Runaway Fate: Moonstone Cove Book One

by Hunter, Elizabeth

  “The most intelligent dog I have ever met,” Baxter said. “Truly. They often use this breed for service animals because they’re so bright.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes.” Since adopting Archie, Baxter had become an expert on the breed. As he extolled Archie’s virtues, Katherine got herself a cup of coffee. She was fairly sure Drew hadn’t come to the house to meet their dog.

  “…so he’s protective but not aggressive.” Baxter finished the recitation of Archie’s merits, his hand scratching the sainted dog’s ears.

  “You know, in my line of work, I see people get all these big dogs for protection. Unfortunately, a lot of those people don’t have any idea how to train a large, dominant kind of dog.” Drew stretched his legs out. “I tell people, the most protective dog you’ll ever have is a good, well-behaved family dog that’s devoted to its people. Can’t do better than that.”

  Baxter might have adopted Archie for Katherine’s protection, but she had a hard time imagining him attacking anyone.

  “So is there news?” Baxter asked. “About Abby?”

  “The DA has decided not to press charges against Abby Chung,” Drew said. “Considering everything that’s come to light about Greg Hammond, Alice Kraft, and their plans, they decided that the psychiatric facility where she’s been staying should guide the case, and the doctors there have cleared her and told the DA that she is not a danger and the incident was isolated.”

  “So basically the same outcome as Justin’s case.”

  “Yes.” Drew nodded. “Thankfully. Now, the charges against Hammond and Kraft keep piling up, so I can’t tell you that you won’t have to testify in those cases.”

  “They would be two separate trials?”

  Drew shrugged. “I don’t think Kraft will go to trial. She’s got a real smart lawyer from San Francisco who’s already working the angles.”

  Baxter asked, “Is she still claiming that Greg did everything on his own?”

  “She’s admitted to the affair with Hammond and claims that they planned to basically steal the app after she screwed with the data to make the study unpublishable. But she says Hammond is the only one who used the app to hypnotize the students.”

  The police had settled on the theory that Hammond had hypnotized students via remote voice recordings, and Katherine just hoped that they had an expert witness who could back that up.

  “For me though?” Drew shook his head. “I’m not buying that she had no idea about what Hammond was doing at all.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because she formed that LLC right after Sarah’s horse died.”

  Baxter nodded. “You think Greg told her.”

  “I think he had to. It might have gone further than he intended. I don’t know. But she was the only one other than him who really understood what that app was capable of doing. I think he told the woman he thought was his girlfriend, and she realized it was the perfect pretense to sabotage the study, which would leave them free and clear to steal the app when the study went to hell.”

  “And the other students?”

  “I don’t think she planned that part,” Drew said. “Too much attention. I have a feeling Greg started going a little overboard. Or maybe he wanted to frame Kraft and take everything for himself. Either way, he doesn’t escape jail time. With his attack on Katherine? No way in hell. Kraft? Maybe.”

  “She’s finished in academia,” Baxter said. “After the scandal with the study and admitting to an affair with a graduate student, she’ll never work at a reputable university again.”

  “There’s always Silicon Valley,” Katherine said. “They don’t care much about morals there. Just money.”

  Drew shrugged. “Sounds like a good fit then.”

  Katherine knit her fingers through Baxter’s, and Archie took the opportunity to stick his furry head underneath their joined hands.

  “Wherever they go from here,” Katherine said, “at least they’ll be leaving Moonstone Cove.”

  Drew raised his mug of tea. “Good riddance.”

  “Don’t worry, Detective.” Baxter rubbed Archie’s ears. “I foresee Moonstone Cove returning to normal very, very soon.”

  “Do you?” Katherine reached for the pile of sea glass on the edge of the table and let the smooth weight of the stones grow warm in her palm. “I don’t know.” She watched the ocean rise and fall in the morning sunlight. “These days I think normal is a little harder to define.”

  * * *

  Thank you for reading Runaway Fate!

