Chapter 17
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Helia folded a shirt and set it on the growing pile on the shelf beside the dryer.
Kendall had offered to do her own folding, but Helia thought she could use a little spoiling.
She hadn’t talked much about her life, but she’d dropped enough tidbits for them to know she’d been the adult in the relationship.
A burst of laughter filtered down the hall from the tasting room. Dulcie and Kendall had moved on from blackjack to Texas Hold’em, and she guessed one or the other had landed a sneak attack.
“You all good in here?” Collin asked, stepping through the door.
“You’re good with her,” she responded.
“I’m hoping she’ll trust us enough to tell us her mom’s name so we can help find her. You’re helping with that. By spending time with us.”
“You ever thought about having kids?” she asked, knowing the question had implications, even unintended ones. The kiss they’d shared that afternoon had been playing on repeat in her head all day.
She expected, maybe anticipated, either a general panicked “no” or an emphatic “yes.” The steady, piercing study she received from his dark eyes had her setting a pair of jeans on the counter and turning to face him more fully.
“Actually no,” he said, his voice quiet. “I like kids. Just assumed it would never happen for me.”
She cocked her head. “Why not?”
Before he could answer, her phone rang. Pulling it from her pocket, she frowned at the ID, then flashed it to Collin: Napa Police Department.
“Hello,” she answered. Collin gestured for her to put it on speaker. She tapped the button, then held the device out.
“Helia? It’s Carter.”
“Hey, Carter.”
“We have a few more questions; can we stop by to talk?”
She glanced out the window into the darkness. Granted, night came earlier in the winter, but still, it was after six.
“I’m not home right now,” she replied. “I can talk over the phone, or we can meet tomorrow.”
Carter paused, then sighed. “Can you tell me what kind of car you drive?”
Her brows dropped so fast she wondered if they’d stay there permanently. “A Mini,” she replied. Collin had barely fit into the passenger seat. Thankfully, Kendall, though tall, was flexible enough to sprawl across the back bench, allowing him to put his seat all the way back.
Beside her, Collin crossed his arms and glared at the phone.
His facial expressions had always been subtle, and they’d grown even more so since his childhood.
Still, she knew him well enough to catch his micro-expressions.
And right now, the tension in his jaw and the tiny crease at the corner of his left eye told her he Was. Not. Pleased.
“Does Sundaram have any other vehicles?”
Collin nodded for her to answer. “Yes, we have a van and a truck.”
“And do you drive those?”
Again, Collin nodded. “I do. Several of us do, when needed. But I don’t think either has been taken out since last weekend. Why?”
“And you say you haven’t seen Kurt Fisher for a few years?”
Collin pulled out his phone and started typing out a text.
“Since before he moved,” she answered. “I told you, I don’t remember exactly when he moved, but I hadn’t seen him in a while when I heard about it. Again, why?”
“Because we have a witness that says they saw you with him last week,” Carter replied.
She sucked in a breath. Impossible. She opened her mouth to say as much when Collin set a hand on her arm and held out his phone out. He’d written a note, not a text.
“Ask when,” it said.
“When did this witness say they saw us?”
“A week ago, Monday.”
“What time and where?” she asked, not needing Collin’s notes to tell her what to ask next.
“Midmorning, near the Mount Saint Helena trail.”
She shook her head. “Aside from wedding season during the spring and summer, November and December are our busiest months at Sundaram. Not only was I not hiking on a weekday morning, but it’s a nearly ten-mile trail that takes five to six hours.
It would never even cross my mind to try it during our second high season. ”
“And last night?”
“What about last night?”
“Where were you?”
Collin arched his brow and lifted his eyes upward, almost making her laugh. “Between what hours, Carter?”
“Ten and two in the morning?”
She snorted. “In bed like most people who live in the valley who aren’t working hospitality that night.”
“You didn’t go out?”
“Not during those hours. I’d been out to dinner with Collin and two of his friends.”
“Where’d you go?”
“Guichos Tacos. Saw a couple of other folks there, too.”
“That unregistered food truck on the south side of town?”
“Yes,” she confirmed. No way was she going to comment on the other thing. Food trucks like Guichos, ones that fed locals at reasonable prices, were a battleground between those who embraced economic diversity and those who wanted a dozen new Michelin-star restaurants.
