Page 72 of Strangers She Knows

“I didn’t inspect her luggage, so she might have gotten away with the pistols, but she wasn’t carrying a bag long enough for the rifles.”

The library looked so normal, so safe, except for the small, shivering figure of her daughter. And now she had no way to protect Rae in case of trouble?Moretrouble? “Max, we have to consider this could be Mara. Remember how she manipulates men? How violence always followed in her wake? Add Dylan together with the missing firearms, and we have to consider that Mara is here. Somewhere. Somehow.”

“I know. I agree. But then I ask how she got here and why she hasn’t openly revealed herself—”

“Because she’s crazy!”

Max lightly placed his fingers on Kellen’s lips. “Shh. Yes, true. But so was Olympia. She was afraid to be here, and it stands to reason she might have taken the firearms to protect herself.”

“So don’t jump to conclusions.”

“We can jump, but cautiously, and we’ve got to look at every possibility. I did a fast search of the study and of Olympia’s bedroom.” He moved closer. “But, Kellen, think. If Olympia hid the guns in this house, with all the rooms, the drawers, the cupboards… How can we ever find them?”

Hopeless. It was hopeless. “What was she thinking?”

“The isolation of this island makes people lose their minds.”

“I’m just fine, thank you!”

“You really are.” Smiling faintly, he put his arm around her and together they walked over to Rae. He spoke to his daughter. “Are you two going to be okay here alone?”

“Of course we will,” Kellen said. “Right, Rae?”

Rae looked up. “What?” She looked into Max’s face as if just now noticing he was there. “What?”

Kellen said, “We’ll be okay alone on the island while Daddy takes Dylan in, right?”

“Sure.” Rae swallowed. “But we’re not alone on the island.”

“We aren’t?” Kellen mentally jumped to her imminent fear.Mara. “Who else is here?”Mara?

“Jamie! Just Jamie.” Rae glanced away, off to the side, out the window as if expecting to see a face there.

Kellen knelt on the other side of Rae. Between her and Max, they would surround their daughter with love. They would push away the darkness.

Rae looked up at her mother, then at her father. “Jamie’s here somewhere, and we’ve got to find her. She might still be alive.”

“No,” Max said.

“Daddy, she might be hurt!”

“Sweetheart…” Max faltered.

Kellen intervened. “Your father is convinced Jamie is dead, but if she has somehow survived, I’ll find her.”

“We have to search. Just in case.” Rae pulled the throw around herself like a shawl. “Mommy, I need to help you search.”

Kellen gazed into Rae’s eyes, afraid, distressed, yet clear and concerned. “You are the best kid I ever met.”

“Does that mean I can come with you rather than sneak after you?”

Kellen didn’t think it was possible given the circumstances, but she smiled. “Mostly a good kid. Sometimes you’re sort of snotty.”

“Runs in the family.” Rae’s spirit shone through her anguish.

“I guess it does.”

Max began, “I don’t think that Rae—”

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