  Continue reading for a preview of the next Moonstone Cove novel,

  FATE ACTUALLY.

  Now available for preorder!

  First Look: Fate Actually

  Antonia Dusi slicked a clay face mask over her olive-toned skin and set the timer for five minutes.

  Five minutes.

  She leaned on the edge of the counter and glanced to her right, drumming her fingers on the edge.

  Four minutes, fifty seconds.

  What was she supposed to do with four minutes and fifty seconds? Toni hated sitting still. She hated wasting time. She had too much going on in her life to waste time. It was Wednesday morning, she had a dozen things to do at her garage that day, and her dad was supposed to be coming in; she wanted to get her butt going out the door.

  Four minutes, thirty seconds.

  Drip.

  Drip.

  Drip.

  The rhythmic pat of a water drop at the bottom of her sink snagged her attention. She cocked her head and put her finger to the faucet. It was one of those little jobs she hadn’t quite gotten around to doing since she bought the old cottage at the bottom of the hill.

  It was probably just a washer. She could fix that in five minutes.

  She glanced at the counter and the numbers ticking by. Okay, four minutes, fifteen seconds.

  Toni opened the bathroom door and walked through her bedroom and toward the kitchen where she kept her toolbox under the sink. Eventually, she’d keep the toolbox in the laundry room, but since the laundry room was torn up while she refinished the cabinets in there, she kept her tools in the kitchen.

  Just as she grabbed her toolbox, she felt her phone buzzing in her pocket.

  She slid it to answer. “Morning, Dad.”

  “Toni, you’re not at the garage.”

  He was early. Of all the days.

  “I’m just running a little late. I’ll be there soon.”

  “There’s like three guys just sitting around in the bay.”

  She looked at the clock on her phone. "It’s five til eight. They’re not on until eight.”

  Bobby Dusi huffed and muttered something about “his day.”

  She walked the toolbox back to the bathroom. “Dad, I’m sure Glenn has them all scheduled. It’s a busy day, and he knows what’s going on.”

  “Is this Glenn’s garage, or yours?”

  It’s mine, you old coot! “Dad, do I go to the club and tell you how to play bocce ball?”

  “You act like I didn’t run this place for forty years.”

  “You act like I haven’t run it for the past fifteen.” She could feel her temper start to rise. So much for that careful meditation she’d been practicing every morning since she’d been struck with unexpected psychic powers earlier in the year.

  The traumatic near-shooting that had triggered her empathy was a fading memory, but the unexpected wash of emotional energy still took her by surprise most days.

  If she was happy, she could make other people ecstatic. If she was pissed, she could start a fight. Not to mention the emotional sponge she’d become. Most days, she hardly knew whose feelings were swimming through her body.

  Her two new friends, Katherine Bassi and Megan Carpenter, were dealing with changes too. Katherine was still having flash visions she couldn’t control and Megan had become telekinetic. Megan seemed to be most devoted to understanding their new situation and she’d been the one to suggest meditation for Toni.
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br />   Meditation worked. Until your seventy-five year old dad went and blew your zen to hell.

  “Dad, I don’t have time for this.” Shut it down. Shut it down. “Listen, I’m not sleeping in. I have a leak in the bathroom I’m fixing.”

  “A leak?” Her father calmed down. “Ah, I know how that is. Take care of it and I’ll see you here. It’s a good old house, but we all know how old houses can be.”

  “I know.”

  “I helped build that house, you know, so I know how solid it is. But everything needs maintenance.”

  “I know, Dad.”

  “You need any help?”

  “I got it.” She reached under the sink to turn off the water lines. “If you can help Glenn out this morning, I can take care of this. But really, don’t worry about it, because Glenn’s got everyone scheduled for the day.” Her foreman had been working with her for ten years. Glenn could likely run the entire garage on his own, but then what would she do for fun?

  “Okay, honey, I love you. Mom made us lunch today.”

  Her stomach rumbled, then gurgled, despite the tea she’d sipped that morning. “That sounds great. I’ll see you later.”

