Page 17 of Deadly Storms (Sunrise Lake #3)

Her heart accelerated, but she kept her breathing even. She had a great deal of practice looking composed when she really was terrified.

“These come from two different species of birds. They appear to be from the same species if you just take into account their coloring, but the feathers with the black spots are from a bird called a mourning dove. They’re native to California.

That bird appears to have been killed sometime after the other one.

You can see the drops of blood are much fresher. ”

“And the fourth feather?” Jenkins prompted.

“That one makes no sense. I believe the last feather is one from the laughing dove. See the blue markings just on the edge there? The color is different as well. More of a pinkish cast. The laughing dove isn’t native to California.

It’s found in Saudi Arabia, which is why this doesn’t make any sense.

This bird has been dead for some time. You can see the color of the blood is far different.

It’s possible I’m wrong about this—I can’t be certain without studying it under a microscope—but I don’t think I am. ”

She placed both bags carefully on the table in front of Rafferty and sat back in her chair, once more folding her hands in her lap. She didn’t dare look at Raine or Stella. Her mind began to race with possibilities. She couldn’t slow it down or push down her panic.

What if the FBI searched her home and found the feathers she’d kept as proof she wasn’t losing her mind?

What if the feathers were no longer there?

Someone could have broken in and stolen them while she was gone.

That feather could very well be one of the ones she placed in the baggie in a drawer in her house.

“A bird from Saudi Arabia?” Rob Howard murmured softly. “Isn’t your mother from Saudi Arabia?”

“You were kidnapped and held in Saudi Arabia for nearly two years,” Len Jenkins added. “Is that where you encountered this laughing dove?”

“That isn’t pertinent to her credentials as an expert, and she isn’t going to answer anything that doesn’t pertain to what you need to identify your items,” Decker said before Shabina could answer. “And if you bring up my client’s past trauma, this meeting will be terminated immediately.”

She glanced at the attorney, still afraid to look at Raine.

Her mouth went dry as Rafferty produced two more transparent bags.

The evidence bags held several small blossoms still intact as well as petals from at least two other species of bright flowers.

They had been carefully preserved. The flower was shriveled, but the bright pink petals looking like smooth velvet were distinctive to her.

That flower was very popular in Saudi Arabia despite the fact that it was highly toxic.

In Africa, the poison had been used to coat arrow darts.

The name of the flower was kudu or desert rose.

Was someone trying to frame her? Sean? Bale? Both of them? Or was this really Scorpion up to his old tricks of murdering innocents to watch her slowly lose her mind before he sent his agents to kidnap her? Was he torturing her? That would be like him.

She forced her mind back to the other petals. There was a mixture of meadow flowers and high-elevation flowers, all natural to the Sierra. What was the killer trying to say?

“You’re frowning,” Rafferty observed. “And shaking your head.”

“The mixture of flowers is strange to me. It’s like they were collected from all over. That’s fireweed and asters, which you might find in Tuolumne Meadows. That’s called a swamp onion, and it is found at a higher elevation.”

She frowned again at the flower and the scattering of white petals throughout the mixture of other petals.

Recognizing the beginnings of a headache, she rubbed at her temple.

“To me, the white petals look a bit like a white iris, but that particular species doesn’t grow in Yosemite. ” She bit down on her lower lip.

“Do you know where it came from?”

“White iris is fairly common in many countries.” Including Saudi Arabia. The cemetery iris was popular there. She didn’t say that. “The pink flower is called kudu or desert rose. It grows in Saudi Arabia and is very toxic.”

She pushed the bags across the table toward Rafferty and dropped her hands into her lap. So far, she’d been able to keep all evidence of trembling from the sharp-eyed agents, but she feared that wasn’t going to last if the interview went on much longer.

“You had a bit of an altercation with Deacon right here in the café the morning he went missing,” Rob Howard stated. “I’d like to hear about that.”

“We’re done here,” Decker interrupted decisively. “If you want anything else from my client, you contact me and I’ll set up an appointment for her to meet with you.”

“We have rocks here,” Rafferty said. “They were scattered on the altar, and some were formed in a semicircle around the feathers and flowers.” He placed the transparent bags in front of Shabina on the table.

