“How did I not know that all this time? Bailey knows some commands, but he wasn’t trained by a professional. Were they?” Stella looked at the three Dobermans.
“Yes. And then I was trained to handle them as well. I’ve had them from the time they were puppies, but we were given strict instructions on how to interact as they got older.”
“Why would you need them, Shabina?”
Shabina shrugged. “My dad works all over the world. He used to take my mother and me with him. We’d spend months in one place. Sometimes there were factions that didn’t like Americans. When I was fifteen, I was kidnapped on my way home from school. My bodyguards were killed and I was taken by some pretty vile men.”
For a moment, her lips trembled and she turned away from Stella. Stella could barely believe what she was hearing. In all the years she’d known Shabina, she’d appeared composed and confident. For just that brief instant there was a crack in that perfect serenity, but she recovered fast.
“How awful, Shabina. I had no idea.”
“My father and his company didn’t let the news get out. They felt if they gave the kidnappers publicity, it would only make the situation worse.” Shabina’s left hand stroked her throat with trembling fingers.
All three dogs lifted their heads. The largest, Morza, padded over to her and pressed against her legs, clearly in tune with her. Stella knew dogs were sensitive to their owners, and Shabina’s recall of those memories couldn’t be pleasant.
“Were they looking for money?”
“They demanded a ransom, of course. My father paid. They didn’t return me. They had all kinds of demands after that. It was clear to everyone, me included, that I was never going to get away from them unless I was rescued. The odds of that happening were very slim. They moved me all the time.” Her fingers continued to stroke her throat as if it hurt. “I managed to escape once on my own, but they found me. I was out in the middle of nowhere. No shoes. My ankles were messed up. I could barely walk. They were seriously pissed at me when they found me. I thought they would kill me. I wished they had.”
That didn’t sound good. Stella frowned, nearly mesmerized by those fingers stroking her throat. “How long did they have you, Shabina?”
“I was fifteen when they took me and sixteen and a half before I was rescued. Nearly a year and a half.” Now all three dogs surrounded her. Shabina suddenly seemed aware of them. She looked down at them and smiled. “I’m all right, boys. Just taking a trip down memory lane. Sorry, Stella. I don’t usually go there. In fact, I try to keep that particular door closed and locked as best I can.”
“And I thought I had a lousy childhood. I’m really sorry, Shabina.”
“It was hard on my parents. They didn’t want me out of their sight once they got me back. I didn’t want to be away from them. I slept in their bedroom until I was nineteen. My father had a contingency of bodyguards around my mother and me at all times after I was back home. I still didn’t feel safe.”
She looked down at the dogs and smiled. “But then I saw a woman training several personal protection dogs when I went with my father to the security company where he hired the bodyguards. She was down in this long field the offices overlooked. I was so fascinated. It was the first time I felt like I could breathe. I didn’t want to leave and I was very fortunate that the owner of the company allowed me to go down to meet her.”
Stella knew what she meant. She’d felt that way when her foster mother had allowed her to have a dog for the very first time.
“Meeting Lisa Fenton and learning about personal protection dogs changed my life. Lisa worked with me and gave me an understanding of how the dogs worked and how I needed to interact with them while they were working and when they weren’t. I could tell her dogs were totally bonded to her, and yet when she was training them, they were like precision machines. She liked the Dobies for me because they were so sensitive and she felt I needed that.”
“I had no idea. They’re so sweet,” Stella said. “They hike with you, go to the boulders with us, and camp. I’ve never seen them act aggressive at all. They’ve alerted, but then all the dogs do on occasion.”
“Personal protection dogs aren’t supposed to act aggressive until they have to, Stella,” Shabina said. She signaled to the dogs and they left her side. “I do my best to be as independent as possible. My parents visit often and we talk together online, but I needed to establish my own space and feel like I could make it on my own.” She smiled at Stella. “I came to the Sierras backpacking. I wanted to hike the JMT alone to see if I could do it without panicking. Then I met you, Stella. You were such an inspiration, just like Lisa.”
