Page 64 of Deadly Storms (Sunrise Lake #3)

“Random? Opportunity?” Zahra ventured.

Raine shook her head. “I’ve studied the crime scenes. This was premeditated, and the murderer chose each victim, waiting for the opportunity to be alone with them. It’s probable he drew the victim to him. Even set up a meeting.”

“I question the fact that none of them fought back,” Shabina said.

“How were they so distracted that they were smashed in the head with a rock? Twice. Didn’t you say that was in the ME’s report, Raine?

I can see the second time because they would be disoriented, but not a single victim heard a noise behind him?

Especially after the first murder took place, I would think they would be doubly vigilant, especially the ones killed in Yosemite. ”

“Shabina has a point,” Raine said. “We have five victims and not a single one was on alert? Why? Even the kid should have been aware of his surroundings. He was a criminal. He stole vehicles. He must have kept his eyes open.”

Shabina snapped her fingers. “You just named Craig Barker a criminal. He was seventeen. Lawyer was sixteen or seventeen when he robbed his high school coach. What age was Lucca when he confessed to the grocery store theft? He had to have been underage. I don’t know how the murderer would know if the others had juvenile records, but Miguel told stories about Lucca and himself getting into trouble all the time.

We laughed at the fact that Lucca sleepwalked and confessed everything to his mother. ”

Raine’s fingers hovered above her keyboard. “And Lawyer felt pressured to give an interview to a reporter since he wouldn’t cooperate with Bale. Not that anyone paid attention. But maybe the murderer did.” She began searching for a tie.

“Charlie Gainer had a juvenile record,” Raine said. “He didn’t have it sealed when he was old enough. He and two friends stole a car and went joyriding. They crashed into a guardrail and Charlie suffered a broken arm. No one died as a result, but the car was totaled.”

“That’s four of our five victims with juvenile records,” Stella said. “Who’s left?”

“The first victim, Deacon Mulberry,” Shabina said.

“I’m not getting a hit, but I’m looking into his hometown and news around the time he would have been sixteen or seventeen. Once I establish where he was living, I can hack into the juvenile records. It’s possible he had one and petitioned the court to seal the record,” Raine said.

“If he’s got one, and it was sealed, either the murderer knew him or they’re good with a computer,” Vienna said.

“This is interesting,” Raine said. “I recognize the name of this town. Deacon Mulberry is originally from Galaxy, Maine.”

Shabina looked up quickly. “That’s the same place Emilio, Freda and their little girl, Crystal, lived.”

“Are you certain?” Harlow asked. “That’s too big to be a coincidence.”

“I agree,” Raine said, her voice taking on that note that told Shabina her brain was already analyzing data and possibilities.

“Let’s say this Deacon had a juvenile record,” Vienna ventured. “How would that tie him to Felicity and Eve’s family?”

“They said they didn’t like Emilio initially, remember? It was only after Crystal came along that they accepted him,” Shabina pointed out. “Emilio and Freda met through their jobs. What did they do? I don’t think either of the sisters told me.”

“There was a write-up in their hometown newspaper when the family died,” Raine said, frowning at her screen.

“Emilio worked as a juvenile correction officer. He was upfront about his concerns for youth. He’d been in the system when he was fifteen and again when he was sixteen.

According to the write-up about him, he devoted his time to helping juvenile offenders turn their lives around.

Apparently, he gives credit to a corrections officer for his turnaround. ”

“What did Freda do?” Harlow asked.

“She was a juvenile probation officer,” Raine replied. “It seems that the two worked closely together for a year before they began dating.”

Zahra drummed her fingers on the coffee table. Her dog pushed her nose into Zahra’s other hand. Automatically, she slipped down to the floor so Misty could climb into her lap. “Emilio had a juvenile record when he was fifteen and sixteen.”

“What are we saying here?” Vienna asked. “That we suspect Eve and Felicity of these murders? That would be insane. What possible motive could they have? And how could they pull it off? They’re just learning to hike and boulder.”

Shabina stood up to pace. She thought better when she was moving. “Maybe not. Looking back over things they’ve said to me, I think it’s entirely possible they aren’t amateurs when it comes to hiking and bouldering.”

Harlow slid to the floor beside Zahra. She rested her head against the seat cushion as she watched Shabina pace the length of the room. “Like what? I just can’t picture either of them bashing in someone’s head with a rock.”

“Felicity told me the triplets did everything together,” Shabina explained. “She didn’t just imply they were inseparable, she stated it. They went to the same schools, and they had the same hobbies. They were always together until Emilio came along.”

“That doesn’t mean they know how to hike or climb,” Stella said. “Those are specific hobbies. I thought maybe Emilio got Freda into hiking and climbing, and that was part of the reason Felicity and Eve felt left out.”

