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)
“Rainier, these men are regular civilians.” She felt the need to remind him. “They’re creepy, and Bale has gone way too far, but I think once I pursue legal action through the proper channels they’ll stop.”
Rainier bent down to brush his palm over her cheek. “Do you really believe that?”
She swallowed the first three things she would have said just to placate him. She had to be honest. “No.” The admission was made in a low tone. “The others, yes, but not Bale. Raine thinks losing control of the others has made him desperate.”
She told him about the murder and finding the feathers and how Chelsey stole the spices from the café. How she found the spices and dates in a bush along the canal where she ran every day.
Rainier regarded her steadily. “Murder. Threats. The FBI questioning you. A corrupt sheriff. Two men pretending to be Interpol agents. It took how long before you decided to call me? And not for your own safety but because you were worried about me.” He shook his head. “What am I going to do with you?”
She flashed a tentative smile. “It does sound kind of bad when you put it all together like that. I thought Scorpion might have sent someone here to implicate me in a murder.”
Rainier shook his head. “Not his style. He’d target your friends if he was going to murder anyone and do his best to make it look like you’re guilty. Anyone can get birds or flowers from places here in the States if they know where to look. If someone is looking to frame you, it’s a shit job. You can prove you were in Knightly when the murder took place. The most they can do is try to find a way to implicate you as an accomplice, which would be difficult and ludicrous.”
Relief left her shaky. Other than her fears for Rainier, her worst fear had been that Scorpion was close. She trusted Rainer’s judgment. If he said Scorpion wasn’t leaving feathers on her doorstep to torment her, she believed him.
“That leaves the questions, who would leave feathers on the steps of my café, Rainier, and why? How would those same feathers be used on an altar at a murder site?”
“We’ll find those answers, Qadri. In the meantime, I’ll get together with Raine and take a look at the security footage. It’s possible I can spot something she hasn’t, although, as far as I can tell, not very much gets past her.”
Shabina was happy to hear Rainier praise Raine. They had seemed at odds on more than one occasion. Raine was brilliant, and she was a good friend. Shabina wanted Rainier to like her friends. They were important to her.
“I’ve got a ring. I’ve had it for a very long time.” He leaned down to take her hand. “We can drive to the courthouse in Independence on your next day off and get our marriage license.”
She raised an eyebrow. “You’ve been planning this.”
“For a long, long time.”
Rainier slipped the ring on her finger, and her heart went into overdrive. It wasn’t huge, which was perfect for her. She didn’t want huge. The color of the diamond was a vivid greenish, nearly royal blue, cut in multi-facets. It was extraordinarily beautiful.
“As soon as I saw this stone, I knew I had to have it for you.” He brushed his lips gently over the ring. “Never think you aren’t loved, Shabina.”
Chapter Twelve
“Shabina.” Eve Garner waved at her, smiling widely. Her sister gestured for Shabina to join them at the little table where Tyrone had seated them.
Shabina excused herself to the Swedish climbers she was speaking with and made her way across the room to join the two women.
“You won’t believe the little house we found to buy,” Felicity told her, excitement edging her voice. “It’s so perfect for us. It has a yard where we can grow vegetables, but it isn’t too big, so it should be easy to take care of.”
“And a patio with a built-in firepit right off a sliding glass door,” Eve added. “We’ve already started the paperwork. The agent said if the loan goes through, and it will, we can move in after the first.”
“I’m so happy for you.” Shabina genuinely was. The two sisters were glowing. It was such a difference from when she’d first encountered them.
“We feel so much closer to Freda here,” Felicity said. “It’s nice to learn all the things she loved to do. We ran into the local vet, Dr. Sanderson, and she recommended Miguel Valdez to teach us to climb. He’s a personal trainer. Do you know him?”
Shabina nodded. “He’s very nice, but exacting. If you hire him, he works, and he’ll expect you to.” She laughed. “Unless you’re Zahra. The rest of us work our butts off, but somehow, and we’ve never quite figured out how, she manages to get out of the workout.”