“When I was a teenager in a foster home, I suddenly began to have similar nightmares. I didn’t want to believe it, but I realized there was a serial killer at work in close proximity to me again. The pattern was the same. Five nights of dreams and then one or two days of silence and then the kill. I tried to stay out of the limelight, but the media got ahold of it just like when I was a little kid. It was hell. I vowed never to go through that again. I changed my name and found a place of peace where I could just live my life.”
Stella took a piece of zucchini, but her appetite was gone. She dropped it on her plate and looked at Zahra with stricken eyes, unable to go on.
Zahra sighed. “The sudden desire to camp when we already had plans to go to the Grill. That didn’t make sense. Bruce told me that was his favorite fishing spot. He and Denver go there all the time. You had a dream and you were keeping them from fishing there, weren’t you?”
Stella nodded. “But I had too much to drink. I thought Sam would drive us home and just stay at the resort, but no, he had to be too nice and go watch over our things. He doesn’t get a chance to fish because he’s always working, so he thought he’d put in a little time in the early morning hours before we got there. Bernice told me he was there and I jumped in my rig and raced to the site, terrified I’d be too late.”
“He would have murdered either Bruce or Denver if we hadn’t put up the tents and driven them out of their favorite fishing site,” Zahra said. “They don’t always fish together because Denver has to work so much at the hospital and can’t get away. Bruce can only go out in the early morning. Most likely, he would have been the victim. You probably saved his life.”
“I didn’t save James Marley’s life. I never even saw that coming. What did he do? Go straight from trying to kill Sam to targeting James and then getting away that fast? How? Sam called the sheriff after the attack. They searched boats and trucks for scuba gear.”
“The killer would have dropped the gear to the bottom of the lake, Stella. It’s a big lake, and by the time the sheriff gets out there and the word goes out, come on, realistically, if he’s been around here at all, he’ll know it wouldn’t be easy to get a decent search crew together. He had hours to get away.”
Stella knew Zahra was right. Unfortunately, it had been a good day for fishing, and there were boats on the water and many fishing from shore all around the lake. It wasn’t like the sheriff had hundreds of men he could deploy to search. She hadn’t expected the killer to go straight from attempting to kill Sam to killing another fisherman using the exact same method.
“What are you going to do?” Zahra asked.
Stella shrugged. “I don’t know. There’s not really much I can do without evidence. According to everything I’m hearing, there isn’t enough evidence to build a case for murder. As it stands, the only reason they’re even considering that it wasn’t an accident is because there was an attempt on Sam and we saw the assailant in the water, but of course, we can’t identify him.”
“Are you even certain it was a man?”
Stella nodded. “Absolutely.”
Zahra sighed. “If Bruce was the intended victim, at least it’s not some woman out to kill him because he isn’t paying attention to her.” She sent Stella a little mischievous half smile. “You can’t really tell the police anything, can you, and you shouldn’t at this stage, Stella. If it got out who you are, it would only tip off the killer and we’d lose any advantage we have in trying to catch him.”
“That’s what I think too. Sam does know. I had to tell him when the killer almost got him and I suddenly showed up out of the blue and dove into the lake to save him. The freezing-cold lake. I really think he should remember that.”
“I’m sure he’s appropriately thankful. He did kiss you, after all.”
Stella wasn’t touching that. “Raine has to do background checks on anyone around her because of the type of work she does. She knows about me and has known for years. She’s never said anything. She keeps everything confidential.”
Zahra’s head snapped up, her eyes darkening almost to a black midnight. Her brows came together. “What do you mean, background checks?”
“It’s a requirement for her job. Anyone she’s close to. That would be us. She doesn’t talk out of turn, Zahra,” Stella soothed, seeing the near panic on Zahra’s face.