Thorne grunted in the affirmative and then added, "There are no cameras in the jungle itself, just in the trees along the border. There were at one time but they kept getting damaged or destroyed by animals, so Dressler didn't bother replacing them. He felt watching the approach to the jungle was sufficient. So once the two of you had started up the hill, I hurried ahead to wake mother and warn her you were coming. Once I had her situated out here, I took care of the cameras along the side and front of the house as well, and then went up to wake Maria."
"Will he not think it odd that all the cameras on the front and side of the house were destroyed?" Domitian asked, a frown in his voice.
"No. I destroy them regularly," Thorne said with a shrug.
"And Ramsey repairs them regularly," Mrs. Dressler added dryly. "It is a silent battle of wills between Thorne and his father."
"Do not call him my father," Thorne said stiffly. "He is a sperm donor, nothing else."
"Wait," Sarita said now, sitting up straight and trying to pierce the shadows around Thorne with her eyes as she asked, "How did you know who we were, or that we were headed here to the house?"
"You were talking when you came out of the water," he said with unconcern. "But even if you hadn't mentioned wanting to see your grandmother, I would have recognized you at once from your pictures," he said quietly. "Except for the color and style of your bathing suit, you could have stepped out of the one you sent Maria of you and your friends at the beach celebrating your getting into the police college."
"Right," Sarita said and sagged back on the couch, reminded of the skimpy suit she was wearing. She was suddenly grateful the light wasn't that great in here. Forgetting that her grandmother had already seen her, she said, "Don't have a heart attack when you see my swimsuit, abuela. It wasn't my choice, it was what Dressler left at the house for me." She grimaced and added, "Although I suppose I shouldn't complain-at least I had a change of clothes, even if I don't care for how revealing they are. Poor Domitian has been wearing the same boxers for three days."
"Oh dear, well we can do something about that at least," Elizabeth Dressler said, and suddenly wheeled her chair around the couch and toward the kitchen. "Come along Sarita, Maria, we'll raid my closet and see if we can't find something a little more suitable."
Sarita stood when her grandmother did, but glanced uncertainly to Domitian.
"Thorne," Mrs. Dressler said then. "Will you see if you have something Sarita's 'friend' can wear?"
"Of course," he murmured.
Mrs. Dressler nodded with satisfaction and then smiled at Sarita's grandmother when she took up position behind her chair and began to wheel her from the room. "Thank you, Maria," she murmured and then said again, "Come along, Sarita."
"Go. I will be fine," Domitian said when she still hesitated.
Nodding, Sarita turned to follow the two women. It turned out she'd been wrong. There might be three bedrooms upstairs, but the room she'd assumed would be a dining room turned out to be Mrs. Dressler's bedroom on the main floor. Still, Sarita suspected it had originally been a dining room, but had been converted to accommodate the elderly woman in her wheelchair.
"Here we are. Now, let's see . . ."
Mrs. Dressler's words drew her attention to the closet the woman had opened. It was a good size, running the length of the room, but the clothes all hung high enough that there was no way the woman could reach them. Sarita had just decided her grandmother must fetch the clothes she wanted for her, when Mrs. Dressler snatched up a long rod hanging amid the clothes and used the hook on the end to lift down a lightweight cotton peasant blouse.
"What about this?" she asked, holding it out to Sarita.
"It's beautiful," Sarita assured her, taking the top.
"Oh, yes that would look lovely on you, Chiquita," her grandmother said happily. "I have just the skirt for you to wear with it. And it is new, I just finished making it. Wait here and I will fetch it."
Sarita watched the little woman hurry from the room with a smile that faded slowly as she thought of what Mrs. Dressler had said earlier. Turning back to the woman, she said, "You suggested you were all prisoners here. Including my grandmother?"
"Yes," the woman said simply.
"Why?" she asked with a frown. "From what I understand when she was first employed by you, Grandmother came to work in the mornings and was allowed to leave at night. At least she did while you lived on the little island. Why did that not continue here?"