Stella had no idea.
“I thought if you could be so brave as to take on a job like managing a failing business, then I should at least try my dream of opening a café. I had the money. There was nothing stopping me but fear. I had the necessary skills and the business background. My father made certain of that, even when I couldn’t attend classes. He made me take them at home. I couldn’t walk out the front door for a very long time, and when I did try, I often failed.”
“But you kept trying,” Stella pointed out.
Shabina nodded. “I did. My parents encouraged me, although, like I said, my father surrounded me for a very long time with a wall of security. I needed it at first. Once I came here, I felt at peace. There’s something real here. I feel connected to nature. My mind is still and calm. I love to hear the birds sing and the wind move through the leaves on the trees. Meeting you and then Zahra, Vienna, Harlow and Raine settled it for me. I knew I belonged here.”
“That’s how I feel. We all have these strange backgrounds. I thought all of you would look at me differently knowing I have a serial killer for a father, but instead, all of you showed me why you’re my friends. I’m kind of ashamed of myself for thinking you would look down on me.”
“It would make sense to want to walk away from your past, Stella,” Shabina said. “I never talk about what happened to me. We all came here for various reasons, and thankfully we’ve formed our own family of sorts. It’s been good for me and I appreciate it. I’m okay with whatever any of you want to share or not share. I’m just grateful I discovered the Sierras were right for me and that all of you accepted me into your circle.”
Shabina picked up one of the sketches. “What did the vet say about Bailey?”
Stella instantly smiled. “He’s stronger today. I can go see him. She wants to keep him another few days so he’ll stay quiet. He’s on antibiotics and pain meds. Once I bring him home, he won’t be allowed to move around other than to do his business. He’ll need to stay on his meds and wear the cone of shame.”
“That was one frightening night,” Shabina said. “I kept thinking it could have been one of my boys. We all love Bailey. He’s such a sweet boy and he was protecting Sonny.”
“Sonny was on his rounds. He’s very thorough. He never saw his attacker. Griffen Cauldrey, the deputy sheriff— you know him, right?” At Shabina’s nod, Stella continued. “Griffen thinks Sonny came up on him, the attacker heard him coming, hid, and knocked him out. I just happened to text Sonny right then and he didn’t answer, so Bailey and I went looking for him. Bailey charged and the man stabbed him with the knife.”
“Bailey must have bitten him,” Shabina said. “There’s no way that dog didn’t get his teeth into his attacker, not if he was stabbed four times. Even if he isn’t a trained attack dog, Stella, he’s big and powerful. He’s not afraid. He’d fight.”
Stella hadn’t thought of that. She should have. Bailey had been trained by a professional, not the way Shabina’s pack had been trained, but he’d certainly had lessons with a trainer. He knew his commands and he had good instincts. She’d heard that roar, that challenge. Of course he would have managed to get his teeth into his opponent.
“Whoever attacked Bailey and Sonny had to have been bitten, and probably severely. No way would they go to the local clinic or hospital, but they
might contact one of the nurses. You might talk to Vienna and have her put out the word at the hospital to everyone,” Shabina said, tapping her finger on the tabletop.
“I wondered why he didn’t stick around and just kill me and then kill Sonny. It didn’t make any sense to me at the time, but if he was hurt …” She broke off. “He couldn’t have been too hurt. Later, he tried to break into my house.”
“How much later? Do you know what time it was? You had to get Bailey down the mountain, right? What about Sonny? Who took care of him? Did an ambulance take him to the hospital? How long did it take before he was out of there?”
“That’s a good question. I didn’t think to ask. I was so involved with Bailey and then came home to that. It was pretty awful. I should have considered how much time had passed before the break-in and everyone had left.” She frowned. “No doubt Sam did. He’s always one step ahead of me in that kind of thing.”
