Raine raised an eyebrow. “Of course.”
“Just checking.” Stella scowled. “This is crazy. I’m already out of my mind waiting to hear from Vienna and Sam.”
“Then this is a good distraction.” Raine was practical.
“He’s mafia, Raine. You might want to go out the back way. He’ll have a bodyguard with him and I don’t want you in trouble with your work.”
Raine raised her eyebrow. “You do know my family is originally from New York, right? It isn’t like I don’t know what goes on. We did eventually relocate to California, but I was already grown by that time.”
Raine rarely gave insight into her family, other than she’d had a happy childhood. Stella knew her father was dead, but her mother was still alive. Raine didn’t ever go home for holidays. She spent them with Stella, Shabina, Denver, Vienna and Zahra and, recently, Sam in the Sierras. Stella had always enjoyed having the others there to celebrate with. None of them were ever alone. They’d formed their own family.
“It isn’t like I think he’s dangerous or anything, it’s just that he came in the middle of the night and Sam was really upset with him for doing that.”
“I can imagine, especially with what’s been going on.” Raine remained strictly neutral. She looked out the window. Bailey had alerted and Daisy was leaping up and down, giving her joyous welcome. The little Jack Russell loved everyone until she realized they were strangers, and then she would by turns growl and eye them suspiciously.
Stella signaled Bailey to his corner to remain on alert, letting him know he was on guard. He would ignore Daisy’s antics and keep his eyes on their guests, waiting for a signal from her to attack, or any indication from them that they were going to hurt either of his charges. Raine put Daisy in the bedroom and closed the door with a sharp order to stay quiet.
“Do you want me to make coffee?”
“Let’s see how this goes first,” Stella said, and went to the door. Taking a breath, she opened it at the first knock.
“Stella, this is Mr. Rossi. He was here to see Sam, but asked to see you when I told him Sam wasn’t here,” Patrick informed her, repeating what he’d told her before. He was obviously curious and very disapproving.
“Thank you, Patrick. I can take it from here.” She waited for Patrick to reluctantly leave before turning her entire attention to Sam’s father. He was studying her intently with dark eyes. Sam’s eyes, although he didn’t have the same intensity that Sam did. “I’m Stella Harrison. Would you like to come inside?”
“Marco Rossi. This is Lucio Vitale.” The older man introduced his bodyguard. “Thank you, I’d appreciate a few minutes of your time.”
Stella stepped back to allow the two men entrance into her home. Marco was a handsome man, his dark hair streaked with silver. She could see that his son took after him, although Sam had much harder edges. Marco appeared powerful while Sam was … disturbing. His bodyguard, Lucio, was more like Sam in that he had that same dark energy flowing from him even though he appeared relaxed.
Lucio’s eyes took in everything in the room, moving from Stella to Bailey. He noted windows, doors and exits. She was certain he knew she was armed, and then Raine walked into his line of vision and a flicker of heat and recognition slid into those dark, merciless eyes as they settled on her.
Lucio moved ahead of Marco, the suit he wore every bit as expensive as the one his boss wore, but somehow, even though Marco exuded power in that suit, Lucio was the more dangerous. Even Bailey’s eyes followed him.
Stella smiled a welcome at Sam’s father. “Was Sam expecting you?”
Marco shook his head. “I was staying in the town about an hour from here and decided before I leave for home, I’d like to speak with him one more time. It’s been years since we had a chance to talk.”
Stella waved the two men toward the chairs facing the sofa. “This is my friend Raine O’Mallory. Raine, Marco Rossi, Sam’s father, and Lucio Vitale.”
“A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Rossi. I’ve met Vitale before,” Raine said. “I’m originally from New York.” She settled on the sofa with an enigmatic smile on her little pixie face toward Marco, barely sparing Lucio a glance.
“You aren’t Sean O’Mallory’s daughter, are you?” Marco asked as he took the chair opposite Stella, giving his bodyguard the one across from Raine.
“Yes, Sean was my father.”
