Oceans of Fire (16 page)

There was self-disgust mixed with reluctant admiration in his voice.

“He’s a good detective. Why can’t you work together?”

“Because he isn’t working with me. He ‘did me the courtesy’ of telling me he was in the area. He neglected to say he had a man undercover and he only gave me the bare outline of what he was after.”

Abigail shook her head. “I don’t know any more than you do.”

“I know there’s something between you, Abbey. I really, really don’t want to stick my nose in where it isn’t wanted, but I can’t, in good conscience, let this go. He’s from Russia. The world over there is very different from ours. I’m guessing, from the way he moves and the way he acts, that he was trained in something a little more lethal than police work. His background, if one tries to look into it, is a huge mystery. I’m betting he’s an intelligence operative and I don’t like that idea at all.”

“You’re being melodramatic and you’re making him sound like a spy. He’s a police officer, no different from you, and if you checked up on him then you know he’s legitimate.” Abigail had no idea why she couldn’t stop defending Aleksandr, but the words kept tumbling out of her mouth in spite of every intention to remain silent. “I know you, Jonas. If you didn’t think he was Interpol, he’d be in jail or thrown out of the country. You have too many friends.”

“He has more than I do. Whatever he is, he’s got a lot of heavy people behind him. Things work differently in other countries. Before you get upset”—he held up his hand—“I know you’ve traveled extensively, but there are places where the police just shoot the suspect rather than try to bring them before a judge. And there’s a lot worse things going on. I’ve seen men like Volstov and he’s not just a cop.”

“It happens here as well,” Abigail pointed out. “But I understand what you’re saying to me and I promise I’ll be careful.”

“Abbey, I don’t think you are understanding what I’m saying to you.” Jonas sat back as he pushed a hand through his hair, betraying his agitation. “Men like Aleksandr Volstov can be in the same room with you and you don’t even know they’re there. They can move fast and if you blink you miss them. They walk down a street as casual as can be and someone passing by falls to the sidewalk dead before their body ever hits the ground. They’re already gone and no one can quite remember how to describe them. That’s his world and he lives in it and he’s comfortable in it and make no mistake, he’ll kill to protect it. You could get hurt.”

Abigail avoided looking him in the eye. “I know that, Jonas.”

“What is he to you? How far into this relationship are you and can you back out of it?” Jonas leaned closer. “It isn’t just you we have to worry about. These people play rough. His partner has been killed. Somehow I don’t think he’s going to take that lying down. That mark between your eyes tells me that. Tell me what you know about him.”

Abigail wanted to deny any relationship. They didn’t have one anymore. They were never going to have one again. “Only that he was a policeman in Russia and that he says he works for Interpol. That’s it. That’s all I know.”

“Damn it, Abbey!”

“Jonas Harrington! You watch your mouth in this house,” Carol admonished. “I won’t have you browbeating Abigail. I won’t have it even if you are the sheriff.”

“Watch it, Aunt Carol, he’ll threaten to arrest you,” Hannah said. “He’s always threatening me.”

“With good reason,” Jonas said. He leaned over to kiss Carol’s cheek. “You, I would never arrest.”

“Are you going to tell us what’s going on here in Sea Haven?” Kate asked. “Does it have something to do with the old mill?”

“Yes, tell us what’s going on, Jonas,” Joley said. “If we’re all going to be looking over our shoulders, we may as well know what it’s all about.”

Jonas sighed. “I wish I knew what to tell you. Several months ago, Gene Dockins and his youngest son, Jeremy, thought they saw one of the local fishing boats rendezvousing with a freighter out at sea. They became suspicious and talked to me about it and I notified the coast guard. Gene never said another word to me about the incident and, to be honest, with everything else going on up and down the coast I didn’t give it another thought. Then about a month or so ago, Jeff Dockins—”

“He owns the local gas station, Aunt Carol,” Sarah supplied. “He’s Gene’s oldest son, remember?”

“Of course I remember him, dear,” Carol said. “He’s very handsome.”

“Aunt Carol!” All seven sisters made the protest.

Carol burst out laughing and her hand fluttered to her hair. “I’m not as young as I used to be, girls. You’re flattering me. I hardly think at my age I’m going to cause another scandal in Sea Haven.”

“You never cause scandals, Aunt Carol”—Hannah blew her a kiss—“just stir things up a bit, which is good every now and then.”

