“I can’t believe how much I’ve forgotten about being here,” I said between bites. “Or how many of my memories are tied to food.”
“Smells, too,” said Montano. “I always hated being in the winery because I thought it stunk. When we were there at Thanksgiving, I felt more nostalgic when I walked in than nauseated.”
“Nice one,” muttered Ranger.
“Don’t talk with your mouth full, son.”
After we finished nearly every crumb, I could barely keep my eyes open. “I think I’ll lie down for a while.”
“I need to head into town to pick up a few things and arrange for another propane delivery. Onyx, you can come along or stay here, whichever you prefer.”
“Maybe I’ll lie down too,” he answered, winking at me.
“You still awake?” I heard him say a few minutes later through my closed door.
“I am.”
“Can I come in?”
“Of course.”
“I brought an extra blanket in case you needed one, but your room is a lot warmer than mine is.”
I smiled. “Thanks, but yeah, I’m good.”
“I guess I’ll just take this back to my cold room, then.”
I smirked and patted the bed. Montano grinned and stretched out next to me. “If it’s so cold in there, how come you haven’t switched rooms?”
He spread the blanket over the two of us. “It isn’t that cold, but it is definitely lonely.”
I must’ve drifted off within seconds. When I woke, it was dark, but there was enough moonlight so I could see Montano was awake and staring at me.
“How long did I sleep?”
“Just a couple of hours.”
“And how long have you been awake?”
“A few minutes.”
“Is everything okay?”
“There’s something you need to know.”
I propped myself up on my elbows. “Go ahead.”
“Even if your sister hadn’t died in the plane crash, she and I wouldn’t still be together.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“I like spending time with you, Blanca.”
“As long as we’re being forthcoming, I’ll admit I like spending time with you too. However, I can’t help but feel guilty about it.”
He rested his head on the pillow and looked up at the ceiling. “I wish I’d met you first,” he whispered. “Only so you didn’t feel guilty.”
“Me too.”
When his phone buzzed, he sat up and looked at the screen. “Ranger wants to know if we’re hungry again yet.”
“Honestly, I’m starving. I know it hasn’t been that long since we ate.”
“Hey, I just realized something.”
“What’s that?”
“It’s Friday.”
“Yeah? Think anyone is serving fish fry?”
He held up his phone so I could see Ranger’s text.
The Outlet is open and has real German potato salad, it read.
“You in?” he asked.
“Way ahead of you,” I said behind me as I ran down the stairs to grab my boots and jacket.
I remembered the place as soon as we pulled up in front. “Norma and Eddie used to own the Outlet,” I blurted, not really knowing where it came from.
“Who are Norma and Eddie?” asked Montano.
“No idea, other than that they owned it.”
“Before my time,” said Ranger, holding the door open for us.
“Can we sit at the bar?” I asked. For some reason, I remembered doing that too. “Genny Cream Ale for me,” I said when the bartender asked what she could get me.
“You in?” Ranger asked.
“Make that three,” Montano told her.
There were quite a few people in the place, considering the weather was so cold and crappy. Maybe that was why.
“Free drinks on me for whoever has lived around here the longest,” Montano shouted out.
“Old Al has us beat,” a woman said, pointing to a man and a woman who were in the midst of a conversation and appeared not to have heard the free drink offer.
“Yeah? How long has he been around here?”
“Hey, Al, how the hell old are ya?” one of the men hollered.
“Seventy-seven last Tuesday,” he hollered back. “Who wants to know?”
“That feller over there is offering a free drink to whoever’s lived here the longest.”
“I know how old you are,” said Montano. “But how long you been around here?”
“Born and raised here, son,” Al answered.
“You know Norma and Eddie?”
“Sure do. So does she!” He pointed to the bartender.
“You do?” I asked.
“They were my parents.”
“Is your name Veronica?”
“Nobody’s called me anything but Ronnie for thirty years, but yeah, that’s my name.”
“You probably don’t remember me—”
“Of course I do. You’re Blanca Descanso. If that’s still your name. One of these guys your husband?” She walked closer. “Wait a minute. You’re Owen Messick. You didn’t steal Blanca from your brother Jimmy, did you?”
Ranger laughed and shook his head. “No, ma’am.”
“Who are you?” she asked Montano.
“Most people call me Onyx.”
“Well, now I know you’re married. Onyx and Blanca? That’s sure as shit fitting.”
“No, ma’am, we’re not married,” he told her.
She poured three beers and brought them over to us.
“Your sister around?” Ronnie leaned in and asked.
“No—”
“Gotta tell ya, I was never a fan of that one,” she said before I could tell her my twin was dead. “I know she’s your sister and all—”
“She passed away a year ago.”
“Leave it to me to put my foot in it. I’m sorry, Blanca.”
“Thanks.”
“You okay?” Montano asked when she walked away.
I nodded, and he put his arm around my shoulders and leaned closer. “It’s Friday night, and you know what that means—fishy fry,” he whispered. “And what goes with fish fry? Genny Cream and a shot of Irish.”
