Hot Lawyers: The Lee Christine Collection

by Lee Christine

Josie yawned and continued flicking through the pages. Maybe she should get up, splash her face with cold water and make another cup of coffee.

  Then suddenly a photograph caught her attention. She became more awake, peering at the article featuring two Clare Valley wineries. There was an impressive cellar door, and a highly regarded restaurant which had featured in the Good Food Guide. One of the wineries had an art gallery attached to it, but it was the vineyard itself that evoked images from the past.

  The place looked familiar, though she’d never visited the Clare Valley — not even once.

  Distant memories rose, but like fragments of a dream that melted away upon waking, they stayed beyond reach.

  Providence?

  Trying to remember that name was making her crazy, and it was a miracle she hadn’t dreamt about it, not that she’d had much sleep the past week.

  She turned another page, telling herself she was still keyed up from seeing Mr. Grace this morning, when another photograph jumped out at her. Taken from the air, row upon row of grape vines stretched all the way to the mountains, turning the landscape into a green patchwork of rolling hills that contrasted brilliantly with an azure sky.

  She had seen it before.

  In black and white.

  Someone had shown her this picture.

  Josie sat upright, wide awake now, heart jumping in her chest.

  What was it she couldn’t remember?

  Conscious of Dickson watching her, she carried the magazine to where she’d been working on his computer. Sliding onto her chair, she typed the word “providence” into the search engine again.

  The same results came up. The definition. The city of Providence in Rhode Island. The symbol of the eye they’d studied yesterday.

  Josie scrolled down. There was Providence the TV series. A map of inner city Providence. Information on Brown University, the much sought after Ivy League College which drew young adults to the city.

  The next link was for Providence Winery.

  She glanced at the magazine article, beads of sweat breaking out on her forehead. Sliding her finger across the touchpad, she clicked the link and scanned the home page. Providence Winery was situated in the Napa Valley, California. And there, in the top left-hand corner, was the winery’s crest.

  An intricately designed Eye of Providence stared back at her, the lines of the crest sketched as vines.

  Memories snapped together like pieces of Lego, until they formed a picture in her mind.

  ‘What’s up?’

  She jumped at Dickson’s voice.

  ‘Nothing,’ she muttered, ‘I’m just tired of going around in circles.’

  ‘Welcome to police work,’ he replied, and she breathed a sigh of relief when he went back to what he was doing.

  Josie refocused on the screen and clicked on the “About Us” page. Finger working the touchpad, she clicked on the heading “History of the Vineyard”.

  And then her name flashed in front of her eyes, slugging her with the force of a king hit. Only it wasn’t her name, but one very close to it.

  Joseph Valenti.

  Her grandfather.

  Faint memories drifted back. Sitting on his knee in their family home while he showed her photographs of the vineyard where he’d grown up.

  This was it! He’d lived here, in the Napa Valley, before coming to Australia and starting the construction company her father had carried on. The vineyard was so similar to the Clare Valley vineyard, she’d thought it one and the same.

  Hands clammy, Josie scrolled further down the page. Oblivious to the room around her, she read about the family vineyard in America her parents had never bothered to tell her about.

  The Valenti family emigrated from Sicily after the First World War, purchased a small parcel of land in the Napa Valley and established a winery with vines brought from their native island. Joseph Valenti and his brother, Ziggy, had been born in the depression era. Joseph later emigrated to Australia, and left his brother to run Providence. Ziggy ran the winery until his death, and the company was now under the control of his son, Ziggy Jnr.

  Should we be looking for an American connection?

  She heard Dickson’s voice in her head and determinedly shut it down. The name had conjured up long forgotten memories — that’s all. It didn’t mean her family had any connection with the company Providence Pty. Limited, which they knew to be involved in the money laundering racket.

  The sound of the door opening had her spinning around in her chair. She leaped up, gasped as she came nose to nose with Dickson.

  She hadn’t even heard him get up.

  Past his shoulder, she could see Nate coming through the door.

