Murder at Sunrise Lake
“He knows if he does he’ll have a better chance of staying alive,” Sam said. “He’s pragmatic about that kind of thing. He claims he met someone that he believes would move here with him and be happy.”
“How do you feel about him coming here, Sam?”
“I don’t really have an opinion one way or the other. My father is going to do whatever he decides to do, Stella. There’s no stopping him. I’m going to live my life the way I choose. Hopefully with you. You’re my choice. If he fits in once in a while, that’s good, but if he doesn’t, he doesn’t. I don’t know him anymore, and he doesn’t know me. We’ll see how it works out.”
Stella nodded, biting on her lower lip for a moment. Sam knew his father better than anyone, and she had the feeling his father was used to manipulating people. Sam wasn’t a man to be manipulated by anyone. She always wanted to be Sam’s choice. Always.
“That’s good, Sam. We’ll work around that.” She rubbed her hands on her thighs, detesting that she was showing her distress. “I hate that Bailey isn’t here and I can’t be there with him. He’s been with me practically every minute of the day since I got him as a puppy. It feels off without him. I know he has to feel like I’ve abandoned him.”
“You know better than that, Stella.” Sam’s voice was so gentle it turned her heart over. “I talked to the vet’s office first thing to make certain Bailey had made it through the night okay.”
“You know I’m going to want to talk to Amelia myself.”
He smiled at her. “Of course, I know that. I’d be shocked if you didn’t. She was actually sleeping when I called. Vincent answered. He said she’d be awake by ten.”
“I don’t know what I’d do without Bailey.” She swallowed the sudden lump in her throat and picked up her coffee cup.
“He’s a tough dog, Stella. Amelia’s a good veterinarian. She hung in there last night and fought for him.”
“I knew she was good. I sat on a committee and we read everything about her. She was at the top of her class in school, then interned for some of the best vets for livestock and then small animals. Everywhere she worked, she was given glowing recommendations. She had come to the Sierras often to climb and backpack, so when the clinic came up for sale, she was interested, but couldn’t quite swing the loan on her own. We knew she’d have that money paid back immediately. Her work ethic was too good. I’m so happy we went after her so aggressively. If we hadn’t …” She trailed off.
“Bailey’s going to make it, Stella,” Sam said.
The confidence in his voice steadied her. She nodded. “Did you talk to the sheriff yet? Or Sonny?”
“Sonny. He says he feels fine. A little headache, nothing more. I went down to the site to look for tracks. Whoever this watcher is knows what he’s doing. I think he’s lived here a long time, Stella, maybe was born here. He knows how to move on rough terrain without leaving a footprint. I found a few things, broken and bruised limbs on brush, twisted leaves, but little else. Nothing that I could follow.”
“I still have to ask myself what he would want in the house,” Stella said. “Maybe all this time he was watching the house in the hopes we would leave.”
Sam gathered the empty dishes and took them to the sink. “I’d like to think that, but we’re often at the Grill. He would have had ample opportunity. It’s only been recently that you’ve been locking the house. I think it would be a good idea to put your journal and sketches in the safe with your gun. If he does get inside, you don’t want him to easily access those.”
She rose as well, clearing the rest of the table. “You think he must be the killer.”
Sam shrugged. “I don’t know, but the timing is just too coincidental. I think it’s far better to be safe.”
MOMMY, DADDY’S DOING the bad thing again.
A riot of sounds hit first, birds calling back and forth. So many different types, Stella was aware they were various species. Insects droned and inevitably frogs croaked. Early morning brought with it the continuous cacophony of nature. Somewhere an owl screeched as it missed its prey before retiring. She heard the continuous flutter of wings and the skitter of rodents and lizards among the leaves on the forest floor.
The terrain appeared steep, long grasses thick, colored mostly gold and brown with some green still in evidence in spite of the cold. Trees rose toward the sky, a forest of them, some trunks thick, others mere saplings, many with their leaves already falling to the ground. Beams of color burst all through the branches to hit the rotting vegetation on the ground. Bushes were thick, matting together, while ferns and shrubs added to the wild landscape.