  She hung up the phone and glanced at the counter. Two minutes.

  Okay, so she’d fill a couple more minutes than five. She’d just gotten her channel lock pliers around the faucet when her phone rang again.

  “Seriously?” She hit the button and put it on voice mail. “What now?”

  “Toni?” It was Glenn. “Did you know your old man is here?”

  “Yes, I’m sorry. I didn’t know he was coming in today. I have a leak in the bathroom I have to fix. I’ll only be a few minutes late.” She heard the timer go off and quickly hit the button before she continued. “Just uh…” She glanced down and blinked. “Just keep my dad occupied for a while until I get there, okay?”

  “All right.” Glenn cleared his throat. “I might have him help the new kid at the parts counter. I really don’t want him trying to change tires again.”

  “I know, I know.” She swept everything on the counter to the side so she had room for the faucet parts. “Bobby tends to forget he’s not thirty-five.” Her dad may have been retired, but he wasn’t very good at taking it easy.

  “I’ll take care of things here.”

  “Sounds good.” She stared at the glossy edge of water forming at the lip of the faucet.

  Drip.

  “Okay, I’ll see you when you get in.”

  “Thanks, Glenn. You’re the best.”

  Drip.

  Toni blinked and grabbed a red rag before she started taking the faucet apart.

  Drop.

  She had the faucet head in her hand when her phone rang again.

  “Seriously?” She grumbled. She glanced at the screen.

  Henry.

  Nope. Not today, Satan’s better looking brother.

  No, that wasn’t fair. Henry wasn’t Satan or even in Satan’s extended family. He was good, so ridiculously good that she didn’t know how to handle him that morning.

  “Go to voicemail,” she muttered. “Take a hint.”

  She pried the old washer out of the faucet and set the cracked rubber on the counter. “Out with the old, in with the new.”

  It was kind of her motto for everything these days. When she’d bought the house she knew it needed work; that was why she got it for such a low price. The old stone cottage was at the base of the hill that marked the boundary of her cousin Nico’s winery and his nearest neighbor Fairfield Wines. She was ten minutes from Moonstone Cove, fifteen minutes from the beach, and smack in the heart of Central California wine country in a seventy year old cottage surrounded by a stand of oaks.

  It was heaven, leaky faucets and all.

  She was putting the new washer in when her mother’s name flashed on her phone’s screen.

  Toni groaned. “How? How do you all know the exact worst time to call?”

  No matter. She hit the green button because if she didn’t, she’d regret it later. “Hey, Mom.”

  “Toni, your dad says a pipe burst in the bathroom. Did you call Nathan?”

  Oh for Pete’s sake… “It’s a leaky faucet; I don’t need to call Nathan.”

  “He’s your cousin; he wouldn’t charge you for going out there.”

  “I’m good. I’ve already got it fixed.” She tossed the red rag on the counter and reached under the sink to turn on the water.

  “I knew that house was just going to be a money pit, Antonia. A money pit.”

  The house had been the old foreman’s place on the Dusi family winery, but no one had lived in it for nearly twenty years. It was taken over by spiders and mice, had a family of rabbits living in the back bedroom, and generations of cats running wild in the old red barn. But the house was solid.

  “My house is not a money pit.” In fact, she’d insisted on a very thorough inspection by someone she was not related to before she agreed on the price. “It’s just maintenance stuff. Already done.” She tossed the washer in the trash and glanced at the clock on the counter. Ten minutes. Not bad at all. “I better say goodbye. I gotta feed Shelby and head into work.”

  Other than her overfed grey shorthair, Toni lived alone and she liked it that way. The cottage was her haven. She’d scooted the bunnies out the door, called the Humane society for most of the cats, and adopted one gnarly looking tomcat to keep the barn free of mice and gophers.

  She’d had the old man neutered and he still hadn’t forgiven her. Enzo ran from her every time she got close. He was the fastest cat she’d ever seen, hence the name.

