Drake Sisters 05 - Safe Harbor

hell out of his gut.
    "Exactly. A very lucrative business nowadays. The skin, the body parts, they can be worth a fortune if someone knows what they're doing. LALF would protest an animal sanctuary, get an injunction, take the animals away and euthanize them as soon as the reporters left. LALF claims they never received a penny of the money from the death of the animals, but Larsen claimed the domestic animals were given to research centers and the big cats were parted out on the black market."
    "That's just sick," Sarah said.
    "How in the world did Hannah get involved?" Damon asked.
    Jonas sighed. "When she was shaking hands with them, she picked up all kinds of images and she took it from there, asking a friend who was an investigative reporter to dig into it. The entire mess was discovered and it was a huge scandal. LALF
    weathered it, they have a lot of political clout. Politicians and celebrities like the image of saving wildlife and LALF is very good at getting publicity. They blamed it on a few overzealous members and hired a high-powered publicity firm to turn their image around. But Hannah's been getting letters ever since."
    Hannah . She'd cried over the knowledge, the impressions she'd gotten when she'd shaken the director's hand. Jonas had found her on the beach with tears running down her face. It was one of the few times he'd dared to hold her. She fit into his body so perfectly, made for him, belonging there. He'd wanted to slay every dragon for her to keep her from crying any more tears.
    She'd been soft and warm and all woman, her hair flowing around them like so much silk. The sea had erupted into stormy columns of white foam, crashing against the rocks in harmony with her wild storm of tears. The wind whirled around them, closing off the rest of the world, making him feel as if they were alone together, the sun setting in every shade of red and orange, a giant glowing ball pouring molten gold into the churning water. Everything had been beautiful and perfect and so right he ached every time he thought of it. Everything about Hannah was magical—even her tears.
    Jonas turned away from Jackson, making sure to keep from touching him. He knew Jackson was a powerful psychic, his talent different from the Drakes. He always wondered if Jackson could read people, pick up thoughts from them, but Jackson preferred silence to talking. He rarely gave anything about himself away. He certainly never discussed his psychic gifts.
    Jonas felt broken, unable to stop grieving for Hannah. He didn't need for Jackson to see him so torn up inside, to see the depth of his feeling and need for Hannah.
    "So LALF goes in the prime suspect pile," Damon said.
    "Let Sarah 'read' it," Jonas said.
    "I'm almost afraid to," Sarah said and reluctantly removed the folder from Jonas's lap.
    Her hands trembled. "I'm picking up a lot of jumbled things. Most of them feel genuinely passionate about saving animals. Unfortunately you have a couple who are using the organization for their own ends, which is basically money and power. And yes, there is hatred for Hannah. I can feel it, but can't give you a name. It feels male and female, so more than one. It could be a conspiracy." She made a face. "I'm sorry, Jonas, there are just too many people to get a good reading and it's all impressions anyway."
    "You're doing great, Sarah."
    She looked pale and exhausted. Jonas hoped he didn't look that way—scraped raw and exposed and so damn vulnerable for everyone to see. He whipped out his dark glasses and pushed them onto his nose to hide his eyes, afraid they were as red as Sarah's. His throat burned, his eyes felt like they had sand ground into them. He was a mess when he was supposed to be the one the Drakes could count on.
    Hannah. Baby. Don't you leave me . Maybe if he said it a million times, sent it out there into the universe, she'd somehow hear. She'd know all the things he should have told her. Like she was his sanity. She was pure magic. Everything he'd ever dreamed of—ever wanted. She was the woman who made him whole. She made him laugh, soothed him, made him angry, gave him a reason to come home in one piece. Do you hear me, Hannah? Don't let go. Wait for me. Be with me .
    His heart even hurt. Physically hurt. How many times had he gone to a house and told the occupants a loved one had died? There had been pain on their faces, emotions so ravaged he'd left the house feeling sick—and gone to Hannah. She'd taken it all away for