“Yes. He was close enough that I could see his eyes. And I remember now—they were blue. Really blue! He has to be the man you just described.”
“Thank you. But you don’t know where he came from? What boat?”
“No. I assume from one of the other dive boats.”
“Of course.”
“If I see him again—you know, if I run into him on the island—I’ll tell him you’re looking for him.”
“No! No, please. If you see him, keep your distance. Call me or call 911 right away. But whatever you do, don’t even let him know you’ve noticed him.”
“Oh! Are you saying he—that he might...?”
“I’m not saying anything. It’s just better if I talk to him fresh, without him thinking about why and maybe embellishing his story because he thinks that’s what I want.”
“Oh. Then no, of course not. But I will call you. Immediately. I promise.”
“Thank you,” he told her. “What I would like to have you do is work with a police artist to do a sketch of him. Would you mind doing that for me?”
“Not at all.”
“I’ll set it up,” Dallas promised.
She nodded. “This is so awful. But if someone did kill Yerby...well, then it won’t be my fault anymore. Maybe I’ll be able to live with myself.” She looked back to where her husband was waiting for her and turned back to Dallas bleakly. “And maybe Don will stop drinking so much,” she said. “He can’t help it, you know. It’s terrible to think you caused someone’s death.”
“You didn’t, I promise you,” he said.
“Logically? I know that. But emotionally...”
She gave him a smile with no humor in it and promised to work with the police artist as soon as he set it up.
*
They were watching an old horror movie in the back room. Hannah’s phone rang just as a Godzilla-like creature stomped on a used car lot.
She jumped up and checked the caller ID; it was Dallas again. He told her he was coming up the front walk and asked her to come let him in.
“Got to go open the door for Dallas,” she said.
“Want me to pause the movie?” Kelsey asked.
“No, that’s all right,” Hannah assured her. She hurried to the front and took the time to peer out through the glass before opening the door. She looked at Dallas anxiously. He offered her a smile but seemed preoccupied.
How quickly they forget, she mocked herself.
But that was on the far side of absurd. They were trying to solve a series of murders. Whether they did or didn’t sleep with each other was not the most important thing at the moment.
“Valeriya still here?” he asked.
“Someone is here? I can go home?” Valeriya asked, hurrying through the house to reach them.
“Don’t you want to see the end of the movie?” Hannah asked her politely.
“No, that’s okay. I know the story. The monster will die in the end. But thank you. Thank you for keeping me here and worrying about me,” Valeriya said, then looked at Dallas. “I’ve seen you,” she said softly. “I saw you in the alley when—when the dead man was there.”
He nodded. “Yes, I saw you there. I’m Agent Dallas Samson,” he told her.
She offered him her small hand. “Valeriya Dimitri.”
Dallas glanced at Hannah. “Shall I see Valeriya home now?”
“Yes, thank you.”
He nodded. “Well then, Valeriya, whenever you’re ready.”
“I’m ready now,” she said.
As she stepped out the front door, he turned to Hannah and said, “Lock it after us. And don’t let anyone in. Anyone.”
“Of course.”
Kelsey came up behind her as she locked the door. “I don’t think he’s happy you let her in.”
“Worse,” Hannah said. “I let her clean his room.”
Kelsey shrugged. “Don’t let the attitude get to you. He lost a team member not too long ago. I’m sure that had to leave a mark.”
“Oh? How do you know that?”
“Logan knows about him. He’s been on Adam Harrison’s radar.”
“And that means...?”
“Adam Harrison, our director, is always on the lookout for the right people to join the unit. Sometimes he pulls people from other law enforcement agencies, and sometimes he comes across people who aren’t part of any agency but they just have the right...talent. Dallas Samson has kept his abilities quiet. You know how that goes. Let people know, and they think you’re not sane and certainly shouldn’t be in law enforcement. But Adam just has an instinct.”
“Do you know what happened? With his partner, I mean,” Hannah asked her cousin.
“No, I don’t know the details. Sorry. I just know that he must be hurting from it. We’ve come close a few times, and I don’t know how I’d deal with it if we actually lost someone.”
Hannah nodded. “But...that’s part of the job, isn’t it? You know going in that you’re going to face dangerous situations.”