Bonnie

by Iris Johansen

  “I can’t let—” He broke off and drew a deep breath. “What are we talking about? He didn’t do it. I know he didn’t do it.”

  “Well, I don’t know that, John,” she said grimly. “And if you get in the way of my finding out, I’ll take you down.”

  “Cool it,” Catherine said quickly. “We’ll find out, Eve. I think Donnelly is the key. There must have been some kind of bond between them since they were together all those years. The relationship between patient and therapist is usually very intimate. The psychiatrist often is looked upon as almost a father figure.”

  “Not my uncle,” Gallo said grimly. “He wouldn’t have chosen to look upon anyone as a father figure. He told me my grandfather was an addict and abused both him and my father. That’s why he was so horrified when he became addicted to prescription drugs.”

  “Regardless, there could have been an element of emotional dependence on Donnelly,” Eve said. “What did Donnelly’s case files on Danner say?”

  “No case files. Which doesn’t surprise me. A psychiatrist’s records are usually ultraconfidential. Donnelly wouldn’t have turned them over to the hospital for anyone to riffle through.”

  “Then how do we get in touch with him to ask him questions? Do you have an address or telephone number? Can you contact him through the hospital?”

  “He’s no longer with this hospital. He resigned a number of years ago. He left no forwarding address. He placed all of his former patients with other psychiatrists and left his position.”

  “Someone has to know where he’s at,” Gallo said. “He must have had contact with other doctors and patients and their families. Particularly if he went to the trouble of placing his other patients with competent professionals. He can’t just have disappeared.”

  “Maybe he could,” Catherine said. “If he was paid enough.”

  “You’re thinking that Temple’s payoff and Donnelly’s resignation might not be a coincidence?”

  “Donnelly had his last appointment with Danner two weeks before Temple signed that death certificate. Something big was going down about that time.”

  “You believe that my uncle may have told Donnelly something in a therapy session that Donnelly used as a bargaining tool?” Gallo asked. “That his confidentiality only went as far as his wallet?”

  “I don’t believe anything right now. I’m just throwing ideas out there to see if they stick.” She paused. “But I located something else in Donnelly’s records. I had to dig because it was buried deep. Donnelly was involved in a court case about that time, a patient’s mother accused him of experimentation, of implanting false memories into her son’s mind.”

  “What was the verdict?”

  “I don’t know, the court records were sealed. He didn’t lose his license, but it might have spurred him to leave the hospital. Joe is talking to the head nurse in the psychiatric ward right now. The records clerk said she’d been here at the hospital for the last twenty years, so she’d have to have been familiar with Donnelly. I’ll let you know as soon as he comes back.” She hung up.

  Eve pressed the disconnect and gazed at Gallo. “Well?”

  “What do you expect me to say?” He turned away. “Am I scared and sick to my stomach about all this? Hell, yes. But all we know for sure is that my uncle lied to me, and he had a problem. We’ll have to see what Quinn finds out.”

  “Yes. That hospital doesn’t appear to have a great staff, does it? First Temple, and now this Dr. Donnelly. Memory implant? That would be truly criminal to experiment on a sick man.” She dropped down in the chair. She felt scared and sick, too. She couldn’t forget the image of the gentle, kind man who had looked at Bonnie and told Eve what a pretty little girl she was. “But I don’t see how you could have been fooled. I was a stranger to him, but you must have suspected he wasn’t quite…”

  “Sane? He was more normal than anyone I knew. Almost everyone I grew up with was a little twisted and lived in dysfunctional homes. It went with the territory.” His lips twisted. “When you live with poverty, vice, and drugs, you don’t expect normalcy. You know that yourself, Eve.”

  Yes, she did. That’s why she had fought so desperately to get away from that life so it wouldn’t taint Bonnie. “You didn’t notice anything different about him when he came back from overseas when he was discharged?”

  “No.” He thought about it. “It’s hard to remember. No, maybe he seemed a little quieter. But I was a teenager, and I was self-centered like most kids and might not have noticed. There wasn’t anything weird about him. He was a good guy, Eve.”