She glanced down at them but made no move to touch them.

She just shook her head. “This isn’t my field of expertise.

” Her mouth was so dry her tongue wanted to cling to the roof of her mouth.

She recognized the Qaisumah diamond, named after the Saudi village where they were first discovered.

They weren’t true diamonds, but a variety of quartz.

When cut and polished properly, the brilliance and luster were identical to carbon diamonds.

Shabina wasn’t about to admit to recognizing one more item from the altar of the ritualistic slaying as coming from Saudi Arabia, especially after Jenkins had brought up the fact that Deacon had been taunting her in the café the very morning he had gone missing.

“Gentlemen, you’ll have to find another expert for your rocks,” Decker said immediately. “I believe Miss Foster has identified the feathers and plants for you to the best of her ability. We’re done here.”

“I’ve typed up an accurate, word-for-word report, Sheriff Rafferty,” Raine said. “I’ll send all three of you copies after Shabina reads it over and signs it.”

“Thanks, Raine,” the sheriff said.

Shabina agreed with the lawyer. “If that’s everything? I don’t want to hurry you, but my dogs have been waiting patiently all day to go out.”

Decker stood. Shabina followed his example. Stella smiled at the three men as she stood, leaving the others little choice but to rise as well. The men gathered their evidence bags, and after a brief exchange of goodbyes, they left. Decker followed them out.

Shabina threw herself back into the chair opposite Raine. “What is going on?”

“I don’t know. I don’t have any idea what to think. You’re positive that flower was from Saudi Arabia?” Raine asked.

Shabina nodded. “And I think the iris was as well. There was a Qaisumah diamond in the other evidence bag along with the rocks they’d gathered off the altar.” She rested her forehead in her palm. “I can’t imagine why anyone would want to kill Deacon.”

“Bale did make threats,” Raine pointed out. “It isn’t like your kidnapping isn’t common knowledge. It’s on the internet if anyone wants to dig up your history. Sean could have killed Deacon and left him on the trail for you to find.”

Shabina bit down on her lip. “That did cross my mind. Still, Sean’s a jerk, but is he really a cold-blooded killer? I can imagine Bale doing something like that—and that’s a stretch—but Sean? A ritualistic murder doesn’t fit with his personality.”

“None of us thought Denver could possibly be a killer. I didn’t think so,” Stella admitted, “right up until the very last moment when I was looking into his eyes. My heart stood still. Even then I didn’t want to believe it.

Sam saved the day, or I would have given myself away completely.

In the end, he was aware I knew, and he decided to kill me.

” She pressed her hand over her heart. “It still hurts. I still have a difficult time believing he would do such a thing. I considered him one of my best friends. If he could do something like that, then Sean is just as capable.”

Shabina had looked into the face of evil every day for months.

Sean was twisted, but she wasn’t convinced he could cold-bloodedly plan and carry out a murder as heinous as Deacon’s had been.

Sean had been in charge of the young man.

Just that alone would put him on the suspect list. He was an intelligent man.

Sean didn’t make sense to her as the killer.

“I think we need more facts before we can reach any real conclusions,” Raine said.

“I hate that Deacon was murdered,” Stella said.

“No one has told us if he was robbed. It’s the weird ritual that bothers me because that indicates the killer might strike again.

We don’t need another serial killer.” She gave a little shudder.

“Honestly, Shabina, it’s no wonder you’re having trouble sleeping. All these references to Saudi Arabia.”

“I think you should call Rainier,” Raine said. “I know you don’t want to, Shabina, but this could turn into a mess very fast. I think it already has.”

Stella looked up sharply. “Wait, what? Rainier Ashcroft? I know he’s headed Shabina’s security for a long time, but I thought he was out of the picture. He made her cry when we were in Vegas. I wanted to stab him with a fork.”

Shabina couldn’t help laughing. Even Raine had to smile. The idea of Stella attempting to stab Rainier with a fork was hilarious, but then when Stella had a bit too much to drink on a backpacking trip, she came roaring out of her tent in lingerie ready to take on a bear with her karate moves.

Stella looked affronted. “I don’t know why you two would laugh. He might be a badass, but no one makes my friends cry and gets away with it. He deserves to be stabbed with a fork.”