped the report. \u201cAnd Eve Duncan is a prime example of why I should stay that way. Finding her daughter\u2019s killer has become an obsession that\u2019s dominating everything and everyone around her. Including me.\u201d He swore beneath his breath. \u201cCatherine Ling should have stayed out of it. But no, she thinks that she can straighten out the entire world if she puts her mind to it.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cShe\u2019s very clever,\u201d Harley said. \u201cIt could happen, sir.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cAre we expecting any more info?\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nHarley shook his head. \u201cThose are the only sources you asked me to tap.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nAnd the sources Catherine Ling had asked Venable to tap. She had known exactly what she\u2019d wanted. He\u2019d asked her to wait for these reports before she went to Eve Duncan with the information, but he couldn\u2019t be sure that she\u2019d do it. Catherine marched to her own drummer and had been so on edge that she\u2019d wanted to get the confrontation over. That was always Catherine\u2019s way. Bold, up-front, on the attack.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThat had been Eve\u2019s method of handling problems, too. It was one reason why the two women had become close friends.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cI\u2019ll be glad to call Agent Ling and give her the information on this report for you,\u201d Harley offered.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cI bet you would,\u201d Venable murmured. \u201cBut I think I\u2019d better handle this myself. You can\u2019t expect a straightforward response from Catherine on this particular matter.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cIt seems pretty cut-and-dried to me.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cDoes it?\u201d He was tempted to let Harley contact Catherine and have her interrogate him. If he thought she would become his new best friend, he was going to be sadly disappointed. She was going to want every detail so that she could mull the pros and cons, and she would be firing questions like a machine gun. It wasn\u2019t often that Catherine formed a friendship with anyone, but she genuinely liked Eve Duncan, and she wanted every detail to be absolutely correct. \u201cNo, I\u2019ll talk to her.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nHarley looked disappointed, but he shrugged and left the office.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nAll right, Catherine. Venable took out his phone. Here\u2019s your ammunition to blow Eve out of the water. You may mean well, but it could go either way. I hope to hell both you and Eve manage to survive it.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n*\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0*\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0*<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n
\nTHERE WAS SOMETHING WRONG WITH EVE.<\/span>
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nJoe Quinn had glanced casually up to the porch from where he was standing at the barbecue grill near the lake. Eve had been sitting on the porch swing, but was now standing beside Catherine Ling, and Joe could tell that every muscle of her body was taut with tension.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nWhat the hell?<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nMaybe he was mistaken. The sun was going down, and it was almost dark. Perhaps those nuances of unrest he thought he was seeing weren\u2019t really there. Catherine Ling had become a good friend to Eve, and there was no way that she would deliberately upset her.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nDammit, he <\/span>
\n
\nwasn\u2019t<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n mistaken.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nHe had lived with Eve so long that he knew every mood, every flex of her body as if it were his own. Whatever Catherine was saying to Eve, it was disturbing her. He\u2019d better go up to the porch and\u2014<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nHis cell phone rang, and he glanced at the ID.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nVenable. CIA.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nJoe was tempted to let it go to voice mail and call back later. No, Catherine Ling was also CIA. Joe had an idea it might be a good idea to take the call before he barged up those stairs in protective mode.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cWhat do you want, Venable?\u201d he asked as he pressed the button.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cIs Catherine Ling there? She\u2019s not answering her phone.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cShe\u2019s here. She\u2019s been here all afternoon. Maybe she doesn\u2019t want to talk to you. The jobs you send Catherine on aren\u2019t always pleasant. It could be that she wants a vacation.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cCatherine?\u201d He added testily, \u201cI told her to take a vacation after Russia, but she dove right into this inquiry and pulled me in with her.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cWhat investigation?\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cJust an inquiry. Tell Catherine I need her to call me. I have the final report.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cVenable, what\u2019s this all about?\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cAsk Catherine. I\u2019m supposed to be discreet. You\u2019d think that she was <\/span>
\n