“Shame about his death,” Marco said. “He was a good man. Always kept his word when he did business. When he moved out to California, I thought he was retired.”
“He was. Someone wasn’t willing to let things go.”
“How’s your mother? She’s a lovely woman.”
“I haven’t seen my mother in years,” Raine said, no change in her expression or tone.
Stella had her gaze on Lucio, who had Sam’s mask and flat, cold eyes, but at Raine’s declaration, something crept into his eyes and then was gone. She had thought his eyes were black, but she realized they were actually navy blue, a dark, dark blue. Now they were fixed on Raine’s face. Stella wanted Raine to stop talking.
“There is a punishment, the ultimate that can be given out when one betrays the family. It can be worse than death. You are thrown out of the family, declared dead. Your name is never spoken by any family member again. You are not seen by them even if you are standing in front of them, begging forgiveness. There is no forgiveness for betrayal.”
Marco raised his eyebrow. “I can’t imagine how you could have betrayed your family.”
She gave him that same enigmatic smile. “In those days, I had no knowledge of what my father’s business entailed. I was very young and female and considered, I guess, without a brain.”
“No, no, Raine, protected. He protected you. All fathers want to protect their daughters.”
“From sharks? From men who would use them to get information to ruin their families? To destroy their father? I very naively fell for the wrong man. I thought it was love. Do you have any idea how truly silly that sounds when my father is dead and my family lost to me? The thing is this though, I do have a brain. A very good one. Had my father told me, I would have watched out for sharks. Now that I’ve learned that lesson, I know men lie all the time to women. More, I made certain to gain as much knowledge and understanding as possible about the circumstances of his death.”
Stella hoped Raine wasn’t challenging Marco in some way. Surely, she didn’t think Sam’s father had anything to do with her father’s death. She felt completely lost by the conversation and she still couldn’t keep her eyes off Lucio for some reason, and his reaction. He hadn’t said a word, but he was no happier with the direction the exchange was going than Stella was.
“No, no, Raine.” Marco leaned forward. “This is very risky. You shouldn’t be looking into such things.”
Raine’s eyebrow shot up. “This is truly fascinating. Are you telling me, Mr. Rossi, that if someone murdered your father, you wouldn’t hunt the one who ordered his killing? Because we both know whoever killed him was ordered to do it. The actual hitman is beside the point, merely the weapon. Whoever is behind the killing is the real murderer. Surely you would hunt for that person.”
“That is different.” Marco waved his hand in the air expansively.
Stella groaned and covered her eyes for a moment, knowing that was like waving a red flag at Raine.
“Because I’m a woman and you’re a man? Because I shouldn’t love my father the same way you love yours? I shouldn’t feel the same loyalty toward him? Tell me why, Mr. Rossi,” Raine persisted. “I don’t quite understand.”
“Simply put, Raine,” he said gently, “even looking into it could get you killed. You need the right resources. You need to know what you’re doing. And if you were to find your answers, you’d have to be able to follow through.”
She smiled at him, that same sweet Raine smile that meant nothing and yet everything. “And who’s to say I don’t have those resources, and that when I find the answers, I
don’t have resources to follow through as well? Never underestimate women, Mr. Rossi. That’s what ultimately gets men in trouble in the end.”
Marco stared at her for the space of thirty seconds and then burst out laughing. “You certainly are your father’s daughter. Sharp as a tack. I don’t think I’d want to argue with you very often.”
“No one does,” Stella agreed. “Would either of you care for coffee?”
Both men nodded. Raine immediately offered to make it. Lucio made a move as if he might get up.
Raine lifted her chin. “I don’t need any help. It will only take a minute. Anyone take cream or sugar?”
Stella got the feeling Lucio and Raine were definitely not friends. She hadn’t realized that Raine was “dead” to her family. When she spoke of them, she always talked about them so lovingly. She’d described her childhood as happy. Stella wanted to weep for her. How could she be blamed for falling for someone and talking about her family when she had no idea what her father did? She couldn’t know she was giving away information she wasn’t supposed to tell anyone. To permanently disown her seemed horribly harsh. How could her mother and brothers do that? Stella didn’t understand, but then her own mother had left her to face life on her own after it came to light that her father was killing people.
