When he didn't answer, she added, "We're going to need to speak to Mr. Ashford."
"You should," he said, then turned and walked toward the elevators, feeling her assessing gaze on his back every step of the way.
Max Malone had an agenda, but Kara didn't have time to figure that out now. She closed the hotel room door and joined Tyler and Julia, who were sitting at a table, with Julia dabbing at her teary eyes with a tissue.
"I'm sorry about your sister," she said as Julia composed herself. "I know this is an incredibly difficult time."
"Thank you. I don't know what I can tell you. I know little about Julia's work and even less about her relationship with Dominic. My sister and I spoke on the phone every couple of weeks."
"Were you the one to inform Mr. Ashford about Samantha's injuries?" she asked.
"Yes. He called me," Julia replied. "He said he'd been trying to reach Samantha and that he knew she often stopped in at that café for coffee in the morning. I had just heard from the hospital a few minutes before he reached out, so I told him what I knew. Then I got on a plane as fast as I could. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to speak to my sister. She's in a coma." Her voice caught once more. "They don't know…" She gave a helpless shake of her head. "It's bad. Even if she survives, it will be a long recovery. Someone needs to be punished for what they did."
"We're going to find out who set the bomb and determine whether your sister was the target," she assured Julia.
"I hope you can. Max said that Dominic sent his private security to the hospital just in case someone tries to hurt her again."
She nodded. They'd stopped in at the hospital before coming to the hotel and had met with the security guard.
Tyler cleared his throat. "Did you talk to Mr. Ashford about the explosion?" Tyler asked. "Did he offer a theory as to who might have been responsible?"
"No. He said he was shocked. He wanted to know if Samantha had told me about any threats against her, but she hadn't said a word. That wasn't unusual. She's my big sister. She wouldn't burden me with that kind of anxiety."
"What do you know about Max Malone?" Tyler asked.
"He works in security for Dominic."
"Samantha never mentioned him to you?" she asked.
"No. Why?"
"Just trying to figure out the relationships Samantha had with Mr. Ashford and Mr. Malone," she explained.
"Well, she was seeing Dominic romantically, and Max works for Dominic. Max said Samantha asked him to meet her at the café, but he didn't know why, and I don't either."
"What did Samantha say about her relationship with Dominic? Was it serious between them?"
"I don't know. She seemed excited about being in his life. She told me she was meeting interesting people and that he was charming, handsome, and rich. As for serious, it's only been a few months, and Samantha always looks before she leaps. She's a planner. She's not spontaneous. She doesn't fall in love easily." Julie swallowed hard. "But I hope she was in love, that she got to feel that, because…well, I just would hate to think she would never experience that." She got to her feet. "I really need to go to the hospital. I want to sit with her. Are we done?"
"One last thing," she said. "We'd like to look in Samantha's apartment. We're trying to get a search warrant, but if you would give your consent to her building manager, we could get inside now and see if there is any evidence in there that might help us get to whoever did this."
Julia gave her a conflicted look. "I guess I could do that. I want you to find whoever hurt her."
"That's all we're trying to do," she assured her. "If you want, we could stop by the apartment now and then drop you at the hospital."
"Okay. I just need to change. Would you mind waiting for me in the lobby?"
"Of course. We'll meet you by the elevators." She headed out of the room with Tyler. "This will be good."
"As long as she comes down the elevator and doesn't ditch us by getting off at a lower floor and then taking the stairs," he said.
She gave him a surprised look as they stepped into the elevator. "Do you think she would do that?"
"Probably not, but there was a slight shift in her gaze when she asked us to wait in the lobby."
"I think she just wanted to change her clothes in private."
"Maybe. We'll find out soon enough."