“I’m certainly not going to win any beauty contests,” Carol said, “but I do intend to renew my acquaintance with a few old friends.”

“Jeff is happily married,” Jonas felt compelled to point out. He wiped his brow, not in the least surprised he was sweating. The Drake women could do that to a man. All he needed was the additional trouble of Carol and her love potions. The rumor was, there had been more than one scandal and quite a few fights over her. In fact, Inez, owner of the grocery store, loved to tell how two of the local men broke out the door and three windows at a dance in a brawl over Carol. There were many such tales and Jonas had heard, and believed, them all.

“I never go near married men,” Carol said. “It can be fatal. It would have been to any woman who came after my Jefferson.”

“Then you haven’t met Sylvia Fredrickson,” Joley said.

“She was in Abbey’s class and even as a teen, she was after married teachers. It seems to be her goal to break up every marriage in Sea Haven.”

“Not anymore,” Hannah said smugly.

Jonas shot her a quelling glance. “Did you have something to do with that rash that keeps appearing on her face?”

“You mean the one in the shape of an open-handed slap that comes out whenever she flirts with a married man? Why ever would you think I had anything to do with it?” Hannah examined her fingernails.

“I can’t wait to meet Frank Warner again,” Carol said. “He’s such a sweetheart and he sent me an invitation to his fund-raiser at the gallery next Tuesday. I’m really looking forward to seeing him. We had dinner right after my husband died and he was very interested, but I just wasn’t up to a new relationship. I do love artists. They’re so inventive.”

Jonas buried his face in his hands. “Where the hell are Matt and Damon? I need some men in this household. I’m drowning here.”

“Matt’s at work and Damon had some wonderful idea that he had to share with his former bosses. Something to do with a satellite security system.” Sarah shrugged. “He left last night in the middle of the night for San Francisco. A helicopter was picking him up and taking him to some undisclosed location for a meeting.”

“I thought he was completely out of that work,” Kate said, leaning forward, concerned. “He was so scarred when he came here, both physically and emotionally. Are they pressuring him to come back to work?”

Sarah shook her head. “His brain just works on things. He can’t help it. He knows the defense systems inside and out and when he figures out things that make them better, he can’t help perfecting the ideas and wanting to share them.”

“So basically, Damon is back as the think tank for the Defense Department,” Kate said.

“How long will he be gone?” Libby asked. “We’re in the middle of planning your wedding.”

Sarah laughed. “He can design a defense system, but if you ask him about wedding cakes he looks blank.”

“Mart’s just the opposite,” Kate said. “He wants to take over the entire event. I think it’s the architect in him.”

“It’s because he’s a Granite and bossy,” Hannah said and glared at Jonas.

He put both hands up in protest. “I’m not a Granite.”

“You could be,” she said.

Jonas ate two of the sandwiches and washed them down with tea. “Before you set your cap on Frank Warner, Aunt Carol, Aleksandr Volstov is investigating the theft of artifacts stolen from Russia. Warner owns a flourishing gallery and is a collector of artifacts. I’ve seen part of his collection and it’s amazing. He also ships to the Bay Area all the time and he is a part owner of the fishing boat that Gene saw rendezvousing with the freighter. And I know you’ll keep this information confidential.” While he spoke, his gaze was on Abigail.

“Oh, bosh,” Carol said. “Frank Warner has absolutely no need to deal in stolen goods and he’s been a part of this community for years.” She drummed her fingernails on the coffee table and heaved an exaggerated sigh. “All right then, I’ll go undercover for you. It’s obvious you need me to do it, although I don’t like spying on my friends. But you’re family, Jonas, and if you need me to get information out of him, I have my little ways and because of my looks, men tend to underestimate my intelligence.”

“Which you encourage,” Jonas accused. “Absolutely not, Aunt Carol. I forbid it. Sarah, you talk to her and make her understand this is dangerous and an ongoing investigation. She could ruin things or get hurt, neither of which is acceptable. I’m trusting you with this information so you avoid him, not vamp him.”

“But I’m a natural for the job,” Carol protested. “Everyone is used to me taking pictures and I can offer to help with his scrapbook album. He started one the last time I was here. I’ll just naturally bring him more product. Wouldn’t it be a good thing to have pictures of his artifacts to compare with the stolen ones?” Her smiled widened. “A Creative Memories consultant turned spy. I’ll be able to journal my experiences. I’m very excited about helping you, Jonas.”