\nmy<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n superior.\u201d He hung up.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nJoe gazed up at the porch. It was fully dark, and they hadn\u2019t turned on the porch light. He could barely discern the two women standing by the rail. But what he couldn\u2019t see, he could feel. His instincts toward Eve had been honed to sharpness, and he could sense the emotional disturbance that was swirling about her.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nAsk Catherine.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThere was no doubt that he\u2019d ask Catherine. He didn\u2019t like any of this. He felt closed out.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nHe started toward the porch, then stopped.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nWhat could he do? His instinct was to join them, become part of whatever was going on between them. But Eve wouldn\u2019t appreciate his interfering. She was an independent woman. It wasn\u2019t as if Catherine was a threat. She was Eve\u2019s friend.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nBut even a friend could become a threat if circumstances warranted.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nNot Catherine. He trusted Catherine.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nHe slowly turned and went back to the barbecue pit.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nKeep cool. Eve would tell him what was going on eventually.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nIgnore that uneasiness.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nUntil he couldn\u2019t stand it any longer.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n*\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0*\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0*<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n
\nEVE ASKED CATHERINE, \u201cBUT<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n why not leave in the morning?\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201c\u2026 I don\u2019t want to inconvenience you any more than I have to. You\u2019ve done enough for me, Eve.\u201d Catherine\u2019s gaze was on Joe standing below them at the barbecue pit. \u201cWe\u2019ve done nothing but talk about my problems. Let\u2019s talk about you and Joe. Is everything all right between you?\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cWhy do you ask?\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cI just thought I caught some vibes from him today.\u201d Her gaze was still on Joe. \u201cYou\u2019re very lucky, you know. He\u2019s pretty fantastic.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cYes, he is.\u201d Eve added, \u201cAnd I know you think he\u2019s special. You\u2019ve told me.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cYes, I\u2019ve always been honest with you.\u201d She paused. \u201cI always will be.\u201d She turned to face her. \u201cI\u2019m no threat to you, Eve.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cYou could be if you wanted to be. You\u2019re an incredibly magnetic woman, Catherine.\u201d She gazed steadily at her. \u201cBut in the end, the threat would come only from Joe. He\u2019s the only one who can hurt me.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cI\u2019d never hurt you.\u201d Catherine\u2019s voice was passionate. \u201cI\u2019ve never had a friend like you before. At first, I was only concerned about what you could do for me, but that changed. You changed my life. I felt\u00a0\u2026 close to you.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cAnd I feel close to you.\u201d Eve smiled. \u201cSo stop agonizing about it, Catherine.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cI don\u2019t want to hurt you.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nEve\u2019s smile faded. \u201cAre we still talking about Joe?\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cNo. Yes. I guess in a way we are.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cSpeak up. It\u2019s not like you to be inarticulate.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nCatherine turned back to look down at Joe. \u201cDid you finish the reconstruction on Cindy?\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nCindy was the reconstruction that Eve had been working on weeks ago before she had gone to Russia at Catherine\u2019s request. It had been very difficult, and Catherine had been a great help. \u201cOf course, she was done a week after I came home from Russia. It wasn\u2019t that difficult.\u201d She smiled. \u201cNot after I had a little help from my friends during the initial prep work.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cWas she a pretty little girl?\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cYes.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cLike your Bonnie?\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nA tiny disturbance rippled through Eve. She didn\u2019t look at all like Bonnie. \u201cWhy are you talking about Bonnie, Catherine?\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cBecause I think Joe is jealous of your obsession with Bonnie. Not of your daughter. Just of your feelings for her. He\u2019d have to be a saint not to feel a little put in the shade by the way you feel. Isn\u2019t that true?\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nShe didn\u2019t speak for a moment. \u201cYes. But friend or not, I don\u2019t want to discuss this with you, Catherine.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cI have to discuss it with you. Do you think I want to do it? I was even thinking of walking away and forgetting about it. But I can\u2019t do that, Eve.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nEve frowned. \u201cWhat are you talking about?\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cYou and Joe have a giant problem, and I don\u2019t want to make it any bigger.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cHow could you do that?\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cEasily.\u201d Her lips twisted. \u201cI\u2019m good at what I do. I\u2019m an expert. I just set my mind to it and cause the sky to fall.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nEve slowly rose from the swing and went to stand beside Catherine. \u201cTalk to me.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nCatherine looked away from her again. \u201cI told you I\u2019d pay you back, remember? I was so grateful I wanted to give you what you wanted most in the world.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nEve gazed at her with exasperation. No matter how she tried, she couldn\u2019t convince Catherine to accept what Eve had done as a gesture of friendship and let it go. Catherine had come to her to ask her to do an age progression on her son Luke, who had been kidnapped when he was two and had been missing for nine years. Eve had been inevitably drawn into the search for Luke that had culminated in a deadly race to save him from his kidnapper in Russia. \u201cAnd I told you to forget it.