22. Unexpected
22
UNEXPECTED
Ruby
I tapped in the new combination to my hotel room safe. H-A-P-P-Y-T-U-R-T-L-E. The door popped open, and there was my diamond, nice and secure. If I accomplished nothing else on this quest, or if Jake and I discovered no further details, at least I could sell the jewel and give the money to my mother. It was a fraction of what she’d invested in Eli, and what Eli owed to his investors, but ten thousand dollars was nothing to scoff at.
Closing the safe, I took my phone out to the tiny balcony, where I could soak in the glorious morning view of the crystal-blue ocean. I inhaled all that blue, from the gentle waves in the water up to the clear, endless sky, and closed my eyes to enjoy the warmth on my skin.
When I opened them, I checked in with things at home. There was an email from Cole telling me the video we’d shot was up and running. And it was working already—I had two new inquiries for scuba tours.
I responded to the messages right away, grateful for my brother’s work and my mom’s support. The business would never have had a chance to turn around without them.
While family was on my mind, I gave Mom a call.
“How are things?” she asked.
“They’re great. I’ve been prepping for my tour, and I ran into some old friends.” Though, mostly I’d been busy with Jake and snooping on my stepdad. “And I saw Eli,” I said, not sure how much to tell her. Would she want all the details? It was hard to say.
“And his Rolex?” Mom’s tone could have etched glass.
“Ostentatious,” I assured her. “Obnoxious. Overrated.”
Mom sighed. “Thank you for that.”
What could I ask her that would help the cause? About his interest in jewelry? Was he already doing business with the Canadian mine when they were still married? Was he always ten-thousand-dollar generous with gifts?
Something he said at brunch came back to me, and it seemed important enough to run past her. “He mentioned something about focusing on his charitable endeavors these days. I never knew he was a big charity guy.”
Her mother scoffed. “Ha. As if. Getting money out of him was like getting blood from a rock.” But then she made a pfft sound, dismissing him. “Enough about Eli. What about you? Are you finding time to relax? Maybe meeting a sexy guy for an island tryst?”
Island tryst.
Sounded fantastic in theory but dangerous in practice. Jake was sexy and clever and wickedly talented, and we were good together when our goals aligned. But in the big picture, we didn’t see eye to eye. We were coming at the diamonds from opposite angles.
I wanted to find out the truth about what had happened to the money. I wanted Eli to return what he’d stolen and return my mother’s investment.
Jake wanted justice too, but he also wanted Eli’s head—and since Mom’s money was a gift, if it was returned to the Eli Fund as he’d stipulated, she wouldn’t get a cent of her investment back. Eli would go to jail. He couldn’t exactly repay her from there.
We couldn’t both win.
“I’m just trying to stay busy,” I said evasively, and after I wrapped up with Mom, I typed the name of the diamond mine into my phone. There were a few articles as well as the operation’s website, which touted its commitment to politically correct mining, its adherence to world standards on labor, and the fact that half of its proceeds went to schools.
Could this be one of Eli’s new charitable endeavors? I browsed the list of Frayer’s biggest supporters for its charitable arm, but Eli’s name wasn’t there. I wasn’t entirely surprised, though I was, admittedly, a little disappointed.
But then I spotted another familiar name.
Willow Evans.
His fiancée.
* * *
I spent the afternoon at Happy Turtle Cove. My tour would be in a few days, and I wanted to visit the spot one more time beforehand to make sure I knew it like the back of my hand. I canvassed the cove, and along the way ran into Tanice and Reid. I knew Reid, a bartender I’d met at The Pink Pelican from time to time.
“Don’t forget the boat party tomorrow night,” Tanice said. “It’s been too long.”
“Yeah you better be there,” Reid warned playfully. We chatted more, then I said goodbye and as I wandered around the sandy beach, my gaze landed on a napping guy who looked like my stepdad’s club manager—big, burly with a snake tattoo on his arm. I’d seen him but not met him, so I didn’t interrupt his snoozing on a beach towel behind his shades.