  Her own house cat, Shelby, had barely left her sunny perch in the living room window since she’d moved in the year before. She watched the birds flitting outside, but knew that Toni would never let her out.

  Enzo might have evolved to evade coyotes, but Shelby would be dinner.

  “I made you and your dad lunch,” Rose Dusi said quickly. “And we’re having Sunday dinner at Frank’s place and Luna and the kids are coming down too.”

  “Sounds good. I’ll be there.” She ran some hot water and wiped the cracked clay mask off her skin, which looked fresh and glowing. “Have a good day, Mom.”

  “You too, baby, I’ll see you later, be nice to your dad.”

  “When am I not nice to dad?” Leave it to her mom to throw that in at the end.

  “Oh, you know what I mean. Love you.” Her mother blew kisses and hung up the phone.

  “No.” Toni spoke into the empty bathroom. “I have no idea what you mean.”

  She’d fixed the sink, but in the back of her mind, she could still hear it dripping.

  * * *

  Toni was getting in her car when her phone rung again. “Why do I know so many people?” she yelled into the barn. “Hello?”

  “Oh. Bad time?” It was her friend Katherine. “I was just calling to remind you about Wine Wednesday. It’s tonight.”

  “Thank God,” she breathed out. “I’ll be there.”

  “Bad day? It’s not even nine o’clock.”

  “Isn’t it?” Everything that morning was moving fast. The ocean fog had even burned off for the day, leaving the grass covered hills glowing gold in the sunlight. “I think everyone and their uncle decided to call me this morning specifically, just to fuck with me.”

  “Well, make it through the day and you can tell us all about it tonight. Have you been meditating?”

  “Yes?”

  “That sounded like a question.”

  “That’s because I am, but I’m not sure it’s helping. That is, it would help if I could magically make my entire family disappear and not talk to me ever, but I don’t think that’s really an option.”

  “Seeing as you’re related to half the town, making your family disappear seems like it could lead to disaster and a fairly significant economic downturn.”

  “Thanks, professor.”

  “You’re welcome. Come at six. We have wine and food.”

&nb
sp; In the six month since they’d met, Katherine and Megan had become the closest Toni had ever had to “girlfriends.” She’d always been the girl who played with the boys. As an adult, she was close to her mother, her sister, and her myriad female cousins. But girlfriends? Not much. She hadn’t had time to cultivate friendships until fate had basically forced her into it. Now? She couldn’t imagine life without Wine Wednesday, Katherine’s adorable husband, and snarking at Megan, who gave as good as she got.

  Toni’s life was full.

  So very full.

  Too full?

  Her phone rang again and she nearly cried. She looked at the screen and only picked up because it was her cousin Nico, who hardly ever called, even though he was her closest neighbor.

  “Yo.” She started her vintage Mustang and backed out of the barn.

  “Toni, please tell me you’re not under a car right now.”

  “No, in fact, I haven’t even left for town. What’s up?”

  “Thank God.” He let out a breath. “Can you come up to the house? We’re supposed to start picking the pinot today, the harvest crew is all here, and the tractor won’t start. I’m panicking.”

  “I’m not a diesel mechanic, Nico.”

  “I know I know I know, but I need to know if it’s a quick fix or if I need to call a neighbor to try to wrangle a favor.”

  “I’ll come.” She pulled out of her driveway and turned left, taking the gravel road up to Nico’s house at the top of the hill. “You owe me two bottles of wine.”

  “If you get it started, you can have a case.”

  “Seriously?” She smiled for the first time that morning. “Awesome.”

  People always thought she could grab as much wine as she wanted since her cousin owned the farm, the winery, and the whole operation. Unfortunately, she was one of dozens of cousins. If everyone got free wine, Dusi Heritage Winery would go out of business. She had to pay, just like everyone else, unless she could trade favors for wine.

  When she pulled behind the barn, she could see dozens of workers hanging out along the edge of the field. Though all the wine grapes were cut by hand, the tractor pulled the bins through the rows. No tractor meant way more walking, a much slower harvest, and very pissed off employees.