Page 51 of Deadly Storms (Sunrise Lake #3)

The café was packed, and the line outside was long.

Shabina was thankful she’d hired two new waiters instead of just one.

She’d gotten up early to run the dogs before they started their long day.

Rainier was already gone, and the house seemed empty without him.

Even the dogs seemed to miss him, crowding around her when she first got up as if seeking reassurance.

They searched the entire house before returning to her to wait patiently while she fixed them food.

When she sent Sharif, Morza and Malik out to patrol the grounds, she let Sonar, Bomber and Mick inside so she could lavish attention on them and give them their food.

When she took the dogs running, three of the men ran with her while one stayed at her home with the dog team left behind.

The other kept guard over the café. Instead of feeling uncomfortable with the men as she normally would have, they made her feel safe because they worked for Rainier and he was the one giving them orders.

Quite a few locals were in the café, business owners showing their support of Shabina after hearing how Bale had treated her.

She wasn’t sure how to respond to so much kindness, so she worked hard to help her staff and made her rounds, greeting customers, locals and tourists alike.

Morning turned into afternoon, and some of her favorite customers came in for lunch.

Edward and Janine were back, sitting closer than ever, laughing softly and whispering intimately to one another.

Shabina wasn’t sure how she felt about them, but Edward had immediately stood up for her during what she now dubbed “the incident.” He’d even offered to pay for the breakfast Bale had initially refused to compensate the café for.

She didn’t know if his offer had been genuine or if Janine had been so offended, she had offered and shamed him into standing up for Shabina.

It didn’t really matter, since Edward had stood up to Bale, and she knew he would incur Bale’s wrath.

The Garner sisters sat with Janine’s two friends, the four women laughing together as they discussed Theresa, Janine and Val attempting to climb a boulder for the first time with Felicity and Eve.

They had video, which they were watching on Felicity’s laptop.

Miguel had been with them and seemed to be shouting advice as he stood on the crash pad, arms up to guide Val when she fell—and she did fall, more than once.

They showed the videos to Shabina as she stopped by to greet them and ensure they had everything they wanted for their lunch.

Felicity’s laptop was top of the line. Shabina recognized the laptop of a professional after being around Raine so much.

It occurred to her she’d never asked about either of the women’s work, not even when they’d first come to Knightly after they’d lost their sister, niece and brother-in-law.

Felicity and Eve had recounted how their sister met her husband, Emilio, at work and the two had fallen in love.

They’d talked about Freda’s and Emilio’s jobs and how proud they were of Freda for the work she did with youth.

She even knew Emilio had coached both soccer and baseball when he didn’t have children playing either sport.

Shabina was upset with herself for not asking Felicity and Eve what they did.

Sometimes it felt as if she had little experience when it came to connecting with new people.

The videos had been filmed by someone who knew what they were doing.

Each video was clear and taken from angles showing the boulder and the climber in close-up shots as well as long shots that allowed the viewer to see the entire rock and the difficulty of attempting to ascend it. Shabina couldn’t help but ask.

“Who took the videos? They look professional.”

Eve lifted her hand. “Thanks. I’ve been shooting videos for a number of years professionally for people.

Weddings. Kids’ sports games and gymnastics.

You name it, I’ve probably photographed or shot video of it.

It also helps to have a laptop like Felicity’s.

I have one I use to Photoshop and clean up my pictures, but her programs are so much better.

The quality really comes across when you play a vid on her laptop. ”

Felicity flashed her a grin. “I’ll admit I’m a little in love with my laptop. And prideful. At least until I saw Raine’s. I’ve never seen anyone with that powerful of a laptop.” She glanced over to Raine’s table and waved. “I tried to hack her.”

Shabina was shocked. The other women gasped aloud.

Eve laughed. “She really did. She thinks she’s the best at what she does.”

“You’re lucky you still have your laptop. Most of the time when someone tries to hack Raine, they get viruses that destroy their hard drive beyond repair,” Shabina said.

Felicity nodded, her smile fading. “I knew I was hitting military safeguards and triggering alarms. I could see there was no way in. I immediately contacted her and told her what I’d tried to do. She was very gracious about it.”

“No one from the military visited you?” Theresa asked.

“I’m sure Raine explained things to whoever would have arrested me.

I told her to feel free to hack my computer if she could.

I gave her my permission to take a look at it so she could see I wasn’t after military secrets.

I doubt she did, because she seemed to believe me and I didn’t see any evidence of her taking over my laptop.

I’ve never seen anyone better than she is, although she told me there is always someone better.

She’s so intelligent, she must be off the charts. ”

Theresa and Val both looked across the room at Raine. “She is so quiet,” Val said. “I don’t always notice her. Your other friends seem to be always laughing and talking to everyone, but she keeps to herself, stays more in the background.”

Shabina smiled at Raine. “That’s her way. She doesn’t brag to anyone about how intelligent she is. She even stays quiet in a debate, unless you’re disrespectful to someone, and then she has no problem setting things straight. Crossing Raine’s sense of justice is a huge mistake.”

Feeling eyes on her, she glanced up to see the four students from the university sitting across from the women.

The two men from Algeria kept looking toward Raine as if seeing her for the first time.

Shabina immediately felt protective. She knew Raine was quite capable of protecting herself, but she had been horribly injured, the bones in her leg shattered when she’d been shot.

The bullet meant for Vienna had hit her instead.

Vienna and Shabina had kept pressure on the wound to allow a helicopter to land and transport Raine to a waiting surgical team.

Still, it had been touch-and-go whether they could save her leg.

The students had heard most of the conversation between the women. If Emar Salhi and Jamal Talbi wanted to blame anyone for their current problems, they would believe it was Raine who was having their student visas pulled. She didn’t want attention on Raine.

“The other thing is this: Raine is totally protected at all times by a couple of different branches of the government. She’s considered valuable.

Someone shot her; that’s why she limps and walks with the cane or crutches right now.

The shooter was hunted relentlessly. He is no longer alive, and everyone involved in the plot is gone as well.

It isn’t a good thing to try to attack her.

Felicity, it was a good thing you owned up to what you were doing immediately. ”

Shabina made the statement more for the benefit of the students than the women. She didn’t feel Raine was threatened in any way by the women. If anything, they admired her. She wasn’t so certain the conversation had that same effect on the male students.

“Enjoy your lunch,” she told the women and turned toward the students, greeting them in Arabic.

The moment she stepped close to the table, Larado and Zero, two of the security team, stood and walked through the café quite casually.

Zero stopped, appearing to look at the view through the window while Larado took up a position close to her, draping himself coolly against the wall.

“Is there anything else I can get for you?”

Jules Beaumont and Deniz Kaplan both shook their heads and thanked her for the wonderful meal.

Emar held up a hand. “Jamal and I would like to speak with you. And perhaps with your friend.” He gestured toward Raine.

Shabina shook her head, trying to look regretful. “I’m sorry, there’s nothing to say.”

“It is of the utmost importance,” Jamal said. “We wouldn’t intrude otherwise.”

“I won’t be available until after six, and I won’t be alone. My friends will be with me. Whatever you have to say to me will have to be said in front of them.”

Emar and Jamal exchanged a long look, and then Emar nodded. “Where?”

“I think you’re familiar with the address to my home.

Don’t try to enter the grounds without permission.

The dogs will attack, or a member of the security team is likely to shoot you.

You’ll have to stop at the gate and wait for an escort inside the grounds.

” She figured if they were desperate enough to see her under those circumstances, she might as well ask the questions she wanted answers to.

Both men nodded and murmured their appreciation.

“I intend to ask you questions. Don’t bother coming if you aren’t prepared to answer me honestly.”