Danni finished the sketch and sat back. In a matter of minutes she had created detail and life. It was amazing, and yet...
Damned if he could figure out what it meant.
Other than that the killer had to be someone connected with La Porte Rouge, and they’d already been 99 percent sure of that.
He set a hand on her shoulder. She blinked and looked at him, and just like that she was awake again.
“Hey,” she murmured. “So...what does it mean?” she asked, studying her own work. “Do you think anything would have been different if we had known? If the Watsons had known? Or even if Jessica and Arnie had sped things up a little and gotten married?”
“We’ll never know, but things could be worse, too. Jessica and Craig could be dead, too.”
As he spoke, he heard Wolf barking. He and Danni both rose and hurried back into the hallway; the sound was coming from the main door to Royal Street, and they headed through the shop to see what was going on. Wolf was jumping excitedly and continuing to bark. Quinn took a look through the peephole.
Jessica was standing outside, accompanied by a police officer.
“Larue told me to deliver her directly into your hands,” the officer told Quinn as soon as he opened the door. The officer was grinning broadly.
Quinn realized he was standing there in boxer shorts. They were as well designed and more concealing than a lot of bathing trunks, so he just shrugged and thanked the man.
“Oh, and Larue asked you to call him as soon as you can.”
Jessica looked even more exhausted than he’d felt the night before, Quinn thought, and quickly ushered her in. Wolf greeted her as a friend.
“How’s your mom?” Danni asked, stepping up from behind Quinn.
“She’s good, but they’re going to keep her another night, or maybe two. She got a really good knock on her head when she crashed against the wall.” Jessica swallowed and looked around anxiously. “Where’s Craig?” she asked.
“Right here, darling girl, right here,” Amy said, coming from the kitchen with the toddler in her arms. “We’ve just been getting to know our grandson.”
Jessica turned white and looked at Danni reproachfully.
“The Watsons have been staying with us,” Danni said. “They figured things out on their own.”
Jessica looked as if she was about to crumple right to the floor. Quinn started to reach for her, but Danni pushed past him. “Come on into the kitchen, Jessica. You can sit down, see your son, have some coffee.”
Amy swept back into the kitchen with Craig, and the rest of them followed. Jessica fell into a chair, tears welling in her eyes. “We wanted to tell you,” she choked out. “We loved each other, we really did, even though we had our ups and downs. But we were careful. We used birth control. I didn’t know I was pregnant until he shipped out—and then I didn’t tell him until I could see him, face-to-face. And now, well...now we were working it out together. We were going to tell you. We just weren’t quite ready yet.”
“Jessica, you had your reasons. You don’t owe us a thing,” Woodrow said. “We’re just grateful you and little Craig are fine, and we want you to know we’re here when you need us.” He didn’t try to hug her, only offered her a warm smile that was so genuine that Jessica started to cry again, at which point Amy, still holding Craig, went to put an arm around her.
Danni smiled at Quinn and slipped out to the hall, catching his hand as she went.
“Let’s give them some time,” she said.
“Good idea. Besides, I think we ought to get dressed,” Quinn said.
“You have to call Larue,” she reminded him.
“As soon as I have clothes on.”
Billie walked in from the shop at that point, staring at them. “New look?” he asked.
“No, we’re running up to get dressed right now. How’d you and Tyler do last night after we all ran out?” Danni asked him. “Did Sharon stay and fill in for Jessica?”
“We were all right. Things seemed odd, though. The whole room just seemed tense to me all night,” Billie said. “But maybe that was natural. I mean, the bunch of you lit out like bats out of hell. Jessica screaming like that...it put everyone on edge.”
“We’ll be back tonight,” Quinn said. “This afternoon we— What the hell time is it, anyway?”
“Two o’clock,” Billie told him.
Quinn turned quickly to Danni. “We’d better get moving,” he said.
*
Danni was dressed by the time Quinn finished speaking with Larue.
She walked up to him with a questioning look.
“Larue is frustrated,” he told her. “He was talking to Grace, and she’s frustrated, too. She isn’t getting fingerprints, and everything that was used to bind and torture the dead men came from their own houses. We know the killer shot 9 millimeter bullets when he attacked Rowdy, Lily and Jeff, and that’s about it. They’ve had men watching Gus’s house, but Larue doesn’t have the manpower to follow his every movement. Same with Steve.”
“We know he’s changed his pattern, coming out earlier at least the one time,” Danni reminded him.