Drake Sisters 04 - Dangerous Tides

want to be the responsible one anymore."

    "Then you're dropping your Doctors Without Borders and your Save the Whales and Support Big Cat Rescue causes?" Jonas asked. He snapped his fingers. "And you definitely have to stop recycling and your save the environment thing you do every year."

    "Wait," Joley added. "You can throw out the save the rain forest as well. That should give you plenty of time to be a bad girl."

    Libby kicked her sister with remarkable gentleness. "You're not being nice and neither is Jonas. You're laughing at me."

    "No, I'm not," Joley replied immediately. "I love you just the way you are. You just have to accept that you don't have a mean bone in your body. It's why you can't think of anyone you'd like to put in a rocket and send to Mars."

    "Jonas," Hannah said. "Because he's so bossy."

    "Hannah," Jonas said simultaneously, "because she craves so much attention she's always showing her bod to every Tom, Dick and Harry who wants to see it."

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    "I'm a model, you toad," Hannah said. "I don't show off my body, I show off the clothes."

    "And brilliantly, too," Kate said, blowing her a kiss. "I'll second Jonas for being mean to Hannah."

    "It isn't fair to gang up on me," Jonas protested. "She was mean to me first."

    "You said it at the same time," Kate pointed out.

    "Only because I knew what she was going to say."

    "Jackson Deveau." Elle named a deputy sheriff. "Because he annoys me no end."

    "Illya Prakenskii," Joley added a heartbeat behind. "Because he needs to be off planet and he's just plain spooky." She rubbed the palm of her hand as if she had an itch.

    "Frank Warner for breaking Inez's heart," Sarah said.

    "I can't very well say Sylvia Fredrickson because she's turned over a new leaf," Abigail said, "so I'll just have to say I'm going with Joley on this one."

    Everyone looked at Libby. She sighed, feeling the weight of their stares. "Not Jonas. He's bossy but really has our best interests at heart."

    Hannah rolled her eyes when Jonas poked her.

    "Certainly not Jackson . Honestly, Elle, how can he be annoying? He never talks, poor man. Illya Prakenskii helped us, Joley, and Frank's in jail paying for his crimes. Inez is hurt, yes, but she's a strong woman and understands that people make mistakes."

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    "So who would you send on a rocket to Mars?" Joley prompted.

    "I'm thinking." Libby sipped at her tea, frowning. "There was one nurse who always made fun of me. She said I was flat-chested and not in the least attractive."

    Hannah sat up straight. "Who is she? I'll have a thing or two to say to her."

    The room thickened with sudden tension. Tea boiled in the cups.

    Libby shook her head. "No, poor thing, she had such a horrible life. She has so many problems, it's really no wonder she isn't very nice. I felt sorry for her."

    The Drake sisters blew on their tea before exchanging looks, but Libby was frowning in concentration.
    "I'll think of someone."

    "Face it, Lib, you can't think of anyone because you just aren't mean."

    Libby ducked her head. "I can think of someone. He went to school with me on and off and was in all the accelerated programs. He even attended Harvard when I did." She looked up at her sisters. "His grades were better than mine."

    Jonas grinned at her. "I'll bet that really set your teeth on edge."

    "It wasn't just that, Jonas, he doesn't believe in magic. He thinks we lie about our gifts and that my family members are charlatans and con artists. He's very arrogant and opinionated."

    "Well, put his name on the rocket to Mars, sister," Elle insisted.

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    Libby sighed. "It's just that he has an incredible brain. The world really needs him. He won a Nobel Prize in medicine already. He's very gifted. Not that he does it for the right reasons."

    "He's a glory hound?" Kate asked.

    "No, he could care less about publicity. He's totally a lab rat. All he cares about is the science. Well, science and adrenaline."

    "You're talking about Tyson Derrick," Jonas guessed. "He's crazy. When he isn't working in the laboratory, he's working for the forestry. He's a total adrenaline junkie. Skydiving, racing, motorcycles, white-water rafting, whatever is available, he's the man."

    "He has no right to risk his genius," Libby said.

    "You