her mother was looking expectantly at her. she wanted some kind of a response or acknowledgment about ava and john. ellie refused to discuss either one of them, and so she stayed silent.

"your father and i are thrilled that john decided to move here. it will be nice to have them so close."

"when will annie get here?" she asked, ignoring her mother's comments about ava.

"she can't leave san diego until thursday, but she'll be here for an entire week."

ellie pulled a chair out and sat down across from her mother. "you and dad should go to san diego sometime to visit her. it would be a great vacation for you."

"oh heavens, no. that would cost a fortune."

"are you worried about finances?" she asked.

it was a foolish question, she decided. her mother and father were always worried about money. just the expense of having her live so far away all those years had been a drain on them. the flights alone had been exorbitant.

"no, we're not. we're frugal," she explained. "and we live on a budget."

"the house looks wonderful, and dad said the apartment is finished."

"it was time we cleaned up this old house and fixed up the apartment."

"you look great, mom."

it was a sincere compliment. her mother was a beautiful woman. she still had the same figure as the day she was married. ava and annie shared their mother's bone structure and coloring. all three were slender and had honey blond hair and blue eyes.

"it's the new makeup. it's supposed to make you look rested."

ellie laughed. "that's a new one. i'll have to buy some."

"listen, i know i didn't want to discuss this before, but i've decided we need to talk about ava, to clear the air before-"

ellie cut her off. she wasn't in the mood to hear about her sister. "i'd like to talk about dad."

"what about him?"

"when did he have his last physical? he doesn't look good, mom."

"don't let him hear you say that. you'll hurt his feelings."

"mother-"

"he's tired, that's all."

"maybe he should use some of your miracle makeup," she said, her irritation obvious in her voice.

"don't you take that tone with me, young lady," she said. "your father is fine. he saw the doctor just last week."

her mother was defensive, and ellie couldn't understand why. she wasn't attacking her father. she was concerned about him.

she decided to let that subject go, too. the list of what she couldn't discuss was growing. money and health and ava. what was next?

her mother reached across the table and took ellie's hand. "i'm so happy you're home, and i'm sorry if i'm a little short. there's just so much more to do."

"what can i do to help?"

"your father wants to paint all the bedrooms before the relatives arrive. he's finished our room and the study across the hall from us, and he's also done two of the bedrooms upstairs. he still has annie's old room. you could help with that."

"i'll be happy to," she said.

her father walked into the kitchen and put his hands on ellie's shoulders.

"ellie's going to help you paint," her mother told him.

"great. after i get home from the university, we'll tackle annie's old room together."

"you can have your room tonight, ellie," her mother said. "but after painting, i don't want you upstairs until the fumes are gone."

"who's going to be sleeping in the garage apartment?"

"perhaps aunt vivien and aunt cecilia," her father suggested.

"those steps are too steep for vivien," her mother said.

"she would have to go upstairs to get to the bedrooms in here," ellie pointed out.

"yes, but these steps aren't as steep. they're much wider, and there aren't as many of them."

"if aunt cecilia hasn't lost any weight, she won't be able to get up these stairs either. besides, the aunts will want to be in the house with you and dad."

"i imagine they would," she agreed. "they like to be in the thick of things."

"why don't i stay in the garage apartment? and the aunts can stay here in the house."

"i don't know about that. you'll be all alone," her father said.

"dad, it's ten feet from the house," she exaggerated. "if i get in trouble, i'll shout. you'll hear me."

her father thought for a second. "i suppose i could get another dead bolt and put it in... just to be on the safe side."

"it would solve another problem, william," her mother said.

"now, claire, you don't need to be bringing that up until we have time to sit and talk to ellie."

"aren't we talking now?" ellie asked.

"a serious talk," her father qualified.

she didn't like the sound of that. the last time they had a serious talk, they told her she couldn't come home for christmas.

she turned to her mother. "solve what other problem?" she asked suspiciously.

"since you brought it up, you might as well go ahead and tell her," her father said.

"ava might be spending the night here, the night before the wedding. she doesn't want john to see her. she said it's bad luck."

ellie couldn't resist a bit of sarcasm. "is she wearing black? or red for-"

"she's wearing a white gown," her mother said.

"that's a stretch," ellie replied. "isn't she worried she'll be struck by lightning when she goes into the church?"

"you stop that right now," her mother snapped. "what happened is in the past, and we have to find a way to move on."

ellie didn't respond. her father sat down at the round table between the two women. "go ahead and tell her the rest. get it out in the open now."

"ava still wants you to be in the wedding."

"no," ellie answered vehemently. "i haven't spoken to her since the last time i was here, and that was eighteen months ago. why in god's name would she insist i be in the wedding? mom, if you'll recall, she wanted you to ask me months ago, and i told you to tell her no. i haven't changed my mind. i only came back here because you and dad insisted, and i will try to attend the wedding, but that's it." shaking her head, she added, "i don't know why she won't let it drop."

"there are terrible rumors about what happened, and ava believes that if you are in the wedding, people will know it was all a misunderstanding."

"rumors? not rumors... the truth, mom. she can't rewrite history."

"she thinks she'll be humiliated if you don't-"

"is that why you insisted i come home for the wedding? so ava won't be humiliated?"

"of course not," her mother said. "it's just that people talk, and-"

"i'm not going to be in the wedding. i'm not even sure i can make myself go."

