Page 132 of What Doesn't Kill Her

“No! We try to keep weapons out of guests’ hands, and that’s the best way to do it.”

“That makes sense.” It did. Damn it.

“Why? Why?” Verona had grasped a measure of calm, and now let it slip beyond her grasp. “Why would anyone want to kill you? Why would they take Rae?”

“I don’t know,” Kellen said.

“Military assassin?” Birdie asked.

“That’s my best guess.”

Birdie used her phone to call again, and again said, “No answer from Temo and Adrian.”

“Very bad.” Kellen’s teeth ached from clenching them.

“Is it that man?” Verona asked. “That Brooks? Did he take Rae?”

“No. Max doesn’t like him, but with my approval, he trusted Rae to his care.”

“Nils Brooks made a pass at you on your wedding day!”

Kellen thought of the writhing figure they had stepped over on the way up the stairs. “I didn’t say he was a good man. I said he was dependable and a fighter, one of the best.” And he was MIA. Which only made Kellen more concerned about who had taken Rae.

“We’ve got to find him!” Verona was frantic. “And Max. We’ve got to get Max.”

“Yes. But whoever this is—” she pointed at the man in Rae’s drawing “—should be scared, but isn’t. That child is not helpless.”

Verona calmed, mesmerized by Kellen’s certainty. “Wait. I know what to do. I’ll call Arthur. He can handle anything!”

Kellen grabbed both Verona’s wrists. “No. You must not involve Arthur or any of his people.”

“You think Arthur Waldberg—No! No, he’s so charming. So efficient. So polite and gentlemanly. He’s not at all like all the other winery managers who are young and unruly and...” Verona’s voice trailed off and her eyes got wide. She looked at Kellen. “You can let me go now. I’m never a fool twice.”

Birdie came out of the bathroom with a rattail comb, a can of hair spray, and picked up the lighter by the fireplace.

Kellen continued, “Max and I talked about who we thought might be a problem.”Arthur and his people.“Verona, go to the house, find Max and tell him what’s happened. Tell him to bring the bag out of the gun safe in my room. The code is 3252.”

Verona turned and fled, leaving the door open.

“This is pitiful.” Birdie showed Kellen her stash. “If this guy’s got a gun, we’re going to die.”

“We’ve got to find Nils. He brought the head. He’ll have weaponry to protect it.” Kellen thought through this logically. “Verona left Rae in the room alone. Nils was on guard duty. Rae begged to see the head. Nils wanted to make her happy, so they went to the Triple Goddess and were ambushed. That’s how this guy and Rae got the head. It’s the only thing that makes sense.”

“So maybe Nils will have weapons, and maybe not, and maybe he’s dead.”

Kellen called his number. In the distance, they heard a ringing and walked out into the corridor. The door across from Rae’s room was half-open, and she pushed it the rest of the way.

Nils Brooks lay sprawled on the floor. Blood oozed from the back of his head. “Not good!” Kellen knelt beside him and checked his pulse. “He’s alive, but he’ll have a headache.”

Birdie flung herself at Nils’s luggage. “You find Rae. I’ll see what weapons I can collect.”

Kellen ran to Rae’s room. It was empty. “Who was he?” she muttered. “Where did he take her? Today, there aren’t that many places where people...aren’t. Wine cellar. Mixing shed. Storage.” She stood in the middle of the tiny suite and looked around, trying to see anything out of place. Crayons were scattered across the desk. One naked princess doll had been tossed beside her pile of glittering clothes. Graham cracker crumbs festooned the rumpled comforter.

Rae’s voice echoed in her head.I’ve got stars on my sash and on my hair thingie.

There. A star on the floor.

What a child she and Max had produced! She started out the door.

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