“What time did you get home?”
“Nine. A little after. I went to bed straightaway.”
“You didn’t go out again?”
“It would be hard to go out again when I was in bed asleep.”
“And you didn’t hear or see anything in the vineyard? Don’t you have a window that looks out that direction?”
“I do. But again, it would be hard to see anything in the field when my curtains were drawn and I was asleep.”
Collin grinned and held up his phone again. She read the message but wasn’t sure if she was supposed to volunteer the comment or if it was a heads-up as to what was coming.
“I understand there’s no CCTV out by your house or the vineyard.”
Ah, a heads-up.
With her eyes on the response Collin had prepped for her, she answered.
“There isn’t. But as you saw, it’s impossible to drive out to the vineyard from Sundaram.
From my house, you’d have to go out the main gate, where there is CCTV, then circle back on the connector road.
If you’re thinking I killed Kurt somewhere, loaded his body into a vehicle, then dumped it in the vineyard between ten and two last night, you’ll have to think again. ”
Carter paused. He must have put a hand over the receiver as all they heard were muffled voices before he returned twenty seconds later.
“Thank you. We’ll be in touch.”
She disconnected the call, then set her phone on the dryer. “Well, that was exciting.”
“That was annoying. Any reason they’d focus on you?” Collin asked, irritation deepening his voice. The tone raised the hair on her arms, as if each little filament was seeking him out.
She made a face. “Even less reason than they had for Justin. I knew Kurt, but we weren’t overly friendly.
He dated someone on our waitstaff, so we’d occasionally see him around, but we didn’t spend any time together.
” She paused. “I’m a little slow to this game, but is it weird that my name has cropped up in two murders in the past week?
I don’t think Napa has ever had any murders like these, and now there’s two and I’m being questioned about both. ”
Any hope she had of Collin reassuring her died when his lips curled in and he frowned the tiniest bit.
“I don’t like it either,” he said. “I also don’t like that people from your past keep cropping up.”
She cocked her head. “People from my past?”
“Justin and Kurt, but also Trish and Derek. Not to mention Derek was giving you a hard time.”
“I don’t know what to tell you about Derek, but as for Trish, people come and go from Napa all the time.
And given that I went to school here for five years, it’s not unusual for me to know folks moving home.
Usually, people who left because they hated it but now realize it’s not a bad place to live. ”
He didn’t look convinced, and she fought the urge to tell him he was overreacting. She didn’t want to go down a weird rabbit hole of conspiracy and fear. On the other hand, she also didn’t want to turn a blind eye if something weird was going on, even if she couldn’t fathom what it was.
Collin lifted a hand, as if to touch her, then dropped it again. “What time do you need to be home?”
She reached over and tipped her phone up.
Almost seven. “I should probably head out now.” She’d never thought of the castle as remotely cozy, but with the four of them tucked into the tasting room, the card games, the food, the fire, and the Christmas tree lit, she could almost forget the rest of the world existed.
But it did. And she had three parties in the next few days. None were particularly difficult, but no one working for Sundaram took anything for granted.
“I’ll drive you,” Collin said.
“It’s my car.”
“I’ll walk back. I could use the exercise.”
She doubted that but didn’t argue. “Let me finish this load of folding, and then I’ll be ready. Won’t be five minutes.”
His eyes held hers, as if he had something to say, some world to share with her, then he nodded and stepped away.
Fifteen minutes later, following an extended round of goodbyes and making plans to see each other again, she and Collin climbed into her car.
The ride was silent, though not uncomfortable.
The hustle and bustle of the valley gave her energy, but she loved these quiet times when it felt as if the land breathed again.
They pulled through the gate as a car and van passed.
“Who’s that?” Collin asked as she waved.
“Felipe and Greg.”
“The kitchen manager?”
She nodded. “Felipe is the floral supplier. He was probably making a delivery for the upcoming events. We have a cooling room to keep flowers in, so if they aren’t the sort to wilt or go off, he’ll frequently deliver them a few days before they’re needed.”
“Kind of late,” he said, as she pulled into the spot beside her house.
She tipped her head. “It feels that way because it’s so dark.”
The look Collin shot her was inscrutable. “I’ll walk you to your door.”