“They hired Miguel to help them learn to climb,” Vienna pointed out.

“True,” Shabina conceded, “but that doesn’t mean they don’t know what they’re doing.

It only means they’re clever. They used the term highball when talking to Theresa and the others about a certain boulder.

Most people would think in terms of drinks, not climbing, when someone drops the word highball .

Theresa sounded as if Felicity and Eve explained what a highball is and did so thoroughly enough that the women were aware they couldn’t boulder that rock. ”

“The two women could have had Miguel explain it to them,” Vienna said. “I just can’t see them doing this. It makes no sense. They’d both have to be a little insane.”

“Let’s, just for the sake of argument,” Raine said, “put them as our number one suspects. What motive could they have? Why would they go on a killing spree a year after their sister died?”

“Preparation. Thinking of a plan from every aspect,” Harlow said. “If we’re going there, the two of them are intelligent and personable. They get people to talk to them.”

“We know Felicity is a hacker. She tried hacking Raine’s computer,” Shabina said.

Raine nodded. “She tried, and then she apologized and made the whole thing into a prank. One hacker to another to see who could come out on top.”

Zahra rolled her eyes. “Are you kidding? She just came out and admitted she tried to hack you?”

“She realized her computer was being fed viruses as well as being tracked. It was in her best interests to confess,” Raine said.

“You don’t get to attempt to break into classified documents without repercussions.

Felicity knew as soon as she triggered the alarm that she would have to do something to get herself out of trouble. ”

“So you think they’re that methodical?” Stella asked. “That these murders were premeditated, and they chose each of their victims ahead of time?”

“I think it’s a possibility,” Shabina said.

“No one would suspect them. They could have met Deacon on the trail, one in front of him, holding his attention, pretending to be lost, while the other one bashed him in the head with a rock. It wouldn’t have been difficult to lure Lucca off trail when he was searching for bodies.

Like I said, they’re personable. They seem to know everyone and make it their business to do just that.

If one of them came off of a trail and told Lucca they were lost, he would believe them.

They presented themselves to the community as newcomers to the hiking and climbing world.

Lucca had a reputation for taking care of others.

He was conducting a search and rescue mission.

He would listen to the tale of woe and not hear the other one coming up behind him swinging the rock at his head. ”

“What about the ritual?” Zahra asked. “The strange altar with feathers and rocks and sticks on it? Flowers from here and Saudi Arabia. What would that represent to them?”

“That’s the question, isn’t it?” Raine asked. “I’ve acquired several photographs of the altar. The FBI asked if I would help analyze the data, so no, I didn’t hack my way into the case. We want the chain of evidence to be as pure as it can be.”

“What is your take on the items on the altar, Shabina? You’ve seen quite a few rituals. Does this feel like a familiar one?”

Shabina shook her head as she studied the photographs. “No two altars are exactly the same. The murderer chose items they found nearby, or in the case of the things from Saudi Arabia, I doubt they even knew they were from a different country. They found a box and used the items discovered inside.”

“The two men from Algeria said they thought Shabina was coming up the trail,” Raine reminded them. “That would mean they heard a female voice.”

“If it is Felicity and Eve, what’s with this ritual and the altar?” Harlow asked. “Is it real? Did you look up rituals to see if they match anything, Raine?”

“I did. I put the various items on the altar into a search engine with as many details as possible. There are a few similar but no exact matches. I searched religions, cults, countries. The computer is still searching, but I believe the murderer or murderers came up with their own ritual.”

Shabina had been studying the photographs of the crime scenes, the ones Raine had on her computer. “What would be the point of a fake ritual?”

There was a short silence while they all tried to come up with ideas that might answer the question.

“To throw everyone off? Make the investigators believe there is a cult or religious reason. It isn’t voodoo.

It isn’t witchcraft. Or satanic.” Shabina frowned as she drummed her fingers on her thigh.

“They literally used random items they found. They didn’t bring them to the murder scene.

The petals were from flowers in the meadows, easily gotten.

They used sticks and rocks they found close to the murder scene.

They used items they found in an abandoned box. ”

Raine nodded in agreement. “The murders were carefully planned out, yet this ritual wasn’t.”

“So,” Harlow ventured, “you’re saying you don’t believe the ritual is real.”

“I don’t,” Raine said. “I’m with Shabina on this one. I think they studied various serial killers and wanted to have a signature. They just didn’t want whatever they used to point to them.”

“They would have done better to copy a voodoo ritual,” Vienna said. “Any kind of real ritual.”

“Maybe,” Raine said, “but in any case, there is no proof of guilt. Not one single piece of evidence. If it is Felicity and Eve doing these murders, they planned them out carefully. I’m going to do my best to put them in the vicinity of each murder scene before I turn the evidence over to the two agents. ”