Page 54 of Deadly Storms (Sunrise Lake #3)

“Yes, he put large sums of money into our accounts and had the items delivered to the Airbnb where we are staying. He had precise instructions we were to follow. Feathers on the steps of her café, scatter items where she runs along the canal, find places where she works in Yosemite and make certain the items are there where she would see them,” Emar said.

Harlow’s scowl indicated complete disapproval. “You didn’t think that what you were doing was wrong? Trying to drive a woman crazy enough that her father would force her into a hospital? You believe that’s acceptable behavior?”

Jamal’s features hardened. “My belief is that a woman obeys her father. He ordered her numerous times to come home, but she refused.”

“You don’t believe a woman has the right to live her own life?” Vienna asked. “Especially if she’s making her own living?”

Jamal shook his head. “She shows no respect for her father. He is head of the household, and she should do as she is ordered.”

“Rainier is head of the household,” Shabina corrected softly. “I follow his lead, not my father’s.”

“Your father did not tell us about your husband,” Emar pointed out, as if that made what they had done acceptable.

“Let’s get back to how those items ended up on the altar with a murder victim,” Raine interrupted before the others could get into an argument about a woman’s rights.

Shabina knew the men would never agree, no matter how logical an argument might be made. It was ingrained in them that women did as their fathers directed and if not their fathers, their husbands.

“We had the box open and were discussing what to put out on the trail she used when she checked on her birds. We heard voices, people coming toward us. We weren’t supposed to be there and thought Shabina was coming up the trail with someone else, perhaps an official,” Jamal said. “They seemed very close.”

“Too close,” Emar agreed. “We shoved the box under some brush because if we were found, we didn’t want to have to explain what was in it. We figured we could come back in a couple of hours and get it. We took off into the forest, looking for another trail to get us out of there.”

“Did you see the people on the trail?” Raine asked.

Emar shook his head. “We moved as quickly as possible to get off the trail and into cover so we wouldn’t be seen. We didn’t hide or stop to look back. I believed it was Shabina with an official there to document the nest.”

“When we went back a few hours later, the box was gone. At first, we thought we just didn’t remember the exact location,” Jamal said. “But then the items turned up with a murder victim. We knew we had to keep quiet, or we would be suspects.”

“You used the term voices ,” Raine persisted. “That indicates you believed more than one person was coming up the trail.”

The two men exchanged a long look. “Definitely more than one person,” Emar confirmed.

“And then when you took the bird-watching tour, you had a box of items you left on the hood of her vehicle,” Vienna said. “Where did you get those things if the box was gone?”

“We had sorted out some of the items and left them at the Airbnb where we were staying. We didn’t have a lot left but thought at least we could earn our money by leaving the things on her car,” Jamal said. “We’d taken his money and owed him.”

He sounded so righteous it was all Shabina could do not to laugh.

They felt justified in helping her father because, in their minds, she was a rebellious daughter and needed disciplining.

She glanced at Altair. Like Rainier, he had been raised in the Middle East. He’d had similar experiences to Rainier.

He shook his head, indicating he didn’t share the same beliefs and, like her, thought her father, an American, was totally in the wrong.

Jack Foster couldn’t even claim his upbringing or customs would lead him to such a decision.

Shabina knew it was entitlement and arrogance.

No one defied Jack when he decreed something, least of all his insignificant daughter—the one she was certain he’d gotten word to the assassin Deadly Storms to kill all those years ago.

“We spoke with your father to ask for his aid in stopping the deportation and hopefully getting our visas back. He assured us it was no problem, but then he called and said he’d run into all kinds of roadblocks, that we have a powerful enemy who has enough clout to make it happen.

” Emar looked at Raine the entire time he spoke.

Jamal did his best not to glare at her.

“You’re mistaken in believing Raine had anything to do with revoking your visas. That would be my husband,” Shabina said. “He does make a powerful enemy when you do something such as try to take his wife from him or have her committed to a hospital.”

Both men looked uncomfortable at the news.

“Is it possible to speak with him?” Emar ventured.

“I think it best if I speak on your behalf before he talks with you,” Shabina said. “If you anger him by saying anything against me, you won’t have a chance.”

Altair approached the men and gestured toward the door. “Rainier will contact you,” he assured. “Not that I believe you have much of a chance of dissuading him.”

Shabina knew the men couldn’t fail to hear the note of satisfaction in his voice.