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H ayes set about making a late lunch while Reese was in the shower.

He juggled meal prep with exchanging several calls and texts with Mendes, Jennings, and Adam.

When she walked out thirty minutes later, the baggy sweats had been replaced with a pair of leggings and a Dri-FIT top.

She’d washed the matted blood from her hair, then done something to it that had tamed the curls into soft waves. “You changed the dressing?”

“The nurse sent plenty of extras home with me.”

“Sit down at the table. The ophthalmologist agreed with your hospital orders to rest for a few days.” He’d also concluded that she hadn’t suffered ocular trauma and gave them a list of symptoms to monitor.

Reese dragged out a seat and sank in it, looking, to Hayes’s critical gaze as if getting ready had worn her out. “I heard him. I’ll probably put off mountain climbing for a while.” She sniffed the air. “Is something burning?”

He pulled open the oven, waved his hand through the smoke emanating from it, and grabbed hot pads before taking the broiling pan out and setting it on the stove. “Nope. Just nicely singed.”

He found a platter in the cupboard and stacked a mound of sandwiches on it before carrying the dish to the table and dropping a sandwich on her plate.

“Oven-toasted, the way God intended. Far better than those limp concoctions you get cooking them on the stove.” He returned to the kitchen, served up the soup, and brought their bowls to the table.

Belatedly remembering the milk, he made another trip before sitting down across from her.

“Cheese sandwiches and tomato soup.” She smiled slightly. “This was Wednesday’s hot lunch in elementary school.”

“Comfort food. Not as good as the school’s weekly chili and cinnamon rolls, but baking’s a bit beyond my skill level.”

She surveyed the food. Then him. “Thank you. For everything.” He heard the note of sincerity in her voice, but it would be a while before he could tuck away the cold sword of fear that had impaled him since finding her gone.

He forced a smile. “Eat. You’ll feel stronger.”

Reese managed a sandwich and most of the soup. And, because he nagged her, she downed the milk. She rubbed at the condensation on the glass with her thumb. Hayes managed to eat double what she did and reached for his third helping when she spoke.

“You didn’t tell me what Mendes had to say this morning.”

He busied himself with slicing the sandwich in half. “We can discuss it after you’ve had some rest.”

“Look, I get it. I screwed up big-time.” Because he couldn’t disagree, Hayes refrained from replying. “I knew I was going to have to hurry to meet Kervin, and with the detective here I realized there was no way you could make that timeline happen. But I still have to know what you learned.”

He chewed silently, contemplating how much to say to her.

Her face was nearly as pale as the bandage at her temple, and she looked like a stiff breeze would blow her over.

But the shake was gone from her hands, and her gaze was steady.

She was probably right—he couldn’t wrap her in cotton batting, even if he wanted to.

“Mendes was on his way to San Pedro.” He watched Reese carefully. “Someone torched a large pleasure boat at the harbor early this morning.”

Her fingers clenched around the glass. “Were there…victims?”

“The deputy provided me a couple more updates throughout the day. This afternoon, LAPD Harbor Police were able to verify that at least two people died on the boat. Likely the owners. Their adult children corroborated they’d been staying on it.”

“It’s usually crimes of opportunity with him,” she murmured. “If Thorne is linked to Pollack, that murder might be the exception. But he followed the professors in Alabama to their rental after they’d been out at a restaurant. The family in Tupelo had spent the day of the homicides at a park.”

“The security camera on that wharf was broken. But a couple of neighboring ones caught a figure approaching the boat at 2:13 a.m. Can’t make out the face, though.”

“Can I see the footage?”

Hayes picked up his cell, found Mendes’s messages, brought up the videos, and handed it to her. “There are two of them.”

She watched them both, her eyes glued to the screen. If he hadn’t been observing her so closely, he would have missed her slight wince before she handed the phone back. “The height’s right. And the posture.”

He’d caught that, too. Thorne always carried himself with his shoulders angled inward, as if perpetually in hiding. Maybe a carryover from his childhood, when he’d tried to conceal himself from his stepfather in an unsuccessful bid to end the cycle of abuse.

