“Good job,” I managed, and exhaled. “The sooner Gabriel can look at the shots, the sooner we’ll be able to put an end to this charade.”
Derek drove to my place and parked the Bentley in the visitors’ space in the garage. “Do you think we can sneak in without anyone noticing?”
I laughed. “Not if we take the elevator.”
“Where are the stairs?”
“Right over there.”
“Good.” He touched my cheek, his hand warm on my skin as he turned my face toward his. He leaned in and kissed me and I savored the sensation. I was disarmed by his gentleness as his hands slipped through my hair and he pulled me closer.
His phone trilled loudly in the quiet of his car.
Derek groaned. “I’m going to throw that thing away.”
“It’s me, I’m cursed,” I said, flopping back in my seat. “Don’t blame the phone.”
He answered the call. After a minute, he hung up and leaned back against the headrest. With eyes closed, he said, “The prime minister’s jealous son-in-law just tried to kill Gunther.”
I spent another restless night alone. At four a.m., I couldn’t stand it any longer. I called Derek to get the scoop on Gunther and his would-be killer.
“Gunther is shaken but safe,” he said, his voice weary. “The son-in-law and his accomplice are both being held in jail until they can be processed for extradition.”
“Do you know what happened?”
“Yes, Gunther was club-hopping in North Beach and met a woman. She wanted to leave and Gunther didn’t want my men following him, so he pretended to use the toilet but instead snuck outside through the kitchen. When he circled around to the front sidewalk, he was assaulted. The son-in-law stood nearby as his henchman tried to stab Gunther.”
“That’s horrible,” I said, not adding what I thought of a man who paid thousands of dollars for protection and refused to use it.
“Yes, it is,” Derek said. “It’s lucky that my men are used to Gunther’s stupidity. They were there in time to rescue him and apprehend his attacker.”
“I’m glad it’s over,” I said.
“Yes, so am I.”
So this was it. He would leave town in the next few days and that would be the end of our budding friendship—or whatever it was. I wished him sweet dreams and we hung up. I was certain I wouldn’t sleep another wink, but I managed to doze off after a while.
Saturday morning, Derek picked me up at nine o’clock and we drove to Sonoma in record time. As we wound our way through Sausalito and into San Rafael, I finally related Guru Bob’s story of Gabriel.
“And this happened five years ago?” Derek said.
“Yes.”
He thought for another moment. “And Robson said Gabriel came to him asking for sanctuary?”
“That’s what he said. Why?”
“I’m not sure.” He shrugged. “It’s one big long shot, any way you look at it. If Gabriel doesn’t recognize anyone in the photos, we’re back to square one. And even if he does recognize someone, will he be willing to leave the security of Dharma to help us set a trap?”
“I think he will,” I said. After all, a man who would climb a mountain in Afghanistan during a tribal war to save people wouldn’t let a little threat of death slow him down.
We discussed a wager over whose photo Gabriel might recognize. My money was on Naomi. Or Cynthia. Or Ned. Anyone but Alice. The thought that I might’ve brought a brutal killer into my home and introduced her to my friends caused me physical pain.
Derek told me that he’d actually considered calling the police the night before to give them the benefit of our brainstorming session. But at the last minute, he’d decided against it. He was still feeling the burn of his own recent interrogation and we weren’t sure anything would come of this plan. So for now, we would operate on our own. If something broke open, we would turn things over to Inspectors Lee and Jaglom immediately.
I was only now realizing how traumatic it must’ve been for him to be taken in for questioning. Days later, I could tell it still disturbed him, that the very institutions he’d pledged his life to serve had refused to believe him. Talk about betrayal.
I hoped the drive to Sonoma would help ease some of the tension he was feeling. As I stared out at the rolling, vine-covered hills, I could feel my own stress seeping away from my shoulder muscles. My neck was looser than it had been in a few days. Then Derek took hold of my hand and everything smoothed out. I felt at peace. I knew it wouldn’t last, but at the moment, life was perfect.
“Have you spoken with Savannah?” he asked, interrupting my perfect thoughts.
I gasped. In all the hubbub of the last twenty-four hours, I’d forgotten to ask Savannah about Alice. I pulled out my cell phone, pushed her number, and waited. When she answered, I asked the question. She had to think back for a few seconds.
“It was an odd moment, now that you ask,” she said.
“How so?”
“Alice and I were walking back to Annie’s to find you. Then I saw you standing outside of Annie’s store a block or so away and I pointed you out to Alice. That’s when I saw Gabriel walking into town. He’s a pretty one, isn’t he?”
I mumbled my agreement.
“Okay, so just then, Alice grabbed hold of her stomach. I thought she was going to be sick right there.”
“Was she?”
“She said she needed to find a bathroom and went tearing off. I yelled at her to go to China’s, because she has one at the back of her store, but I don’t think she heard me. She ran across the street and disappeared down the walkway between the baby shop and Peregrine.”
Peregrine was a French bistro on the Lane.
“What did you do?” I asked.
“I went on to Annie’s,” Savannah said. “I figured Alice would end up there eventually. It was maybe another ten minutes later that we heard someone had been hurt. By then, Alice had returned and we all ran down to find you.”
It was my turn to feel sick. I blew out a breath and looked at Derek. He watched me with concern in his eyes.
If Alice had seen Gabriel walking toward me, she would have had ample time to hide between two of the stores on the other side of the street and take aim at him.
In my heart, I knew that Alice had tried to kill Gabriel. I just didn’t know why.
That would mean she’d had a gun with her the whole time. All during our drive up to Dharma, the few minutes she’d spent with my mother, all the while she’d been at the spa, at the hospital, at my parents’ home for dinner.
It was my worst nightmare come true. I’d brought a ruthless killer into my family’s home. It wasn’t easy to admit, but I knew what I had to do now.
“Will we see you later?” Savannah asked, her tone gentle.
“I’ll be at Mom’s for a little while but then I have to get back to the city.”
We ended the call, and I related to Derek everything she’d said.
He nodded once, his jaw rigid. “Let’s go talk to Gabriel.”
Chapter 19
Gabriel lay pale and groggy under a fluffy white blanket and crisp blue sheets, a stack of soft pillows beneath his head. His left temple was swathed in a large gauze bandage crisscrossed with white surgical tape. It hurt to see him laid out like this.
Around his wrist was a ratty-looking bracelet made of yarn and strips of cloth woven together with sticks and willow twigs and a bundle of something. Herbs? Bat-wing powder? Was this Mom’s attempt at a Wiccan healing bracelet? If so, it was kind of gross.
Derek had stopped to talk to Dad for a minute, but then he walked into the bedroom and I watched his eyes widen, then narrow as he got his first look at Gabriel. His jaw flexed and I wondered what was going through his mind.
I looked down at Gabriel, then back at Derek, whose expression was now impassive.