Page 48 of Deadly Storms (Sunrise Lake #3)

“The café is hopping this morning,” Vaughn said. “I think everyone decided to get breakfast here today. Our poor new workers are learning what it’s really like to work here on their first day.”

Shabina bit her lower lip as she watched Tyrone seating Bale, Sean and two interns, Oliver Smythe and Maurice Vanderpool. “That looks like trouble right there. Tyrone sat them in Patsy’s section, so that’s helpful.”

“He knows what pains they are. He wouldn’t give them to the newbies,” Vaughn assured. “In any case, Raine and Vienna are here, and neither of them put up with Bale’s crap. Not to mention, you’ve got your man washing dishes out of sight. Anything goes wrong and my guess is, he’ll be all over it.”

“Maybe not in a good way. I don’t want him in jail,” Shabina said. “Bale’s uncle, Rafferty, is here with Rob Howard and Len Jenkins, the two FBI agents. Unfortunately, having his uncle here will make Bale think he can get away with anything.”

“The two women, twins—or I guess they would be triplets still, even if one passed,” Vaughn said. “They seem really nice and determined to put down roots here.”

“Felicity and Eve Garner.” Shabina supplied the names. “They said they feel closer to their sister when they’re here. More at peace. They seem to really love experiencing all the things their sister, Freda, enjoyed so much. Apparently, they hadn’t done backpacking and climbing the way she did.”

“Kind of strange when they were so close,” Vaughn mused. “I can see why they’d find peace here though. All of us do.”

“Unless Bale is around,” Shabina corrected and sent Vaughn a small grin.

“Fortunately, I don’t think they’re really on his radar.

But he is watching Edward. He isn’t happy that Edward is sitting with that woman at the table tucked away in the back corner.

Bale keeps scowling at them, but Edward seems so absorbed in the conversation with the woman that he hasn’t even looked up. ”

Shabina followed his gaze to the back table.

“That’s Janine Hale. She’s visiting from Washington with two of her best friends.

They’re sitting at the small table next to the window in front of Bale’s table.

Theresa Nelson and Val Johnson. They were on the bird-watching tour.

Edward went as well and seemed to enjoy it.

He’s been painting. Janine is an avid bird-watcher and she also enjoys painting.

The two of them really hit it off. I think Janine extended her vacation time so she could get to know Edward a little better. ”

“Did you warn her Edward isn’t very nice to women?”

Shabina shook her head. “No, unless he does something else, I’m giving him a chance. He’s cleaned out his house, which should have been done years ago. Hopefully, he’s really breaking away from Bale.”

“He’s totally absorbed in the conversation with Janine,” Vaughn pointed out. “The twins seemed to be chatting with Janine’s friends. That’s a good sign.”

The two women had gotten up from their table and were gossiping with Theresa and Val.

All four women were laughing. That made Shabina uneasy.

Their laughter drew Bale’s attention—never a good thing in her mind.

He pointed to the women several times and leaned into the other men, clearly making jokes.

That was Bale’s way. He started with stories about women, and then the jokes became progressively more demeaning.

By the time he got to actually harassing a woman, the others were more than ready to go along with him.

“Those students from the university apparently only like to come here to eat,” Vaughn said.

“They order the same breakfast every morning and come in right before closing to order brunch. They think of it as their dinner, I guess.” He indicated Jules Beaumont, Emil Salhi, Jamal Talbi and Deniz Kaplan.

“It’s really paid off with you making one or two meals from other countries.

People that far from home enjoy eating the foods they’re familiar with once in a while. ”

“Or every day.” Shabina did her best to make a joke of it. She’d taken tons of cooking lessons and gone to a prestigious school to learn international dishes.

Having so many potential enemies in her café was disconcerting.

She felt the beginnings of the headache that heralded a breakdown.

Her thigh burned and throbbed, aching with pain.

Her skin felt clammy. The symptoms got worse when the two men claiming to be Interpol agents limped in.

One was using crutches. Knowing they were part of Scorpion’s cabinet made her skin crawl.

How was she expected to act normal with them in her café?

