Chapter 16
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
“What’s your plan?” Monk asked, more curious about Helia’s delight than the actual details.
“My car has tinted windows. I’ll pull it up to my house, she can pop in the back, and we can drive away. So long as she leaves from the front door, the police in the vineyard won’t see her. And if she stays down, the cameras won’t pick her up in the back seat.”
He chuckled. “Why do I feel like you’ve done this before?”
Looking over her shoulder at him, she grinned. “Down in San Diego, I had a friend in the military. I might have helped her take a little unauthorized leave for a few hours here and there.”
That grin. It would kill him one of these days, he was certain. A little mischievous, a lot confident, and a whole bucketload of sexy, he’d always been a goner for that look on her.
And he’d kissed her.
Well, technically, she’d kissed him. But he sure as hell had kissed her back. A twist of doubt curled through his stomach into his chest. Maybe it would end with that, with that one searing kiss. Thinking about anything more brought up all sorts of thoughts and feelings he’d rather not confront.
He snorted to himself at that thought. Not a month ago, he’d been telling his brother Philly that shit festered, and it was better to get it out and deal with it. Apparently, what was good for the goose wasn’t good for the gander.
They halted as a car pulled into the courtyard and parked by the side of the kitchen.
“Greg and Akin,” she said.
“Who’s Greg?” He’d met Akin the day he’d helped with the wedding and liked the easygoing but exacting chef.
“Our kitchen manager,” Helia answered. “He takes care of the supplies, repairs, hiring, that sort of thing.”
“What’s going on?” Greg asked, his gaze darting to the activity in the field as he and Akin joined them.
Tall with thinning brown hair and the ruddy skin of either an alcoholic or a Brit who’s had too much sun in his life.
The kind of man who tried to appear pulled together but never quite succeeded.
Not that he needed to look a certain way to be good at his job.
Helia introduced him to the kitchen manager before giving them a brief lowdown on the events of the past few hours.
“Geez, that’s the second murder in a week. It is murder, right?” Greg asked.
Helia nodded. “Based on what Collin saw, yes.”
Both men turned their attention to him. “I’m guessing you weren’t expecting to start your day with that,” Akin said.
“Definitely not,” he replied.
“Did you see anything else?” Greg asked.
Monk shook his head. He didn’t need to repeat what he’d told the detectives about the blood spatter. He didn’t have strong social skills, but even he knew certain information was best left unsaid.
“Did either of you know Kurt Fisher?” Helia asked.
“The fish broker?” Akin asked.
“Didn’t he move to San Francisco?” Greg added.
“Yes and yes,” Helia said.
“It was him?” Greg asked, his gaze back on the vineyard. They couldn’t see much from where they stood, only the occasional bob of a head as it moved around the crime scene and the top of the coroner’s van.
“We think so,” Helia replied. “At least that’s who the detectives asked us about.”
“I saw him the other day,” Greg said. “Maybe four days ago. He was having dinner with Kelly at that new place over on the river. Do you think I should mention it to the police?”
“I’m sure they’ll track his movements and figure it out, but if they reach out to you, it might not hurt to mention.
Maybe they talked about something that could help shed some light on what happened,” Helia replied.
“Kelly is the social media manager for a lot of wineries, including Bacco,” she added for his benefit.
“You okay?” Akin asked. His gaze taking in both him and Helia.
Helia waggled her head. “It’s been an interesting morning.” Akin’s gaze landed on him, and he nodded in agreement.
“On that note, what are you all up to this morning?” Helia asked.
As the three chatted about work for a few minutes, he took the opportunity to study the two men.
Akin, the more intense of the pair, held Helia’s gaze as they spoke, never looking away.
Although Monk didn’t get any vibes other than professional ones from him.
Greg, on the other hand, looked as if his mind was bouncing in a thousand directions—from the goings-on in the vineyard, to the upcoming events, to the scratch on his car he kept eyeing. Watching him was exhausting.
“We have some errands to run in town, so don’t let us keep you,” Helia said, bringing him back to the conversation. “If you need anything, text. We’ll be out for a while.”
Curiosity flared in both men’s eyes, but Helia didn’t give it a chance to go any further. Taking his hand, she led them back to her place, where they found a nervous but not panicked Kendall.
“Come on, kid, we’re busting you out of this joint,” Helia said. “Well, really, we’re going to get you some more clothes, but that sounded better.”
Kendall’s shoulders eased and she rolled her eyes but smiled. Monk didn’t know what the rest of the day would entail, but he enjoyed seeing Helia charm the abandoned child.
Four hours later, they’d visited two box stores, three thrift shops—which Kendall delighted in far more than Monk would have thought—and the grocery store. With a café stop for pastries and drinks in between.
“I’ll drive you to Bacco and maybe we can make a late lunch before I head home?” Helia suggested as they traveled north out of the city of Napa.
“Works for me,” Monk replied.
“There’s a bunch of board games in the tasting room, maybe we can play?” Kendall suggested.
“Do you know how to play blackjack?” he asked, craning his head to look at her sitting in the back seat.
She rolled her eyes. He’d noticed she used the gesture to either convey a silent “duh” or hide her discomfort. This eye roll was definitely the former.
“Dulcie’s the best of the Falcons. Maybe we can play a few rounds,” he said.
Wariness entered her expression. “Who’s Dulcie?”
Hell, in the chaos of finding her the night before, then the body that morning, he’d forgotten she hadn’t met his two friends the way Helia had. He was sure she’d heard them, though.
“He was at the house yesterday. The softer spoken of the two. The other is my brother Lovell.”