“Your friend is an interesting woman,” Marco said.
“She’s brilliant,” Stella said. “IQ off the charts.”
“What do people do up here?” Marco looked around her living room. The windows all had views. “I’ve seen for myself how beautiful it is, but you’re all young. Is there really work up here to support everyone? Do you all make enough money to live?”
She sat back and curled her legs under her. “I’m not going to pretend I don’t know who you are. You wouldn’t have come here to see Sam without first investigating me. You know I own this resort and the fishing camps, and the property around the lake. Sam works for me all year round. I employ another couple as well as security guards, full-time. Everyone else is temporary.”
“I only discovered my son was here a short time ago. I came quickly, afraid he would move on. We’ve not been on good terms for years, and this is the first opportunity I’ve had to really talk to him. It wasn’t smart of me to come at night.”
“Why did you?”
“I thought he would be embarrassed for you to know who his father is.” Marco shrugged. “I’m not embarrassed, but we parted on very bad terms.”
Stella nodded. “I can see why you would do that. Did you tell him your reason?”
He sighed. “No. We got off on the wrong foot immediately.”
“I watched from the window. He definitely wasn’t happy with any of you.” She looked at Lucio. She was going to make certain Raine knew all about his downfall and how Sam had taken his gun.
The monitor for Search and Rescue went off and Stella’s breath froze in her lungs. “Sam.” She whispered his name and jumped up, feeling the color drain from her face. “Raine,” she called, taking two steps toward the kitchen. The door was wide open and Raine came into view, her expression compassionate. Stella couldn’t move.
“I’m sorry, honey, Search and Rescue was called to Mount Whitney.”
Stella bit hard on the end of her thumb. “Sam? Vienna? Has either of them checked in with you?” She could barely breathe.
Raine shook her head. “Not yet. You know Sam. Nothing is going to happen to him and he won’t let anything happen to Vienna.”
“What the hell’s going on with my son?” Marco demanded.
Stella whirled around. Marco was on his feet. She’d all but forgotten Sam’s father. Bailey growled low in his throat at the tone, warning the man to stay put. Lucio had his gaze on the dog, one hand inside his jacket. Stella signaled to Bailey to stand down.
“Sam’s on Whitney today with our friend Vienna,” Raine said smoothly, covering for Stella, who couldn’t look at either man. “Vienna is head of Search and Rescue and Sam is part of that organization. I believe they were up there to try to improve the ability to rescue on the mountain. A call just went out for rescuers. Both are good climbers and hikers. They know what they’re doing. More and more hikers are trying to make that summit and they don’t know what they’re doing, so experienced climbers like Vienna and Sam have to help them.”
Raine was just talking, saying whatever came to mind in order to give Stella time to pull herself together. Her cell vibrated and she all but yanked it out of her back pocket to stare down at the one word that meant everything in that moment. Safe.
Her legs threatened to go out from under her. She looked up at his father, blinking back tears. “He’s safe. It wasn’t him.”
Raine stepped all the way out of the kitchen, her blue eyes sympathetic. “Two hikers went off. Vienna has called for the sheriff.”
Stella shook her head. “That can’t be. They were going to stop them at Trail Crest.”
“Stella …” Raine began gently.
“I know. I know. I’m grateful it wasn’t Sam or Vienna. I just need a minute. I feel like I can’t breathe.” She couldn’t stay there, cooped up in her living room, afraid she’d cry her eyes out or say something she shouldn’t in front of total strangers. “If you’ll excuse me.”
Adrenaline poured through her body, until she wanted to run to get rid of the energy making her shake. She turned toward the front door. “Bailey, with me.” She could only hope Raine would forgive her for leaving her with two strangers as she went out the door with her dog beside her. She got as far as the porch. It was very cold, and although she was in jeans and a sweater, she wasn’t dressed for outdoors.