I nudged him and smiled. “Are you trying to get me drunk, bro?”
“You kiss me when you’re drunk.”
“You’ve got that backwards. You kiss me when you’re drunk.”
The man people called Al walked over to the jukebox, put some money in, and a few seconds later, music began to play.
“My dad and I used to dance to this,” I murmured, singing along to Louis Armstrong’s version of “Mack the Knife.”
“Come on, then, sis. Dance with me.” He held out his hand, I took it, and he spun me around the floor until I was breathless.
“You’re a good dancer,” I said when the song ended.
“Good dancer, good kisser…hmm. Wonder what else I might be good at?”
“Flirting. You’re a pro at that.”
When “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” began to play, Montano pulled me into his arms, and I remembered thinking the very thing about him that day on the Circle Line cruise.
“I’d sacrifice anything, come what may, for the sake of having you near. In spite of a warning voice that comes in the night and repeats, repeats in my ear,” he sang, looking into my eyes. “I’ve got you under my skin.”
When I tried to take a step back, he tightened his hold around my waist.
“I kiss you when I’m not drunk too, Blanca. What about you? Will you kiss me?”
Before I had a chance to respond, his lips were on mine. Unlike the impassioned kisses we shared before, this was more of a caress. It was unhurried, soft, two hungry mouths, wet and hot. No tongue, just lips.
When the song ended and Montano cupped my cheek and looked into my eyes, I was dizzy, stunned, my world rocked so hard I had to hold onto him for fear of my knees giving out.
; “I’ve got you, deep in the heart of me. So deep in my heart that you’re really a part of me.”
“I’ve got you under my skin,” I sang the words with him as we returned to the bar where Ranger sat, studying something on his phone.
“Everything okay, son?” Montano asked him.
“Uh, yeah. I, um, went ahead and ordered for us. Hope that’s okay.”
Ranger’s eyes darted between Montano’s and mine.
“If you gentlemen will excuse me,” I said, pointing in the direction of the restrooms. As I went in, a very beautiful woman, one I hadn’t noticed at the bar, came out of one of the stalls.
“Hi,” I said when our eyes met.
“Hello,” she responded in a British accent.
I went into the other stall and listened while she washed her hands and dried them, humming the song Montano and I had been dancing to.
There was something about the encounter that left me feeling unsettled. That, coupled with Ranger’s strange behavior when we came back from dancing, pushed me over the edge into anxious.
15
Onyx
“Do you recognize him?” I asked Ranger when he handed me his phone. The image Diesel sent over was grainy and pixelated.
“I don’t. I suggested he send it to Razor.”
“Good thinking.”
“He was scoping out our camp, not hers.”
“Copy that.”
“Diesel said he didn’t even look in her windows.”
I nodded, mulling over what Ranger had just said.
“Do you think you should relocate?”
I shook my head. “We’ve got plenty of backup. Let’s see if he reappears later.” I looked toward the restrooms in time to see Swan come out. We made eye contact before she went to the table she shared with Trap.
“What’s he doing up here?” I asked Ranger.
“Hell if I know.”
“Fucking McTiernan,” I muttered under my breath.
Blanca had her arms wrapped around her waist when she came out a couple of minutes later. As she passed by, she glanced at Swan and then looked up at me.
“Everything okay?” I asked.
She shrugged. “I’m feeling out of sorts. Tired more than anything.”
“We can get our fish fry to go if you want.”
“Thanks, but believe me when I say it doesn’t travel well.”
I laughed, and she smiled, warming me all over. Damn, I liked this woman. Just like the song said, she was all the way under my skin. It was my thoughts of her body being under mine that jarred me back to reality.
While I’d crossed the line by kissing her, Blanca and I having sex was completely out of the question. No way in hell I could go down that road and come back with a clear conscience.
We left the restaurant as soon as we finished eating. Blanca was quiet throughout dinner and on the way back to the camps. Every attempt I made to get her to laugh resulted in a half-hearted chuckle.
When she went straight upstairs after thanking both Ranger and me and saying good night, I followed.
“You wanna talk about it?” I asked before she reached her bedroom.
“What do you mean?”
“Something happened at the restaurant.”
She walked through the doorway but left it open, so I followed. I stood in front of her when she stopped by the bed.
“Tell me what happened.”
“Nothing ‘happened.’ It’s just so strange that Ronnie would say she wasn’t a fan of my sister. I mean, how well did she even know her?”
“Some people just rub others the wrong way. It isn’t always something easily defined.”
“Out of the two of us, I would think that would’ve been me more than her.”
I sat down on the edge of the bed and pulled her down beside me. “What makes you say that?”
“I told you I was my mother’s favorite and Sofia was my father’s.”
“Yeah?”
“I have more of my mother’s Germanic personality traits.”
“Not following.”
“From my experience living in Italy, they consider Germans aloof, cold, even secretive. Not as emotionally open as those with Latin blood—like my father.”
