Chapter 11: Safe Harbor: Chapter 11

‘ILYA, good to see you again.’ Jonas extended his hand toward the Russian.

Ilya rose from the chair where Libby had seated him and shook the sheriff’s hand. He nodded to Kate and Sarah. ‘I had hoped to see Hannah.’

‘She’ll be down in a few minutes,’ Jonas assured him. ‘She’s doing much better.’

‘I was surprised they allowed her home. Another few days in the hospital would have been good for her,’ Prakenskii said.

‘She needed to be home with us,’ Sarah said. ‘And Libby is a doctor. She makes certain Hannah is well cared for.’

Jonas studied the Russian. In the hospital, he had been too consumed with Hannah to do anything but stay by her side and will her to live, but now he looked closely at the man who had saved her life. Ilya Prakenskii gave Jonas the impression of a caged tiger, quiet and watchful, power and lethal intent coiled and ready to spring with razor-sharp claws. It was impossible to try to read behind his piercing eyes. Ice cold, dagger sharp, Prakenskii’s eyes revealed absolutely nothing, not even to a professional like Jonas.

‘And it’s easy to protect her here, on your own home turf,’ Prakenskii said, his voice casual. There was nothing casual about the sweep of his gaze as it went around the room, taking in every detail. He focused for a moment on the intricate mosaic tile at the entryway. A muscle ticked in his jaw and his gaze met Sarah’s briefly before moving toward the entrance. A polite smile showed white teeth and nothing more as he rose.

‘There you are. It’s good to see you up and around, Hannah.’

She had dressed in a long flowing skirt and a long-sleeved blouse. Jonas closed his eyes briefly as she moved into the room. To him, she was beautiful—utterly—absolutely beautiful. The scars were jagged and vicious, bright red and raw, seaming her face and down her neck in angry patches, but it didn’t matter. Hannah appeared ethereal to him, mysterious and sexy and the epitome of feminine courage. She had hidden from him—her sisters—reporters and photographers, but had refused to hide from a potential enemy.

Her shoulders were straight, her hair streaming down in long spirals, and even without makeup, even with the horrible wounds still so fresh, she appeared elegant, graceful and welcoming.

Pride swelled in him and Jonas came to his feet, crossed instantly to her side and swept an arm around her waist, his gaze meeting Prakenskii’s. It was both a warning and a declaration between men.

Prakenskii took Hannah’s outstretched hand and bowed low. ‘You are healing nicely.

Soon, there will be no evidence. Are you sleeping well? Sometimes, after these incidents, one has trouble.’

To Jonas’s surprise, Hannah told the truth. ‘I have trouble, but Jonas and Sarah both warned me I might, so I wasn’t surprised or upset by it.’ She indicated his chair. ‘Please sit down. Would you care for some tea?’

‘I’d like that, thank you.’

Hannah waved her hand toward the kitchen and seated herself opposite Prakenskii. ‘It was quite unnecessary for you to come all this way to check on me, but I appreciate it.’

She smiled at the man, but her hand slid down Jonas’s arm until her fingers were linked with his and she was squeezing so tight her knuckles were white.

‘Of course I would want to know how you were doing,’ Prakenskii said. ‘When one develops such a connection, the interest is always there.’

His accent put a twist to the words and his gaze remained steady on her face. Sarah stirred uncomfortably and Jonas felt a surge of power in the room. He couldn’t tell where it came from, but Ilya Prakenskii swung his head alertly, a wolf catching the scent of prey. Jonas watched him closely and he could see everything shift and focus beneath that calm demeanor. Joley walked into the room. It seemed as though everyone held their breath. The tension ratcheted up another notch.

He knew. Did you see that, Hannah? He felt her before she came in.

Prakenskii’s head swung back, just briefly, so that those piercing eyes could flick from Jonas to Hannah, and for the first time, there was surprise.

He knows. Hannah’s husky voice slid into Jonas’s mind. He knows you’re telepathic and it surprised him.

It surprised me as well, Jonas admitted truthfully.

