“I felt that way for a long time. I think we’re very much alike.”
“I think we’re not, sweetheart. I think you’re someone very special.”
“Sam. To me, you’re an unexpected gift. You don’t even know. I felt responsible for my mother and the breakup of our family. I learned not to ever talk to anyone about what was going on in my life. It just became such a habit that I found it hard to let anyone in.” She sent him a small smile. “You snuck in when I wasn’t looking.”
He gave her an answering smile. “That was the idea.” The smile faded. “Maybe we both had the same codes drilled into us and that’s why we were able to understand each other’s need for privacy. I was raised in secrecy as well. My profession only added to the need to maintain that code.”
“The mystery adds to your allure. My friends perv on you,” she told him, to lighten the moment.
One eyebrow lifted. “The same friends who tried to convince you I was a serial killer?”
“Well … yes. With the exception of Raine. She didn’t believe it for a minute. I’m convinced Raine may have information she hasn’t disclosed to anyone else, or she just has a sixth sense about people. She’s different and always has been. She knows what it’s like to love and lose her family. She always talks about them, Sam. Her mother, father and brothers. Her childhood. She had a happy childhood. I had no idea they considered her dead to them.”
“I’ve heard of that punishment,” Sam said. “It seems extreme, especially as she was never told that her father was in the mob. I find it odd that her mother would go along with what is obviously her brothers’ punishment … Unless—” He broke off abruptly.
“What?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know Raine very well. She’s always quiet. Almost always stays in the background observing everyone, but she’s very intelligent.”
“That’s an understatement, Sam. She’s off-the-charts smart. Cool under fire. She can handle herself in any situation.”
“Would she set herself up as a target to draw out her father’s killer? Get her family to cut her off in order to protect them?”
“What do you mean?”
“Would she talk her brothers and mother into publicly disowning her? Whoever had her father killed would think her family blamed her and they wouldn’t look twice at a little slip of a girl living up in the Sierras alone. She doesn’t go near her family. If they are monitoring her brothers, her brothers aren’t making inquiries into their father’s death. They’ve accepted it as the price one pays for being in the business.”
Stella’s breath caught in her lungs. That was exactly something Raine might do. She was very probably patiently unraveling the trail leading to who was behind her father’s killing. “If that’s what she’s done, she would find a way to talk to her mother and brothers without risk. Not in person, but through her computer,” Stella conceded.
“I think your friends fit with you, sweetheart, because they know about keeping secrets and about love and loss, just the way you do.”
“We do,” she corrected.
STELLA STARED AT the familiar truck and then slowly turned her gaze to Sam. “He’s going to kill Denver. Sam. He’s going to kill Denver. Our Denver.” She could barely conceive of anyone doing such a thing. “He’s part of our family. Yours and mine. We have to hurry. What if we’re already too late?”
She shoved open the door to her 4Runner and all but hurtled herself out, her heart pounding, her mouth dry. Who would want to kill Denver? Of everyone in the community, with the exception of Vienna, he was the most helpful. He was the sweetest. He was needed as the resident anesthesiologist. He was on the Search and Rescue team. He helped the elderly get through the winter by sharing the meat he hunted and the fish he’d caught. Even vegetables from his large garden were canned by many of the community members. He was always willing to help with repairs at their homes, going with Sam when they were told of an elderly person’s home with a leaky roof or sagging floor. The two men often cut and split firewood and brought it to those who could no longer get it for themselves.
Sam caught her wrist and hauled her back onto the seat. “Stop, Stella. Take a deep breath. You aren’t going to be any good to him flying off the handle that way. If you can’t play your part, you’ll have to stay here and I’ll go alone. The killer can’t know we’re onto him. Denver believes he’s out here with a friend to work on a project. They have to believe we came to work on your fears. The killer has no reason to think we’re onto him. None. Unless you give us away, he’ll believe it’s sheer coincidence we chose today to come. And it makes sense. It’s a beautiful day.”