“So they must have come after nightfall,” Megan said. “Nico, you didn’t notice anything Monday night?”
He shook his head. “Ethan has basketball practice, and he doesn’t have his license yet.”
“Oh, that’s right.” Megan should have remembered that. “They have a game on Thursday.”
“It’s a pain in the ass to drive him to school, drive back, and then drive back in to get him, so I usually just take him in and take paperwork with me. Pay bills, return emails while I’m waiting. That kind of thing.”
Megan stared at the back of the house. It was across a pretty expansive lawn, but if anyone was in the house and even glanced out toward the back, they’d have seen a large truck loading grapevines. It would have been a big risk to take.
“What about Beth?” Megan turned to Nico. “Was she home?”
“She usually hangs at her mom’s on days Ethan has practice; then I’ll go pick her up after.”
“So again, this must be someone who knows your routine,” Megan said. “Beth was at Marissa’s, Ethan was at practice, and you were with Ethan, right?”
“Yeah.”
She looked at Henry. “And you?”
“I worked on Monday until about six, then headed home. I needed to cook dinner for Toni.”
“And no one else would be around? No night watchmen or late crew?”
Nico’s expression was grim. “We didn’t think we needed armed guards or alarms. Henry and I were the only two who knew about the Poulsard.”
“So everyone who might be around the house on Monday night was gone. And that was the routine.” Megan nodded. “Who knows your habits well enough to know you were going to be gone?”
Nico shrugged. “Half of Moonstone Cove probably. I don’t exactly keep my life a secret. There’s got to be forty or fifty kids on the basketball team if you count the boys and the girls practicing. Any of their parents would know I’m there on Monday night.”
“So our pool of suspects for this is someone with a kid on the basketball team who knows that you’re usually at practice and away from home on Monday night.”
“Or someone who knows someone with a kid on the basketball team,” Nico said. “Like I said, if you asked six random people in Moonstone Cove where Nico Dusi spends his Monday evenings, half of them I’ll be related to, and the other half still probably know where I am.”
“You really think people are that interested in you?” Megan asked, halfway joking.
“No, it’s just the Cove and they’re bored.” He was staring at the door and didn’t seem to notice Megan rolling her eyes.
She could only roll them so far. Nico had a reputation among the women at the country club. There weren’t many single men in Moonstone Cove; the attractive and newly divorced vintner on the market was the topic of more than a little speculation. There probably were women—and men—who kept track of him.
“Was there anything else you wanted me to see?” Nico asked Henry.
“No, that was it. Just the glass thing.”
“Call Drew and see if his guys noticed it,” Nico said. “Anything else that Megan or the girls need to see right now?” He turned to Megan. “Hey, can you do the thing where you touch something and get a read on who touched it before?”
Her eyebrows went up. “Me? No. I could tear the greenhouse down, but I can’t read anything off it.”
“That’s not terrifying at all,” Henry said quietly.
“Oh, don’t worry. I wouldn’t.” She flashed him her most charming smile. “Probably. But the psychometry thing—I actually do know someone with that gift.”
“Psychometry?”
“Touch telepathy,” she said. “The thing you were talking about.”
“Seriously?” He exchanged a glance with Henry. “Can you call them?”
“I’ll see what I can do. You might need to pay extra for it.”
“I’m fine with that.” He started walking back toward the house. “Let’s go down and talk to Toni.”
Henry tried to interrupt Nico. “I’m not joking, Nic. She’s stressed as hell and she doesn’t need another—”
“It’s not up to you, Henry. You’re gonna ask her what she wants to do because she’s a grown-ass adult, and if she doesn’t want to do it, she’ll tell you. But if you try to hide it from her, it won’t work because I’ll tell her myself.”
Henry was still angry, but Megan could tell he knew Nico was right. She nudged Henry’s shoulder while they walked. “Tell her. She’s got enough on her plate, and she’s going to tell him no. I’ll call our friend Val and see if she can come help. I’m sure this is the last thing Toni wants to be dealing with.”