Prakenskii once again rose to his feet. ‘Joley. It is always a pleasure to see you.’

She didn’t offer her hand, but smiled and inclined her head, queen to peasant, her dark brown eyes going almost black as her gaze swept the Russian from head to toe. ‘Don’t stand, Prakenskii, it isn’t necessary.’

‘It is, however, courteous,’ he said with a slight bow.

Joley blushed, the color sweeping up her neck into her face, and her eyes glittered, twin points of black obsidian. The floor shifted beneath their feet, lights flickered, curtains fluttered, even the walls undulated in sweeping waves as the room swelled with power. A picture above the fireplace fell. It stopped abruptly in midair and then, before it could hit the floor, rose leisurely to hang neatly back in place. Everyone in the room went still as they absorbed Prakenskii’s obvious reprimand.

Hannah’s hand slipped from Jonas’s and she rose with her usual grace, crossing to Joley, slipping between Prakenskii and her sister to slide her arm around Joley’s waist. ‘Thank you for dealing so efficiently with the reporters, Joley. You made me laugh and few things make me laugh these days.’

‘I enjoyed it, although nothing stops them for long. They’ve surrounded the place. The only reason the fence hasn’t been torn down and trampled is because we have a security force guarding it.’

The tea tray floated in with several steaming mugs and she directed it toward Prakenskii, as if every day of the week people saw floating trays. ‘The cookies are Libby’s, so they’re particularly good for you, along with tasting great. The honey is in the small creamer.’

The Russian deftly plucked a mug and a cookie, lifting the cup toward Hannah in a salute as he reseated himself. He didn’t outwardly appear in the least upset over his less than enthusiastic welcome from Joley, but the tension in the room remained. ‘The place is overrun not only with photographers and reporters, but also your fans. In the crowd it is impossible to tell who is friend or enemy.’

Jonas leaned forward, snagging Hannah’s hand and tugging until she sat beside him. He shifted slightly, enough to put his body in a position to defend Hannah should the need arise. He didn’t trust Prakenskii, not with an aura of danger surrounding him and every single Drake sister on alert. He wished Sarah and Kate had kept Joley out of the mix.

Joley and Prakenskii obviously rubbed each other the wrong way and he could see, quite clearly, that in spite of Prakenskii’s expressionless features, a storm lurked below the surface when his gaze rested on her.

He’s angry with Joley for some reason, Hannah confirmed, but I can’t tell why. Not just angry, Jonas, he’s livid with her. I can catch glimpses of it, like a white-hot rage, and it isn’t even buried all that well. I don’t think he cares if I know or not.

It was an unexpected complication. And Prakenskii’s veiled warnings annoyed Jonas. ‘If you know something, just say it, straight out, Prakenskii. Why would you think an enemy would be in Sea Haven? They’re dead.’

Sarah gasped and Kate made a sound of distress. Libby frowned and missed taking a cup of tea from the tray as it passed her.

‘I don’t think it’s necessary to discuss this in front of Hannah,’ Sarah intervened.

Hannah gripped Jonas’s hand harder. They were doing it again, protecting her. Had she always been such a baby that they felt the need to wrap her up in cotton and shield her from every danger? Or was it the attack? Had it changed her sisters as much as it had changed her?

Jonas laid his other hand over hers, trapping her fingers and hiding the white knuckles from Prakenskii’s sharp gaze. ‘Of course Hannah wants to know whether or not Ilya believes there is further danger to her. We all do.’

‘I don’t think you believe for one moment that the danger to Hannah is past,’ Prakenskii said. ‘It read like a hit to me. And hits, as amateurish as that one was, are usually paid for and ordered by another individual hiding in the shadows. But you know that, Mr.

Harrington.’

‘Jonas?’ Hannah looked at him, forcing him to meet her inquiring gaze.

‘Damn it, Hannah, don’t look at me like that.’

‘Don’t swear at her, Jonas,’ Libby snapped.

Both ignored her.

‘It isn’t over?’