“Again, I think you’ve got it backwards. Maybe your father and sister were close because she was less like him than you were.”
Blanca shrugged. “You said we were as different as night and day.”
“To me, you are.”
“What happened between the two of you?”
There were many things I could say that would be the truth. We didn’t feel the same way about each other. We were incompatible—considering she’d tried to kill me, that was definitely true. However, I gave her the same answer I would have if she’d asked about any other relationship I’d been in. “That was between your sister and me. Given she isn’t here to tell you her side of the story, I don’t feel right telling mine.”
She bumped me with her shoulder and smiled. “That’s fair. Figures you would be.”
“I’m not sure I want to know what you mean by that.”
“You’re a decent guy, Montano.”
“Decent? Ouch.”
“You know I mean that in the best possible way.”
When she flopped back on the bed and stared up at the ceiling, I did too.
“I can’t pretend to know what you’re going through, Blanca. I can’t imagine losing one of my siblings, especially one I haven’t spoken to in years. Compounding that is that Sofia was your twin. The only unsolicited advice I can give you is to allow yourself the time to process through this.” I turned my head and saw her eyes close and a tear run down her cheek. “Do what you came here to do. You wanted to take this time to reconnect with your sister. Maybe finding whatever she left for you, will help you do that.”
At this particular moment, I meant the words I’d just spoken. More, I wished I could make whatever she found something solely for her. No hidden messages, no insurance policies guarding against whoever Sofia worked for.
“Good advice,” she said, wiping at her tears.
“However, I don’t think you’ll be able to look for it tomorrow. Another snowstorm is due to hit.”
“Great. That’ll mean even longer before they restore power.”
“I have an idea.”
She turned on her side and propped her head on her hand. “What’s that?”
While I’d told Ranger I didn’t think we should relocate, talking to Blanca now, I changed my mind. “Why don’t we get up early tomorrow and drive up to Lake Placid? We’ll hang out there a couple of days, and maybe by then, the electricity will be back on and you can resume your search.”
“Resume? I haven’t even started yet.”
“Okay, then, you begin when we get back. I’ll even promise to stay out of your hair and give you the time and space you need.”
“Are you making that offer for me or for you?”
I turned on my side like she had. “For you. Why do you ask?”
“I don’t want you to do that.”
“No? I’m growing on you, right?”
She laughed. “Yeah, you’re growing on me.”
I reached out and cupped her cheek. “You tell me what you need, and I’ll do my best to make it happen.”
Blanca leaned forward and brushed my lips with hers. As much as I wanted to kiss her properly, with both of us lying on the bed together, that would be far too risky.
“I’ll let you get some sleep,” I said, sitting up.
“Thanks for making me feel better.”
“I hope I did.”
“You always seem to.”
“We’ll leave in the morning so we get up there before the storm hits here. Sound good?”
“Sounds perfect.”
“Good night, Blanca.”
“Good night, Montano.”
“What’s going on?” Ranger asked when I came downstairs.
“We’re leaving in the m
orning for Lake Placid.”
“I’m glad you reconsidered. It will give us time to search the camp without worrying about either her or someone else discovering us. So, uh, what was wrong?”
“The bartender’s comments about her sister got her down.”
“I get that. I can badmouth Jimmy all I want, but when someone else does, it pisses me off.”
“Do me a favor and find whatever the hell Sofia left behind before Blanca does. If it’s what we think it is, try to find something else to put in its place. Something sentimental.”
“Like what?”
“Shit, I don’t know. Look while you’re there. Better yet, have Swan look for something.”
“Onyx…”
“You got somethin’ to say, son, spit it out.”
“Forget it.” He shut off the lights in the kitchen. “I’m going up. Let me know when you’re ready for me to relieve you.”
“Roger that.”
While Diesel, Swan, and now Trap, were ensconced in Blanca’s family’s camp and surveilling both structures’ perimeters, Ranger and I were responsible for monitoring the interior of this camp.
“By the way, Cowboy arrived this morning. He can accompany you to Lake Placid. Diesel, Swan, and I will continue looking for whatever Sofia left.”
“Don’t forget Trap.”
“Do you want him to go to Lake Placid with you?”
“Negative. Have Buster take over Hatchet’s detail and get Wasp up here. Tonight. He can go with us.”
“Roger that.”
The farther we got on our three-hour drive from Canada Lake to Lake Placid, the better the weather became. By the time we arrived, the clouds had disappeared, leaving a deep-blue sky and lots of sunshine.
I’d made arrangements for an early check-in at the Adirondack Lodge where I’d booked a two-bedroom cabin. It sat right on the water and had a deck that stretched its entire length. The location offered us easy access to snowshoeing and cross-country skiing trails too.
“When I was growing up, Lake Placid seemed so far away. I can’t believe it was this close and we never visited,” said Blanca when I found her on the deck, looking out at the expanse of the lake.
“I lived thirty minutes from the beach and never went.” I handed her a bottle of the beer we picked up on the way here.
Onyx (K19 Security Solutions Book 10) Page 8