"you don't have to worry about finding a bridesmaid dress," her mother continued. "they're all wearing long black dresses, and each one is different. any black dress will do."

"mother, you need to listen to me. i am not going to be in that wedding."

her father stopped the argument. "come on, ellie. we'll go to the hardware store to get a dead bolt, and then the grocery store to get you set up in the apartment."

"i'll have dinner on the table in an hour and a half," her mother said. she was shaking her head at ellie and looking pitiful. ellie expected her to dab at her eyes next.

"see you later, mom," ellie said as she dutifully kissed her on the cheek. then she whispered, "guilt doesn't work on me, mom. i'm not going to change my mind."

her mother whispered back, "we'll see."

fourteen

max and ben had one last meeting with agent hughes to go over the details of the landry case before they headed home to honolulu.

"greg roper pointed right at them," hughes told max. he sounded giddy. "no one helped or guided him to their photos. isn't that right, ben?"

"yes, that's right," he agreed.

"so we've got an honest-to-god real witness," hughes said. "i won't put him on the list yet. this stays with us now, all right?"

max nodded. hughes was getting smart. as soon as he gave the name to the prosecutor, a whole lot of people would have access to the information.

"maybe we should get some protection for him," ben suggested.

"once he's been identified as a witness, we will," hughes assured.

"what about sean goodman? the landrys don't know whether he got a good look at them. will you keep someone with him?"

"as long as he's in the hospital," hughes answered. "there are too many people coming and going there, and security isn't the tightest. just look at what happened with that gangbanger the other night."

"the police claim he didn't fit the profile of a gangbanger," max said. "has he been identified yet?"

ben shook his head. "there wasn't any identification on him, and no one at the hospital admitted to knowing him. i talked to the detectives this morning. they're looking at all the hospital surveillance tapes, trying to see if someone dropped him off or if he had a car."

max was not ready to dismiss the shooting as gang related just yet. "maybe we ought to be sure before we head to the airport."

"be sure of what?" hughes asked.

"that he was a gangbanger-"

"he was," hughes interrupted.

"but if he wasn't," max continued as though he hadn't been interrupted. "then i've got to ask..."

"uh-oh, he's doing the what-if's," ben said.

"yeah, i am," max replied. "and i'm asking, what if he wasn't there to take out a rival gang? what if sean goodman was the target, and that rookie policeman stopped him before he could get to his floor?"

ben took his cell phone from his pocket. "let me give the detective i talked to a call. see if they've found anything yet."

the conversation was brief, and when ben ended his call, he turned to max. "the cameras showed him getting out of his car. it was parked in the hospital's back corner lot. nebraska plates. when they pulled up the plates, they found it registered to a george cogburn."

max looked at hughes. "you know the name cogburn, don't you?"

hughes nodded. "yes, i do, though i haven't heard it in a long while. when the landrys lived in omaha, there was a willis cogburn who did some dirty work for them."

ben went to a computer and, after typing his id and password into the database, entered willis cogburn's name. a mug shot appeared on the screen. "willis just got out of prison," he told them. "looks like he could be back in action."

"the car was registered to a george cogburn, though," hughes reminded.

ben did a search and pulled up george's driver's license. "same address. he resembles willis, too. i'd guess they're brothers or maybe cousins."

max nodded. "the question now is, where's willis? if his brother was working for the landrys, too, then he was at the hospital to go after witnesses. maybe willis doesn't want to go back to prison, and he sent his little brother to do the job for him."

hughes had not been listening to their last exchange. he was busy on his cell phone. with the phone still to his ear, he told them, "willis checked in with his probation officer last thursday. he doesn't see him again for a month. that's plenty of time for him to do some side work."

ben said, "okay, so we now know that george cogburn was after sean goodman. if that rookie hadn't seen the gun-"

max interjected, "maybe it wasn't just sean he was after." his jaw tightened as he thought about what this meant. "it looks like the landrys aren't going to wait for an indictment this time. it's pretty obvious, they're looking for witnesses now."

"the only reliable witness we have is greg roper, and if we keep him under wraps, they won't get to him," hughes assured.

"what about ellie sullivan?" max asked. "they were feet away from her on that track. they could be going after her, too."

"she isn't going to be listed as a witness," hughes insisted. "they don't even know who she is."

max's temper was rising. "don't know who she is? are you serious? one trip to the hospital, and they'd know. everyone's still talking about what happened. ten minutes, hughes. that's all it would take to get ellie's name. george cogburn went into that hospital to take out a witness, and willis cogburn could go after her next. i'll be damned if i'll let that happen."

hughes put his hands up. "look, i hear you. i'll see that someone warns her and that the hospital security is advised to be on the alert."

"she's not at the hospital," max said. "she's gone back to her hometown in south carolina to see her family."

"that's good, then," hughes said.

"that's not good," ben countered. "you know as well as we do that the landrys will stop at nothing to save themselves. right now, we don't know where they are, and we don't know where willis cogburn is."

max was adamant. "ellie sullivan needs protection."

hughes started to argue, "but if she's not-"

"and she needs it now," max demanded. "you're the lead agent on this case, but if you won't order it, i will."

hughes relented. "okay, i'll call the field office in south carolina and see what i can do."

a couple of hours later, ben and max were on their way to the airport to catch their flight back to honolulu. despite hughes's assurance that ellie would be guarded, there was a gnawing apprehension in the pit of max's stomach.