  She didn’t answer.

  His lips thinned. “It’s true. He was the best—”

  Eve’s phone rang and she glanced at the ID. “Joe.” She punched the button. “What did you find out, Joe?”

  “I found out that the people here who know Donnelly aren’t willing to talk about him. I talked to a nurse and two doctors on staff. The head nurse was wary about giving out any information at all. She said he was an exceptional doctor and had a great rapport with his patients. She knew nothing about any court case.”

  “Good, then there’s a chance that Danner bonded with him,” Eve said. “Did you get an address?”

  “No, she hasn’t heard from him in several years.” He paused. “According to her, the reason he quit was that he was suffering severe burnout. He was going to take a rest before he opened his own practice.”

  “Where did he go? Can we trace him?”

  “We can try. He was going to visit a cousin, James O’Leary, who lived in Ireland.”

  “Ireland? What city?”

  “Dublin. The cousin might know something. I’ve already placed a few calls, and Catherine is having Venable do some checking. We should know soon.” He paused. “Are you okay, Eve?”

  “Fine. Confused, a little scared. But I’ll get through it.”

  “You always do.” He didn’t speak again for a moment. “I don’t like the way this is playing out. I want to come to you.”

  “Not yet.” She wanted to see him, too. It didn’t seem right that she wasn’t working beside him toward finding Bonnie. Yet it had been her choice, and she had to stick with it. But it was damn difficult.

  “There’s no reason,” Joe said roughly. “Tell Gallo that we’re going to find his uncle no matter what he does. I’m not going to let him find him first, so that he can decide whether or not he wants to keep him away from us. Danner is a prime suspect, and there’s not going to be a cover-up.”

  “You know I wouldn’t let that happen.” She was watching Gallo’s face. All the torment and uncertainty had faded, and his face was hard and without expression. What was he thinking? Whatever it was, she had to find out. “I have to go, Joe. Let me know what you learn from Donnelly’s cousin.”

  “Eve, I mean it. I don’t trust Gallo, and you shouldn’t either. I need to be there with you.”

  “You will be. I love you.” She hung up the phone. She studied Gallo for a moment. He had closed himself away from her, and she wasn’t sure how to reach him. “Joe seems to have hopes of a breakthrough if he finds out where Donnelly is right now. Do you think that your uncle would have confided in this psychiatrist?”

  “How can I be sure?” Gallo shrugged. “The man you tell me he’s become isn’t the Ted Danner I know. You’re looking at this with an objectivity that I don’t possess.”

  “Objectivity?” She shook her head. “What the hell do you mean? This is about Bonnie. There’s no way I could ever be objective about Bonnie’s murderer.”

  “Listen to you, you’ve already convicted him,” he said fiercely. “You’re wrong. He wouldn’t have killed a child.”

  “I hope not, for your sake.” She glanced away from him. “But we have to figure out a few things before we can even delve into what he’d do or not do. How did he make a connection with Jacobs and Queen? Did you write to him and tell him that you’d been contacted by them to go into North Korea on a special mission?”

&nb
sp; “No. As you know, Jacobs and Queen were in Army Intelligence, and they told me it was top secret.” His lips twisted. “I had no idea what a dirty secret it was going to turn out to be. Drugs and smuggling instead of saving the world from nuclear proliferation. I was a fool.”

  “How could you know Jacobs and Queen were criminals? They deceived the Army for years.” She went back to the main subject. “If you didn’t tell him about Jacobs, how did he find out about them?”

  “I don’t know. My uncle was sharp. He’d been a Ranger for years, and he had contacts with all kinds of brass in different departments of the Army. People liked him, trusted him. Maybe he found out that Jacobs and Queen sent me on that mission.”

  “And that would make him angry. He was very protective of you, wasn’t he?”

  “Of course he was,” Gallo said curtly. “He got used to trying to keep me safe from my dad. But that doesn’t mean he’d go after a superior officer just for sending me on a dangerous mission. Why would he? He knew being a Ranger was risky. When I told him I wanted to join the service, he tried to talk me out of it.”

