“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.”
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.”
“You are screwed up,” Bruce said. “Drop all the creepy stuff and be my partner in the brewery. If you give up Search and Rescue, you’ll stop thinking about all those people who put themselves in harm’s way. You know most of them bring that shit on themselves anyway. Then you have to go out there and put your life on the line and try to save them or recover their bodies for their families.”
Bale, Edward and Sean had joined the circle, Bale jumping into the conversation. “That’s an ongoing argument we always have. Where do you draw the line, knowing you’re risking too many people’s lives in order to save someone who should have known better?”
Vienna pushed her way through the men to wedge herself close to Stella. “That’s something every rescuer has to ask before they risk their life to help someone else. All of you know that.”
“Vienna,” Bruce persisted. “Look at the amount of people who are coming up from cities to climb Whitney with absolutely no experience. They have no business doing it. None. They read about how cool summiting the mountain is, look at a few pictures and think they can do it. They don’t bring the necessary gear or even dress in the right clothes.”
“He’s right,” Bale said. “Sadly, that’s the truth. Every time we turn around, there’s some idiot hanging off the side of the mountain and one of us, usually Sam or Denver, has to climb down to them, risking their lives, to get to them. Are they even grateful? No. They want to know if they got pictures.”
“How many of these vain idiots fall because they’re taking selfies?” Sean asked. “Vienna, you had to stop those two girls from letting go of the cable on Half Dome last year so they could take selfies. It was just sheer luck that you were climbing that morning.”
Vienna couldn’t deny she had to stop the two girls from letting go of the cable when they were climbing. They had pulled out their phones to take each other’s photograph. They’d even argued with her until she’d gotten tough with them and all but ordered them to keep climbing. One girl had teetered for a moment as she tried to replace her phone, and that had sobered both girls instantly.
“It is becoming a bit of a nightmare,” she said. “But we can’t abandon people, Bruce.”
“I don’t want to lose any of my friends,” Bruce said.
“I’ve never seen this side of you.” Zahra’s big brown eyes looked up at Bruce.
“I’ll join Search and Rescue right now if you want me to, Zahra,” Bruce said hastily. “If you think the men and women who come up here and trash the trails and blithely go up the mountain without properly preparing so that our friends risk their lives should be saved, I’m on it.”
“You don’t climb, Bruce,” Denver pointed out. “We’d have to rescue you.”
They all laughed, including Bruce. He shrugged. “Doesn’t matter, I’d try.” He looked down at Zahra, clearly sincere.
“It’s a good point Bruce is making though,” Bale persisted. “Helicopter crews have to make that call all the time.”
“It’s true,” Vienna agreed. “More and more that’s a question that’s going to be considered, even if we don’t like it. The risk to how many others when one person has been so careless.”
“I’ll admit I was an idiot once,” Edward muttered. “Decided to ride out a hurricane. Man, was that a bad idea. Because I do search and rescue, I realized what a risk it was going to be for anyone coming to rescue me and I got myself into big trouble. Fortunately, I was able to get out of it, but it was touch-and-go there for a while.”
“You were an idiot once?” Bruce teased, nudging him. “If that’s all you got, you haven’t lived long. I’ve managed plenty of times.”
“Bruce, getting back to your problem with the business getting too big,” Stella said, “what are you going to do? You have a good manager. Will he be able to help you keep up?”
Bruce shook his head. “I need a partner. Genesis doesn’t have that kind of know-how and he doesn’t want it bad enough. I need someone with skills.”
“An anesthesiologist fits that bill?” Harlow teased.
Bruce grinned at her. “Denver can do just about anything if he puts his mind to it.”
“Told you, buddy, not interested,” Denver declined. “As much as I’d like to help you out, I’d be crazy in a week.”
Bruce nodded toward Bale and Sean. “Jason Briggs is an engineer and a darn good one. He’s got the mind for it and his kind of work can be scarce up here, especially during winter months. You know him. He’s a hard worker. I’ve been taking a hard look in his direction.”
Stella was shocked, to say the least. Jason was the last person she expected Bruce to name. He would take one of the mean boys as a partner in his brewery? She looked at Denver, her eyebrow raised, hoping to convey to him that he might need to talk to his friend. Denver sent her a look that said he’d already done so to no avail. He felt guilty, but he wasn’t going to make matters worse by taking a partnership he knew he’d end up screwing up.
Sean and Bale broke into smiles. “Jason is one of the hardest-working men you’ll ever find, Bruce,” Bale said. “Ask anyone he’s ever worked for.”
“I have,” Bruce said. “I’ve been doing background work on him. He knows it. I didn’t tell him I was asking around because I was looking for a partner. He thinks I need work done.”
“No, seriously, Bruce,” Sean said. “You’d never regret having Jason work with you. He’s smart. He loves it here and wants to stay and settle down. He’s got his eye on some property to purchase.”
If she didn’t know Jason was firmly entrenched with Bale, Sean and Edward, Stella would almost have been convinced to have Bruce give him a chance, but the four men were really horrible when it came to the way they treated women. She didn’t want Bruce to be anywhere around them, especially since Zahra was from another country, and for some reason that was a trigger for the four men. She couldn’t imagine that they would influence Bruce, but it would be a tragedy if they did.
Denver seemed to know what she was thinking, but they’d been friends for several years. He shook his head slightly, as if to say it was impossible. He nudged Zahra with his foot. “What’s going on, shrimp? You’re looking sober this afternoon.”
“Some of us work,” Zahra said. “You docs just pretend to. I’m heading back over to the hospital. Go right ahead and pickle your brain.”
Murder at Sunrise Lake Page 25
