Dangerous Tides (Drake Sisters 4)

"Not on me. Not so far. And it gives her something to do besides get in trouble. Where's all your psychic intuition? You should have known I was in the house. So should Hannah, for that matter."

Libby shrugged. "We rely on the house to warn us. It knows you. You're no threat to us."

"I am to Hannah. If she doesn't start taking care of herself I'm going to do something drastic."

Libby looked up at the hard edge to his voice. His jaw was set in the stubborn line she knew so well. "I'll make sure she does. What did you want?"

"Well, I've been thinking about how odd it was for you to mess with someone injured so severely when you knew how dangerous it was. It's not like you. You're always careful that no harm can come to your sisters. And then there was Irene. It was completely out of character for her to start beating on you with her purse. And I've looked at the erosion on the cliff. That landslide didn't just start on its own. Have you done something to some . . ." He trailed off and cleared his throat. "You know. Sorcerer? Voodoo queen? Maybe one of you conjured up a spirit and it's royally pissed that you brought it here."

Libby burst out laughing. "Jonas. You're such an idiot. You know very well what we do and don't do. And we don't conjure up spirits, bad ones or good ones."

"Well, something isn't right, Libby. One of the boulders was pried out of the ground and it set off the landslide. I found two slide marks in the mud, but no real shoe print. I went down to the beach and examined the boulders. Most of the rocks are still intact and I could see scratches from some tool. How would someone have gotten on your property to do that kind of damage?"

"I left the gates open for Inez. I told her I was going to be on the beach. Maybe someone saw something suspicious."

"You can't see up there from the beach and the way the terrain dips down, no one from the road would have seen either. Was Hannah home at the time?"

"No, she just returned a few minutes before I came up from the beach."

"Do you have enemies?"

"Well, of course I do. People think I can raise the dead. Just like Irene, they think I'm choosing to allow their child to die. If someone believes I can heal their dying child, but I refuse, don't you think they're going to be really angry with me, especially if that child does die?"

"Have you had any recent threats besides Edward Martinelli?"

"Take your pick. I get them all the time." She didn't want to admit to him she didn't remember who Edward Martinelli was, but she must have looked confused because Jonas gave her a brief hug, towel and all.

"He sent someone to see you and requested a meeting, Libby. They weren't very nice about it and you said you felt threatened. They mentioned Hannah's name. I'm looking into it."

She pressed a hand to her throat. "I hate not remembering an entire block of time out of my life. I do know I have a file of threats, Jonas. I can give it to you if you think it's necessary."

"Absolutely I want it as soon as possible. I'm taking this very seriously and I want you to do so as well."

"It's a little impossible to be serious about anything when I'm standing here in a towel, Jonas," Libby pointed out.

"Harrington!" Tyson Derrick yanked open the door to the bathroom. "What the hell are you doing in the shower with Libby?"

"He's in the shower with her?" Hannah squeezed past Tyson to glare at Jonas, hands on her hips. "You're such a skunk."

"How did you get in here?" Libby demanded of Tyson, gripping the towel to make certain it wasn't slipping. "This is the bathroom, not a convention hall. Has everyone lost their mind?"

"Hannah let me in," Ty said. "And it's a good thing she did."

"Why is that?" Libby asked before she could stop herself.

"I'm going to throw Harrington out on his ass."

"Oh, good," Hannah said. "Finally someone with the right idea."

"I wasn't in the shower with her, Derrick," Jonas hissed between his teeth. "Whatever Hannah may have implied. I happen to be investigating what may have been an attempt on Libby's life, so back off." His eyes flashed sparks at Hannah.

Hannah wrapped her arm around Libby, the laughter fading from her eyes. "What do you mean, Jonas? Do you think someone's trying to hurt Libby?"

"I don't know, that's what I'm trying to find out. There are a couple of things that just aren't adding up for me."

Sarah, eldest of the Drake sisters, pushed her way into the bathroom. "What are we doing in here, entertaining?" Behind her, Kate and Abigail hovered in the doorway trying to see around Tyson.

Libby hid her face on Hannah's arm. "This is turning into a circus."

"Is it always like this?" Ty asked, one black brow raised in inquiry.

"Pretty much, yes," Jonas answered.

"Libby, what is that on your neck?" Sarah demanded.

Kate and Abigail crowded into the room to examine Libby's exposed neck. Libby turned bright red and clapped a hand over the offending mark.

"It's a brand new birthmark," Hannah explained.

The three Drake sisters turned as one to look at Jonas. He held his hands up. "It wasn't me. Why do you always blame me for everything? I'm not about to be biting on Libby's neck."

"It was Tyson Derrick." Hannah gave the name up without a qualm.

Ty held up his hand as all eyes turned to him. "That would be me. I don't believe I've met everyone. Sarah and Kate, yes."

"I'm Abigail."

"Nice to meet you. Libby and I have a date tonight. She's late."

"I wouldn't be late if everyone would stop coming into the bathroom. Get out. All of you. This dating business isn't as easy as it looks."

"She's cranky," Hannah said to her sisters. "Let's let her get dressed. Jonas can tell us why he thinks someone tried to hurt Libby."

"Good idea," Tyson said. "If there was an attempt on her life, I'd like to know about it."

"Libby!" Sarah said. "Why wouldn't you tell me?"

"I'm getting a headache," Libby wailed, pressing the heel of her hand against her forehead. "And if I don't dry my hair it's going to frizz."

"Libby," Sarah insisted.

"Jonas doesn't know for certain. The cliff sort of crumbled and it just happened."

"I've seen you with your hair frizzy," Ty said. "It wasn't that bad. More like frothy fuzz than if you stuck your finger in a light socket. Just throw on some clothes so we can go. And I was with Libby when the cliff crumbled. Erosion, pure and simple."

"When did my hair look like frothy fuzz?" Libby demanded.

Hannah signaled frantically, but Ty frowned at the ceiling, missing her gestures completely. "Several times. The most memorable was when you arrived ten minutes late to Dr. Chang's class and slammed the door, interrupting his lecture. He would have thrown anyone else out, but not the royal princess, Libby Drake. Your hair was wild and you were wearing jeans with a frayed hem and a hole in the right back pocket. Your shirt was two sizes too big and you had it knotted around your waist."

Libby pointed to the door. "Get out. Get out right now."

"I'm rather impressed he remembered every detail of what you were wearing when it was several years ago," Sarah said.

"You get out, too," Libby said. "My hair is not wild."

She glared at everyone until they filed out. As soon as the door closed, she pulled the towel from her hair and stared at her image in the mirror. Her hair was wild, but it wasn't her fault. She needed to tame it the moment she was out of the shower. And she still had those jeans. They were her all-time favorite. She'd even thought about wearing them to dinner, but now she'd have to find something else. The water had washed away the dirt, but she still had a raccoon mask from her sunglasses and her nose was bright red. Libby sighed and gave up. There was no miraculously saving the evening. Ty had already seen her as she really was.

6

"THE Chinese ideogram for trouble symbolizes two women living under one roof. What do you suppose the ideogram for seven women under one roof is?" Tyson asked as he broke off a piece of freshly baked

bread.