“That’s two,” she whispered. When his gaze flashed to hers, she elaborated. “If he killed Pollack—and the fingerprints on the pipe certainly means that’s possible—it’s the second time he’s struck in this state.”

And he was determined to make Reese the third. Hayes was already regretting he hadn’t put this off and given her a chance to recover from the events of the day.

“You would’ve had that in your head when you realized I’d left.” Misery filled her expression. “And again when you saw my car still parked behind the diner with my stuff scattered on the ground. I’m sorry for that. It would have been the worst sort of torture.”

That was an accurate description. But there was no reason to belabor the agonizing hours he’d spent before getting her phone call.

“I got a CHP officer to go to Tranquility Lakes and talk to Kervin. Persuade him to consent to a search of his car.” Because the topic had destroyed what remained of his appetite, Hayes stacked the dishes and took them to the kitchen.

Reese toyed with the spoon he hadn’t grabbed when he’d cleared the table. “He’d driven away before the assailant appeared.”

“He also could’ve lured you there for the purpose of that stranger grabbing you up. He’s not in the clear yet. I had checked him out earlier, but Adam put people on it.” Her attention jerked to him. “No connection to Thorne has been discovered.”

“So you think…what? That Kervin contracted with a third party to kidnap me for Stephen Thorne?” She shook her head. “Seems too convoluted.”

“It’s a stretch,” he acceded. “But we have to eliminate all possibilities. Jennings will pull all the traffic footage around the restaurant. They’ll track the route your attacker’s car took. It’ll be another nail in his coffin. When we have his name I’ll check for any links to Thorne.”

He reached across the table and took the spoon from her.

“That’s enough for now.” How much could the woman stand in one day?

She’d been assaulted, kidnapped, and then managed to outwit and outfight her opponent.

He didn’t know many people who could have done the same and remain upright. “Why don’t you lie down for a while?”

Making a face, she said, “I’ve already spent too much time in a bed today.”

“Not resting.”

She picked up her cell and glanced at the screen. “I have to make a call first. Maybe when I’m done.”

Hayes took the silverware to the kitchen, loaded the dishwasher, and threw away the paper plates and bowls.

The sensor sounded, and his gaze jerked toward the door.

But Reese had just stepped out onto the balcony for privacy.

He forced the pent-up breath out of his lungs and finished his task.

He and Adam had discussed at length moving Reese to a safehouse out of state.

When the opportunity arose, he’d broach the idea with her.

He was pretty certain what her response would be.

But they were fast approaching the time when she may get overruled.

His cell sounded. He wiped his hands on a kitchen towel and headed for the table to pick it up. A text from Jennings.

Got the bastard.

A picture of a man in cuffs was attached. Hayes studied the photo. Reese had indeed messed up his face. Although he’d obviously gotten a shower in before Jennings caught up with him, his nose would probably require medical attention.

Lance McNulty. Call when Reese is available. More ?s.

Hayes crossed to the patio door and pulled it open. Reese turned, her cell held to her ear. “I appreciate that. Yes. I’ll see you tomorrow.” She lowered the phone. “Before you get the handcuffs, that was Dr. Sedgewick, my brother’s psychiatrist. She agreed to make time to see me in the morning.”

“That’s something that could wait.”

She glanced at him askance as she brushed by him to go inside.

“Can it? My life goes on. I returned a call to Camry first. He was understandably upset to discover that I’m being investigated in Greenley’s death.

He’s talking about getting the conservatorship hearing postponed so this doesn’t tank my chances. ”

“Maybe that would be best.” Hayes held up a hand to stem the protest she would have made.

“The human body—and mind—can only withstand so much, Reese. Trauma has a way of catching up to us. If you don’t take the time to deal with everything happening, I can promise that it’ll hit you when you least expect it. ”

“There’s no guarantee that an extension would be granted, so until it is, I still need to prepare. Kervin gave me some details about my brother this morning. They sort of filled in some blanks.”

“Any that can be proven?” He saw the answer to his question on her face. “Reese.” Hayes gentled his voice. “Paying for info is like giving money to a fortune-teller. You get plenty of details that could be true, but they usually just tell you what you want to hear.”