Murder at Sunrise Lake

by Christine Feehan

  “Do you believe it was Mr. Rossi?”

  “At this point, I have no idea who did it. For all I know, it was one of my father’s business partners. They lost men, sons. Brothers. Cousins. And a lot of money. They should have put the hit out on me. It would make more sense.” Raine sighed. “That’s why I live in the Sierras, Stella. I find my peace here. We’ve formed our own family. We might be strange and a little dysfunctional with all of our secrets, but we work and we’re loyal to one another.”

  They could hear the sound of the helicopter in the distance. It would set down in the meadow far enough from the house. Raine glanced at her watch. “I’d better free the hound. Daisy is going to have to do her business and run around like a maniac before we get on that bird.”

  “Be safe, Raine.”

  “You too. I hope Sam doesn’t get too upset about his father being here without him.”

  Stella hoped for that very thing as well.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Was everyone from Search and Rescue in the near vicinity?” Stella whispered to Sam. “That seems a little unusual.” She tried not to look suspiciously at Sean, Bale, Edward and Jason.

  Sean had every reason to be in the park. His work took him there, after all. She supposed Bale, Edward and Jason could go see him while he worked. There was nothing that said they couldn’t. Yosemite was beautiful and the various campsites would be closed soon. She just pictured them leering at all the female campers.

  Denver often guided hikers through the park to some of the off-the-beaten-path trails and he, apparently, had taken a small group into the park, so he was close when the call went out for Search and Rescue as well.

  Stella’s nighttime security guard, Sonny Leven, had taken his brother out to the park for a hike. They had a permit to hike up the back side of Whitney. What were the chances?

  “Not everyone, but it was good they were close to help,” Sam said. “The recovery wasn’t easy.” He sounded tired and Stella leaned into him. She knew that he was just as upset over the fact that they were unsuccessful in saving the two hikers—maybe more so.

  “Vienna examined both bodies as we waited for the sheriff to get there. Multiple broken bones of course, you’d expect that. The strange thing was, because you had said that about the killer grabbing at their fingers, she really paid attention and both bodies had two breaks in exactly the same place on the ring finger of their left hand.”

  Stella frowned and laid her head on his shoulder. Sam wrapped his arm around her. Immediately there was a small silence. Several others at the bar had ceased conversing and were staring at the two of them in astonishment. She realized it was the first time Sam had ever really shown any kind of public display of affection toward her. She didn’t move and simply waited for the Search and Rescue crew to begin their normal dissecting of their operation in the way they did.

  “Didn’t James Marley have two breaks on his finger as well from the fishing line or something like that?” she asked.

  “I don’t think it was from the fishing line, Stella. I think the killer has a signature, but we can’t risk being overheard here.”

  She turned her face into his neck, keeping her voice very low. “You’re right, but I just have to know how they were missed at Trail Crest. It doesn’t make sense, Sam. You and Vienna were there.”

  He nuzzled her temple and then her ear. “They had a permit for three people. His brother was supposed to be with them and couldn’t make it at the last minute. We were only looking through the database for couples with permits.”

  She closed her eyes. Such a simple mistake. The permit had been for three people, not two, and Vienna and Sam had been focused on looking for permits for couples only.

  “We need to talk about my father showing up and you letting him in.”

  “I think I got that it wasn’t such a good idea, Sam.” She sat up straight and took a sip of her mojito. It suddenly didn’t taste so good and she pushed it away.

  The Grill was filled with members of Search and Rescue, sitting at the bar or at the big round table, eating from the platters of the various appetizers Alek Donovan, the owner, had created in his kitchen to serve before his simplistic bar-style foods. The lunch room was almost at full occupancy, but Vienna had called ahead of time and Alek had saved them their spot, even though he didn’t take reservations in the bar.

  “I’m not good at turning anyone away,” she admitted. “And Mr. Rossi being a relative of yours made it even more difficult. He was very polite. Raine was with me and I kept Bailey in the room the entire time. I didn’t text you that he was there because I knew what you were doing was dangerous, or I would have. I wasn’t trying to keep anything from you.”

  “I’m aware of that, Stella.” He waited, his eyes on her, trusting her to let him know what his father had said to her.

  “He told me he’s retiring, and that he’d like to live closer to you. He said he wanted me to come with you when you go to talk to him in order to keep you calm.”

  Sam’s expression didn’t change. He kept his gaze fixed on her face. “What do you think?”

  “I don’t think, I know you don’t need me to keep you calm, Sam, and I told him that. I don’t go behind your back. He might really be ill. He said he’d had a heart attack. I don’t know him well enough to know what’s true and what isn’t, you’ll have to determine that for yourself.”

  “Did he scare you?”

  “Not at all. He was very polite. Very charming. He had another man with him. Lucio Vitale. Do you know him?”

  “I knew him back when we were both kids. He was from a very poor family. Had to work his way up. His father and two brothers were murdered. He was responsible for his mother and a sister, I think, from a very young age. He fought his way up the ladder, and I mean that literally. It wasn’t easy for him. I wasn’t that surprised to see he’d made it all the way. My guess, he’s an underboss or capo, not Marco’s bodyguard, although they introduce him that way.”

