Alannah shook her head, feeling faint. "I have no idea why he would want to kill me, are you sire that is what they are actually here to do? It doesn't make any sense father would not want me dead, he would want me back home so he can make an example of me and force me to marry that … that man. I knew father was angry with my leaving, but ... Anyway my brother and I hardly know each other. He left Ireland at the same time Erik was sent away. I was eight years old the last time I saw him. He was always the bully, always tormenting me. I have heard nothing from him or about him until I saw this picture here today. I was under the impression that he was in New York working for our father."
"Your father the arms dealer," Captain Martinez said. His tone implied much more than a question, it was almost as though he was accusing her of her father's crimes.
Alannah eyes fell to the table, and she said in a small voice, "Yes. I didn't want to believe that my father was dealing in weapons, I was kept in the dark about everything father did. My father is a feudal lord and I his property. Could that be why my brother is here? Because I know too much? Because I escaped?" Alannah looked terrified at this prospect, as if her life depended on the answer she already knew.
"I don't want to sugar coat things for you Señorita Ferguson, but yes, at this point in the investigation I do believe that your life is in grave danger. Is that all the three of you can tell me about your brother? Is there anything else I need to know?" he asked.
"No, there is nothing else, like I have said before, I barely know my brother. What I do remember is that unlike Erik, Eraldo was always the one picking on me and trying to get Erik in trouble for it. Being the only girl in our family my brothers watched over me, for the most part. Eraldo was well … " Alannah stopped speaking, she suddenly remembered the real reason she ran from her father in the first place. It wasn't just the wedding, but something more sinister that she had witnessed, something until now she had blocked from her memory. She looked at Jakob as the memory of that horrible day came to her mind and his eyes grew wide as if he too remembered. She was suddenly very thankful for Dominic's around around her, her knees buckled, her eyes fluttered and closed, as Alannah world went black. Dominic caught her just before she hit the ground.