Murder at Sunrise Lake

Vienna nodded. “Exactly like Bale. He’s a bully. He has to run the show. His friends had better fall into line, and so had everyone else. If they don’t, he makes fun of them and mocks them until they do what he wants. He’ll keep going at them until he gets his way. I’ve watched him do it, even to his best friends. They rarely stand up to him. Sean comes the closest, and when he does, he disappears for days on end into the forest, probably waiting until he thinks Bale is over his little snit.”

“I can imagine the ones in Vegas are even worse than Bale,” Stella ventured.

“I don’t know about worse,” Vienna said thoughtfully, “but certainly more entitled. They have money, way too much money, and they each think they’re the best at cards. They don’t want some woman to come along and take their reputation away. It’s humiliating to them. I mean, they smile and play it off nice, but you can see those tempers smoldering below the surface. I wire the money to my accounts before I ever leave the hotel and then have security walk me to my car. Even then, I had two incidents where someone tried to run me off the road on my way home. They weren’t playing either.”

“Vienna.” Harlow breathed her name. “I hope you went to the police. Did you at least have the money to hire bodyguards after that? You lived in Vegas. Is that why you ended up here? Are you hiding out?”

Vienna laughed. “Nothing so dramatic, Harlow. I came up here every chance I had because it brought me peace when I never felt like I had any. There’s something about the Sierras that slows everything down for me and puts it in perspective. I can see what true beauty is and what really matters, and the money isn’t important. Putting the slap-down on the bullies isn’t important. Taking the breath of fresh air and watching the sun come up over the lake makes the world right for me. When I got the chance, I moved up here permanently.”

“Are you close with your mother?” Shabina asked.

“There was a time I was. We were best friends. I thought we’d always be close. She met someone and she’s very happy, or so she says. I hope she is. I pay her rent and send her extra money for utilities and groceries. She writes and sends postcards she designs, inviting me to come see her and her lover. But when I do visit her, she’s so nervous, I’m uncomfortable and have the feeling she doesn’t want me there. I never stay more than a few minutes and she doesn’t try to get me to stay.”

“Is her lover there when you visit?”

“Never.” Vienna looked down at her drink. “That’s my fault really, not my mom’s. She never talked about my father. In fact, when I asked about him, she refused to talk about him. I have no idea who he is. It’s weird, like I was born into this void. No grandparents or siblings. There were no photographs or family history. Mom never talked about her past at all. It was always just the two of us.”

Vienna rarely talked about her past, so all of them stayed silent. Stella wished Bailey was there. He was very fond of Vienna and he would have sensed her mood and gone to her to comfort her. She sipped at her drink and waited.

Vienna looked up at them. They hadn’t turned on lights so it was only the low flames from the fireplace throwing those dancing colors onto the walls that lit up the room enough to see her expression of regret.

“I was so childish when Mom announced she’d fallen in love. I want her to be happy. For heaven’s sake, I’m a grown woman. I don’t want her alone or living her life out with me and my cat. It was just that I fought so hard for her to stay alive and then suddenly, out of the blue, she tells me she’s fallen in love. She met a woman named Ellen at the infusion center. She was a volunteer there. They became friends.”

Zahra frowned. “Did you know she preferred women?”

Vienna shook her head. “She never dated. Not once. Not men or women. Not throughout my childhood or when I was an adult. She never discussed her sexuality with me. I thought I knew everything about her. I didn’t think we had secrets from each other, but it seems my entire life was built on secrets.”

She gave them a shaky smile and took another drink of her icy margarita. “Thank heavens for midnight margaritas. This is a great way to spend the night.”

Zahra raised her glass first. The others followed suit and they drank solemnly.