Chapter 14
She lifted her chin.She might be trapped, but she still had her dignity. “Hello, Nick? Are you looking for a fishing rod?”
“Nope. I just caught what I’m looking for. I saw you running out the back and ducked in here because it seemed like the perfect hiding place.” His eyes were dark and warm, not at all like a predator who’d just caught up with his prey. He smelled good, like expensive aftershave from Italy mingled with pure mountain forest. He had long eyelashes, she noticed, randomly. And a smile lurking behind them. The same smile curved his lips.
“It took you long enough. I was sure you’d given up, or gotten fired.”
“I did get fired,” he admitted. “One of the very few times I didn’t complete a mission.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t have agreed to work for those jerks.”
“You could be right. I’m still wondering why they were after you.” He made it sound like a question, one she didn’t feel like answering.
“They don’t tell you that kind of thing?”
“They left it up to my imagination.”
She blinked at him innocently. “Sorry to disappoint, but I couldn’t even guess why someone would go to so much trouble. I’m just a girl from Indiana.”
He snorted, then gave a rueful laugh. “You’re telling me I got bested by ‘just a girl from Indiana’?”
“Sorry for the blow to your male ego. How’s Hector?”
He flinched, his head brushing against a snowshoe hanging from the ceiling. “He was recently released back into the wild. They said I saved his life. Please don’t tell me you still think I hurt him myself.”
If he had, that would put him into psychopath territory and she should probably try to knock him out with a fishing reel or something.
“It sure was a conveniently timed injury.”
“I’ve always had a soft spot for wounded wildlife. I saved a baby robin once after it fell out of its nest before it knew how to fly. Did the whole eyedropper routine. Cried when it flew away to be a wild bird again.”
“You cried?” Charlie narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously. “I thought you were some hard-boiled detective dude. Or an undercover operative.”
“An undercover operative for who?”
“I don’t know! I’m just a girl from Indiana.”
Nick threw his head back and laughed, once again hitting that snowshoe. “You’re not just a girl from Indiana, but I will admit that I don’t know what exactly you are. Cards on the table, okay?”
She folded her arms across her chest. “I’m listening.”
He reached for her face. She flinched backwards, not sure what he was up to. After a pause, he said gently, “You seem to have…maybe an olive bit? … on your cheek.”
She whipped her hand to her face and wiped away the oily mess. Then she realized that she was still wearing that damn hair net. She ripped that off too, and her hair came tumbling down. What was that she’d been thinking about dignity?
Her lips twitched. So did his, though she could tell he was trying hard not to laugh. When she gave in, so did he, and they both burst into a gale of giggles—with a hefty dose of relief mixed in.
She didn’t get the impression that Nick was about to haul her off to the authorities.
When they’d gotten that out of their systems, the atmosphere in the little gear shed felt much more relaxed. “Cards on the table, I was more than a little freaked out when I saw you walk through the door,” she told him.
“I can tell. But listen, I’m no longer on the Charlie Santa Lucia beat. I’m on vacation with my daughter.”
“Who is real.”
“Very much real.”
“And who you just met? You didn’t make up that part?”
“I didn’t make it up. You’re welcome to join us for dinner and she can tell you the whole story herself.”
She started, remembering that she was actually supposed to be on shift right now. “I can’t. I work here. I’m the hostess tonight.”
“How about at the end of your hostessing duties? Just sit and have dessert with us.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “Why? What’s your agenda? A month ago you were chasing me across Alaska, now you want me to meet your daughter? Am I no longer a wanted criminal?”
“Not by me. I mean, you’re wanted, yes. For dinner.”
That sounded quite flirtatious. But how could she know if this was just another angle, and that as soon as she let her guard down, he’d spring his trap?
Would he do that with his daughter right there?
“Maybe some other time,” she told him. “I don’t know yet if I can really trust you. And vice versa, by the way. You don’t know if you can trust me.”
“I’m pretty sure I trust you to have dessert with me and Hailey,” he said dryly. “Which is all I’m suggesting.”
She turned that over in her mind. What harm could that do? If anything, she might have a chance to pick up a few things about Nick Perini. He might be less perfectly controlled around his daughter than he would be otherwise.
“Okay, but you have to give me something first.”
“What?”
“Something. Any little tidbit of reality to prove you’re not a threat to me.”
“Fair,” he admitted. He seemed to think about that for a bit, while she took in the firm curves of his lips and the shadow of scruff on his jaw. His pleasant scent fought with the faint reek of old fish that lurked in the buckets and nets stored in the shed. She found herself leaning just a little closer to block out that fishy smell with his fragrance.
She straightened her spine. No sense in going overboard with this whole “cards on the table” thing. That would mean admitting that she found him attractive.
“Okay, I can tell you this much. I work as an investigator for hire, mostly nailing embezzlers and insurance fraudsters, sometimes inside traders, sometimes industrial spies. My daughter says I’m upholding the corporate overlord structure, and to be honest, she has a point. I’m now considering a change in focus.”
“That’s funny, because—” She broke off before she said too much.
“Because what?”
“Well, without providing details, it’s safe to say I’m very much not in the business of upholding the corporate overlord structure.”
“I figured as much.” He flung up a hand to stop her from interrupting. “I know a lot about you, but I don’t know everything. When I took the job, I was given a file on you. You have no criminal record. You’ve never been caught committing a crime. But I wouldn’t be surprised if you had skirted the law. That’s not my concern. And honestly, it never was. I’m an information gatherer. That’s all I do.”
She pressed her lips together. Being good at gathering information made him dangerous. None of this was reassuring.
“What if you had caught me that day when you chased me into Firelight Ridge? What would have happened next?”
“I would have found a place with Wi-Fi and set up a call. They wanted to talk to you, one way or another.”
“You mean, like, dead or alive?”
He snorted. “More like, FaceTime or Zoom. That’s if I couldn’t convince you to meet them in person.”
“That’s it? Just talk?” She wasn’t sure she believed that. “What did they want to talk about?”
“They didn’t tell me that. I was supposed to keep tabs on you until they could fly someone out to meet with you. You disappeared before that could happen.”
“That’s a lot of trouble to go to for a conversation.”
“You’re telling me.” He glanced at the phone that peeked from his pocket. “I need to get back to Hailey. You’re welcome to join us later, or whenever you can. I promise I mean you no harm.”
She nodded numbly as he slipped out of the door and strode across the grassy expanse toward the lodge.
To trust Nick or not to trust him? No, that wasn’t the question. The question was, what was there to gain by spending time with him?
She could think of a few things—not including the obvious benefit that she liked spending time with him. Meeting his daughter might tell her more about him. Maybe he knew more than he was saying.
Or maybe this was all part of an elaborate plot to gain her trust and lure her in before he sprung a trap.
If Nick was really playing a long game here, then spending time with him would be playing with fire.
Just her speed.