She glanced toward the kitchen, needing the reassurance that Rainier was close, as Tyrone seated them near the entrance, taking pity on them because of their obvious injuries.

Under any other circumstances, Shabina might have felt their wounds served them right, but she was too cognizant of Rainier in the next room.

He might be out of sight at the moment, but that didn’t mean he’d stay that way.

She wanted the assurance of his presence, but she didn’t want the men to see or identify him.

They might not realize he was Deadly Storms, but they would know he was lethal.

Theresa waved at her and indicated a table for four that had just been set up.

She circled with her finger, including the twins, making it clear they wanted to sit together.

Shabina nodded and forced herself to go to them.

Two tables needed to be cleared to allow more customers in.

If a party of four had been waiting a longer time, they could put the tables together.

There would be less room for the servers to move around, but they’d made it work many times.

“Good morning,” she greeted as the four women settled into the new seating arrangement. “Have you ordered?”

“Tyrone took our drink orders,” Eve confirmed.

“And Patsy took our food orders,” Felicity said.

“We were just telling Theresa and Val about the natural hot springs and how so many climbers use them after bouldering. We’ve learned so much just from hiring Miguel Valdez.

He’s so knowledgeable about the area. He’s introduced us to quite a few businesses and locals already. ”

“Do you go out to the hot springs, Shabina?” Theresa asked.

“I’ve been out to them,” Shabina said, “but never in them. I stick to my regular routine because I have so little time. When I take days off, I head for Yosemite to study the birds. That’s what makes me happy.”

“You don’t go alone, do you?” Val asked, concern in her voice. She cast a swift glance around the room and lowered her tone to a whisper. “These murders are very concerning.”

The other three women nodded, each radiating apprehension for her. She found that strangely sweet. These women were virtual strangers, and yet they were worried about her safety. She didn’t tell them some of the biggest threats to her safety were right there in her café.

“It was bad enough when the victims were strangers, but Lucca Delgotto was born and raised here. He comes from a lovely family. He’s always taken care of his parents. He was a member of Search and Rescue as well and helped to save lives,” she told them.

“I feel terrible for that family,” Felicity said.

“We lost our sister, Freda, and our niece and brother-in-law, all three, to the Sierra,” Eve explained to Theresa and Val. “It isn’t the same as murder, but it felt like it.”

“We’re actually triplets,” Felicity added. “It was always Freda, Felicity and Eve everywhere we went. We loved being together. What one did, the others did. Same schools, same interests.”

“Then Freda fell in love,” Eve added. “It was difficult sharing her with her husband at first. They would go off and do things on their own. That took getting used to.”

“But then our niece was born, and we were so happy,” Felicity continued. “We decided we could share Freda after all.”

“That must be so difficult,” Shabina said. “I can’t imagine that you ever get over a loss like that, especially when you three were so close.”

“It feels as if part of our souls was ripped away,” Eve admitted, sorrow in her voice.

Shabina laid her hand on the woman’s shoulder briefly, sympathy overcoming her natural reluctance to touch others. “I’m so sorry,” she said. “I wish there were adequate words or something I could do to help.”

“You’ve been kinder to us than anyone has,” Felicity assured.

“During that terrible time when they were investigating what happened to the three of them, you were the one advocating for us and making certain we ate. You let us pour out our grief to you, and never once, even if we stayed long after closing time, did you have us leave.”

“I was more than happy to help in any way I could.” Shabina gave the women a small smile. “I’d better get back to work before my staff decides to mutiny.”

“I noticed you have a couple of new waiters today,” Eve said. “Where’s Chelsey?”

Shabina sighed. “We decided we weren’t a good fit. She’s taking a job at the hotel.”

“That’s too bad,” Felicity said. “She seemed nice.”

Shabina didn’t comment. What was there to say? That she’d trusted her until she’d stolen spices and dates out of the kitchen with the possible motive of helping to implicate Shabina in the murders? Where was Chelsey’s loyalty?

She turned away from the table and did her best to avoid Bale, who was talking louder and much more belligerently now that his uncle was in the café, as she made her way back to the counter, where Vaughn was handing out orders to the staff.