‘You didn’t think it was either, so don’t even go there. That couple were idiots. Like Prakenskii said, amateurs. Someone else had to be behind it. Why do you think you’re not in the hospital right now? I needed you where you had protection around the clock.’

‘Did it occur to you that if I’m in danger, and you bring me here, so are my sisters?’

Hannah hissed the words between her teeth at him, her bright hair crackling with electricity and the liquid in her tea mug boiling.

‘Sarah is a security expert. Your sisters are all psychic and they have enough powers to help. We can see what’s coming at us here.’

‘I’m not going to put my sisters in jeopardy, Jonas, not for one minute. You should have told me immediately what you thought.’

‘I agree with Hannah,’ Prakenskii said, joining the fray without a qualm. ‘The others shouldn’t be placed in harm’s way. It only makes for more targets and therefore more suspects.’

Joley threw her tea mug at him, her aim deadly accurate. Prakenskii waved his hand and the missile and liquid stopped in midair. He flashed her one, deadly look, his blue eyes darkening to a turbulent sea. He snapped something at her in Russian.

Hannah made a small strangled sound and Joley’s breath was a hiss of warning.

What did he say to her? Did he just threaten her? ‘If you have something to say to Joley, Prakenskii, say it to everyone. If you’re threatening her…’

He told her to stop being childish, Hannah reassured Jonas.

‘Joley is perfectly capable of looking after herself with me, aren’t you?’ Prakenskii said.

‘Absolutely,’ Joley acknowledged and waved her hand toward her tea mug. Liquid filled the cup and it floated back. ‘Don’t worry, Jonas, I’ll be fine.’ She snapped something back at Prakenskii in his language and then switched to English. ‘And for your information, Hannah is our sister. We’re not about to cower in the corner while she’s in danger, so go beat your chest somewhere else.’

What did she say? Jonas asked.

She called him a few vile names.

‘One of these days; Joley, I’m going to retaliate and then what are you going to do?’

Prakenskii asked quietly, his gaze holding hers.

‘Don’t,’ Hannah intervened. ‘I need you to tell me what you think is going on, Prakenskii. Joley, please.’ See, Jonas, he keeps directing the focus back toward Joley.

What does he want from her? I’m afraid for her. Could this be about Joley?

Jonas turned the idea over in his mind. It felt wrong to him. Everything so far felt wrong.

He was missing the crucial piece of the puzzle that would snap everything into focus for him.

‘Please accept my apologies, Hannah,’ Prakenskii said. ‘It was not my intention to upset you. I wanted to assure myself that you were doing better and to warn Mr. Harrington that I still feel a threat is imminent. Unfortunately I can’t tell where it’s coming from or who it’s directed toward.’

‘Why would you warn us?’ Jonas asked bluntly.

Prakenskii sighed and put down the mug of tea. ‘Perhaps it is as simple as Hannah’s sister is marrying one of the few men in the world I call friend.’ His gaze strayed to where Joley stood rigid against the wall. ‘Or perhaps I wanted to see, one more time, whether the reason I can no longer sleep at night is worth it.’

Joley pressed tighter against the wall as if making herself small, yet there was defiance in every line of her body. ‘I don’t owe you any explanation whatsoever.’

‘Then I call in one of the favors your family owes to me. It is not your personal debt, but a debt of honor your family owes to me.’

Joley’s face went pale. ‘For that? We owe you two lives, yet you’ll give up one for a simple explanation of my behavior? You aren’t the brightest bulb on the planet, are you?’

Her melodic voice held the whip of insult and she tossed her head defiantly. ‘I thought you knew everything. You’re not nearly as powerful as you want us all to believe you are.’

‘Too powerful to be goaded by a rude, ungrateful coward who is still a child playing at being an adult.’

But her insults were getting to him. The balance in the room had shifted from the Drakes to Prakenskii and both Hannah and Jonas felt it. Hannah intervened again. ‘I’m the one who owes you, Mr. Prakenskii. If you would be so kind as to tell me what your favor entails, I’ll do my best to help you.’

