“Ma’am, I can’t let those men in here with you. It isn’t a safe situation,” Larado said.
He sounded as firm and calm as Rainier. Just as tyrannical. He might be polite, but he wasn’t going to back off.
“It’s necessary for me to hear what they have to say. I’ve got questions that need answers, Larado. I’m not trying to be defiant. My father is involved in this somehow, and I have the right to know what he asked of them. Some of the items on those altars with the murder victims were from Saudi Arabia. They were the ones in possession of the items, at least I believe they were.”
He looked thoughtful but not wholly persuaded.
“All my friends are here. I’m armed. Raine is as well. I’ll have three of the dogs inside with me. We were expecting them.”
“You should have kept me informed.”
Shabina nodded, conceding he was right. She didn’t have to like it, but he was responsible for her safety.
“Rainier isn’t just my employer, ma’am. He’s my friend. You’re the most important person in his world and he’s trusted me with your safety. I can’t take chances with your life, not that I would, even if Rainier hadn’t pulled me out of some tight spots more than once.”
“Would you feel more comfortable if you were in the room with us?” That was a hard concession for her to make, but she understood Larado’s hesitation. If either of the two students pulled out a gun and started firing, someone might get hit before Raine or she was able to neutralize them. On the other hand, the men would be more likely to answer her questions if her personal protectors weren’t standing around looking threatening.
“I’d feel more comfortable if they didn’t enter this house, but I can see your point that you want to question them. I’ll bring Altair inside as well. He speaks Arabic fluently, and if they converse in their language and I miss something they say, he’ll get it.”
“I speak Arabic,” Shabina felt compelled to point out.
Larado ignored her. “I don’t like this, but I’m going along with it because you need answers. Dimitri will be stationed just outside the front door. If it all goes sideways, he’ll take them out.”
There was a finality to his statement and his tone. She could take it or leave it. Shabina nodded her head. “Let them come in, and I’ll do my best to get them out of here quickly.”
Zahra immediately went into the kitchen and positioned herself behind the island. Raine stayed in her chair, but she had the gun in her hand out of sight. Stella and Harlow positioned their chairs a distance apart and partially in the shadows and toward the back of the room where there was cover they could divebehind. Vienna sat on the other side of the room away from Raine. She was also armed.
Once the women were in position, Shabina sent the dogs to their places. They separated and went to the corners of the room, making it impossible for the two men to kill all three dogs easily before one or more took them down.
“Not your first rodeo, I see,” Larado commented. “Not a bad setup. Let them in, but make sure we always have a clear shot at them.”
Shabina wasn’t about to get caught in the cross fire. She knew how to position herself. Altair escorted the two men inside.
“I checked them for weapons,” he reported to Larado. “Neither was carrying a gun, but both were armed with knives.”
Rainier had drilled it into Shabina that in some instances, particularly at close range, a knife would be far faster and deadlier than a bullet. The fact that the two men were carrying knives into her home immediately aroused suspicion with her security team. She directed them to the chairs provided. Sitting would make them much more vulnerable. If Altair had missed any weapons—which she highly doubted—they would have more trouble throwing from that position.
“We came here to plead with you to keep the officials from revoking our student visas,” Emar said. “Our families will be humiliated if we return home in disgrace.”
“We need this education to help our tribe,” Jamal added. “Not only with the newer practices for farming and growing crops but learning about the various irrigation systems that will work for our people during the droughts.”
“Maybe you should have thought of that before you took that money,” Vienna stated without the least hint of sympathy.
“We have a few questions that need answers,” Raine said. “How is it those feathers and the flowers from Saudi Arabia, as well as other items, ended up on the altar with a murder victim?”
Shabina didn’t take her gaze from Emar’s face. He was uncomfortable answering questions, particularly when Raine asked them, but the two men hoped to get their visas restored before they were deported. If they wanted help, they would have to answer whatever questions were put to them, and both believed it was Raine who was instrumental in getting them revoked.
Jamal sighed, took a quick glance at the grim-faced security guards and then answered. “We had the items in a box. We were given the information that Shabina is the only one allowed to enter this one area that is closed to everyone else. We decided to scatter the items on the trail where we knew she would find them.”
“Your purpose in doing that was to cause her to have a PTSD episode?” Raine pursued.
Again, there was hesitation, and then Emar nodded. “Yes.”
“The two of you were paid by Jack Foster to bring about a PTSD event?” Raine’s voice was mild, gentle even.
“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?”