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cThat\u2019s not in my makeup.\u201d She was silent for a minute. \u201cWhat you want most in the world is to bring your Bonnie home. To do that you have to find her killer. When I came home from Hong Kong, I had lots of time to concentrate on thinking about your problem. I tried to look at the crime from an objective and fresh point of view. Then I started to dig. I used every contact and information-gathering unit I had at my disposal and at Venable\u2019s disposal. We even tapped the NSA.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nEve could feel her chest tightening. Don\u2019t hope. The search had gone on too long for Catherine to just step in and perform a miracle. \u201cJoe was FBI at the time Bonnie was taken. We didn\u2019t exactly stop at local law enforcement.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cBut all the information wasn\u2019t available then.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cI know that. My friend, Montalvo, recently gave me a list of three new suspects. Two didn\u2019t pan out, but I still have the third one to investigate. Paul Black. Is that the name you ran across?\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cHis name popped up.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nEve\u2019s gaze narrowed on Catherine\u2019s face. \u201cBut?\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cI was more interested in someone else.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cWho?\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cHe had opportunity. He might have had motive.\u201d She was speaking quickly, tersely. \u201cIn this type of crime, there\u2019s ample precedent for this kind of perpetrator.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cDammit. Why are you being so evasive?\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cJoe. I can see you have to walk very carefully where he\u2019s concerned. He\u2019s very emotional about your obsession with Bonnie. He\u2019s nuts about you.\u201d Her hands tightened on the porch rail. \u201cAnd he doesn\u2019t need to come face-to-face with this for it to tear him apart. Hell, it might tear you both apart.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cCatherine.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cOkay.\u201d She drew a deep breath. \u201cJoe has been thinking about you as being totally his own since the moment you met. It\u2019s been the saving grace when he had to come to terms with your obsession with Bonnie. It would disturb the hell out of him to lose that security.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cThere\u2019s no way he would lose it.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cNo? You\u2019re very cool, very controlled, but it wasn\u2019t like that always. There was a time when you lost your head and spun out of control over a man.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nEve was beginning to see where Catherine was going. No, it couldn\u2019t be. It was impossible. She asked hoarsely, \u201cCatherine, who killed my Bonnie?\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cI didn\u2019t say I was certain.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nEve was shaking. \u201cTell me. Tell me the name.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cYou want a name?\u201d Catherine drew a deep breath. \u201cThe name you didn\u2019t even see fit to put on the birth certificate, Eve,\u201d she said gently. \u201cBonnie\u2019s father, John Gallo.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n*\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0*\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0*<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n
\nEVE HAD BEEN EXPECTING IT, <\/span>
\n<\/span>
\nbut the name struck her, stunned her. She couldn\u2019t breathe. She could barely speak, \u201cNo\u00a0\u2026 it\u2019s not true. You don\u2019t understand. It\u2019s not true.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nBut if Catherine thought it true, then somehow it might be.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nNo, it was impossible.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cEve, I wouldn\u2019t have just pulled his name\u2014\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cNo!\u201d She had to get out of here. She had to be alone. She whirled and was across the porch, fumbling at the screen door. \u201cYou\u2019re wrong, Catherine. You couldn\u2019t be more wrong. It\u2019s not\u2014\u201d She slammed the door behind her and leaned back against it, staring into the darkness.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nCool and controlled, Catherine had called her. Where was that coolness now? She felt as vulnerable and emotional as she had when she was that sixteen-year-old kid who had given birth to Bonnie. So angry, so defiant, so passionate.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nJohn Gallo.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nCatherine\u2019s words had sent her spiraling back to that sixteen-year-old girl.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nBack to John Gallo\u00a0\u2026<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

Read the full book by downloading it below.<\/p>\n

DOWNLOAD EPUB<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Book Preview CHAPTER 1 Malua, Samoa Present day TWO MINUTES. The explosive was in place beneath the back veranda of the house. The charge set. Agent Art Benkman slid behind the garden wall that surrounded the pool and house and waited. No mistakes this time. His superior wouldn\u2019t tolerate another near miss. It had been … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5618,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[383],"class_list":["post-5619","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-iris-johansen"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5619","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5619"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5619\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5618"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5619"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5619"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5619"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}