Total pages in book: 138
Estimated words: 126823 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 634(@200wpm)___ 507(@250wpm)___ 423(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 126823 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 634(@200wpm)___ 507(@250wpm)___ 423(@300wpm)
Once the women were in position, Shabina sent the dogs to their places. They separated and went to the corners of the room, making it impossible for the two men to kill all three dogs easily before one or more took them down.
“Not your first rodeo, I see,” Larado commented. “Not a bad setup. Let them in, but make sure we always have a clear shot at them.”
Shabina wasn’t about to get caught in the cross fire. She knew how to position herself. Altair escorted the two men inside.
“I checked them for weapons,” he reported to Larado. “Neither was carrying a gun, but both were armed with knives.”
Rainier had drilled it into Shabina that in some instances, particularly at close range, a knife would be far faster and deadlier than a bullet. The fact that the two men were carrying knives into her home immediately aroused suspicion with her security team. She directed them to the chairs provided. Sitting would make them much more vulnerable. If Altair had missed any weapons—which she highly doubted—they would have more trouble throwing from that position.
“We came here to plead with you to keep the officials from revoking our student visas,” Emar said. “Our families will be humiliated if we return home in disgrace.”
“We need this education to help our tribe,” Jamal added. “Not only with the newer practices for farming and growing crops but learning about the various irrigation systems that will work for our people during the droughts.”
“Maybe you should have thought of that before you took that money,” Vienna stated without the least hint of sympathy.
“We have a few questions that need answers,” Raine said. “How is it those feathers and the flowers from Saudi Arabia, as well as other items, ended up on the altar with a murder victim?”
Shabina didn’t take her gaze from Emar’s face. He was uncomfortable answering questions, particularly when Raine asked them, but the two men hoped to get their visas restored before they were deported. If they wanted help, they would have to answer whatever questions were put to them, and both believed it was Raine who was instrumental in getting them revoked.
Jamal sighed, took a quick glance at the grim-faced security guards and then answered. “We had the items in a box. We were given the information that Shabina is the only one allowed to enter this one area that is closed to everyone else. We decided to scatter the items on the trail where we knew she would find them.”
“Your purpose in doing that was to cause her to have a PTSD episode?” Raine pursued.
Again, there was hesitation, and then Emar nodded. “Yes.”
“The two of you were paid by Jack Foster to bring about a PTSD event?” Raine’s voice was mild, gentle even.
“Yes, he put large sums of money into our accounts and had the items delivered to the Airbnb where we are staying. He had precise instructions we were to follow. Feathers on the steps of her café, scatter items where she runs along the canal, find places where she works in Yosemite and make certain the items are there where she would see them,” Emar said.
Harlow’s scowl indicated complete disapproval. “You didn’t think that what you were doing was wrong? Trying to drive a woman crazy enough that her father would force her into a hospital? You believe that’s acceptable behavior?”
Jamal’s features hardened. “My belief is that a woman obeys her father. He ordered her numerous times to come home, but she refused.”
“You don’t believe a woman has the right to live her own life?” Vienna asked. “Especially if she’s making her own living?”
Jamal shook his head. “She shows no respect for her father. He is head of the household, and she should do as she is ordered.”
“Rainier is head of the household,” Shabina corrected softly. “I follow his lead, not my father’s.”
“Your father did not tell us about your husband,” Emar pointed out, as if that made what they had done acceptable.
“Let’s get back to how those items ended up on the altar with a murder victim,” Raine interrupted before the others could get into an argument about a woman’s rights.
Shabina knew the men would never agree, no matter how logical an argument might be made. It was ingrained in them that women did as their fathers directed and if not their fathers, their husbands.
“We had the box open and were discussing what to put out on the trail she used when she checked on her birds. We heard voices, people coming toward us. We weren’t supposed to be there and thought Shabina was coming up the trail with someone else, perhaps an official,” Jamal said. “They seemed very close.”
“Too close,” Emar agreed. “We shoved the box under some brush because if we were found, we didn’t want to have to explain what was in it. We figured we could come back in a couple of hours and get it. We took off into the forest, looking for another trail to get us out of there.”