I headed for the edge of the cove at sunset, since I’d arranged for Jake to meet me here, when he’d drive with me to Eli’s house for the dinner party.
I fought off a smile as I watched the rugged recovery specialist walk toward me. Though swagger was more like it. His eyes locked with mine and seemed to hold me with a certain after-dark intensity. My chest flipped as I checked him out in his blue T-shirt that showed off his gorgeous ink and trim shorts that hugged his strong thighs.
When he reached me he said, “Hey,” with a lopsided grin that made my heart race.
“Hi.” I needed pockets on my sundress so I’d have something to do with my hands when all I wanted was to grab him and make out like we had the last time we’d been in the cove. But after all the passion between us yesterday, we hadn’t discussed where we stood now.
Were we back to off-limits partners? Were we returning to secret lovers? We were so unclear, but now probably wasn’t the time to decipher this island tryst.
“Ready to go?” He gestured the way he’d come, over the dunes.
“I am.” We walked toward my car, not touching. Like, conspicuously not touching. That was odd. I’d been the one who’d initially made the “no making out” rule, but I couldn’t help thinking that this awkwardness was more distracting than giving in to attraction would be.
“How was your day?” I asked once we were driving toward Corey’s Landing in my rented Jeep. I grimaced at how girlfriend-y that sounded. “Any developments?” There. That was what I meant.
“I saw Eli and his fiancée heading into a realtor’s office downtown. That was interesting,” he said in a tone that suggested interesting was an understatement. He told me about his bank visit too. “I’m not sure if it relates to our investigation, but it seems likely. Money, finance, real estate. If you get a chance to suss that out during conversation tonight…”
“I’m on it,” I said, a little excited with my new mission.
I turned into the development where Willow and Eli lived. “I did some digging into Willow today,” I said, driving past manicured lawns and hedge-lined driveways. “She studied art history in college and she’s very passionate about collecting modern art. She’s the connection to the Frayer mine, by the way. A generous supporter of their charitable arm.”
“That’s an unusual combo.”
“Art and diamonds? Maybe she just likes the finer things in life,” I mused. I looked at Jake curiously, then returned my eyes to the road. Did he see me as an equal partner in intel? Did my digging make a difference? It was hard to say, and the man was hard to read tonight. But then, a detail nagged at me—the details of us right here, right now. He’d insisted on coming with me and dropping me off. At a party. But why? I hadn’t dissected his motivation till now, but as we neared Eli’s home, a new and uncomfortable possibility nagged at me. “You didn’t have to come with me, you know. I could have filled you in later,” I said, opening up the topic carefully.
He shook his head. “I wanted to be around in case of anything unexpected.”
Maybe that was true. But was that the only reason he was here? “What if they see you?” I asked, feeling him out more.
He flashed a disarming grin. “Don’t worry. I know how to lie low. Despite the inconvenient absence of a proper trellis.”
I wasn’t in the mood to joke. “I’m serious, Jake.”
He sighed. “So am I. I want to be close in case anything unexpected happens, that’s all. Since we’re a team, we should do things as a team.”
That sounded plausible enough. But was it? After all, he’d revealed a key detail a few minutes ago when he told me what he’d done that morning.
I pulled to a stop in the parking lot and turned in my seat to stare at him through narrowed eyes. “You tailed him this morning on your own.” It was a bit of an accusation.
He dragged a hand through his hair. “What are you saying, Ruby?”
“I think you’re babysitting me because you don’t trust me,” I said, laying it out there.
“Are we really going back there again?” he asked, a touch exasperated.
Valid question and yet… “I don’t think we ever got past there.”
“No, I’m pretty sure I did, and you’re the one who said you didn’t trust me,” he said, clearly frustrated.
But I didn’t feel so warm toward him anymore either. “But now it turns out you don’t trust me either.”