“Lovell is Black,” she said, confirming his suspicion she’d seen them even if they hadn’t seen her.
“That is true.”
“You’re not.”
Ah, he got it. “Found family, remember,” he said, reminding them of their earlier conversation.
“You can’t pick your family,” she insisted.
He sensed an argument brewing inside her.
He didn’t know the origin but suspected it had to do with both nerves and her own precarious position when it came to family.
Her insecurity. He couldn’t address that head-on; they didn’t have that kind of trust, not yet, but he could make his opinion clear.
“I can and I did,” he said, then continued before she could object again. “Dulcie has three younger sisters who all have him wrapped around their little fingers, but don’t think he’ll go easy on you when it comes to blackjack. That’s his line in the sand.”
“I suck at card games,” Helia said, turning left onto the Silverado Trail.
She’d sensed the tension, too, and was doing her part.
He couldn’t say he fell a little in love with her then, because he wasn’t sure he’d ever been out of love with her, but he felt her solidarity far deeper in his soul than the words warranted.
“It’s my face,” Helia continued. “It’s too expressive.
Can’t hide my feelings to save my life. It’s also why I always work the back of the house for our events.
You get a bridezilla in my view or an asshole CEO up in my grill and it’s not pretty.
I don’t ever say or do anything, but everything I want to say or do is written on my face. ”
A mile ticked by in silence before Kendall spoke. “Can you play with us? I wanna see what that looks like.”
He laughed. Helia gasped in mock outrage. “You want to make fun of me?”
Kendall’s lips twitched, and she tipped her head shyly to the side. “Maybe. A little.”
“The things I do for you, kiddo,” Helia muttered, but loud enough for Kendall to hear. The tension eased in the car.
A few minutes later, they pulled through the gates to Bacco and up the drive.
Dulcie was standing at the base of a ladder resting on the south corner of the castle.
He waved, drill in hand, then followed their car on foot to the parking area.
Monk had texted him about Kendall and the murder while Helia and Kendall shopped.
He wasn’t surprised to see the three of them arrive together.
Helia popped out first and darted over to give Dulcie a hug. She’d always been easy with her affection, but Monk was pretty sure at least a part of the greeting was for show. For Kendall’s benefit.
“I got the cameras set up on the house,” Dulcie said, as Monk strode over and gave his brother a one-armed hug.
“Thanks for that. We can tackle the wine caves tomorrow,” he said. “Kendall, this is Dulcie.”
“Weird name,” she said.
“Kendall!” Helia said.
Dulcie shrugged. “Whatever, Kendall Jenner.” Kendall narrowed her eyes at him and his taunt. “Or should I call you Savant? Isn’t that what he calls you?” he said, tipping his head in Monk’s direction.
“He calls me Kendall.”
“Then Kendall it is. And for reference, my real name is Mateo, but my brothers call me Dulcie. We all have nicknames.”
“It’s a nickname?” she asked, a tiny prick of curiosity in her tone. Dulcie dipped his chin. “How’d you get it?”
Dulcie shrugged and smiled. “I’m Mexican by descent and, according to my asshole brothers—excuse my language—I’m sweet as sugar. They thought it would be hilarious considering what we did for a living.”
“Dulcie means sweetie, though, not sugar,” she said. “Dulce would mean sweet.”
His brother’s eyes lit. “You know Spanish?”
“Un poquito,” she replied.
“You’re right. But they decided Dulcie was easier to say than Dulce. I don’t know why. Gringos,” he added with a shrug. Monk rolled his eyes.
“What’s your nickname?” she asked, turning to him.
“Monk,” both Dulcie and Helia said at the same time.
“I don’t think I want to know the origin of that name,” Kendall said, making the rest of them laugh.
“You don’t. Now let’s get inside and make some lunch. It’s getting colder, and I could do with a fire, too,” he said.
“You get the fire, I’ll get lunch,” Helia said, leading the way inside. He followed behind her but didn’t miss how Kendall tentatively came up alongside Dulcie, bringing up the rear.
“You’re installing cameras?” she asked.
“Yeah. Monk’s father didn’t have any, and with the break-in the other day, we thought it was time. Probably past time. Roger had his reasons, none of which are valid anymore, so security, rather than privacy, is taking over.”
“What kind?” she asked. “Of camera,” she clarified.
And then they were off. He left the two talking brands, specs, bugs, and all sorts of tech things as he made his way to the fireplace.
He got the fire going, checked in with Helia, then hauled the bags of clothes from the car to the laundry room.
He considered starting a load but knew Kendall had purchased some personal items that she might not be comfortable with him seeing.
And since she and Dulcie had slipped back outside so he could show her the setup, Monk left the clothes and wandered into the kitchen to find Helia bent over, peering into the oven.
He stared at her ass for longer than he should, remembering the feel of it in his hand when they’d kissed that morning. Forcing his mind back to Kendall, he cleared his throat.
Helia straightened and spun. “You startled me.”
He made a face. “Sorry, moving quietly is habit. What did you decide?” he asked, nodding to the oven. They’d bought enough food for several meals.
“BLTs and french fries. The sandwiches are ready to be assembled, just waiting on the fries.”
His stomach rumbled, making her smile. “I wanted to get some of those clothes washed for Kendall, so she has clean pajamas and…stuff. But she might not like me going through some of those things. Would you mind…?”
“Say no more. I’ll start a load if you keep an eye on the fries?”
“Deal.” He moved into the small kitchen.
Helia paused in front of him on her way out. Then reaching up, she patted his chest, went up on her toes, and kissed his cheek. “You’re a good man, Collin,” she said before disappearing out the door.