Chapter Seven
Harlow looked around the table at her circle of friends.
Her heart was heavy, and she knew it showed on her face.
The Sunrise Café was a safe place. A place of healing and comfort.
Stella, Shabina, Zahra and Vienna sat at the familiar, only secluded table in the back.
Raine was the only one from their circle missing—unless you counted Sam.
She didn’t want to see Sam and face his disappointment over the fact that she hadn’t shown him the very thick file on the death threats she’d received over the years.
Especially the latest ones. She felt guilty about not sharing with him first. She should have.
She wasn’t trying to be stubborn. She feared Rainier thought that of her; maybe all his security men thought it.
She was accustomed to threats and to keeping secrets. Her family had been all about secrets.
“Helen must have been in terrible pain for hours before she died,” she whispered to the others. They’d all known Helen, just as she had. They might not have been her neighbors, but Helen loved the Sierra just as they did. It was difficult to lose another friend.
“I heard they’re treating her death as if she might have had an infectious disease,” Shabina said.
“They are,” Vienna affirmed. “They have to when she isn’t the only one dead from some mysterious means.”
Harlow took the plunge. These were her friends. It wasn’t like they would be upset with her because she had an opinion. It wasn’t official. She just had her own theory.
“I think it was something else,” she said.
“I believe she was bitten by something and so was Gwen, her dog. The dog might have been trying to defend her. Like most of us, she had rattlesnakes in the area. She kept them away for the most part, but like any predator, they were attracted to her chickens and the ground squirrels that peppered the property.”
“She did have plenty of water on her land,” Zahra said knowledgeably. “Her property has several creeks running through it.”
Harlow’s eyebrows shot up. “How did you know that?”
“I visited Helen several times when I got my first puppy and then again when all of you gave me Misty. I had no training experience, and her dogs were so amazing. She was very kind and gracious. We walked all over her property, and that’s when I saw the creeks.
It was hot out, and the creeks were still full.
I feel as if we’ve lost too many friends lately. ”
Harlow felt the same way. They all did. “We nearly lost Raine.” That hurt.
She’d been right there and hadn’t been able to prevent the catastrophe.
“She’s really struggling. I know all of us have had family problems, big ones, but she’s nearly died twice, and her family doesn’t give a damn.
” She pressed her palm to her forehead. “It makes me angry at them. Total strangers, and I’m so angry at them that sometimes I can’t sleep at night. ”
Stella touched the back of her hand gently. “I understand because I’m just as angry at your parents.”
“I have a creepy father,” Shabina volunteered. “Feel free to be really angry with him anytime you want.”
Harlow found herself smiling. That was her circle of friendship. They could make anything better just by being themselves, finding a way to turn a bad situation into something humorous.
“I think when it comes to creepy fathers, I might have had the worst,” Stella said. “Serial killer daddy wasn’t fun. I’m still in therapy after all these years.”
Harlow frowned. “Who are you seeing?”
“Don’t,” Zahra cautioned. “That’s a slippery slope.”
“Sam,” Stella said. “Best therapist ever. And he likes to do a lot of physical therapy to help me when I’m having a particularly bad time.”
They all groaned, and Zahra dropped her head into her hands. “I told you not to go there. She can’t help herself. Sam’s cast some kind of spell on her, and she’s sure he’s the cure-all for every ailment.”
“Well, he is,” Stella confirmed, her eyes laughing.
“Stop!” Zahra commanded. “Seriously, Stella, you’re becoming codependent on that man.”
“Maybe parts of his anatomy,” Stella agreed, looking smug.
“She’s torturing you on purpose,” Harlow pointed out. “Why do you fall for it?”
“Because she’s so annoying when she goes on about Sam that way. He’s like a brother. Do I want to hear how hot he is?” Zahra demanded. “Let me just answer that for you. I most certainly do not!”
There was another burst of laughter, but when the smiles faded, Harlow had to ask. “Why hasn’t Raine joined us through video? I brought her a small laptop. It wasn’t hers, but it was something she could play around with and at least contact us when she wanted to.”