‘I would like an explanation—’

‘Don’t. Don’t ask,’ Joley said. ‘Please don’t ask.’

‘I gave you every opportunity to explain.’

‘You haunted me day and night, tormented me. Made me angry. It isn’t your business. It’s stupid using up a favor from our family for such a trivial thing.’

‘Trivial.’ He stood up, and his rage poured into the room, white-hot, just as Hannah had said, a volcano erupting, so that the walls bulged out, unable to contain the red and black energy bursting into the room. The ground shifted and shadows moved over the mosaic tiles. Feminine voices cried out in eerie warning, rising from the floor and the walls.

The Drake sisters leapt to their feet, and Jonas put his body between the women and the furious Russian. He looked at no one but Joley. The two of them stood, their gazes locked in a battle no one else was part of or could understand.

‘Stop!’ Hannah glared at them. ‘Please sit down, Mr. Prakenskii.’ When he didn’t move, she stepped closer. ‘Ilya. Please.’

Prakenskii slowly pulled his gaze from Joley’s and took his seat. Joley shook her head as everyone else visibly relaxed and then she turned on her heel and left the room. The tension instantly lessened.

‘Please accept my apologies once again, Hannah,’ the Russian said. ‘I should have been more careful. I rarely lose my temper. I have no excuse.’ He lifted the mug of tea to his mouth, blew to calm the boiling liquid and took a drink.

‘I don’t understand. Why are you so angry with Joley? Is she in some kind of danger?’

Hannah forced her mind open, reaching—stretching—to catch a glimpse of the truth in him. She felt a barrage of emotions, the intensity nearly overwhelming, but just as quickly, he shored up his defenses and became as cold as ice.

‘Joley deliberately puts herself in danger.’

Hannah sank back into the chair and glanced briefly up at Jonas. Prakenskii believed he was telling the truth. She caught that as well as the accompanying temper pushed down deep. ‘What do you mean?’ For a moment she could barely breathe. Was someone after her sister, the way someone had wanted her dead?

Sarah opened her mouth but Hannah held up an imperious hand, effectively stopping anything she might say. Hannah never took charge and it shocked her sisters.

Joley stepped back into the room, her dark eyes blazing. ‘You want to know about the pictures in the tabloid? Me with my latest lover?’ She glared at Prakenskii, both hands on her hips, tossing her head so that her hair went flying in all directions. ‘It’s publicity. The man is history already, so you don’t need his name, but a photographer followed us to the house Tyson bought for Libby and caught us. Big deal.’

Prakenskii never took his eyes off her face when Joley made her declaration. A long slow hiss escaped and he stood in one fluid movement, with all the grace and predatory menace and deadly threat of a fully grown tiger. ‘When one calls in a favor, you tell the truth. I demand the truth and the name of this man who had his hands and mouth all over you.’

‘What difference does it make who he is?’ Joley’s chin was up, her eyes throwing off sparks.

‘I would not want to kill the wrong man.’

‘Whoa. Stop right there.’ Jonas jumped up. ‘You can’t make threats like that.’

‘It is a matter of honor.’ There was no emotion in his voice whatsoever. Prakenskii shrugged as if a life didn’t matter at all to him.

The Drakes looked at one another, puzzled, and then at Joley. She sucked in her breath.

‘Ilya,’ she began and then stopped, looking helplessly at Libby.

Ilya Prakenskii followed her gaze and frowned. ‘You owe me the truth and I’ve asked for it. One of you needs to provide it.’

Hannah looked around at her sisters. ‘I do owe you a tremendous debt, we all do, but this is not my secret to tell. If it was, I would give you the information that you ask for, but I’m sorry, I can’t.’

Prakenskii looked around the room at their faces. ‘I have asked that a debt of honor be repaid. You are refusing me?’

Libby shook her head. ‘No, we’re not.’ Color swept into her face, but she kept her gaze locked with his. ‘I was with Tyson at his house and someone wanted to harm him—us.

