Drake Sisters 05 - Safe Harbor

wanting to spook him. The last time they'd talked hadn't been pleasant. Jonas had interrogated him for hours after Hannah had received a threatening letter from him, calling her a stuck-up bitch—and the man had money. Lots and lots of money—money enough to hire a brutal and soul-destroying attack on Hannah. Had he been that angry over a perceived slight? Had he been so enraged that he paid for someone to slash her face and body to ribbons before the man used her as a punching bag with a knife clutched in his fist?
    The images came back, vivid and sickening, so real he could count the splashes of blood spraying the room. His stomach twisted and heaved and he stumbled, his body breaking out in a sweat. He ruthlessly willed the images away and forced a smile when he stopped in front of Rudy, keeping his voice friendly.
    "Are you Rudy Venturi? Hannah told me you come to all of her events." To his knowledge Hannah had never directly spoken to Venturi. Jonas had made it very clear—ordered her —to stay away from him. The man had a sizable trust fund, due to a car accident that left him without family and slightly brain damaged. He traveled extensively, mostly following Hannah from shoot to shoot.
    Rudy nodded, clutching his flowers.
    "The doctors have said she can't see anyone right now. She needs to rest," Jonas said, holding his hands out for the flowers. "Were you there when she was attacked?"
    Rudy nodded as he reluctantly handed the huge bouquet to Jonas. "Sh-she should have h-had a bodyguard."
    "I agree. That's why I'm here now. I'm not going to let anything happen to her," he added. "Did you see the man who stabbed her?"
    Rudy pressed a hand to his mouth and nodded vigorously. "Th-there was so much b-blood. I thought she was d-dead and I wanted to d-die."
    "No, she's very much alive. Did you see the man who attacked her talking to anyone else before the attack?"
    Rudy slapped his hands on his thighs in agitation. "Yes! Yes. He kept sh-shaking his head back and forth. I saw him p-pull out the knife. The other man hit h-him on the back as he went up to the rope line. I t-tried to tell the policeman, but the p-preacher was yelling and the policeman went to talk to h-him instead."
    "You really saw him, Rudy?" Jonas asked, working at keeping his voice calm and even. Rudy would never make a good witness, and he lived in an alternate world, but if he was telling the truth, it could be a big break for them. "You could really help Hannah if you could describe him for me."
    Deliberately he stepped closer to the man, creating a sense of urgency and camaraderie. "Here, come inside the fence and talk to me where no one else can hear you." He held the gate and watched as Rudy's chest expanded with importance and he walked onto the Drake property. "You do want to help her, don't you?"
    "She's so nice. She always smiles at me. Everyone else looks right through me, but she sees me—and she smiles."

    "I think she's nice, too," Jonas said. "It was good of you to bring her flowers." There were flowers all along the fence from well-wishers all over the world, but Jonas made a show of looking at the arrangement. "She really loves flowers."
    Half the freaking world was sending flowers and it still hadn't occurred to Jonas to do so. All he wanted to do was hold her. Feel her. Touch her. Know she was safe. A man like Rudy Venturi knew enough to bring her flowers, but Jonas hadn't even thought of it.
    "Rudy, you have to help her now. Try to remember everything you can about the man talking to Hannah's attacker."
    "I don't have a new signed picture of her. She always gives me one, but she didn't this time in New York."
    "Hannah gives you a picture?" He was going to shake her until her teeth rattled if that was true. She knew better than to get too close to the rope line. He'd warned her a year ago to stop signing autographs for people.
    "Signed to me," Rudy continued. "It says, 'Wishing you the best, Hannah.' Every show she brings me a new one and she didn't."
    Jonas clenched his teeth and bit back a curse. That was so like Hannah to smile and nod when he was discussing security and then do whatever the hell she wanted to do.
    "She probably had it with her and, when she was attacked, couldn't give it to you," he pointed out, keeping his voice even.
    Rudy nodded and frowned a little. "But if I tell you what he looks like, you'll get me her photograph signed? It has to say, 'Wishing you the best, Hannah.' It has to say that, because