Leaning against the railing, she covered her face with her hands. The serial killer had won after all. After all their careful planning, he’d still managed to murder two innocent people who only wanted to summit Mount Whitney and take in the sunrise. How could they have missed them? Vienna and Sam had been at Trail Crest. Right there. Waiting for the couple. What could have gone wrong?
Bailey shoved his large head against her hip and she automatically dropped one hand down to rub his ears.
“Stella?”
She nearly jumped out of her skin. She should have known the dog was warning her that she was no longer alone. She whirled around to face Sam’s father. He looked at her with concern.
“I’m not going to pretend to understand what’s going on, but it’s clear something terrible has happened. Is there anything I can do to help?” He handed her one of her jackets. She kept them on hooks beside the doors to her home so she could grab one at any time during the day or night in an emergency around the property.
“Thank you,” she murmured automatically. “No, there’s really nothing you can do. I’m sorry for acting so silly. Sam’s fine. Some of the hikers coming up from the city have been clueless about what it entails to summit Whitney. Vienna and Sam were trying to figure out how to protect …” She waved her hand, unable to lie. She didn’t know what to say. “He won’t be back now until late.”
“I’ve been diagnosed with a heart condition,” Marco blurted out. He glanced toward the closed door as if he didn’t want to be overheard even by his bodyguard. “I’ve decided to retire, which in my line of business can be risky. I have no heir other than Sam.”
Stella turned completely around, her back to the lake and the rising sun with all its shades of gold. She hoped he didn’t think Sam was going to step into his shoes.
He shook his head. “I know what you’re thinking. Sam wants nothing to do with my business. He got out a long time ago. No, I’ll name someone else to follow in my footsteps. I want to retire close to my son though, and have the chance to repair our relationship.”
“Why didn’t you go to him before this?”
“I’d like to say it was because we’re both stubborn, but the truth is, even with all my resources, I couldn’t find him.” He sounded as proud of Sam as he was frustrated. “I didn’t know if my only child was alive.”
St
ella could understand why he would approach Sam in the middle of the night when he found out where he was. Marco had probably really been afraid his son would take off at the first sign that he’d been found.
“I know I’m a stranger to you, Mr. Rossi, but I have to ask you, just how ill are you?” Because she might advocate for him if necessary. There were years of separation. If Marco was dying, Sam might never forgive himself if he didn’t at least sit down with his father and talk to him.
“I’m not dying yet. I had a heart attack and the doctors have told me that my eating habits and lack of fresh air and exercise have contributed to my very unhealthy heart. I made up my mind if I found my son I’d retire and try to talk him into at least living close to me. Knowing he has a lady makes it easier. It’s beautiful country up here, although I’ve never lived in the country, nor have I ever seen the appeal.”
She found herself smiling in spite of the circumstances. He was city through and through. She couldn’t imagine him ever considering settling in the Sierras. “It isn’t like there’s tons of company up here, Mr. Rossi. If you did decide to make this your home, or at least in the town, it isn’t like a city.” She tried to make it a warning.
Marco nodded. “I’m well aware.” He hesitated. “I met someone two years ago. We don’t live together, but I think if I did retire and moved away from the city, she might consider moving with me.”
Meaning out of harm’s way, Stella interpreted. Whoever the woman was, she wasn’t part of what he’d been doing all of his life. Stella honestly didn’t know that much about what he did, but she did know Sam. He wouldn’t be too happy with his father coming here and talking to her without him being present.
“You do know Sam will want to talk to you about all this himself.”
Marco sighed. “Yes, but he won’t be very receptive. I was hoping you would advocate for me if my son refuses to cooperate, Stella. I think he’ll listen to you.”
She could see his charm, his appeal to women, a powerful, handsome man, asking for help. He knew what he was doing, what he looked and sounded like. She had the feeling that he had practiced that charm many, many times over the years.
Murder at Sunrise Lake Page 23
