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Max Reardon lifted a hand in greeting and came to tie up her boat. “Anu is resting on the porch while my cook whips up our lunch. I hope you’re hungry.” His smile widened when his gaze landed on Kylie. “And you brought my favorite little girl with you. I’m sorry Jon couldn’t make it.”
A handsome man in his sixties, Max’s bearing and clothing oozed money, from his styled salt-and-pepper hair to his Italian leather shoes. He’d leased this island from Annie when she needed the income most, so she harbored a soft spot for him.
She threw him the line. “His dad had a doctor visit in Houghton. He was sorry to miss lunch.” She paused to help her eight-year-old daughter to the freshly stained boards.
Kylie was a carbon copy of Annie with big blue eyes and shoulder-length blonde hair. Kylie promptly went to hug Max before moving to the edge of the water to watch the loons.
“Anu is recovering nicely from her surgery.”
“I’m eager to hear how it went.” While Bree had filled her in that the ovarian cancer surgery had gone well, Annie was eager to hear the results—and to see her friend Anu Nicholls with her own two eyes.
She spotted Anu on the expansive porch along the front of the massive log home Max had built. Anu saw her and waved. Though the older woman was in her sixties, she looked forty-five. Her silvery-blonde hair just brushed her chin, and her clothing was always impeccable. She rose as Annie reached the porch, and she seemed as strong and steady as usual.
Annie went up the steps ahead of Max and Kylie to embrace her. Careful not to hug her tight enough to press against her incision, Annie inhaled Anu’s perfume, a light scent with a citrus note.
Annie guided her back to the chair. “How are you feeling?” She pulled another Adirondack chair closer to Anu and settled in it. Kylie perched on her knee.
Anu smoothed the crease in her tan slacks. “Quite well. I am still sore, but I am healing every day.” She smiled and reached overto take Annie’s hand. “I can see the question on your face,kulta. I do not have the biopsies back yet, but I am most optimistic. The doctor told Max, Bree, and Hilary that it appeared the cancer was confined to the ovary. If the biopsy confirms that prediction, I will not need to have chemo or radiation. I am praying that is the case.”
“Jon and I are praying for that too.”
“So am I!” Kylie chimed in.
Anu’s smile widened. “I appreciate that very much, my Kylie. And it is thanks to dear Jon that we had such good news.”
“And Milo!” Kylie said.
Anu nodded. “It was most astounding to discover such a young puppy has the ability to sniff out cancer. And that Jon’s intuition led him to the right reason for Milo’s behavior. I am very blessed.”
“Annie!” Max came hurrying toward her holding a satellite phone. “It’s Jon.”
Jon Dunstan, the love of her life and Kylie’s father, had suddenly reappeared after nine years. “Hey, Jon, what’s up?” He wouldn’t bother Max on the satellite phone unless it was important.
“Hussert escaped.”
Annie’s stomach bottomed out. Glenn Hussert had imprisoned a woman to try to hide his embezzlement from a women’s shelter. Sheriff Mason Kaleva suspected he might know more than he was telling about other crimes in the area. Glenn had kept Sarah locked up, too, and for all Annie knew, he might have killed her if her sister hadn’t managed to escape.
“Does Mason think Sarah is in danger? Or Michelle?” Michelle Fraser had been kept in an abandoned cabin for over a week while Glenn demanded evidence she’d hidden.
“He thinks it’s possible. Without the kidnapping victims’ testimonies, Hussert would only be charged with fraud, which is a much lesser crime. I heard about it when I went to pay Sarah’s bail. Bree and Kade are taking the kids to Wisconsin Dells for a week, so Mason’s concerned Bree’s guest cottage might not be as safe as we’d like with no one in the lighthouse. What should I do about Sarah?”
While Annie had been willing to bail her sister out even though she’d kidnapped Kylie, Annie hadn’t wanted to see her, but did she have a choice? “I don’t know.”
“I could let her stay in Dad’s cottage. No one would know she was there.”
“She’s not trustworthy, Jon. She’s likely to talk about it in town.”
“Maybe not if she’s scared of Hussert. And I could drop off food and supplies to her. She wouldn’t have to go to Rock Harbor at all.”
“I’m not sure she has the good sense to be afraid.” Annie winced at how bitter her words sounded. “I’m sorry, that didn’t come out well.”
“She’s hurt you a lot, love.” His voice went soft. “We could revoke the bail.”
Annie was reluctant to toss her sister back in jail, but the thought of having her near Kylie gave her pause too. Was there anywhere safe Annie could send her? She didn’t want to be responsible for Hussert getting hold of Sarah again. Her baby sister had been missing and presumed dead for twenty-four years, but her recent return had not been the joyful event Annie had hoped for.
“How did he escape?” she asked to delay a decision. “Hebarely woke up.” Hussert had been in a coma after a mountain lion’s stranglehold nearly killed him.
“The deputy guarding him was drugged, and there was some kind of incident at the nurses’ station that caused a distraction. A security camera showed three men in a back stairwell taking him out in a wheelchair in the wee hours this morning.”
