She nodded her head, the smile back. “I want you to stay, Sam. I’m not sure how good I’ll be at any kind of real relationship other than what we have, but I’d like to try.”
“Wasn’t planning on leaving you, Stella, unless you kicked me out or you took on a man. You do know that Sean and Edward are both certified scuba divers and Jason and Bale have been taking lessons from them.”
She hadn’t known that. “Great. Maybe they’re all serial killers.” She rubbed her cheekbone. “It would be like them to decide to murder a bunch of people just to see if they could get away with it.”
“We have to call the sheriff and let him know what happened,” Sam said. “You’ll need to write down as many details as you remember and sketch out what you can. I’ll write out as much as I can remember too.”
“Sam, will your ID hold up?” She really hated asking.
He nodded. “Yeah, no problem. It’s all good. I am Sam Rossi.”
CHAPTER SIX
Griffen Cauldrey was the local sheriff’s deputy who came out to take their report. Stella knew him very well. Over the last few years, she’d had her share of calls to the sheriff. Dead bodies turned up at various locations in a resort the size of hers, mostly drownings. Alcohol and water didn’t go very well together.
Griffen had been with his wife, Mercy, fifteen years, and they had twin sons referred to by their father as the “little hellions,” but it was always said with affection. The boys were ten now and could be a handful, but they were respectful and definitely minded their parents, especially Griffen, when he called them to order. Like most families in Mono and Inyo Counties, they loved outdoor sports, and Griffen and Mercy brought their children up with the rules of safety.
Griffen examined the scene in his usual meticulous way, asking them both questions and doubling back without seeming to. He took several pictures of the back of Sam’s head and then insisted that he get medical attention, wanting it documented.
“You know better, Stella,” he chided. “He should have been seen immediately.”
She nodded and indicated Sam with her chin. “Tell him, not me. I figured he might listen to you better than me. He’s tough as nails.”
“I’ve called on Search and Rescue to help with searching boats and rigs for scuba gear and also to talk to anyone who might have witnessed someone coming out of the lake in scuba gear. The chances of finding them at this point are pretty slim, but maybe we’ll get lucky and someone will have seen something. We just don’t have the manpower for something like this. It’s all volunteer, and by the time they get here and I get them organized, this man is going to be long gone. You have enemies, Sam?”
Sam shrugged. “Not that I know of.”
“Tell me again why you came out so early in the morning.” Griffen looked around the campsite with all the tents set up.
She sighed. It was her third telling. “We were going to camp here and we’d set up our tents and left everything here, but we went to the Grill last night. Vienna and Harlow had a shift at the hospital and didn’t get off until late, so they weren’t going to join us until morning, but Raine, Zahra, Shabina and I were supposed to stay here last night. I realized we were all drinking too much, so I asked Sam if he’d be our sober driver and gave him the keys to my rig. I woke up early, talked to Bernice at the boat rentals and she told me Sam spent the night here in order to make sure none of our things were taken. I felt really awful that he had to do that when he already had to drive us back to the resort and we were a little out of control.”
She made a face and sent a look of apology to Sam, hoping she hadn’t made too big a fool of herself. As always, there was little expression on his face, although there could have been a hint of amusement in his dark eyes. If there was, it was gone almost immediately.
“I got here, let Bailey out and was hurrying toward the lake. Mostly, I was concerned with getting coffee. I hadn’t had any yet and Sam always makes some. He was fishing and was out wading in the reeds. He suddenly went down hard and then was underwater. I didn’t think, I just went in. That’s when I realized someone else was in the water, holding Sam under. He was wearing a wet suit. He hit me here.” She pointed to her cheekbone. “And kicked me here.” She pointed to just under her breasts. “Then he was gone. I wasn’t even thinking about identifying anything on him. Just getting to Sam. I thought he might be unconscious.”