“He thinks differently, is all,” Shabina said. “That’s good. The more people thinking about this and coming at it from different directions, the better. I also think it’s a good thing everyone is used to the way we women get together often. So, if we’re together to throw out ideas, no one else in town is going to think anything about it.”
“Sam really thinks differently,” Stella conceded. “And he stays calm. After these nightmares and Bailey and this horrid man watching me all the time, I need that calm. You know me, I don’t get creeped out, but this person has managed to do it. I’m not just afraid for me, I’m afraid for Sam and for all of you.”
“I thought a lot about Jason giving you that warning. I go hiking every single day with the dogs. They need it and so do I. It’s made me very leery. I always put the dogs on alert now, where before, it was their fun time. Now they’re working. I hate having to do it, but I know it’s necessary. It’s also made me consider Jason might know more than he’s saying.”
Shabina ran her finger over the trees and grasses in the sketch. Stella had been very accurate in her portrayal of the colors. She’d taken her time filling them in after the second night. The camera had widened to show her more of the terrain, but little of the actual victim. She could see more of his legs and the camouflage pants he wore, that was it. She’d concentrated on drawing the trees and brush she saw and the grasses that were everywhere.
“I doubt he’d give me any more information if I talked to him, especially if Sean, Bale or Edward were involved in any way.”
Shabina sighed. “They are a strange group. Sean is difficult to figure out. He won’t stop coming to the restaurant. I let him come and told myself no matter what he said to me or how mean he was about the food, I’d be nice and eventually he’d stop, but it only seemed to make things worse. I have no idea what he gets out of being so abusive.”
“I always thought Sean had a thing for you, but that kind of behavior isn’t going to win any points with you.”
Shabina shook her head. “I think I mentioned he did ask me out once, but I was busy on the night he wanted to go to dinner. I hesitated, because I was tempted. I hadn’t dated anyone and I had told myself that it was time. I was truly going to ask for a rain check but then he got angry with me when I said I couldn’t go that night. I don’t do very well when anyone yells at me. I think I just froze for a minute. I couldn’t believe he would get so upset when I told him I was busy that night.”
“And that’s when his harassment started?”
Shabina nodded. “He began coming in and sending food back and making loud comments. At first I was nice about it, but he only got worse. I don’t know what his problem with me is, but sometimes I’m afraid of him. I don’t know if it’s because of my past, or if I have good reason to be.”
“Have you spoken to the police?”
Shabina nodded. “Bale and Sean were both born here. They have ties to people in the department. That makes it a little tough. I’m not saying no one listened, because a couple of cops did. Craig Hollister, one of the detectives, is very aware of the situation. He’s talked to me about it a few times.” She glanced at Stella. “Don’t look at me like that. I don’t have a crush on him like everyone thinks.”
“Then why are you blushing?”
“Because all of you give me those eyes whenever his name comes up and I can’t help it. He did tell me to be careful and not to be alone with Sean. But Sean works for Fish and Wildlife and I’m in the forest a lot. Since you told me Jason gave you that warning, I’ve been a bit of a wreck. I actually considered asking my father to send a security team, but I knew if I did I would be regressing. I can’t do that. I’ve fought hard to get to this point of independence. I refuse to let Sean mess me up.”
“The season is over and I’m off for a little while. I’d be happy to go with you, Shabina,” Stella volunteered. “Between the dogs and my guns, I doubt Sean can do us much harm.”
Shabina smiled at her. “You’re a good friend, Stella. Thank you.” She looked again at the drawings, assembling them in order. “The trees here are ghostly white. There’s about a hundred acres of dead or dying trees around the area near Horseshoe Lake due to toxic gas. The roots are unable to take in oxygen. There are signs up warning people to be careful in that area because the gas is dangerous to us as well, especially belowground, in pits or poorly ventilated areas.”
