Chapter 15
Nick was convincedthat Charlie was going to ignore his invitation. He wasn’t even sure why he’d offered it. He didn’t generally socialize with his former targets. But there was just something about Charlie. Beyond that, there was something fishy about the job.
Why had they refused to tell him anything about why they wanted Charlie in the first place? Why hadn’t they mentioned that her father had worked for a subsidiary of Hobbs? And that the man who had testified in his embezzlement trial was now the CEO of Hobbs Financial, a much larger subsidiary?
He’d found much more information once he started delving, but he was keeping it to himself for now.
As Charlie had pointed out, they still didn’t trust each other.
Nick watched from the corner of his eye as Charlie sailed back into the restaurant as if she hadn’t previously crawled out of it on her hands and knees. Her hair was back in its lovely knot, the olive gunk cleaned from her face, her dress clinging to her body in an unfairly sexy way. She spoke a few words to the bartender, who nodded and looked over at their table.
“Why are you being so weird?” Hailey asked. “Is your stomach still hurting?”
He’d blamed his sudden disappearance on an urgent need to visit the bathroom.
“I’m just distracted. I saw someone I know.”
“Someone cool?”
“Yeah, she’s pretty cool.” No lie there. He’d thought so from the start. “She’s the one who helped me rescue Hector.”
“And now she’s here? That’s really weird. Oh.” Her eyes widened as she put two and two together. “You know her from a case. You were following her.”
“You know I can’t talk about that kind of thing. I offer my clients complete confidentiality.”
She pretended to turn a key in front of her mouth. “I won’t say a thing. I can’t tell anyone anyway because I’m on a social media fast.”
He probably shouldn’t tell her that Fire Peak Lodge had Wi-Fi and that a number of texts had popped into his phone as soon as they’d stepped onto the property.
“I’m really proud of you for sticking to it,” he told her.
“I can already feel my self-esteem recovering.” Her dry tone made him laugh.
Hailey was so smart, so sarcastic, so fierce, and yet also so vulnerable. Before she’d come into his life, he hadn’t thought much about changing the world for the better. Now it was something at the forefront of his mind. He’d meant what he said to Charlie about changing his focus. There had to be a way to use his skills to make a better future for Hailey and the next generations.
“Is that her?” Hailey whispered as Charlie swung around the hostess stand and headed their way. Nick appreciated the way Charlie moved, as if the world was hers for the claiming. Maybe some people would find her cocky, but he didn’t. He liked her bravado. “She’s really pretty.”
Was pretty the right word? He wouldn’t have chosen it. Maybe “breathtaking” or “riveting” would fit better. Charlie had style and flair, the kind of charisma that made it hard to look away. For him, anyway. And apparently for Hailey too. She watched, fascinated, as Charlie approached them.
“Hello,” Charlie said in her jaunty way. “I’m Charlie. I was supposed to be your hostess, but that ship has sailed.”
“This is Hailey,” Nick told her. “I was just telling her that you helped me rescue Hector. Will you join us?”
Charlie pulled up a chair on the side of the table that faced the view, so the three of them each had a side of the table to themselves. “I hope you don’t mind, but I ordered three desserts sent to this table. We have three options on the menu, so I requested one of each. I hope you like dessert.” She smiled at Hailey, who seemed stricken with admiration and just gaped at her.
“We love dessert,” Nick told her. “Sweettooths run in the Perini family. This poor kid got hers from me. Especially chocolate.”
Hailey finally found her voice. “So long as it’s ethically sourced.”
“She has an app that sorts that out for her,” Nick explained.
“I do, but I can’t use it now because I’m off social media.”
“Good for you.” Charlie offered her a high five, which his mercurial teenager accepted gleefully. “I for one have zero social media presence, although I do check my friends’ grids.”
“My dad isn’t on social media either. You’re literally the only two people I know who aren’t.”
Nick and Charlie eyed each other. Of course neither of them were on social media. It offered too many chances to screw up and reveal something you didn’t intend to.
“Okay, Elias is another social media virgin, but I just met him,” Hailey continued.
Nick’s head snapped around. Elias was a boy’s name. Did he need to watch out for this Elias? “Who’s that? Where’d you meet him?”
“At the volleyball game last night. We were on the same side. Relax, Dad.”
“Are you talking about Elias McBride, who used to be Chilkoot?” Charlie asked Hailey, who nodded. “Elias is a good kid,” she told Nick. “He has a fascinating story, and he saved Molly’s life out on that glacier.”
“There, see?” Hailey shot him a triumphant glance, and he forced himself to relax. He wasn’t going to get through this summer without a heart attack if he overreacted to the mere mention of a boy’s name.
“Do you live here?” Hailey asked eagerly. “What’s it like in the winter?”
“I’m new here too, but I’ve heard stories.” Charlie lowered her voice to add extra drama. “Fierce blizzards come roaring off the mountains. Sometimes people get lost and end up frozen in the wilderness, never to be found until the spring thaw. It’s dark for a good chunk of the day and the endless night can slowly drive you over the edge, eat away at your sanity until you?—”
“Okay, okay,” Nick interrupted. Hailey was soaking it up like one of her horror movies.
“Dad!” she protested.
But Charlie got the message. “On the bright side, I hear that it’s stunning, especially if you like skiing and northern lights and alpenglow. When I came here the first time, there was still a little snow left on the ground. It was very peaceful.”
“It’s very peaceful now,” Nick pointed out. “Maybe it’s always peaceful. That’s why people come here, for the peace and?—”
Something crashed behind him. Glass shattering. Nick instinctively flung open his arms to protect Hailey and Charlie. Someone must have dropped a tray of glasses. Then he smelled smoke. Maybe one of the glass candle globes adorning each table had gotten knocked to the floor.
Then someone cried out, and someone else yelled, “fire,” and he realized that something much more serious was going on.