“Neither are you. You said Jonathon Thiroux was a sociopath, that he charmed everyone and fooled them into thinking he was just a quiet artist. So why can’t Rafe Marino have done the same thing?”

He had a point, which was irritating in the extreme. “Well, why do you think he did it? The prosecutor couldn’t prove it.”

“Did you hear that Bible quote? There’s something off about that.”

“Maybe he was bored in prison and took to reading the Bible. I would think being accused of murder would make you search for a higher power.”

“Or maybe he enjoys that his crime is known only to him and God.”

Sara just stared at Gabriel. “I guess you’re right. Only God and the murderer know irrefutably who killed my mother. The same for Anne Donovan. But I don’t think it was Rafe and I’m going back to Florida to say good-bye to him and run the DNA.” What had just been an idea five minutes earlier now suddenly seemed absolutely essential. “We can fly since it’s faster.”

“We?” Gabriel frowned at her. “I’m not going to Florida.”

“Why not? I need your blood.” And she wanted to be with him. On a consistent and regular basis. She wanted her and he to be a we.

“I’m not giving you my blood.”

“Why not?” Now that just flat-out astonished her. “You just said you’re Thiroux’s descendent and that we could run the DNA. You and I are the key to isolating Anne and Jonathon from someone else.”

“But there’s no way I’m going to put in the book that either of us is a descendent of them, because neither one of us needs or wants that kind of notoriety or scrutiny, so really there’s no point in running the data.”

“But don’t you want to know? Isn’t that the whole point?”

“Maybe we’re not meant to know.”

She could only gape at him. It was like he’d done a complete one-eighty. And he was just staring out at the river, eyes narrowed, fingers tapping, tapping, tapping a restless rhythm on his knees.

“You’re kidding.”

“Nope.”

“Okay.” Not really. She wanted to smack some sense into him, but knew that wasn’t the method of reasoning to use with Gabriel. He would only withdraw if she started shouting at him. “You can still come to Florida with me.”

“I don’t like to travel.”

“It’s just to Florida, not China. It’s a two-hour flight.” Maybe he was afraid of flying. That was a common enough fear. “We can drive if you want.”

But he just shook his head. “No, I don’t want to go.”