Chapter 4 #2
Both his and Saffron’s eyes opened wide. “What are you thinking?” my brother asked.
“I have a request.”
Snapper nodded, picking up on where I was headed without my needing to say it. He whispered something in Saffron’s ear. She nodded, hugged me, then went to talk to her parents.
“Los Caballeros?” he asked.
“Yes. And without the Viejos.”
“Understood.”
I arrived at the Los Caballeros wine caves just before noon on January first and made my way through the rarely used corridor before entering the secret meeting room.
My brothers were already there—Brix, Cru, Bit, and Snapper. Ridge and his brother, Dalton, had come up from his place on See Canyon Road, Beau and Press Barrett were in town because of last night’s auction, and Zin Oliver stood talking to them.
“Isabel Van Orr is missing,” Brix said, getting straight to it after everyone took their seat. “Baron has no idea where she is. As far as he knows, she got on a plane to Italy and disappeared.”
“He filed a missing persons report with Vader this morning,” Zin added. “Sheriff’s office is treating it seriously. Baron’s daughter, international flight—they’re already coordinating with agencies.”
“She could be hurt. Or worse. Baron’s daughter—someone could have taken her for ransom. Or—”
“Which is why we’re here,” Cru, seated beside me, interrupted, resting his hand on my arm.
Ridge raised his head. “Dalton, Zin, and I will mobilize PIs here in the States. Check hospitals, police reports. See if there’s been any accidents or incidents.”
“I’ll help,” Snapper offered.
“We’ll head up the international search,” said Press, motioning to Beau and Zin. “First thing we need to find out is if she ever made it out of SLO,” he added. “She would’ve got a connection either through LAX or SFO.”
“We keep this contained, reporting through encrypted channels only,” said Brix. “If there’s nothing else, let’s get to work.”
I was about to ask what I could do when Brix spoke again. “Kick, you’re with us.”
“Understood,” I said, wondering if he knew something I didn’t and that was why the only people not walking out were Avilas.
Rather than stay in the meeting room, Brix led us into one of the tasting areas, where he grabbed glasses and Cru tapped a barrel.
“I’m gonna leave this up to you, Rascon,” he began after we all had wine.
“There’s clearly more to your association with Isabel, and we need to know what that is.
However, who you confide in is your decision. It can be all or just one of us.”
I met the eyes of each of my brothers. The only person who’d mind was Snapper, and after what Isabel did, making sure the Christmas Blessing Wine was able to be finished and released, I doubted he’d care, either.
Plus, he already knew the worst of it—that I’d been the one who told her things I never should have.
“We became friends after last year’s Wicked Winemakers’ Ball. I wasn’t around much, as you know, but we kept in touch.”
“When did it change?” Snapper asked. My eyes met his, and instead of the animosity I feared I’d see, I witnessed concern.
“The night after this year’s ball, but it didn’t last long.”
“You took her to the airport,” prompted Brix.
“The first time we really talked was on Christmas Eve. I tried to clear the air between us, and while the call ended with us being ‘reconciled,’ for lack of a better way to put it, I sensed she was telling me what I wanted to hear.”
“What else happened?” Cru asked.
“I called her again on Christmas, then the morning after. I was about to give up after only reaching voicemail, but then she picked up.” I told them how she’d said she was trying to arrange a ride to the airport and when I offered to take her, she accepted.
“We didn’t talk much on the drive, and when she said goodbye before entering the terminal, I gotta tell you, it felt like it was forever. ”
Snapper put his hand on my shoulder. “We’re gonna find her, Kick.”
“What can I do?”
“You know the drill. The one who comes to the caballeros for help steps aside,” he responded before his eyes met Snapper’s.
“What?” I asked.
“I’m in charge of keeping you out of trouble,” said Snapper.
“No,” I blurted. “Sorry, but I…can’t.”
“Then, you’re with me,” said Bit. “Come on. Let’s get out of here.”
My eyes met Snapper’s once more, and again, instead of anger, they were filled only with concern.
“Sorry,” I muttered.
He shook his head. “Bit’s more fun than me anyway.”
“Damn straight,” our older brother muttered as he took my arm and led me out of the room.
“Where are we going?” I asked once we were out of the caves.
“My place, and when we get there, you’re gonna concentrate long and hard about what Isabel might have said or done that you didn’t pick up on.”
“I already did.”
“Not my way, you didn’t.”
My mouth gaped. “What’s your way?”
“Hypnosis.”
“You’re joking.”
He shrugged a shoulder. “Maybe. Then again, maybe not.”
My brother’s so-called “hypnosis” involved us working the dormant fields at his ranch, Poppy Hill, until I was so exhausted I could hardly move. The good news was that, once I got home, I slept so hard I didn’t wake up until I got a call from Press a little before noon.
“She flew SLO to San Francisco. Same day you dropped her off. But she never boarded the international connection to Italy. She rented a car at SFO instead.”
San Francisco. Not Italy.
“Can you track her after that?”
“Working on it. She paid cash for the rental, but the company has GPS data. Ridge’s PIs are on it.”
I spent the next twenty-four hours obsessively checking for messages. And trying to reach Isabel. Small updates trickled in—the rental car GPS had been disabled after she left the airport. No hospital admissions matching her description. No police reports. No accidents.
She’d vanished somewhere into Northern California.
Finally, an update came in Sunday morning at seven. “Meeting in the caves as soon as you can get there,” Brix said. “We found her.”