The man took pictures of the two of us. I’m a doctor and I’m not used to tabloids and the terrible things they do to a person’s life. Joley dyed her hair and took the heat, pretending the pictures were of her, so my reputation wouldn’t be damaged,’ Libby said. ‘It was a generous and loving thing for her to do.’

Prakenskii stood absolutely still in the middle of the room. His gaze rested on Joley’s averted face. ‘It was dangerous. And she knows it was. Look at me.’ When she didn’t, his voice hardened. ‘Look at me.’

Joley lifted her gaze to his.

‘You should have told me when I asked.’

‘It wasn’t your business.’

Hannah held up her hand. ‘Why does he keep saying you’re doing something dangerous, Joley?’

Joley shrugged. ‘I don’t know. He thinks I’m drawing all the crazies to me.’

Hannah went pale and reached back for Jonas, unaware that she did so. ‘I know you have precog, Ilya. If Joley’s in danger, come out and say so. Tell us where the danger is coming from.’

‘I have said so. And if I knew where it was coming from, I’d eliminate it,’ Prakenskii said. ‘I know you don’t trust me, Hannah, none of you do, and it doesn’t really matter, but whoever arranged the attack on you was making a point. It was brutal and vicious and direct. They tried to destroy your face and your body and then take your life. They’ll come after you again. And Joley is drawing the same kind of attention, but why? You’ll have to ask her.’ He spread his hands out.

He turned and headed toward the door. ‘I’m going to be in town awhile. I know you won’t ask for my help, but you’re going to get it anyway.’

‘Is Nikitin in town?’ Jonas asked.

‘Oh yes. Joley’s here. The press is here. Nikitin is going to be right in the thick of things.

He can do business from anywhere in the world, thanks to cell phones and computers.’

‘Why do you work for him?’ Jonas asked.

Prakenskii shrugged. ‘Where else is a man like me going to find work?’

Joley’s breath hissed out between her teeth. ‘Yeah, go crawling back and protect that worthless jerk. It isn’t like you can change who you are.’

Prakenskii paused at the door, his eyes glittering as they drifted over her furious face.

‘No, I can’t. Any more than you can.’

Jonas followed him outside. ‘Is Nikitin involved in the attack on Hannah?’

Prakenskii’s eyes had gone as cold as ice. ‘If he was, he’d be dead. Despite what you think of me, the Drakes are under my protection. But I’m hearing rumors—whispers—and so far I haven’t been able to find out who put out the hit, but there is one.’ He gestured toward the crowd of people around the fence. ‘You have a problem here.

Whoever it is will strike again and they’ll do it differently this time. They got their media attention and they made their statement. Now they want her dead.’

Jonas sent a long assessing look at the crush of people around the fence. Flowers, teddy bears and candles were everywhere. But he recognized a couple of the Reverend’s close guardians and he spotted Rudy Venturi, a man who followed Hannah everywhere she went, right up front, clutching flowers in his hands.

‘If I didn’t tell you before, Prakenskii, thanks for saving her life. She told me she never would have made it without you.’

Prakenskii stepped off the stairs and turned back, shaking his head, musing aloud. ‘It was a brutal attack, Harrington. Something’s not right about it to me. That kind of hatred should be easy enough to spot.’ He paused and looked slowly around. ‘Whoever wants her dead—they’re here. They’re right here in her hometown and they’re waiting for the chance to strike. I can feel them.’

‘Thanks. I’ll find them.’

‘I don’t doubt that you will—but will you be in time?’

Jonas’s face hardened. ‘Oh, yeah. I’ll be in time.’ He watched Prakenskii stride off, wondering just what game the man was playing—and what Joley was up to. He needed to talk to her and fast. The last thing he wanted was to add another complication to this mess.

He took a deep breath and let it out, Prakenskii’s warning sinking in as he took another slow, careful look around the crowd. Jonas felt it, too. Prakenskii wasn’t blowing smoke to make himself important, something evil lurked in the air.