  “But you wanted to follow in his footsteps. He must have felt terribly responsible when he thought you’d been killed on your first mission.”

  “And you’re saying that sent him off his rocker?”

  “I’m not sure. Maybe not. I remember when Danner told me that you’d been killed, he was very bitter against the Army and anyone else who might have been guilty of contributing to sending you to your death. So he might not have been as philosophical as you think about accepting the risks of your being a Ranger.”

  Gallo was shaking his head.

  Lord, he was stubborn. But how could she blame him when she was forcing him to look at his uncle in a completely different way than he ever had before. Tough. “It’s true. He loved you, and he was bitter. That’s all I know. I thought it was perfectly natural. I had no idea he had a mental problem.” She had a sudden chilling memory of Danner smiling down at Bonnie and telling Eve that her daughter looked like Gallo. She had not looked any deeper than the obvious in any of Danner’s actions. She had felt sorry for him. But had there been something ugly and twisted of which she hadn’t been aware in that contact with Bonnie? “All we’re doing is guessing. We have to get Donnelly’s records of his therapy sessions with Danner.”

  “And we have to find Donnelly before we can do that.” He turned away. “And I’m not going to wait around for Quinn or Venable to locate this cousin in Dublin. I’m going to start making phone calls myself.”

  “Because you want to be two steps ahead of them?”

  He gave her a cool glance. “Does that surprise you?”

  “No, right now for you it’s all about getting to Ted Danner before any of the rest of us do. But it’s not going to happen. I’m sticking with you all the way. I’m not letting you out of my sight, John.”

  “Really?” He tilted his head. “You’re still so sure that Bonnie wants us to be together?”

  “Yes.” She met his eyes. “I thought it was because she knew you were in pain and needed to be here when we found out what happened to her.”

  His smile was twisted. “And you don’t feel like that any longer?”

  “Another reason occurred to me. Perhaps she wanted me to be with you to make sure that everything went as it was supposed to go. That you didn’t try to stop me from finding Bonnie and the man who killed her.”

  “You believe I’d do that?”

  She couldn’t read his expression. There was hardness in the curve of his lips, and his dark eyes were glittering with a hint of recklessness. Yet she was still aware of the underlying pain that lay beneath that hardness. In which direction was he headed? Eve knew that he loved Bonnie. But he also loved his uncle and was very grateful to him for years of protection and affection in a barren world. “I don’t know what I believe right now. But I’m not going to take a chance. We’re joined at the hip until we find your uncle.” She smiled wearily. “So you can call information in Dublin and see if we can locate Donnelly’s cousin if you like. Do you know how many O’Learys there will be in that city? I’m going to call Catherine back and see if Venable or Joe can narrow down the odds. We’ll see which method will get us what we need the quickest.”

  * * *

  IT TOOK OVER AN HOUR for Catherine to get back to Eve about O’Leary’s phone and address.

  “I found him,” Catherine said. “O’Leary owns a pub outside Dublin.”

  “What’s his phone number?”

  Catherine rattled off the number. “But you don’t need it. I talked to him. He was belligerent as hell and drunk as a skunk, but he did finally answer a few questions. He hasn’t seen Donnelly since he visited him after he left the hospital. He stayed with O’Leary for about three months, then went back to the U.S.”

  “Does he have an address?”

  “Not a current one. He hasn’t heard from him since about a year after he left Dublin. It appears they didn’t get along too well. O’Leary likes his pints a bit too much, and his cousin was always trying to make him cut down his drinking. Actually, from what Venable tells me, O’Leary is an alcoholic. I can see a psychiatrist trying to help him with his problem, but O’Leary didn’t appreciate Donnelly’s interfering in his life.”

  “Where was Donnelly’s last address?”

  “A university town near Valdosta, Georgia.”

  “What? He’s not practicing any longer? He’s teaching?”

  “He wasn’t on the staff as far as we can tell. Joe and I are going down there to ask some questions. Do you want to meet us there?”

