Chapter 4
CHAPTER FOUR
Helia’s parents cocked their heads at the detectives. Collin’s dark, watchful eyes remained on her.
“Of course,” she responded, a rote answer more than anything else. She hadn’t spent any time with Justin in several years, but she wouldn’t say no to speaking with the police.
“We’ll stay, if you don’t mind,” her mom said.
“I appreciate that, Mom, but there’s no need,” she said. “You wanted to check the reception room before dinner. I’ll be fine.”
Her parents eyed her, then, interestingly, both turned to Collin. “I’ll stay with her,” he said.
She hid a grimace and hoped Carter and Jess didn’t ask anything too personal about her relationship with Justin. She didn’t have anything to hide, but talking about her love life in front of Collin made her feel a little squirmy.
“Do you mind if we head to my place?” she asked the detectives. Both shook their heads and stepped to the side, clearing the way to the door.
Collin’s fingers settled on her lower back as he followed her out, staying so close that the side of his body brushed against hers.
“You don’t live here anymore?” he asked, his breath warm against her ear, sending a chill down her spine.
She shook her head as Jess and Carter fell into step behind them.
“I’m way too old to be living with my parents.
I love them, but it was better for all of us to have my own space.
” They pushed through the door that closed off the private third floor from the floors below and headed toward the grand central staircase.
“Did you see that stone water tower when you walked over?” He nodded.
“We built that six years ago. I live there.” The space wasn’t huge, but she’d designed every inch and loved it to bits.
The ground floor held a sitting area, a small kitchen with a breakfast nook, and a powder room.
It also had a fireplace as well as gorgeous French doors that opened out to a flagstone patio.
Her bed and bathroom were on the second floor.
The third was a covered rooftop deck where she often sat with her morning coffee or evening glass of wine, watching the sun rise or set over the valley.
“Collin? Collin Wilde, right?” Carter asked. “I was two years ahead of you in school.”
Collin drew away from her as he turned to talk with the detective.
“Sorry about your dad,” Carter said, shaking Collin’s hand.
It didn’t surprise Helia that Carter recognized Collin.
He’d grown a couple inches upward and several more in muscle, but his eyes and facial features hadn’t changed much.
He’d also been the sole heir to the Wilde legacy and fortune.
As one of the earliest European families to settle in the area, the Wilde family was Napa Valley royalty.
People knew them even if they—Collin—didn’t know them back.
“I understand the memorial is the day after tomorrow. How are you holding up?” Carter asked. Helia frowned at the question. It seemed awfully personal. Maybe even a bit nosy.
“I have a supportive family,” Collin replied. Carter might be hoping for more from the Wilde heir, but he wasn’t going to get it. Helia smiled. She’d always been protective of Collin. Maybe she didn’t have a right to be anymore, but their estrangement changed nothing.
“You’re married? Nice, any kids?” Carter asked.
“We’re here,” Helia announced, cutting off the need for Collin to reply.
Family came in all shapes and sizes. And as a thirty-five-year-old woman, she was mightily tired of correcting people when they assumed every time she mentioned family she meant a husband and kids.
She didn’t want to hear Collin have to do the same.
Crowding around her small kitchen table, Collin took the seat beside hers. She considered offering drinks, then opted not to. She still had a lot to do today and the sooner she got through this conversation, the faster she could get to it.
“How can I help you?” she asked.
“You heard about Justin?” Jess started. Relatively new to the valley, Jess had moved twelve years ago to be closer to her aging parents. Helia had always liked the practical, no-frills woman.
She nodded. “You know the valley vine. Beatrice told us a few minutes before you arrived.”
“How well did you know him?” Jess asked.
Her gaze slid to the view through the French doors. “I knew him well, once. Or thought I did. But it’s been a couple of years since we spent any time together.”
“You dated?” Carter said. She nodded. “For how long?”
“Two years.”
“And how long ago did you two break things off?” Jess asked.
“Three years ago.”
“Why?”
She tensed at the question. She had nothing to hide, but she didn’t like talking about it.
“You don’t have to answer.” Collin’s quiet voice drew her attention.
Jess and Carter shifted. Probably in annoyance.
“You’re under no obligation to talk to them and can choose what or how much to say,” he added.
The confidence in his voice piqued her curiosity.