  “You took his weapon.”

  “Marco handicapped him by telling him he didn’t want me shot or killed. There’s that. There’s also the fact that I spent most of the intervening years fighting for my life. Lucio didn’t. He might train, but when your life is on the line every day, you keep your skills honed. Don’t underestimate him for one moment.”

  “I wasn’t underestimating anyone. They did help to pass the time. And Raine was with me. She had known Lucio in New York apparently. Her father was in the Irish mob. He supposedly retired and moved to California but someone put out a hit on him anyway and he was killed. Her family blames her and she’s dead to them. Literally. Your father knew her father.”

  Sam shook his head. “This is getting complicated, Stella. I’ll go talk to him, but I’d rather you keep your distance until I find out what he’s really doing here.”

  “I have no problem with that.” Having a serial killer around was enough for her to contend with.

  Zahra inserted herself between the bar and Stella’s barstool. “What are the two of you whispering about? Sam’s looking very serious and dictatorial.”

  Stella studied his expression carefully. “You could be right, Zahra.”

  Sam’s eyebrow shot up. “I look dictatorial? What do you mean by that, Zahra?”

  “I mean exactly what it sounds like, Sam, that you look like you have a tendency to tell people what to do in a tyrannical way.” Zahra gave him her impish smile. “Fortunately, you never speak, so you can’t actually be bossing Stella around. You just look like you are.”

  “That is fortunate,” Sam murmured.

  Harlow draped herself over Stella’s shoulder. “You three are looking cozy over here. Stella, you’re not drinking your mojito.”

  “It’s all yours.” Stella indicated the drink. “I think my beloved coffee will do today. It always feels so weird drinking alcohol at lunch.�
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  Harlow picked up the drink and took a healthy swallow. Zahra watched her, a little frown on her face. She suddenly reached out and took the glass from Harlow.

  “Babe, what’s wrong? You don’t drink in the afternoon either. Not like this. Do you want to go to a table?”

  Harlow looked stricken. “I’m just upset for you. Worried. I don’t know what to think. Have you been following the news? The war started up again between Azerbaijan and Armenia for that strip of land.”

  “The president signed a deal to stop the fighting,” Zahra said.

  Harlow nodded. “That’s exactly right. He did. And I asked some of my sources to dig a little deeper just to make certain everything was staying calm. It’s been years, but getting you out of the country was difficult, Zahra. That man was so determined that he wouldn’t ever let you go and he’s so high up in the military now. He’s got his own resources. If that conflict is ending and he asks the commanders or president or whoever to give him help, they would, wouldn’t they?”

  Stella went very still, watching the color drain from Zahra’s face. She felt Sam’s fingers tighten on the nape of her neck. Suddenly, it seemed as if her entire world was falling apart. In the space of a couple of weeks, the serial killer had turned not only her world but also her friends’ worlds upside down—or at least it felt that way.

  “Who is this man, Zahra?” Sam asked.

  Zahra shook her head. “It isn’t entirely his fault.” She lifted her long lashes and looked at Harlow. “It isn’t. In our village, which is very small, Ruslan was the son of the village elder. His mother was from a family in Turkey. He had been educated in Russia. His life wasn’t easy. He had a name that although considered perfectly part of Azerbaijani culture, was more Russian culture. And then because he was educated in Russia, some of the elders looked at him as if he might not be completely loyal to us. To make matters worse, he was difficult to read. He had been in a tough school and learned not to show emotion.”

  “Zahra, you don’t have to defend him,” Harlow said.

  “I’m not, I just want everyone to understand, life is very different where I grew up. Women don’t have passports. We don’t come and go whenever we want. We wear the clothes our fathers and then our husband deem respectable. Marriages are arranged. It is very rare for a couple to fall in love first, at least in the village where I grew up.”

  “Is it easier for the men? Do they have a say in who they want to marry, or do the elders arrange the marriage?” Sam asked.

  “Sometimes they are allowed a say,” Zahra said. “Not always. In this case, I believe Ruslan went to his father and asked for me. His father, as head of the village, could demand any unmarried woman for his son. It would be idiocy to refuse him.”

  “But you don’t know for certain if this Ruslan went to his father or if his father insisted,” Sam persisted.

  Zahra shook her head. “I have no real way of knowing. I woke up one morning during a break from my college classes to my father suddenly telling me that I was no longer going to school and that I was to be covered from head to toe always if I went out of the house. When I protested, he became quite violent. It was shocking and unexpected, to say the least.”

  For a moment she looked as if she might cry, but she pushed back her hair and lifted her chin. “That’s when he told me I was to marry Ruslan Islamov and he wanted me to be covered at all times, to learn my place as his wife. My father said Ruslan told him it was his duty to teach me my place, that I was running around in improper clothes, speaking my mind and acting like a whore. Ruslan told my father I was shaming my family.” She looked down at her hands.

  Harlow put her arm around Zahra’s shoulder. “You weren’t shaming anyone, least of all your family. You didn’t do anything wrong. You weren’t even dating anyone.”

  “So, what happened? Why would this man still be a problem for you, Zahra?” Sam persisted.