  Then Dickson’s fingers closed around her arm, as if he thought she might run, eyes moving from her face, to the screen, and back again.

  ‘I think you’d better tell us what you’ve found, Josie.’

  Nate closed the door.

  He hadn’t caught Dickson’s words, but his offsider’s fingers were curled around Josie’s arm. And Josie was looking right at him, a shocked expression on her face.

  Nate’s heart shifted like a tectonic plate.

  ‘What’s going on?’ he asked, the words rough and harsh. He looked from one to the other, unsure if he wanted to learn the truth. Hell, it would be easier to just walk out and leave them to it.

  ‘Oh Nate.’ Josie stepped away and Dickson released her. ‘I’m not exactly sure.’

  And there it was — pain so fierce it felt like he was slicing off his skin without the benefit of anaesthetic. Should he be surprised? Not really. He should have known better than to get involved with someone so young, someone who didn’t know her own mind yet.

  But Dickson?

  Nate clenched his fists.

  He wanted to tear the bastard limb from limb.

  And then Dickson spoke, surprising him. ‘I knew by the look on her face she’d stumbled upon something. Take a look at this.’

  Nate blinked, saw Josie turn away, eyes wounded. She’d read his expression, knew he’d doubted her.

  Shit!

  He’d jumped to the wrong conclusion and he needed to apologise. Josie wasn’t the type of girl to flit from one guy to another, he knew that, so why had he assumed the worst just now?

  Take your pick, Hunter. Bottom line is, you’re nuts about her.

  He was nuts about her, and the unfamiliar possessiveness was weird and disturbing. On top of that, the horror and drama of his job was a permanent encroachment on their time together.

  And Luke was right.

  He was weary. More than anything he wanted the operation over, so they could spend time developing their relationship.

  But Josie knew none of this.

  He went to follow her, to apologise, to remove the hurt and admit to being a stupid arse. But Dickson stepped between them, pointing anxiously at the screen.

  ‘Look at this, Nate. We should pass it onto Neilson’s IT guy.’

  More than a little irritated, Nate stepped forward and peered at the screen.

  Right off, he saw the name — Providence Winery.

  A re-energizing buzz ran through his central nervous system. Was it connected to Providence Pty. Limited, the company involved in the money laundering racket? It had to be, for Josie and Dickson to be so strung out about it.

  He moved the cursor across the screen, clicking on the heading “History of the Vineyard”. In the seconds it took for the page to load, he looked across at Josie. She was sitting on the edge of the bed, watching him. He smiled in apology, but she didn’t smile back, just looked at him with unreadable eyes.

  Nate refocused on the screen, blinking slowly to clear his vision.

  What the fuck?

  The words seemed to jump out at him in bold type.

  He leaned closer.

  Valenti?

  The impact hit Nate with the force of a category five storm, sucking the breath from his body like he’d been sucker punched. He rested both pa
lms on the table to steady himself, mind in overdrive as he pulled all the pieces together.

  Mulvaney. Josie. Allegra. Henry Grace.

  He himself had witnessed Mulvaney’s Skype call to Josie the night he was murdered. He himself had witnessed Henry Grace collecting the money from the gym this morning.

  That left Allegra as the only unconfirmed link in the chain. And it fit with what Luke had told him as they’d parted ways.

  They’d all assumed Mulvaney was looking for Allegra, but…

  Go back, Nate. Go back the other way!

  He started over.

  Lizard Mulvaney. Josephine Valenti. This time he followed a diffferent path. Silvano and Marilyn Valenti. Providence Winery. Joseph Valenti, so similar a name it could be a family connection. Napa Valley. Sicily. Mafia. Organised crime.

  The overseer!

  Nate was so cold he could have been carved in ice.

  Dear God! Was he right?

  By the time he straightened and looked at Josie, she was standing, hands clenched by her sides, green eyes flashing in a silent challenge, daring him to voice his thoughts aloud.

  Nate took a step towards her.

  ‘Is this,’ he stopped and pointed a shaky finger at the laptop, ‘is this what you say you’ve been trying to remember?’