Stella nodded. “I was fairly certain from the first couple of nightmares the intended victim is hiking in the D7 zone, where the gas from the magma leak occurred. D7 is very popular with hunters for various reasons, at least that’s what Sam tells me.”
Shabina laid the first two sketches representing the first two nightmares down in a line.
Stella pressed her hand to her forehead and then rubbed her temples. She felt like she’d had a headache from the first moment she had tried to figure this one out. She already knew it was an impossible situation. “That is a huge area.”
“Once you hike in about six miles, you’re into forest. Horseshoe Lake is there. It is a huge area, and you’re right, Stella, they could be anywhere, but if your hunter has one of these tree stands and he’s packing it in, is he going to go that far? I don’t know how heavy they are, but it doesn’t seem too rational to think they’re that lightweight. He has to have something to climb the tree with, right? Like sticks or a ladder? He has to pack that in as well. His rifle. We’re talking a lot of gear here.”
“He can’t be from around here,” Stella said. “None of our guys would do that.”
“No, I can’t imagine that they would.”
Shabina arranged the next two sketches with the lower part of the tree stand, boots and partial hem of the camouflage pants next to the first two drawings. Even with the pictures beside each other, there was nothing extraordinary to make the area stand out. And there wouldn’t be. The wilderness surrounding Horseshoe Lake was massive. How were they going to find one tree? One hunter?
They both stared down at the drawings for a long time, knowing it truly was an impossible task to find a single hunter in the Inyo National Forest. It didn’t matter how many trees and varieties Stella drew, there was no way to identify a single area by looking at them.
“I played various recordings of birds singing to you, and the ones you heard were from the area in the D7 zone closest to Horseshoe Lake. Those are migratory birds. I would say this is definitely the place, but the area is huge, Stella.”
Stella bit down on her lip. “I just don’t understand why he targeted this particular hunter. Why him? What is it about these random strangers that sets him off?”
“Does he need to be set off?” Shabina shook her head. “I studied those men who took me. At first, I wanted to think they had kidnapped me for some higher cause. At least an act of revenge. Then the money. But they were just vile, disgusting men getting off on a power trip. There was no real reasoning behind any of it. Some were worse than others.”
“Did they have other prisoners?”
Shabina nodded. “Occasionally. Those prisoners never
lasted long. Over time, I learned that the least little thing could send one off into terrible violence while another might still have a shred of decency left in him. I knew that wouldn’t last long being around the others, but it was interesting watching the process as they took a new recruit down their path of complete and utter depravity. I suppose one might call them serial killers. Certainly, they were murderers and rapists.”
Stella shook her head and paced across the room, suddenly restless. “I have a very bad feeling about this one. Right from the beginning, I felt like I didn’t really have much of a chance of saving this victim. I don’t see how the killer is onto me, but given what happened to Bailey, it’s possible. Ever since the night we were camping together, I felt as if someone was watching me. If he knows who I am, it could be that he’s playing some vicious game with me.”
She went over to the window and stared out into Shabina’s beautiful gardens. Even in October, the grounds were filled with a riot of color. In spring, the various shades of green were amazing. Stella hadn’t known there were so many colors of green. Now it was golds and reds.
“When I was a child, I remember thinking if I could be good enough, then my father would stop doing those bad things. If I obeyed the rules. If I didn’t get dirt on my new shoes. If I didn’t spill anything on my dress. If I didn’t cry when I fell down and it hurt. I would go to bed without protesting. I made all kinds of promises to myself to be better. I’d be so good so Daddy wouldn’t have to do those bad things.”
Bailey. She needed that dog. She put her hand out and it wasn’t Bailey who pushed his head under her palm but one of Shabina’s Dobies. “There’s my boy. You always know when I’m feeling blue, don’t you, Sharif?” She scratched his ears just as she did Bailey’s, grateful Sharif had always included her in his circle. All three of Shabina’s dogs did, but Sharif in particular liked her.
Murder at Sunrise Lake Page 29
