Drake Sisters 05 - Safe Harbor

but he couldn't remember. He was so out of it—so upset.
    "Katherine asked me to give her meds to her." The nurse didn't look at him as she walked around the bed, a syringe in her hand.
    Jonas's radar suddenly went ballistic. He stood up, stretching in a deceptively lazy manner, sharp eyes drifting over the nurse, taking in the fact that her hands were unsteady. Her voice was a flat monotone, and at no time did she look directly at him.
    Doubt trickled down his spine—doubt and alarm.
    "That's nice that you all help each other out. Katherine was supposed to be right back.
    Hannah isn't supposed to be left alone like this. What's the holdup?" He put censure into his voice. The name hadn't been Katherine. Kelley maybe, but definitely not Katherine. It had been on her badge. A "K" name.
    The nurse didn't pause. Didn't look at him. "She had to use the bathroom, she'll be right back." She fussed with Hannah's line, giving him a quick, nervous smile as he began to walk around the bed toward her.
    "What's that?" He indicated the syringe in her hand as he slowly stalked her.
    "A painkiller," the woman answered. Her hands trembled as she fumbled with the line.
    The room was cool, but she was sweating.
    "Wait a minute," Jonas rushed her, instincts guiding rather than his brain. "Stop what you're doing." He leapt the distance between them, inserting his body between the nurse and Hannah's W. He grabbed her arm, missed, and as she turned, he caught her hair.

    He heard her sob, a hiss of breath and a low cry of terror as she whipped around, kicking at him to get him off her. Before he could stop her, she shoved the needle into her own vein, squeezing the plunger, her eyes holding terror as she went to the floor.
    Jonas knelt beside her, but it was too late. Her breath came in ragged gasps, her eyes went opaque and then there was a horrifying silence.

Chapter Nine
    JONAS slammed his hand against the wall right next to the detective's head. "Don't give me that bullshit, save it for a civilian. Who the hell are these people—what do you have on them so far?"
    Detective Stewart sighed and gave in. "The attacker was a man named Albert Werner.
    He's an electrician, has a wife and kid. The cameras picked up a couple of shots of him outside during the fashion show. He was talking to the Reverend RJ at one point."
    Stewart handed Jonas a grainy photograph of a tall, well-built man talking to the Reverend with people obviously shouting protests in the background.
    "What did the Reverend have to say?"
    "Only that he was a troubled soul and seemed agitated. The Reverend invited him to be saved, or something to that effect, but the man refused. The Reverend's opinion seems to be that Ms. Drake reaped what she sowed."
    Jonas swore, his teeth coming together with a vicious snap. "Did you find any connection between that fake Gospel spouter and Werner?"
    "We're working on it. The perp did make a sizable donation to the animal rights group about a week ago." The detective handed Jonas another out-of-focus picture. Albert Werner stood with the animal rights group shouting at the reporters.
    "What about the nurse who tried to kill her? Is she involved with either group?"
    "She wasn't a nurse. She's a vet tech and her name is Annabelle Werner. She's the perp's wife."
    "His wife? His wife came to the hospital and tried to finish the job? That doesn't make any sense. I don't remember their names from any of the threatening letters written to Hannah," Jonas said. "Did you find anything, a threat against her, a reason they'd hate her so much to do something like this?"
    "Not yet. We went through the nutcase file and they aren't there."

    "What about their kid? Did she have aspirations of becoming a model?"
    "She's in a hospital for eating disorders, which might be a motive. Totally emaciated.
    She's twelve. She has pictures of movie stars in her room, but not of Ms. Drake, but still, that could be the connection. Kid starves herself wanting to be a model just like Hannah Drake. Everyone knows the face and name. She's an easy target to blame."
    " Both parents decide to kill Hannah? This is in retaliation for the kid?" It didn't wash.
    "Albert Werner couldn't have expected to get away with it. The cameras were on him.
    He had to know that. It was too public unless he wanted to make a statement. He attacked her like he wanted to destroy her, destroy her beauty—and then her life. The first blows weren't killing blows. They were all about