Red on the River - Page 79

“Of course we have to stick to the plan, Vienna. If we leave at first light, how would anyone from Wallin’s camp know where we’re going? We’re in a private jet. We’ll meet at first light, park at the meadow and take the shuttle to White Wolf Trailhead. Even if they manage to get to Knightly by private plane tomorrow, we’ll be gone. Sam will hear they’ve arrived and he’ll be all over them.”

Vienna knew that much was true. Sam would be watching for anyone suspicious coming to town, in particular hanging around looking for Vienna. Still, she was a little anxious about endangering her friends.

The pilot told them they would be landing soon. To get seated and put on their seatbelts. Vienna snapped her seatbelt around her while she contemplated everything that Raine had discovered. Elliot Blom was her birth father. He was Zale and Rainier’s boss. He’d once been Sam’s boss. Had he known about her since Sam had come to live in Knightly? She didn’t think so. He had been lied to by Avril just as Mitzi had been. Still, when he had discovered the truth, rather than talk to her himself he’d simply sent a couple of his men to keep her safe while using her as bait to draw out his enemy.

She sat up very straight. That was what Blom had been doing. He’d known Wallin wanted to kill her, and he’d used her in order to try to get criminal evidence on Wallin and his son. Rainier and Zale both had known what he was doing. They might not have liked it, but they knew. She glanced at Raine. Their eyes met and her heart dropped. Raine was so damn intelligent. She had already figured that out.

The reason Zale hadn’t answered her questions or given her explanations was because he didn’t want to admit they’d used her as bait to draw out Wallin and his son. How would that go over? I love you so much but I’m setting you up to lure a killer out. Oh, and I’m not telling you. That was bound to go over well. If he’d told her, she would have accepted it. She wasn’t the fainthearted type. She would have preferred to be told what was going on.

She dropped her head in her hands and rubbed her forehead. How did people work these kinds of problems out? She doubted if most people had problems of this nature. She didn’t want them. They seemed endless to her. One thing after another. She’d come to Knightly for peace. It seemed Zale brought chaos to her. Things should be easy at this stage, not so difficult. She did her best to keep her mind blank until the plane landed. Raine and Shabina had driven their vehicles to the airport, so they had transportation. Harlow and Zahra caught a ride with them and Vienna was about to when Sam stopped her.

“I’ll take you, Vienna.” He took her gear from her and stowed it in the back before she could protest.

She stood next to Stella a little reluctantly. Clearly, Sam had a few things he wanted to say to her, and she was certain Zale’s name would come up. She so didn’t want to keep talking about him, not until she was home and had a little time to curl up in her house alone with her cat and think things through.

“Get in.” Sam held the door.

Stella rolled her eyes. “Be still my heart.”

“You could kiss me,” Sam pointed out.

“I suppose. If I must,” Stella said and proceeded to do a thorough job of it.

Vienna couldn’t help but laugh. Stella was seriously gone on Sam. She was much more likely to swoop on him and demand kisses than the other way around. Vienna loved their relationship and was so happy her friend had found someone so perfect for her. She got into the 4Runner, sliding onto the backseat. Sam’s SUV wasn’t as tricked out as Stella’s was, but it was really nice.

“We had such a good time,” Stella enthused. “Until someone shot up the kayakers.”

Sam shot a quick glance at Vienna through the rearview mirror. “I understand you’re aware Elliot Blom is your birth father.”

“Yep.” She kept her answer short, trying to convey she didn’t want to talk about it.

He set a course for her home in Knightly. Vienna looked out the window. She loved the Sierras. This was her place, and it always would be. She always reset when she came home, no matter how terrible things had gotten for her—and this time they were pretty terrible. Well, maybe not as bad as she thought. She’d made headway with her mother and Ellen, and that was very important to her. And she’d won a ton of money for the hospital and for the rescue equipment they desperately needed to update. She would be able to add to the scholarship fund for single moms to go to college.

“Zale is a good man, Vienna. When he’s working a job, he’s under certain restrictions.”

“It might be better not to discuss this right now.” She tried to be careful, knowing Zale was his friend. She didn’t want to say anything one way or another. “I process things, Sam. He used me as bait to bring a killer and his son out into the open. He may have been under orders, but he knowingly did that and never said a word to me. He risked my life, and believe me, more than once I came close to dying. Elsa only escaped death by a fluke, but that should have been me. Then there was the time in my hotel room. That behavior may be okay with you, but I’m not certain it is with me.”

Vienna heard Stella’s breath catch in her throat. She shook her head. “I had no idea. It isn’t okay with me either.”

“Put like that, it does sound terrible, Vienna.”

“How else does one put it?” Vienna knew better than to ask. She shouldn’t have. She should have just left it alone. She didn’t want to know, but then—she did. She wanted Sam’s take on it.

He sighed. “We’re wired differently, hon. We take risks all the time. We don’t think twice about it. And maybe we grow arrogant thinking we can control every situation. If Blom gives an order and tells us to say silent, we do. That just goes with the territory. As for setting you up, Zale wouldn’t consider you as bait. He would consider himself as your personal protector. It’s a different mindset. Rainier more than likely has filled him in on the way you will view this.”

“You honestly don’t think he would see it that way?”

“No. You’re Elliot Blom’s daughter. Wallin was trying to decide if you were or not. As far as Zale was concerned, he was there to make sure if Wallin did figure it out, he could keep you alive and get you out of there.”

“But they didn’t leave right away when Wallin did figure it out.” She was silent for a moment, putting it together. “Blom ordered them to stay, and Rainier had already guessed what he was doing. Using me to draw them out, right?”

“Right.”

“Why didn’t Zale tell me at that point?”

“You’ll have to ask him.”

Tags: Christine Feehan Romance
Source: readsnovelonline.net
readsnovelonline.net Copyright 2016 - 2024