  ‘Say?’ Her nostrils flared, and a furious red stained her previously white face. ‘I have been trying to remember it. You say it like you don’t believe me.’

  He did believe her.

  Absolutely. Unconditionally.

  But they weren’t alone in the room, and some sixth sense told him not to trust Dickson.

  Nate’s stomach twisted. He had no choice but to interrogate Josie. Afford her preferential treatment, and he left himself open to Dickson reporting him for not following the correct methodology.

  Moments earlier, Dickson had suggested they contact Luke, making his position clear he thought they should push even harder with the tactic they’d chosen.

  To arm Dickson with ammunition he could use later would be foolish. And while he believed Josie, it was crucial he get to the bottom of this if her family were involved, critical he remove her from what was certain to be a diabolical situation.

  Nate shut out Josie’s face, shut out everything about her. If it were anyone else, he’d be gruelling them.

  ‘You expect me to buy that?’ He arched an eyebrow, kept his voice cool. ‘You think I’m fool enough to believe this has only come back to you now?’

  She flinched, making him feel like such a shit he had to close his eyes for a second.

  Dear God, this couldn’t be happening.

  He took another step towards her. ‘Did you simply forget about this when we were searching up “providence”?’

  ‘Nate.’ Dickson shoved the magazine at him, but Nate raised his hand in the “stop” command and spoke to Josie again. ‘Well?’

  He didn’t want to hurt her.

  He loved her.

  Jesus, he loved her, and that’s what made this so terrible.

  To her credit, she held herself together and stood up to him, just as she had the night he’d abducted her and driven her to his safe house.

  ‘I think, when I was little, my Grandfather showed me a photograph of the winery where he grew up. I would have been about five at the time. Occasionally, wine from that vineyard would be delivered to our house. That’s where I know the name. Not from work. From the wine label.’

  Nate’s chest grew tight. His gut instinct told him she was telling the truth, but Dickson was staring at him, expecting him to go harder at her.

  Nate’s brain snapped into gear. ‘Providence, a company implicated in the money laundering racket, shares a name with a winery owned by your family. Are they connected?’

  Come on, princess, fight me. Prove to Dickson you know nothing about this.

  ‘How would I know that?’ she snapped out the words. ‘Jesus, Nate, I’ve only just remembered myself.’

  That’s the way, baby.

  ‘Really?’ he drawled the word.

  ‘It doesn’t mean it’s the same fucking providence,’ she said heatedly, temper rising to the surface. ‘It’s probably just a coincidence.’

  Good girl.

  She was stirred up now, and for once he was thankful for her potty mouth.

  ‘I don’t believe in coincidences.’

  Christ, this was killing him, and he didn’t know what was worse — thinking something had been going on between her and Dickson, when it hadn’t, or the deception he was now partaking in.

  He watched her face drain of colour. ‘I’m telling you the truth.’

  Nake raked a hand through his hair, wondering how on earth he was ever going to pull this off. ‘I think it’s the same providence.’

  She didn’t say anything, just stared at him as if she didn’t know him anymore.

  ‘I think it’s connected to your family.’

  She shook her head, blonde curls dancing around her face as she spat the words at him. ‘You’re crazy, Nate, you know that? Certifiably. Fucking. Crazy.’

  ‘Think about it, Josie. Mulvaney tracked you down on Skype.’

  ‘Tell me something I don’t know. He needed to speak to Allegra.’

  ‘That’s what we all assumed.’ Nate lowered his voice, knew his quieter tone would double the impact. ‘What if he were looking for someone else?’

  ‘Who?’ He saw the panic in her eyes, didn’t miss the distress in her voice. ‘Henry Grace? I wouldn’t know how to contact him out of business hours.’

  His poor, sweet, little princess. He’d prefer Kennett, Bull and Grassy beat the shit out of him than devastate her like this. ‘What about your father?’

  ‘My father?’ She clutched the back of a chair, eyes so wounded he doubted he’d ever be able to repair the damage. ‘What’s my father got to do with any of this?’