He hadn’t mentioned anything about working with law enforcement as part of the seven companies his MC owned and ran, but she didn’t doubt his certainty.
“I have nothing to hide,” she replied, her eyes still locked on his.
He gave a tiny shake of his head. “It’s not about having anything to hide. This is a courtesy conversation. You aren’t obligated to say anything. Talk only if you’re comfortable talking.”
She gave a shaky nod. “It’s embarrassing more than anything,” she said, then wrinkled her nose. “Which really shouldn’t stop me, since I’m not known for my restraint.”
Collin didn’t smile but humor glinted in his eyes.
“We broke up because we had different definitions of what it means to be monogamous,” she answered, darting a look at Collin. Had he just growled?
“There’s only one definition of monogamous,” he said.
She snorted a laugh. “Yeah, I thought so, too.”
“He cheated on you?” Jess asked.
She nodded. “Three times. That I know of. I ended things the day I found out about one of them. The others I learned about after we broke up.”
“Fucker,” Collin muttered. Carter’s gaze flickered to him.
“While you were together, were you aware of any health issues he might have had?” Carter asked.
She tipped her head. “You know, I never asked how he died. I assumed he had a heart attack or something. He’s young for that, but my brother-in-law’s father dropped dead at forty-two from a heart attack, so I know it happens.”
An anticipatory silence filled the room. Collin shifted beside her. Jess tapped the table with her forefinger. Carter drummed a pen on his notebook. She stilled, puzzle pieces she hadn’t even considered sliding into place. She gasped and sat back. “It wasn’t a natural death, was it?”
Collin slid his hand beneath the curtain of her hair and started gently rubbing the tension from her neck. Between the heat of his palm and the touch of his fingers against her skin, the urge to close her eyes and rest her head against his shoulder beckoned.
“It’s an ongoing investigation,” Carter replied. Resisting the temptation of Collin’s comfort, she narrowed her eyes. “But there are unusual circumstances,” he conceded.
Unusual circumstances—such a quaint phrase for what she assumed meant murder. Her stomach lurched at the possibility. Justin hadn’t been good to her, but he didn’t deserve to be murdered.
“No heart or blood pressure issues or things like that,” she answered.
“What about other things?” Carter asked.
She hesitated, for Gina’s sake. “I know you can’t promise to keep things confidential, but if it turns out to be irrelevant…?”
“We’ll do our best,” Jess said.
Helia huffed. “He had…issues. You know…” She gestured to her crotch area.
Jess tipped her head. “He had erectile dysfunction issues?”
Heat crawled up her neck. “He did with me. Maybe I was the problem, though?”
“You are not the problem,” Collin muttered.
Carter darted a glance at him before clearing his throat and turning back to her. “While you two were together, the only drugs you saw him take were to address ED?”
She nodded.
“And have you seen him lately?” Carter asked.
She shrugged. “Here and there.”
“Meaning?” Jess pushed.
“I saw him at a fundraiser at the Hayeses’ two months ago.
Then again at the grocery store a few days after that.
He’s also been delivering orders here the past several months.
” She paused. “Actually, now that you ask, it’s kind of weird.
After we broke up, I could go ages without seeing him.
But in the last, maybe four or five months, he popped up, not exactly like a whack-a-mole, but more frequently than usual. ”
“What kind of deliveries did he make?” Jess asked.
“Stuff from the business. Wine pourers, glasses, that sort of thing. Some of our higher-end weddings like to put together adult-style goody bags for their guests. Gina’s company often supplies products for those.”
“And the Hayeses’ gala?” Carter asked.
“That was…weird,” Helia said, pulling up the memories from that night. The event hadn’t happened that long ago, but charity blowouts in Napa Valley blended into each other. Even ones with fireworks. Although how they’d managed a license and permission for that, Helia wasn’t going to guess.
“Weird?” Carter pressed.
The inflection in his voice hinted that he already knew why. “He approached me and wanted a second chance. I turned him down,” she answered flatly.
“Fucker,” Collin muttered again, making her lips twitch. A man was dead. She shouldn’t be laughing. But Collin’s running commentary was keeping her grounded. It wasn’t every day the police questioned her about a murder.
“Did the conversation get heated?” Jess asked.
