Drake Sisters 05 - Safe Harbor

until he thought he might pass out. He'd faced bullets and blood and death on a battlefield more times than he'd wanted to count. He'd watched his mother, a wonderful, sweet woman, slowly eaten alive from the inside out, suffering every moment of her existence and he hadn't thought—hadn't believed—that there could be more pain. More anger. Feeling—
    being—more damn helpless.
    "Jonas." Jackson's voice was sharp and compelling. "Focus. Are you feeling the same threat to her? Was this a loner?"
    He cleared his throat and tried to pull himself together. "It's impossible to tell. The danger to her is so strong, I can't tell whether it's because she's near death or because someone is still waiting to get to her."
    Sarah reached into the briefcase and took a few of the photographs, shaking her head as she looked them over. "Why in the world would you even be looking at these people?" She held up two of the pictures. "I doubt an animal rights group would conspire to kill her and keep sending assassins. And even the Reverend with his moral group would have little to gain."
    "They'd stay in the news. Who knows how twisted people think, Sarah," Damon responded, drawing her closer. He'd been a victim and had the scars and leg that rarely worked anymore to prove it. "There could be a dozen reasons, all perfectly logical in their mind. Anyone who does this kind of thing is seriously screwed up."
    Jonas turned his head to stare sightlessly out the window again. Nothing made sense anymore. Anyone but Hannah. He had wasted so much time waiting for her to make the first move. Why had he done that? He took command of every situation, but not with her. Because she was afraid of him . He suppressed a groan. That was the true reason. She was a pleaser, wanting him happy, wanting her family happy, always giving of herself, but never taking. She wanted him happy, too, but not at the cost of herself. He walked on her. And she knew herself well enough to know she couldn't afford to be swallowed whole.
    "She has a temper," he murmured aloud.
    Sarah glanced at him. "Who?"

    "Hannah. She has a temper. And when she's angry, she can wreak havoc."
    "Which is why she rarely does anything other than small, annoying forms of retribution, like blowing your hats down the street," Sarah said.
    "I overwhelm her, don't I?" Jonas asked. He knew the answer. He was always ordering her to do something. He rarely asked. Hell, he'd been so damned mean in the hospital to her, it was a wonder she hadn't taken a gun and shot him.
    Sarah shook her head. "I honestly don't know. I'm beginning to realize I don't know Hannah very well, Jonas. I thought I did, but all the things I thought I knew about her, well, I think she simply gave me what she thought I wanted."
    "She's so damned beautiful and smart. She can outthink me any day of the week."
    Jonas shoved both hands through his hair. "You'd think she had enough confidence for ten people. She looks like she does. She's all don't-touch-me, don't-ruffle-my hair, I'm-so-fucking-far-above-you-you'll-never-be-in-my-league attitude."
    "She's so painfully shy she stutters, Jonas; that's not something that gives a woman confidence." She rubbed her cheek against Damon's shoulder. "We had to help her make public appearances."
    Jonas closed his hands into two tight fists. That should have told them something, right there. If Hannah couldn't go out in public without her sisters helping her, didn't it occur to them that the strain on her would be too much? He didn't state the obvious.
    What would be the use? Sarah was coming to the realization on her own and it would hurt. She loved Hannah. She would blame herself for not realizing that Hannah had been unhappy. All of the Drakes would.
    Hannah. Baby. I love you so much. So damned much. Did I even tell you ? He couldn't remember. He'd given her everything he was, worshiped her with his body, but had he said the words? Coward . He'd been a fucking coward even when she'd given herself to him.
    "Jonas." Jackson's low voice cut through the recriminations. "You're going to drive yourself insane. Look at these files. Do what you do best. If Prakenskii removed the threat to her, fine, but if it's more, if there's a group behind this, let's make certain she's safe when she wakes up."
    Jackson hadn't said "if" she wakes up. Jonas clung to that as he took one of the files and opened it to stare at Rudy Venturi's baby face. "Not him. He's so fixated on her that he'd never share her.