“Would you mind giving me a ride, Zahra,” Raine said. “I may as well get there early too. I won’t be much help in the kitchen, but we should put together a game plan when it comes to questioning those two.”
“Harlow will make it just before dinner. She’s working today.And Stella is driving down from Sunrise Lake, so who knows when she’s going to show,” Vienna said.
“They’ll come as early as possible once I text them you’re going to give us the 411 on what is going on with those students,” Zahra promised.
Shabina couldn’t help but laugh. “Are you saying they’ll come early for gossip?”
“Exactly.”Zahra was adamant. “We all like to be in the know. Besides, we need to figure this murder thing out fast. The cops don’t seem to have a clue. We’re smart. We can put the clues together and catch this person. He has to have slipped up more than once.”
“I wish we could,” Shabina said. “Losing three people already is three too many. And he seems to be escalating his behavior.” Just uttering the statement made her think of Bale and his increased threats. She didn’t voice her worry because there were too many ears in the café.
“It’s hard enough when the victims are strangers,” Vienna said, “but when we know them, like we all did Lucca Delgotto, it seems so much worse.”
Shabina had to agree. She wasn’t on the Search and Rescue teams. She cooked food and made certain the crews had everything they needed. Unless they wanted advice on the trails that were closed and she knew them from documenting nests, she stayed away from the teams looking for victims. She’d seen too much death, men, women and children, and those deaths haunted her.
Vienna nodded toward Miguel Valdez, who was sitting with Avita Delgotto. Twice, the personal trainer reached across the table and covered Avita’s hand briefly. “Miguel and Lucca Delgotto were best friends growing up. Miguel sometimes tells thefunniest stories of the trouble the two of them got into together when they were teenagers. By today’s standards, the things they did were more like pranks than actual crimes.”
Zahra followed her gaze and took in the trainer and his grieving companion. “I remember him telling stories about the two of them going into an old house that had ‘no trespassing’ written all over it. They broke out the windows or something idiotic like that, and then Lucca confessed to his mother when he was sleepwalking.”
“You’re kidding,” Raine said. “He really did that? Walked and talked in his sleep?”
Vienna nodded, her face lighting up at the memories. “Shabina, do you remember Miguel telling us that Lucca always talked in his sleep and confessed everything they’d done to his mother? He wouldn’t remember sleepwalking or -talking, so he just thought his mother was psychic and knew everything.”
“Miguel had us laughing so hard when we were supposed to be doing planks,” Shabina said. “It was impossible to stay in that position, and he called us all wimpy.”
Zahra lifted an eyebrow. “He didn’t call me wimpy.”
“He wouldn’t dare,” Raine said. “No one would dare.”
“His stories about his adventures with Lucca were always the best,” Vienna said. “Although they were little hooligans. If my parents had either of them, they would have put them in military school.”
Zahra dipped a zucchini stick into the special sauce Shabina was so famous for making. “Weren’t they both arrested for something? I’m sure Miguel said one of Lucca’s confessions led to their arrest.”
“Yep,” Vienna said. “He confessed to his mother in front of company that they broke into the local grocery store to get snacksand word got out that the two of them had been stealing from the grocer. They were arrested and convicted. I think they were fifteen or sixteen, but the judge had a list of their criminal activity, as petty as most things were. I suspect someone enlightened the judge so they would have to make reparations and not get off lightly.”
“Miguel said they mostly straightened up after that,” Shabina said. “They had to work off the debt they owed, so they both had jobs and not a lot of time to get into trouble.”
“I like that he used the termmostly,” Zahra said. “But he said it wasn’t as fun because Lucca had grown out of his habit of sleepwalking and confessing all to his mother.”
“Look at the way Miguel is with Avita.” Shabina indicated the two with a barely perceptible nod of her head. “He’s in love with her.”
Vienna agreed. “I once asked him why he didn’t date her, and he said it was a respect thing. Lucca is very protective of Avita.” She cleared her throat. “Wasprotective. He said Lucca was like his brother, and the Delgottos had always treated him as if he were a part of their family, even after it came to light that the boys were up to no good together. Lucca’s family still welcomed Miguel with open arms.”
“The Delgottos are wonderful people,” Shabina added. “And I doubt that they would have objections to Miguel dating their daughter.”
“It looks to me as if she reciprocates his feelings,” Zahra said. “Miguel’s a good man and he would work hard for his family. Avita must see that in him.”
“She’s known him all of her life,” Shabina agreed. “It would be nice if their families could find a little happiness in the middle of losing Lucca.”
“It would,” Vienna agreed.
—
Shabina found bakingand cooking with a security team underfoot wasn’t as easy as it was when Rainier was helping her. The men rotated: sometimes Dimitri would be in the kitchen with her, then Zero and Larado would exchange places with the two men, Altair and Torin, who often watched over the café.
Shabina knew Altair had been friends with Rainier for years. His name was Arabic and meant falcon. He had a tattoo of a falcon on his upper right shoulder. Torin was Irish American and had the reddish hair and freckles to prove it. She liked all of them but felt the most comfortable with Larado and Altair.
Each time one of the men entered the kitchen for the first time, they wanted to sample the food or baked goods. She ended up baking double the amount she normally would have. The alarm went off, and then a call came in from the gate that she had visitors.