  Gallo was shaking his head.

  “Maybe not,” Eve said. “We’re in the car on our way to the airport to catch a flight for Atlanta. And I imagine Gallo wants to talk to O’Leary himself. Let us know what you find out.” She hung up, and said to Gallo, “Though I don’t know what you think that you can find out from O’Leary that Catherine didn’t.”

  “Probably nothing. But there’s no use all of us converging on that university town. I’m my uncle’s next of kin, and maybe the hospital would tell me something they wouldn’t tell Catherine and Quinn.”

  “And you don’t want to get too close to Joe or Catherine,” Eve said shrewdly. “They might get in your way.”

  “Very perceptive. I don’t deny that could be part of it.” He gazed at Eve. “When we get to the airport, I’m going to try to call O’Leary and see if I can catch something that Catherine didn’t find out. She said he was drunk. But after I make that call, I’m boarding the first flight to Atlanta.” He paused. “But you might prefer to catch a flight to Valdosta to meet Catherine and Quinn. You might find it more profitable.”

  “Forget it,” Eve said grimly. “I’m not leaving you, John.”

  “I was afraid that would be your answer.” He looked back at the highway, and said soberly, “I hope you won’t regret it, Eve.”

  She hoped she wouldn’t either, she thought. She didn’t know whether staying with Gallo would translate into protecting him or battling with him. She didn’t want to do either. She wanted to be with Joe at this crucial time.

  Stay the course. Every instinct was still telling her that she had to travel this path.

  But why, Bonnie?

  * * *

  “WHY, BONNIE?”

  Bonnie lifted her head as Eve’s words swept to her like a wind through autumn leaves.

  So much pain. So much bewilderment.

  She couldn’t always hear her mother when she spoke to her when Bonnie was here on this plane. As she’d told Eve, it was like being in two different worlds with different rules and memories. She was not allowed to take this world with her. The balance was difficult, and letting her go back from here to Eve’s world was a trade-off. It was usually only when Eve needed her most that she could break through the barrier and be there for her.

  Why?

  I wish I could tell you, Mama. I don’t know myself. I’m feeling my way and hoping that
everything will come together. I have to have faith that it will. I don’t even know why it couldn’t have happened before. I wanted all the hurt to go away for you, and it hurt me that it didn’t. But there’s that wonderful order here that I have to trust.

  As Bonnie was doing this moment in the middle of this forest that teemed with life … and death.

  She fell to her knees beside the injured doe that was soon going to pass to the other side.

  She could see the deer’s heart beating frantically with fear. Fear was always the most terrible part of the passing.

  Don’t be afraid. I’m here with you. She gently put her hand on the deer’s head. I’ll show you. See? You’ll be safe soon, and there will be nothing but the joy. Do you see it?

  The doe was quieting and looking up at her with eyes that no longer held the fear, only the wonder.

  Trust. Love. It’s all there waiting for you. It’s only the beginning. Do you see it?

  Wonder was being replaced by the joy in the deer’s eyes.

  And Bonnie knew she was beginning to see it.

  * * *

  “WHY ARE YOU PHONING ME? Why the hell are you bothering me?” James O’Leary’s voice was rough with irritation and slightly thick from the alcohol he’d obviously been imbibing. “I’ve already talked to that nosy Ling woman. She wouldn’t leave me alone. I told her I didn’t have time to talk to her. I have a business to run. Now you come asking me the same questions.”

  “Because I’m not satisfied that she got the right answers,” Gallo said.

  O’Leary muttered a curse. “I’m hanging up now.”

  “And I’ll call you back. If you don’t answer, then I’ll get on a plane and be knocking on the door of your pub within a matter of hours. I won’t give up, O’Leary. And I’m much more difficult to deal with in person. It would be much smarter if you give me a few moments right now.”

  Silence. “What the hell did Kevin do to you all?”

  “Nothing that would get him in trouble with the authorities. We just need some information from him that he may have obtained from one of his patients.”