“What?” Toni waddled from the kitchen to the snug living room. “Of course I’ll help. You’re not going to get very far questioning people without me.”
Toni’s empathy worked in two directions. While she could feel people’s emotions, she could also force people to feel hers. Which meant that, with close enough contact, she could make a suspect become very… agreeable about talking.
Basically, she could make most people spill their guts like they were on truth serum.
“Are you sure?” Megan asked. “Henry said you’ve been having a hard time with your filters lately.”
Toni shot Henry a dirty look. “I told you—”
“You think I’m just going to sit back and watch you drive yourself to mental exhaustion?” Henry stood and paced across the small living room. “I’m not a demanding person—you know I’m not—but I do not want you doing this.”
Megan saw Toni open her mouth and braced herself for an acid-tipped response.
But Toni surprised her when she closed her mouth, took a deep breath, and calmly asked, “What are you worried about?”
“Your stress levels,” he said. “You’re not sleeping well because you’re having a hard time getting comfortable, and you’re wearing yourself out. You can’t keep going on a few hours of sleep every night. It’s not healthy.”
Nico had been tight-lipped since they arrived. He sat in the corner and watched Toni intently, but he didn’t say a word.
“Okay,” Toni said. “That’s fair. What if I stop going into the garage and just help Megan and Katherine with this?”
Henry appeared to be thinking. He crossed his arms and frowned, tapping his thumb rapidly on his bicep. “No more garage?”
“I mean, I might peek in a couple of times a week to make sure Glenn doesn’t need help with anything but… mostly yes.”
“Will you call your dad in to help Glenn?”
Toni’s eyebrows went up. “Do you want Glenn to quit before I go on maternity leave? Trust me, the guys have this. I’ll check in with Glenn to make sure no one is dropping the ball, but other than that, I’ll take it easy around the house.”
Nico sat up. “But I thought—”
“And I’ll help Megan and Katherine a little,” Toni said. “That will keep me from going crazy until the tiny monster gets here. It’s not like I can go off on any wild adventures on my own. I can’t even drive a car.”
“Okay.” Henry seemed to weigh his objections. “So you’re not going into the garage every day, and if you help Katherine and Megan, they’ll be driving so you won’t be anywhere on your own?”
“Exactly,” Toni said. “This will be less intense than being at the garage. Trust me.”
Henry still looked suspicious, but Megan could tell he’d been outmaneuvered.
“Fine,” he said. “I’m going to get these steaks ready for the grill.”
Nico glanced at Megan as he rose. “I’ll help.”
Megan scooted closer to Toni. “Okay” —she kept her voice low— “didn’t you tell me and Katherine on Friday that you were thinking of quitting the garage this week anyway?”
“Yes. Except now it appears as if I did that as a reasonable compromise. Score, right?” Toni held her knuckles out for Megan to bump with her own. “Win-win.”
“I’m worried ab
out you,” Megan said. “Is Henry right? You’re only getting a few hours of sleep a night? No wonder your filters are shot.”
“I know, but I don’t think working on this is going to be that hard. How many people have the facilities to keep those vines healthy and happy? We’ll have this figured out in a couple of days. I’m not concerned.”
“But are your filters really shot?”
She scrunched her nose. “They’re not great, and I don’t know why. I think maybe it has something to do with the tiny monster. It’s like she crossed my wires.”
“I don’t like the sound of that.” Megan couldn’t help but notice the female pronouns. Simply a slip or a feeling from the baby? “Maybe Katherine and I—”
“Should not treat me like an invalid? Didn’t some English queen go into battle pregnant or some shit? I’m not fragile. I can handle this.” She glanced at the kitchen. “Besides, I can tell by the look on his face, Henry’s heartbroken about these vines. I’ve heard him talk about his grandmother’s Poulsard vines. They’re kind of a big deal, and not just to him. It’s a whole family-history thing. And it might be really important for the vineyard.”