“Sugar Raymond told you it did, didn’t she?” she asked, not hiding her irritation. Turning to Collin, she explained, “Sugar moved here six years ago. Divorced, widowed, and divorced again, she’s been after Justin for years.
“The conversation was intense on Justin’s part,” she continued, returning her attention to the detectives. “He tried cornering me a few times throughout the night, but I managed to slip away. When he finally got to me, I figured I’d let him have his say, decline, then move on.”
“And what did he say?” Carter asked.
Helia wrinkled her nose. “I know this sounds weird, but I don’t actually remember. I kind of tuned him out while he was talking. Sundaram had a huge wedding two days later, and rather than listen, I took the time to work out some kinks in the timing I needed to sort through.”
A deep chuckle sounded from beside her, sending a little frisson through her body. Carter and Jess, on the other hand, stared at her, their expressions cautiously blank.
“You remember nothing of what he said?” Carter clarified.
“I remember him asking me for a second chance,” she replied. “After that, I knew my answer would be ‘no way in hell,’ so I didn’t feel the need to listen to the rest.” She paused, then added, “The wedding went off beautifully. Those ten minutes he had me cornered were very productive.”
Another chuckle from Collin. Another head tilt from the detectives.
A beat later, they shared a look. Silent communication passed between them before they rose in tandem. She and Collin did the same.
“Thank you for your time, Helia,” Carter said, holding his hand out. She shook it, then Jess’s.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t help more. I know very little about his life since we ended things,” she said.
“If you remember anything unusual, you know where to find us,” Carter said, moving across the room.
She nodded and opened the door. A few seconds later, she closed and leaned against it. “Was that weird?” she asked as the detectives’ footsteps faded.
Collin crossed his arms, his gaze on the picture window, but not really looking through it. “It was a fishing expedition.”
“Meaning?”
“Justin Flannery didn’t die of natural causes, and they’re trying to figure out if it was an accident or murder.”
She blinked. She hadn’t considered an accident; that made more sense than murder. “An accident. It had to have been an accident. I don’t remember the last time we had a murder. We have violent crime. Usually related to tourists who come up here, drink too much, and do dumb things. But murder?”
His gaze refocused on her, and damn if those deep brown eyes didn’t pull her back to all the feels she had for him in their teenage years. “I could be wrong. Maybe he had a weird health issue.”
“I’m guessing you’re not,” she said.
He smiled. “I’ve worked with a few police departments. Their tactics aren’t unfamiliar to me.”
She cocked her head. “None of the businesses you mentioned would involve regular communication with the police.”
He grinned. “A story for another time.”
She studied him, letting her gaze drift over his face—so familiar, yet so unknown. She considered pressing him for answers but decided to use his promise as an excuse to see him again.
“Another time, then,” she said. “Ready to head to your car?”
He nodded and a few minutes later, they climbed into one of the Sundaram vans.
“How many cases of wine?” Collin asked as they pulled out of her driveway.
“Thirty,” she answered, her arms already aching at the thought of loading it all herself. At least she’d have help unloading it when she returned.
“After you drop me at my car, I’ll follow you back to help,” he said.
His offer to return to Bacco so soon after his initial visit surprised—and concerned—her. She didn’t want him making himself uncomfortable for her.
“That’s okay, I got it,” she replied.
“Helia.”
“No, really, it’s not a problem.”
Silence.
She managed to drive a full mile before she caved. “I don’t want you to be there any more than you have to, so I got this,” she said. “Really. It’s not as if I’ve never loaded cases of wine.”
“Helia.”
She kept her eyes fixed in front of her knowing if she looked at him, she’d cave even more.
Because the truth was, she didn’t want him to leave.
She wanted to hear more about his family and his life in Mystery Lake.
She wanted to know what his days were like and where he lived.
What she didn’t want was to make his coming back to Napa even harder than it already was by making him visit the one place that drove him away.
“I’ll follow you back. You know the code, right?” he said, nodding to the gates as they passed the entrance to Bacco.
The stubborn mule wasn’t going to let her do it on her own. Whether she wanted him to or not, he’d follow her. She huffed a “Fine,” then added, “Alessio stored the cases in the caves. You don’t have to go into the house.”
“I appreciate your concern, but I’m going into the house.” She whipped her head around to find him staring at the side mirror through the window. “I’m going to stay until they figure out what happened to Justin Flannery.”