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“Nothing,” she replied airily, slipping from his arms. “Will Cindy be taking me back to the beach?”
“Don’t change the subject. Tell me, or would you prefer I find a wooden spoon and bend you over the table?”
“But Nick, you might not want to know what I’m thinking. Seriously, you might not.”
“Oh, but I do, especially now. Come on, out with it.”
“If you insist,” she said with a resigned sigh. “You said you have to stay focused on the task at hand.”
“Yes, and I do. Whatever is happening between us has to—”
“Nick, you can stop right there,” she said, cutting him off. “You want to know what I’m thinking? We’ve boarded the train, it’s left the station, and there’s no stopping it. We just need to find a few minutes of uninterrupted time and a private compartment.”
“Is that so?”
“You know I’m right, unless the thought of becoming involved with Lorenzo Albertini’s daughter is too intimidating and you want to leap off. I wouldn’t blame you.”
“No, it’s not, but as I just said, in spite of our sparks, I have to stay focused.”
“Uh-huh, sure you do,” she quipped as the enigmatic smile returned.
“Think what you want, it’s time for me to leave,” he said firmly. “One of my guys will be picking you up in a town car. We can talk about this later.”
“I think the talking part just ended?” she shot back.
“And I’m beginning to think the only time you’ll listen is when my hand is smacking your ass,” he warned, then grabbing her arm and spinning her around, he swatted her backside. “Go and find Cindy. I’m leaving. I’ll see you at the beach.”
“But—”
“Go,” he snapped, slapping her again with more force.
“Okay, I’m going,” she declared as she hurried away, but stopping at the door, she looked over her shoulder. “You know I’m right.”
But before he could respond, she was gone.
Waiting a moment to clear his head, he marched from the kitchen and out through the front door to Cindy’s car. Grabbing the groceries from the front seat, then opening the trunk and picking up his equipment, he loaded everything into his SUV, climbed behind the wheel, and rolled through the gates. He was familiar with the havoc the storms caused on the canyon roads, and driving slowly, he kept his eyes peeled for broken branches and other debris. He’d only traveled a short distance when he ran across crews clearing away a downed tree, and was waved to a stop by a highway patrol officer.
“Where are you going, sir?”
“Black rock beach,” Nick replied. “Is it reachable?”
“Yes, but there’s a major slide half a mile south of there on the coast highway, and another one about five miles north. If you need any supplies you’ll have to come back over the canyon.”
“Any idea how long it will take to clear the slide to the south?”
“It’s a big one, at least a couple of days.”
“Okay, thanks, Officer.”
As he continued on, he couldn’t decide if the news was good or bad, but the slide would have happened very close to where Bianca had tossed her sim card. It could be lying under a ton of rubble, perhaps had even crunched before Matteus had a chance to trace it, but it was almost irrelevant.
Starting down the steepest part of the slope to the coast highway, the spectacular view opened up in front of him. The wild ocean from the day before was now calm, but he could imagine the mess the storm would have left on the beach. Reaching the bottom, he accelerated forward, and a few minutes later, he spied the familiar row of houses. As he neared, he was able to make out a truck parked behind his garage. Brad and John, his operatives, were already there and were on his roof. Finally turning down the private street, though he was relieved to see no other vehicles, debris from the storm was everywhere. Slowing down, he placed a call to Brad.
“Hi, Nick,” Brad said as he answered. “We arrived at your house a little while ago.”
“I’m surprised you got through. I heard about the slide. How did you manage to make it?”
“There was no one there when we drove by, but we passed some earth-moving equipment on the way. I’m sure that’s where they were heading.”