“I got that feeling too. This is way more than just a successful experiment to both of them.”
“A new varietal grown in Moonstone Cove would be a big deal,” Toni said. “A very big deal.”
Megan stuck out her hand. “Then let’s figure out who the thief is.”
Toni shook it. “Let’s.”
Chapter 6
Nico drove Megan back to her car after they left Toni and Henry’s house.
“They seem good, yeah?” He glanced at her in the darkness. “With the baby and everything?”
“Toni and Henry?” She nodded. “Yeah, they’re good.”
“I never thought Toni would have kids, you know?”
“I don’t think she thought she would either.”
“But she seems happy.”
Megan nodded. “She is.”
“My mom is all worried about her. Says that she and Henry are going to have a harder time starting a good marriage with a brand-new baby they hadn’t planned on.”
Megan rolled her eyes. “I think Toni and Henry were a thing long before any of us knew. I don’t think they’ll have an issue. But I guess I do appreciate your mom being concerned.”
“It’s her niece.” Nico steered the truck toward the top of the hill. “And you know our family. It’s all…”
“Nosy.”
“Very.”
Megan smiled. “I can appreciate that. My family back in Georgia is the same. Maybe not quite as big as y’all’s, but twice as nosy to make up for it.”
Nico smirked.
“What?” Megan asked.
“Y’all.” He cut his gaze toward her. “You’re cute.”
“I know I am.” Megan forced herself not to smile. It was borderline flirting, but she wasn’t going to entertain it. Better to keep everything business. “Know what else is cute?”
“Your ass?”
She stared at him. Okay, that was way past borderline flirting.
“Sorry.” Nico frowned. “Shit. Please don’t report me for sexual harassment.”
“You guarantee that you are never that forward with any of the younger women on the farm, and I’ll let it slide.”
“Any of the younger…” His eyes went wide. “Are you joking? Never. Fuck, my dad would skin me alive if I was inappropriate with any of the employees.”
“Telling me my ass is cute isn’t inappropriate?”
“I don’t think of you as an employee, okay?” He was adorably flustered. “You’re Toni’s friend and… I don’t know. You do your own thing at the winery. Half the time, I feel like I’m working for you and not the other way round.”
Megan approved of that feeling. “Good. Then you’ll be agreeable to the payment structure for our work on finding the Poulsard grapes.”
He muttered something under his breath that she didn’t quite catch.
“I don’t want to work for you,” Megan said. “Meaning that I do not want my event-planning services to be solely for Dusi Heritage Winery. I’d like my own independent firm.”
“We’re not keeping you busy enough?”
“Honestly? No.” She pursed her lips. “I have to think ahead. I like working for myself. Plus my two younger kids are going to be out of the house in a couple of years and I have to think about college. I had my own firm in Atlanta. In fact, a good portion of my income now is from the sale of that business.”
“Rodney’s not paying alimony?”
She rolled her eyes. “Please. Child support and alimony in this state is a joke if you have a tricky lawyer. He was cheating on me, but no one cares about that here. Rodney’s good at hiding income, and plus he claims the kids are with him fifty percent of the time. Which they aren’t, but I’d have to go back to court to prove otherwise at this point, and he knows I don’t have the extra cash. I got that ridiculous house in the divorce, but that place isn’t a moneymaker. I need cash flow, and for that I need clients of my own and I need people working for me, expanding the business.”
Nico nodded. “Okay, I get all that.”
“So instead of paying me cash to find your vines, you’re going to be my silent partner.”
Nico blinked. “Excuse me?”
“I don’t need a big influx of cash right now. I have start-up money; what I need is a line of credit—so to speak—so I can plan ahead and hire some people. Get an office. Things like that.”
“And you can’t go to a bank?”
“With what? Banks only give money to people who already have it. I want you to be my line of credit.”