  Stella thought it was interesting that Sam’s quiet voice held such persuasion. He spoke in that calm way of his, but it definitely had what Zahra had jokingly described as an authoritative tone. His voice was so low and gentle, yet so perfectly in command, that it was hard to resist answering him.

  “It was like being in prison after so much freedom. I tried to do as my father asked me, but it was very difficult. I have always thought for myself and I don’t censor very well. I knew if I didn’t accept the marriage it would be difficult for my family, so I was determined to go through with it, but I felt like I needed to at least talk with Ruslan. I didn’t know him and I thought if I just sat down with him and asked what he expected of our marriage, I might be able to come to terms with it.”

  She looked up at Harlow almost helplessly.

  “It was fortunate I had come to visit her. I had already scheduled the visit and it was considered an honor to have a senator’s daughter in their home, so her father wasn’t going to suddenly tell her I couldn’t come after all.”

  Zahra nodded. “I went to Ruslan’s house late at night covered completely from head to toe, only my eyes showing. He opened the door and believed me to be someone else, someone he was expecting who had betrayed him. Before I could speak—” She swallowed hard, shook her head and tried again. “Things didn’t go well and I nearly was killed. I just managed to get out of his home and I ran, messaging Harlow. She told me where to meet her and she’d have a car waiting. She had use of a car and driver. It was the first time I was grateful I was completely covered from head to toe and no one would know who I was. Harlow, with her family’s help, managed to get me out of the country and into the United States. I was just so lucky, and I’ll be forever indebted.”

  That wasn’t telling Sam or Stella what Ruslan had done to her, but there was stark fear on Zahra’s face and her voice trembled when she related what happened. To Stella’s astonishment, Harlow moved even closer and wrapped her arm even tighter around Zahra very protectively. As there had appeared to be some kind of a rift between the two of them, Stella was happy to see Zahra respond, cuddling close, even though that meant her friend was very upset just at the memory.

  “I want to be certain I fully understand, Zahra,” Sam persisted. “Ruslan Islamov has ties to Russia and Turkey as well as your native village and Azerbaijan. It’s important.”

  Again, Stella noticed his tone was low, but quite compelling and firm. Zahra reacted to the gentle dominance in his voice, her small teeth biting down on her lower lip as she nodded.

  “Yes, and he rose to power in the military fast. He had specialized training because he went to military school almost from the time he was a little boy.”

  “Did he ever train in Turkey? Is he older than you?”

  “Yes, he’s about ten years older.” She whispered the affirmation. “I always noticed when he was back home with his father. It was difficult not to notice him. The men were careful around him. It was the way he carried himself. Some of the women were flirtatious and wanted to be with him. They asked their fathers to go to his father, but he always turned them down. I ran into him on the street, literally. I was out running and I had looked away from the trail and crashed right into him. He caught me before I went down. The way he looked me over, as if I was so beneath him, dressed the way I was, was humiliating. He didn’t say anything at all, but after that, when he was back, he would . . . watch me sometimes and it made me uneasy.”

  Zahra always talked fast and far too much when she was nervous.

  Sam stroked one hand down the back of Stella’s head. “Zahra, do you remember if anyone ever mentioned Ruslan going to Turkey to train with the military there?” He repeated the question in that same gentle, calm voice.

  Zahra’s dark brows drew together. “He did go to Turkey several times. His mother’s family was there. He would stay for extended periods of time, but I didn’t pay attention.”

  “Raine should be able to track him for you,” Stella
couldn’t help interjecting.

  Harlow nodded right away. “That’s right. Raine can find anyone.”

  Zahra’s chin lifted. “I don’t know why I let just the mention of his name throw me. It’s kind of silly to think that after all this time he would be looking for me. He’s probably found another wife and has three or four children by now.”

  “Raine could find that out for you as well,” Harlow said.

  “What’s going on in this little corner?” Bruce demanded as he shuffled up, crowding Harlow to be closer to Zahra. “Everything all right, Zahra?”

  Denver came up beside him, grinning, shaking his head, giving Stella and Sam a look that said there was no stopping Bruce from checking on his favorite girl.

  “Perfect,” Zahra said, flashing a smile. “How’s it going with you? Work still going good?”

  Bruce nodded. “Production is up. We keep getting new orders, so that’s good, but it also means I need someone I can count on to help me out. Denver’s only interested in human beings, dead or alive. I even offered him a partnership.”

  Stella raised her eyebrow and nudged Denver with her foot. “Dead or alive? Surely Bruce isn’t referring to your rescue work. That would be so inappropriate right now.”

  “I’m not that insensitive,” Bruce objected, directing a dark scowl at Denver, as if the turn in conversation was all his fault.

  Denver shrugged, a roll of his shoulders, but he looked a little lost. “I’m going through my midlife crisis. I like what I do at the hospital, but sometimes, all these rescues, it doesn’t feel like enough, you know? I tried riding with Griffen to see if I’d like switching careers to law enforcement. I went out with Sean for a while to see how I’d feel about working for Fish and Wildlife. I talked to Vienna about it and she suggested I ask Martha to work with her occasionally, doing autopsies. I still don’t know. Maybe I should go back to school and become a surgeon.”