  Nate shut his emotions down. He had no choice. It was the only way he could do it.

  ‘Luke said something as I was leaving this afternoon, something that had been bothering him and Allegra. When they switched on their phones that night, each had a missed call from you.’

  She was still reeling from what he’d just said, couldn’t know where he was heading with this.

  Beside him, Dickson shifted uneasily, rubbed a hand over his shaved head and spoke for the first time. ‘What are you getting at, Nate?’

  Nate let the question hang in the air. He wanted to give Josie time to compose herself. It was the only thing he could do for her at the moment.

  ‘Mulvaney had always been in possession of Allegra’s mobile number,’ he said eventually. ‘So why didn’t he leave a voice message? If I were desperate, I would. But there was nothing, not even one missed call from him that night.’

  Seconds ticked by, the only sound in the room the whir of the fan from inside the laptop.

  In the end, it was Dickson who spoke first.

  ‘Anything could have happened. He probably just lost her number.’ He jabbed at the magazine. ‘I believe what Josie’s saying. She was looking through this before she went to the computer. I saw the shock on her face, knew straight away she’d discovered something. She was so engrossed, she didn’t even see me get up.’

  Some of the hurt left Josie’s eyes. ‘Thanks, Dickson. I appreciate the support.’

  Nate began breathing again.

  He’d done it.

  If Silvano Valenti turned out to be corrupt, at least Dickson was satisfied Josie had not been aware of it up until this point. And he couldn’t accuse Nate of going easy on her.

  But he’d paid the price with his heart. He’d jeopardised their relationship, sacrificed possibly the best thing he’d ever had, to keep her above suspicion.

  And understandably, she was too distraught to realise.

  He’d fallen in love with her, made love to her, broken all the rules and it had been so good he hadn’t cared.

  And he trusted her in a way he couldn’t bring himself
to trust Dickson.

  Nate’s mind raced. He needed to get onto Luke again, see if the wunderkind could find the connections.

  Sick in the guts at what he’d just done, he looked over at Josie. She was standing by the window, staring into Hyde Park, refusing to even look at him.

  He couldn’t blame her.

  It was a bitch of a twenty-first birthday present.

  Chapter 27

  6:00 p.m. Thursday

  When Luke Neilson stepped into the room Josie almost burst into tears. She knew Luke well — well enough to know from the expression on his face he wasn’t bearing good news. Nevertheless, he strode across the room and folded her into a type of bear hug, the kind she imagined a big brother would give a little sister. She clung to him, woollen fabric of his suit coat a rough texture against her cheek. He held her, his hand patting her back.

  ‘Hello, Josie. I can’t imagine what you’ve been through this week.’

  Josie closed her eyes. Yes, he could. More than anyone, Luke Neilson knew about surviving horror weeks. A veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan, he’d experienced atrocities beyond most people’s comprehension.

  And his words were a comfort.

  She felt better for having him here.

  He straightened, holding her at arm’s length. ‘Allegra’s been beside herself.’

  Josie nodded, avoiding Nate’s brooding eyes. ‘Tell her I’m sorry, and that I’m okay — kind of.’

  Luke gave her a sympathetic smile and lowered his hands. ‘Don’t worry. Nate will get this all sorted out one way or another.’

  Luke’s faith in Nate fortified Josie, and she glanced at him again. The last few hours had been unbearable. Nate had alternated between pacing the room and working on the computer, while Dickson, caught in the middle, had kept his head down and stayed out of their way.

  Conversation was non-existent, though every so often she’d look up to find Nate watching her. Maybe it was wishful thinking, but she could have sworn he was trying to tell her something with his eyes.

  Numb, and unable to interpret his message, she’d returned to watching the park and trying to piece together what little she knew of her family history. Her mother was of Irish descent, and they’d been to Ireland a couple of times to visit her grandparents over the years. But her paternal grandfather had died when she was six, and apart from that one time she remembered being with him, there was nothing at all in her memory bank.