“Why me?” He narrowed his eyes. “Is it because Toni—”
“I know you.” She put her fingers up as she counted. “I trust you, which is saying a lot. I want your connections and your insight on clients. I fully plan on giving any Dusi enterprise the family discount for my services, but I do expect to trade on your name.”
Nico stopped the truck and put his arm across the back of the seat, angling himself toward her. “So you want me to give you a line of credit, recommend you to everyone I know—”
“You know I’m good at what I do. It’s not a hardship.”
“—and in exchange, I get you and your friends finding my vines. And that’s it?”
She considered what else he was after. Hmmmmm.
Nico leaned toward her. “I’m gonna want more than your psychic detective services, Megan.”
Oh God, he smelled really good.
Down, Sugar.
“Do we need to have another conversation about inappropriate behavior, Mr. Dusi?”
The corner of his mouth turned up. “I’m talking about a percentage.”
“Of my business?”
“If I’m going to invest in this business, I expect a return. A percentage.”
Think, Megan. Don’t focus on the man’s cologne. He was bargaining, and dammit, it was sexy as hell.
“Five percent,” she said. “After all, you are getting my psychic detective services. You can’t hire just anyone for that.”
“Silent partner is acceptable, but five percent is ridiculous. Twenty.”
“Oh sugar, if you think you’re getting twenty percent, the cheese has gone and slid off your cracker. I’ll give you seven.” She angled her shoulders toward him and stretched her arm along the back, inches from his.
Nico’s eyes were dancing. “How am I going to recommend a business I have so little investment in? You want my name and my money, but you don’t want to give me a percentage?”
“Seven is a good number.”
“Fifteen is better.”
She leaned closer. “But eight is round.”
“Hate round numbers,” Nico said.
“Why’s that?”
“Too easy to divide. Thirteen.”
“Nine, and I’m not going any higher.” She’d go higher. They both knew where they
were headed, and Megan was just waiting for him to lead her there.
“Single digits? Ridiculous. Eleven.” He was close enough that she could feel his breath on her lips.
“You want double digits and my psychic prowess?” Megan shook her head. “Your roof ain’t nailed tight, Nico.”
“If you’re gonna be stubborn about it—”
“You’re calling me stubborn? I’m not the one—”
“Ten.” He closed the inches between them and pressed his lips firmly against hers.
Dammit. They were as warm and firm and full as they looked. The kiss was over before she could really enjoy it, and the truck shook a little bit around them.
Nico pulled away and raised an eyebrow. “That was interesting.”
Was it? Megan decided to ignore that uncontrolled burst of her telekinesis. “Ten.” She cleared her throat. “I can live with ten.”
His mouth was still hovering over hers. “Good to know, partner.”
Sugar was screaming at Megan to hook her arm around Nico’s neck and pull him in to finish what he’d started.
“Right.” She took a deep breath and sat up straight. “Sun’s about to go down. I need to get home.”
His crooked smile told her his mind was exactly in line with Sugar’s, but he was playing it cool. “Sounds good. Call me when you’ve talked to Katherine about the vines and drawn up the paperwork for the business.”
“I will. Partner.”
His tongue flicked out and tasted his bottom lip. “This is gonna be fun.”
Toni was FaceTiming in as Katherine and Megan talked on her back deck.
“So you and my cousin are partners now?”
Was she blushing? Possibly. She was glad the light was dim. “Yes. Partners. In the event business.”
Katherine’s eyes were narrowed. “I feel like there’s more to the story than what you’re telling us.”
“I just traded our psychic detective services for investment in my company. I realize I need to pay y’all back for your part, but I figured for this one I’ll take point and—”
“What exactly are we—or you—being paid to do? We need to find the grapevines?” Katherine asked. “I would estimate that without proper care, the vines have around a week to a week and a half before they won’t be able to recover. I’ve been doing some research on the Poulsard grapevine, and its needs are quite specific.”
Fate Interrupted: A Paranormal Women's Fiction Novel (Moonstone Cove Book 3) Page 5