Down near the gate, Matt Granite, Kate’s fiancé, gestured for him. Matt was standing in front of Rudy Venturi. Rudy was small and slight, with bright, dyed hair pulled up into spikes, with a nondescript face. Without the hair it would be easy to miss him in a crowd.

Jonas imagined most people did overlook him.

He took his time, sauntering down toward the man, not wanting to spook him. The last time they’d talked hadn’t been pleasant. Jonas had interrogated him for hours after Hannah had received a threatening letter from him, calling her a stuck-up bitch—and the man had money. Lots and lots of money—money enough to hire a brutal and soul-destroying attack on Hannah. Had he been that angry over a perceived slight? Had he been so enraged that he paid for someone to slash her face and body to ribbons before the man used her as a punching bag with a knife clutched in his fist?

The images came back, vivid and sickening, so real he could count the splashes of blood spraying the room. His stomach twisted and heaved and he stumbled, his body breaking out in a sweat. He ruthlessly willed the images away and forced a smile when he stopped in front of Rudy, keeping his voice friendly.

‘Are you Rudy Venturi? Hannah told me you come to all of her events.’ To his knowledge Hannah had never directly spoken to Venturi. Jonas had made it very clear—ordered her—to stay away from him. The man had a sizable trust fund, due to a car accident that left him without family and slightly brain damaged. He traveled extensively, mostly following Hannah from shoot to shoot.

Rudy nodded, clutching his flowers.

‘The doctors have said she can’t see anyone right now. She needs to rest,’ Jonas said, holding his hands out for the flowers. ‘Were you there when she was attacked?’

Rudy nodded as he reluctantly handed the huge bouquet to Jonas. ‘Sh-she should have h-had a bodyguard.’

‘I agree. That’s why I’m here now. I’m not going to let anything happen to her,’ he added.

‘Did you see the man who stabbed her?’

Rudy pressed a hand to his mouth and nodded vigorously. ‘Th-there was so much b-blood. I thought she was d-dead and I wanted to d-die.’

‘No, she’s very much alive. Did you see the man who attacked her talking to anyone else before the attack?’

Rudy slapped his hands on his thighs in agitation. ‘Yes! Yes. He kept sh-shaking his head back and forth. I saw him p-pull out the knife. The other man hit h-him on the back as he went up to the rope line. I t-tried to tell the policeman, but the p-preacher was yelling and the policeman went to talk to h-him instead.’

‘You really saw him, Rudy?’ Jonas asked, working at keeping his voice calm and even.

Rudy would never make a good witness, and he lived in an alternate world, but if he was telling the truth, it could be a big break for them. ‘You could really help Hannah if you could describe him for me.’

Deliberately he stepped closer to the man, creating a sense of urgency and camaraderie.

‘Here, come inside the fence and talk to me where no one else can hear you.’ He held the gate and watched as Rudy’s chest expanded with importance and he walked onto the Drake property. ‘You do want to help her, don’t you?’

‘She’s so nice. She always smiles at me. Everyone else looks right through me, but she sees me—and she smiles.’

‘I think she’s nice, too,’ Jonas said. ‘It was good of you to bring her flowers.’ There were flowers all along the fence from well-wishers all over the world, but Jonas made a show of looking at the arrangement. ‘She really loves flowers.’

Half the freaking world was sending flowers and it still hadn’t occurred to Jonas to do so.

All he wanted to do was hold her. Feel her. Touch her. Know she was safe. A man like Rudy Venturi knew enough to bring her flowers, but Jonas hadn’t even thought of it.

‘Rudy, you have to help her now. Try to remember everything you can about the man talking to Hannah’s attacker.’

‘I don’t have a new signed picture of her. She always gives me one, but she didn’t this time in New York.’

‘Hannah gives you a picture?’ He was going to shake her until her teeth rattled if that was true. She knew better than to get too close to the rope line. He’d warned her a year ago to stop signing autographs for people.

‘Signed to me,’ Rudy continued. ‘It says, ‘Wishing you the best, Hannah.’ Every show she brings me a new one and she didn’t.’

