Stella froze. This was Raine. She knew things others didn’t. “Why?”
“You two have always acted as if you’re very good friends, but now Shabina texted me saying he kissed you and you were holding hands. That seems as if you’re more than friends. Are you in a relationship with him? Or was she kidding? At the bar last night he seemed protective of you.”
“He’s always protective,” Stella countered, trying to dodge the question. “That’s his nature.”
“No, it’s not,” Raine denied. “Not unless you belong to him. He doesn’t claim many people in his circle. Not even us, and we’ve been around him for a few years now.”
Stella tilted her head and studied Raine’s face in the light from the waning fire. “You tend to do a background check on anyone who comes close to us. Did you do one on him?” She was curious. If Raine had, she’d never shared.
Raine shook her head and again looked around, her expression cautious. “No.”
“Why not? I’ll bet you know more about everyone in town than anyone else. Why not Sam? Why wouldn’t you check up on him, especially since it’s clear you don’t altogether trust him?” Stella tried not to sound aggressive or belligerent.
This was Raine. Her friend. She’d known Raine longer than she’d known Sam, and Raine had always been intensely loyal. If Raine had something to say, Stella needed to hear her no matter how much she wanted to be with Sam. Denver had warned her about Sam, but she wasn’t exactly certain what he was trying to say. Raine would be truthful and there would be no hidden agenda. Stella might not want to hear it, and it could be painful, but Raine wouldn’t intend it that way.
Raine frowned. “No, it isn’t a matter of trust, Stella. You’re reading me wrong. You’re my friend, and I don’t want you to get hurt. Sam is the type of person you can count on if you’re in his circle, and his circle is going to be extremely small. He won’t ever let many people in. If you’re one of them, count yourself lucky because he’ll defend you with his life. He won’t ever lie to you, and he’ll stay.”
“But. I hear a but. There’s a reason you didn’t do a background check on him, Raine. And there’s a reason you’re warning me about him, because this is a warning, isn’t it?” Stella forced herself to pursue the conversation when she knew Raine would have stopped right there. Raine didn’t pry. She didn’t push into any of their lives when she easily could have. She didn’t gossip and she held confidences.
Raine sighed and pushed at her long sun-streaked hair, a rare gesture of nerves. “I knew I wouldn’t have found anything on him and I didn’t want to trigger an alert if anyone was looking for him.” She hesitated. “Men like him have alerts set for anything like that on their records. They know when someone is trying to find them. He’ll have friends that will tip him off if someone is searching for him. I don’t want a visit in the middle of the night.”
Stella’s heart dropped. “What does that mean, Raine?”
Raine rubbed her hand over her leg and looked toward the lake. “He’s obviously come here to just live his life, Stella. He wants to be left alone. If I brought attention to him, he wouldn’t be very happy and I couldn’t blame him. He served his time.”
“Denver told me he’s what some people in the military refer to as a ghost. He more than implied that Sam cleaned up messes, not only for the military but for other agencies as well.”
Stella kept her gaze glued to Raine’s face. Raine didn’t have Vienna’s poker face, and right now she was very uncomfortable.
“How would Denver know what Sam did for any agency, Stella? Unless Sam told him— and you and I both know Sam would never do that— Denver doesn’t know anything. I’m only taking a stab in the dark and doing so as your friend because I want you to be very sure before you enter into a relationship with him. I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, only that you need to know who you’re with. You have that right.”
“Should I be afraid of a man like that?”
“Are you afraid of Sam?” Raine looked directly at her.
Stella didn’t answer immediately. Raine deserved a real answer. Stella thought about all the times she’d been alone with Sam over the past two years. Had she been afraid of him? She had considered that he, like everyone else, might be the murderer in her nightmares when she needed to rule suspects out, but she hadn’t really believed he could be the serial killer. She shook her head. “No, I’ve never been afraid of him. He makes me feel safe.”