He sighed. “I just want to be here for you after the dinner.”
“That hardly seems necessary.” As I opened the door, I tossed him the keys. “You really don’t have to wait for me. I’ll take a taxi and text you when I’m back at my hotel.”
I didn’t want to be his project. I didn’t want to be his after-hours lover either, if he didn’t trust me in the light.
He stretched across the seat and caught my arm, wrapping his fingers lightly around my wrist. It was a little possessive, which I liked too much. “Ruby,” he said softly. My heart thumped, but I stayed strong. “I can’t imagine how hard it is doing what you’re doing. Facing your stepdad, investigating him, keeping your cool when it would be easier to confront him. All to make things right for your mom. So I’ll be here, waiting.”
I softened at his understanding. He’d voiced the nervousness I hadn’t been able to pin down. How well did I know Eli now? I was walking into my semi-estranged stepfather’s home to spy on him. To play Nancy Drew. But I didn’t even consider not doing it. I had a chance to right a wrong, and I would take it.
Another question nagged at me too—how well did I know Jake?
But I had the answer. I hardly knew him.
I’d have to put him out of my mind, though, because it was showtime.
* * *
“You’re here!”
Willow had a voice like honey and whiskey, the sleek lines of a supermodel, and porcelain skin. In the foyer of my stepfather’s mini mansion, she looped her toned arms around me as if I were her long-lost relative.
Not my favorite way to be hugged by anyone. I wasn’t much of an extended embrace person at all.
“Hi,” I said, standing in the circle of her arms and the cloud of her perfume, counting to three when I could reasonably let go. “It’s, um, nice to meet you.”
There. Done. I stepped back, and I didn’t want to judge Eli’s fiancée on her stunning looks. I just wished my stepfather weren’t such a cliché. The house on the water, the jewelry, the string of affairs with gorgeous women. Younger women.
Willow wasn’t done with the long-lost thing though. She placed her hands on my shoulders and beamed. “I’m so glad you’re here. I’m dying for you to meet all my friends.”
“Where’s Eli?”
I darted a glance past her into the empty sitting room, cataloging the plush beige couch, the marble table in the entryway, the chandelier with its brilliant teardrop crystals throwing prisms on the white tiled floor. A silver tabby with freakishly green eyes sat under the chandelier, her tail twitching as she stared at the ceiling. Looking for, well, whatever cats looked for on ceilings.
But there was no crystal bowl full of diamonds to be seen.
The only gem in sight was the brilliant pendant adorning Willow’s throat. Just like the stone in my safe, it had a faint blue tint. It looked the same size and even had the same cut.
It sure looked like another ten-thousand-dollar diamond. How many did he have? This newest one pissed me off since it was around the neck of the woman who hadn’t given Eli money to start his business. Who hadn’t stood by him for decades. Who hadn’t had to start completely over after he broke her heart.
But I had to let go of my anger and focus on the job. Sleuthing, like I knew I could do.
Willow linked her arm with mine, tugging me farther into the house as she finally answered me. “He was called away tonight on business, but this is perfect because it gives us a chance to really bond.”
Oh. Well, that was disappointing.
I’d hoped he’d be here too. I’d wanted to ask more questions, but mostly I’d wanted to get the lay of the land. To understand him more. I couldn’t entirely do that with him absent.
But I didn’t have a choice since shrieks of laughter echoed toward us, amplified by all the tile and marble. A woman cried out, “Oh my god, that feels amazing. I can’t even. You have to feel this. Give me your arm.”
Was she testing out some lotion? Please, please let this be an aromatherapy party.
But the naughty spark in Willow’s brown eyes said I wouldn’t be so lucky. “This is definitely a ladies-only party.”
Save me.
I glanced behind me, wondering if I could make a break for the front door. I came for an awkward family dinner, but a randy girls’ night in with my stepdad’s fiancée? That was next-level cringe.
Jake was right. Tonight was certainly unexpected.