Jonas clenched his teeth and bit back a curse. That was so like Hannah to smile and nod when he was discussing security and then do whatever the hell she wanted to do. ‘She probably had it with her and, when she was attacked, couldn’t give it to you,’ he pointed out, keeping his voice even.

Rudy nodded and frowned a little. ‘But if I tell you what he looks like, you’ll get me her photograph signed? It has to say, ‘Wishing you the best, Hannah.’ It has to say that, because she always gives me one.’

He was going to do more than shake her. What the hell was she thinking? Rudy may have seemed harmless, but if she was going to single him out and make him feel special, she should have had a security guard do it for her. Jonas forced a smile. ‘I’ll make certain it’s signed, Rudy. Tell me what you remember.’

Rudy scrunched up his face and made small noises, like a computer trying to access information when it was old and tired. ‘He was big.’

Jonas waited, but Rudy looked happy with himself. ‘Big. Okay. I got that. What color of hair? Was it short or long?’

‘Blond and short. Very short. And he looked mean. He smiled, but it wasn’t real. It was the same kind of smile you have.’

Jonas went still. Rudy might have suffered brain damage in the accident, and he appeared childlike, but he was still sharp, or maybe like a child, he could perceive the truth easier than an adult. ‘I’m sorry. I’m upset about what that man did to Hannah.’

Rudy nodded. ‘Me, too.’ His brows came together as he studied Jonas’s face. ‘I know you. You talked to me before. You weren’t nice.’

Jonas sighed. He’d been afraid Rudy would recognize him sooner or later. No, he hadn’t been nice. He’d interrogated Rudy roughly, hammering away at him while the man became more and more confused and upset. ‘I’m careful of Hannah’s safety and she had been getting some threatening letters.’

Rudy hung his head. ‘I wrote to her.’

‘Yes, I read the letters. You wrote several.’ Rudy had called her some nasty names and the threat was more implied than stated. Jonas had wanted to come across the table and smash him until he realized the man was so fixated on getting Hannah’s picture that it superseded actually talking with Hannah. Or was Rudy clever enough to just appear dim and bumbling? Jonas had discovered killers were very manipulative and deceptive.

‘I was angry because she didn’t give me the picture. When she was in Australia, she didn’t give me. She always gives me one.’

‘Yes, I know she does,’ Jonas said with as much patience as he could muster. ‘I’ll get you one from her, signed the way you like it. What else do you remember? Did you hear anything they said? Did the man have scars? A tattoo?’

Rudy looked excited. ‘On his hand, right here.’ He rubbed his knuckles. ‘He had something on his hand. I’d never seen it before.’

Jonas tried for several more minutes to extract information, but Rudy clearly knew nothing else. He was willing to make it up if Jonas wanted him to, for the picture, but he really didn’t remember anything else.

‘I’ll see that she gets your flowers, Rudy, unless you want to leave them at the fence with everyone else’s,’ Jonas offered.

Rudy took the flowers back and put them in front of all the other arrangements, facing toward the windows of the Drake house. ‘She can see them here. Are you getting my picture now?’

‘Yes. Would you mind standing back behind the fence now, so the security people won’t be worried?’

Rudy walked back through the gate and pressed close. ‘You’ll get it signed?’

Jonas nodded and hurried away, snagging Matt, who was patrolling the fence-line with a couple of the other men in the family and the security they’d hired.

‘Have you seen Jackson around?’

Matt indicated up the hill. ‘He thought he saw a couple of reporters climbing the fence and went in that direction to check it out.’

Jonas swore softly. ‘Why won’t they all go home?’

‘I don’t think it’s going to happen for a while,’ Matt said. ‘But the businesses in Sea Haven are flourishing. Every hotel is filled and the stores and cafés are making out like bandits. I think the prices are tripled.’

‘So I’ve heard.’ Jonas scraped his hand over his jaw. ‘Tell Jackson we need to review all the tapes again—the ones the stations shot of the crowd outside both the fashion show and the party.’

‘You think you got some new information?’

Jonas shrugged. ‘It’s worth a shot.’