Shabina answered somewhat reluctantly. “I went to see her, and they didn’t allow me in. I was told she couldn’t have visitors for the next couple of days, and the contraband laptop had been confiscated.”
The women exchanged alarmed, outraged looks.
“Who gave that order, Shabina?” Stella asked.
It was clear she thought Rainier had. He was always the man in charge, and Raine hadn’t been taken to the local hospital.
She was in the small, very secure medical center on Rainier’s private property.
Access to it was difficult, and without permission, impossible unless a small army tried to break in.
Even then, with the kinds of weapons and trained men Rainier had, it would take a miracle to get inside.
“Rainier ordered the lockdown, but he didn’t take Raine’s laptop,” Shabina said hastily. “I asked him.” She looked down at the table, guilt and shame etched into the smooth skin on her face. “I was so upset I may have accused him in a very angry manner.”
No one spoke, willing her to go on. They were very aware of how formidable Rainier was.
All of them thought Shabina tended to put him on a pedestal.
There didn’t seem to be many occasions that the couple were at odds, but again, it seemed that Shabina was willing to follow Rainier’s lead in most things.
They did have to concede that whatever she wanted, Rainier saw to it that she got it.
He made her life as smooth as possible. But no one wanted to witness an altercation between them.
“Rainier actually was very gentle and sweet with me, which made me feel worse than ever. He even held me because I burst into tears. I was really afraid for her and on her behalf. I kept trying to tell him that she isn’t someone they can order around like that and keep her from us.
We’re her family. Her only family. I’m not sure I made much sense, but he kept assuring me he would find out what was going on with the laptop and why she couldn’t communicate with us. ”
Harlow sat up very straight, the warrior in her suddenly sweeping through her. She had the crazy desire to storm the little medical center and try to break Raine out. “Did he find out?” she demanded.
Shabina continued to look uncomfortable. She looked around her at the customers beginning to fill up the café. They’d met early before the café opened, but the business was always brisk, and a queue had already formed outside before the doors had been unlocked.
“He told me Raine was doing a little better. She was out of danger from the snakebite, which was good, but her leg was very fragile. They had used a new compound to try to strengthen the bone. It’s still in the experimental stage. If it doesn’t work, they’re talking amputation.”
Raine had indicated that was a very viable possibility.
“I don’t understand why her doctors aren’t giving her access to a computer so she can do the research she needs to make her decisions.
Raine needs that reassurance. She needs to feel as if she has all the information possible before she comes to conclusions,” Harlow said.
Now she was really worried about Raine. She would feel like a prisoner. When Raine was trapped, her brain was far too active to keep her down. She would work on finding a way out.
Shabina looked around the room one more time and pitched forward to be heard better when she whispered, “Rainier’s medical center is closed to everyone because it is believed that someone important is there.
They’re hiding his identity because he was nearly killed, and they believe he’s still being hunted.
No one knows who is friendly and who isn’t. ”
Harlow slipped on her professional mask.
She might not have a poker face around Wilder, but she had been a nurse long enough to be able to keep her composure under pressure.
She knew the man the medical facility was supposedly hiding was Wilder.
Rainier and the others were giving Blom and everyone else the illusion that he was there under heavy guard.
“Did Rainier say who it is?” Stella asked. “Does Sam know?”
Shabina shook her head. “I don’t have any other information. Rainier didn’t want me to think anything terrible was happening to Raine. I told him she would never betray a confidence and to let her have the computer, but he said at the moment they were being extremely careful.”
Zahra rubbed the palm of her hand over her mouth several times, her gaze shifting far too speculatively to Harlow.
She knew. Zahra was shrewd and extremely intelligent.
The woman she presented to the world wasn’t anything like the brain that she was.
She had escaped her childhood by appearing unassuming.
By being underestimated. She kept that persona, always looking timid and ultrafeminine.
Anyone who was aware of the fact that she was in good shape, could run miles, held a powerhouse position at the hospital and ran extremely lucrative fundraisers should know who they were dealing with.
But Zahra was good at her role, and most people believed her persona.