“I said
no
! And I mean it,” Jonas said. He glanced around the room at the Drake women. “All of you can quit grinning. If something happened to Carol you wouldn’t be laughing. Abigail, you stay away from Aleksandr Volstov. And if you remember anything else not in your report call me immediately and give me the information. And Aunt Carol, you stay away from Frank Warner.” He stood up and shoved a hand through his hair. There was sweat on his forehead. “The entire bunch of you is giving me gray hair.”

Hannah’s mouth twitched behind her hand and her eyes danced as Jonas stalked out of the house, closing the door with a resounding bang. “I’m so glad you’ve come, Aunt Carol. That’s the first time I’ve ever seen him flustered.”

Carol grinned at her. “I suppose it wasn’t very nice of me, but I couldn’t resist.” She patted Abigail’s knee. “He didn’t upset you, did he?”

Abigail shook her head. “Jonas is always looking out for us. I know he means well. It isn’t his fault there are so many of us and we’re always getting into some kind of a scrape.”

Hannah gave a derisive and very inelegant snort. She tossed her mass of platinum hair and rolled her eyes. “Don’t even cut him any slack. You didn’t hear him ranting and raving about your Russian before you came down. And speaking of your Russian, Abbey, tell us everything. Are you or aren’t you engaged to the man and where did you meet him?”

“How long have you known him?” Kate asked.

“Is anything Jonas said about him true?” Sarah wanted to know.

“Probably everything Jonas said about Aleksandr is the truth, but I honestly don’t know. When I met him, four years ago, he was a detective. I was doing the tourist thing and he was standing on a corner. He was…” Abigail paused, searching for the right word. “Incredible. Impressive. I looked at his shoulders first and then his eyes. I had to get his picture.” She exchanged a small smile with her aunt.

“Of course you did, dear,” Carol said, pleased.

Abigail’s smile widened at the memory. “I tried to get it without him seeing me, because I felt silly taking a stranger’s picture and I was doing it because he was just plain hot. Of course he noticed and he wasn’t all that thrilled with having his picture taken.” She rubbed at an imagined fleck on her slim pants. “Moscow is so unbelievably old world. The buildings, the streets… even with the more modern look, it’s just so beautiful and he seemed such a part of that world. Like an old-time fairy tale. He was actually standing right outside the gates of the Kremlin and he looked like a prince in front of a palace.”

“You’re blushing,” Joley observed, leaning forward. “That must have been some first meeting.”

“I’d never met anyone like him. He smiled at me as he came up to me and all I could think about was how it should be against the law to have his smile. I didn’t even notice when he took the camera out of my hand. He was dazzling.”

Sarah exchanged a long look with Kate. “You sound like you fell in love with him, Abbey,” she ventured gently.

Abigail blinked and sat back in her chair. “Who wouldn’t fall in love with him? He was charming and handsome and everything a man should be.”

Joley leaned into her sister, laying her head back on her shoulder. “Why didn’t you ever tell us about Aleksandr?” She was very careful of her tone, not wanting to make Abigail feel guilty and not wanting to allow a “push” of magic into her voice.

Abigail swallowed the sudden lump in her throat. “I just couldn’t. It hurt too much. I’m sorry about all of this, Joley. I know the one thing that makes you crazy is tight places. I had no idea anything would happen to make you have to go into an underwater cave. I would never, never willingly place you in danger.”

Joley shrugged. “Seriously, it’s no big deal. I actually was rather proud of myself for conquering my fear enough to go through the rock to get to the mill. I love challenges and this one was very cool. I got to see you with that dolphin. That was so great, Abbey, that it would just come up to you like that and trust you to help it. It was amazing.” She smiled at her sister. “But it still doesn’t explain Aleksandr.”

Abigail spread out her hands in a gesture of confusion. “There’s no way to explain Aleksandr. I just can’t even tell you what it was like. He offered to show me around and we walked through Red Square and visited the Cathedral of Vasily. All the while he talked about the history of the buildings. His voice, his accent, all of it just added to his attraction. He knew so much about everything and he spoke with such pride. He loved his country every bit as much as I love mine. He made me feel like the most beautiful and important woman in the world. We laughed so much together, and he held my hand. That sounds so juvenile, but you know I didn’t really even date before. I was always so focused on my career and here I was, walking around this incredible city with a handsome, attentive man. I wanted to stay in his company forever.“