Shabina nodded, reluctantly showing the ring on her finger. She didn’t want her hand to tremble, and she was still unsteady every time she thought about Rainier and any possible harm that could come to him.
“That looks so perfect for you. I think it matches your eyes,” Mary gushed. “I also heard your man is a hottie, and when Bale threw his hissy fit, he just calmly walked out of the kitchen and informed him he expected Bale to pay and that you were taking out a restraining order against him.”
“I am. It’s already in the works. Rainier was in the kitchen doing dishes. No one was aware he was in there. He doesn’t like the spotlight on him.”
“He’s the dishwasher?” Martha was amused.
Shabina laughed. “It’s true. He hides in the kitchen, preferring to do dishes and not have to talk to anyone.”
Mary glanced at the table where the two FBI agents were eating breakfast and lowered her voice even more even though the two men were a distance away. “Rafferty was furious that there was an implication that if you turned in evidence against Bale, it would disappear. He didn’t like it stated in front of the feds.”
Martha made a disparaging sound in her throat. “I don’t know why he would get upset when it’s the truth. He makes a good political sheriff, and he’s intelligent when it comes to running his department, but when his family is involved, his brains go out the window.”
“He had to realize that sooner or later, someone was going tocall him out on it,” Mary added in a whisper. “Do you really have evidence proving Bale was harassing you, Shabina?”
Raine answered. “He wasn’t simply harassing her, he threatened to burn down the café with her in it, shoot her dogs and her. He started with harassment, but his behavior has escalated in the last few months. He believed he could blackmail Lawyer into destroying the evidence before I could get to it. He had no idea we had installed military cameras and they’re always monitored and backed up. There is no way, even if the evidence was removed, that we couldn’t reproduce it.”
“Good,” Martha said firmly. “It’s about time someone let Bale know that he isn’t running Knightly, and neither is his family.”
“Lawyer told me Bale was attempting to blackmail him,” Mary said. “He knew if he swore out a complaint, Rafferty would ignore it. Things like that make the entire department look bad. We have good men and women working for us. It sucks that Rafferty was elected and doesn’t represent everyone, only his family.”
“Have you seen Bale since the incident in the café?” Martha asked.
Shabina shook her head. “I haven’t, but then my security team is with me in force everywhere I go. Someone is always watching the café. Bale is probably aware of that.”
“Tom and Judy said he was out at the hot springs with Sean and the two new ones interning under Sean.”
“What in the world would Bale and Sean be doing at the hot springs?” Shabina asked.
“They were part of the group sitting around the fire and telling stories about Lucca,” Mary said.
“Bale didn’t like the Delgotto family,” Shabina said. “Why would he be there? That makes zero sense.”
“I think when you go out on a rescue and discover a body,especially one from your hometown, and they worked together on Search and Rescue, it can change your perspective,” Martha said.
Shabina had to admit that was probably true. Had she known about the get-together, she still wouldn’t have gone. She knew Larado would insist she take a protection team as well as her dogs. That was something she would have to discuss with Rainier. She didn’t want to make decisions about where she could go based on worry that she would cause a scene with too large of a protection detail.
And what about the times the women all went hiking together? She couldn’t very well bring along her protection detail. More than once she’d gotten in trouble for leaving her dogs behind when they rented an Airbnb that didn’t allow pets. She knew she could get around that or ask the women to find a different house, but she always did her best to be as normal as possible.
Hopefully, once the danger to her from Scorpion passed, Rainier wouldn’t worry so much about her safety. That was another conversation they would have to have.
“Raymond Decker called. He presented the evidence against Bale to the judge and a restraining order has been granted. It is temporary, giving Bale the opportunity to fight it. I doubt that he would be that ridiculous, but you just never know with him.”
“Isn’t Mr. Decker a lawyer with the CIA? Why would he continue to work for me? I haven’t even seen a bill.”
“You won’t see a bill,” Raine guessed. “I asked him to come to the meeting with the FBI agents as a special favor to me and he did. He refused to take payment. I believe he knows Rainier. I know for a fact that he knows Sam and Zale. Apparently, one or more of them have done him favors in the past. The men in the Special Activities Division of the CIA often work for one another by trading favors.”
“And he presented the evidence to a judge on my behalf? I didn’t have to be there?”
“Not in this case, but if Bale were to fight it, you would have to go to court with Decker and present your evidence. Decker would do that for you as your representative.”
She hoped she wouldn’t have to go to court. No doubt Rainier would insist on going. There was no getting around the fact that Rainier could dominate a room.
Her phone vibrated, and she glanced down at the screen. The text was from her father demanding to know if the rumor of her marriage was true. She had no desire to speak with him. None. Where before just getting a demanding text from him left her shaky, now she didn’t feel anything at all. Had her mother called her, she would have answered and spoken to her, but she truly had no desire to interact with her father.
The thought of never having to deal with him again brought her peace, but it hurt to think she would never have interactions with her mother. Jack didn’t allow Yasemin to go anywhere without him, at least Shabina had never seen her mother venture anywhere away from him. If he forbade her to see Shabina, no matter how much Yasemin wanted to, she would never defy Jack.
“Why are you looking so sad, Shabina?” Raine asked.
