Murder at Sunrise Lake - Christine Feehan Page 0,163

was such beauty and a sense of calm and peace just looking out over the lake, watching the sun rise. Standing with Sam’s arms around her allowed Stella to breathe when she felt as if she’d been unable to draw in air for hours.

Sam nuzzled the top of her head with his chin. “You feeling better, sweetheart?”

She’d cried for hours— or it had seemed as if she had. Until there were no tears left. Her eyes and face felt swollen, but the cool morning air was helping to make her feel refreshed again. Sam had made the suggestion that they walk out onto the private pier and watch the sun come up. He hadn’t flinched away from her red, splotchy face. He’d held her hand and helped her over the rocks as they made their way to the private dock and out to the end of it.

She’d sketched every detail of the nightmare, journaled it and then told him everything she could think of, all the while sobbing for their lost friend who wanted to kill her and Vienna. Sam was Sam, and he just let her grieve. Then he’d held her while he studied the sketches, read her journal and listened to her account, asking her a question every now and then in between handing her tissues. After, he told her to get dressed in warm clothes, that they’d watch the sun come up over the lake and drink coffee. She wasn’t about to turn that offer down.

“I’m going to take you into town, Stella. You and Bailey both. I want you to stay with Shabina until I come for you. I’ve asked her to have all of you stay there, Raine, Harlow, Zahra and Vienna as well.”

She turned her head to look over her shoulder at him. He was back to inscrutable. “Why Shabina’s?”

“She has the best security. I know you’ll be safe there,” Sam said. “And just in case, to err on the side of caution, I’ve asked a few of my friends to help out. They’ll be outside on her grounds, patrolling. No one will get in or out. That means they won’t be bribed by Shabina’s baked goods or seduced by any of your friends’ charms. They’re professionals.”

“Oh my God, Sam, you know where he is, don’t you?” She stepped away from him, forcing him to drop his arms so she could turn around and face him. “You do. You know where he is. You plan on killing him.”

Sam didn’t respond. He kept his gaze steady on hers.

Stella shook her head. “You can’t. Sam, you can’t. Call Griffen. Let Griffen arrest him.”

“For what? You aren’t thinking straight. Griffen can’t arrest him. Denver hasn’t done anything they can prove.”

“Then we should go together. Talk him into a confession. Get it on tape or something. I don’t care. You can’t kill him. I want you to stay with me. If you do this, how can you stay here? You’ll come to regret it and you’ll want to move on.”

“Why would I regret it? Sweetheart, listen to me,” Sam said gently. “I know you’re thinking in terms of protecting me, but think in terms of Denver being family. Being ours. What do you think Raine was trying to tell you? Denver knew he was deteriorating. He didn’t want to be his father or uncle. You were always his last resort, Stella. He knew, ultimately, if he went after you, I would hunt him down and I would end him.”

Stella shook her head, unable to speak past the terrible lump in her throat. “Sam, no.”

“You said it yourself, there was no feeling of triumph, of power, when he was stabbing you in your nightmare. It was different from all the other times. He could barely look at you or Vienna. He killed both of you because in his sick mind it was the only way for him to get me to end this for him.”

“You don’t know that,” she whispered.

“I do know he can’t kill himself, but he’s willing to pit his skills against mine. It’s his game and he’s made the rules. I have to know all of you are safe. He believes he can lure Vienna to him, but he can’t. I’ve made certain of that. The moment you told me about the nightmare, I texted one of my friends and he collected Vienna and took her to Shabina’s. He did remove her cell phone before he left her there.” He sent her a faint grin. “Apparently,