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“Hello, Detective. What’s up?”
“I noticed you going in next door,” Matt replied. “I was just curious. Are we going to be neighbors?”
“My roof started leaking during the storm and I decided to take off, but I managed to get some friends on the job right away. I know the couple who own the house next to the one you’re staying in, and they were kind enough to let me rent it for a couple of weeks.”
“Lucky you.”
“Is there anything else? I want to get in a swim before my fiancée arrives.”
“Fiancée?” Matt repeated, wondering how many more surprises were in store. “You’re engaged?”
“Yeah, and she’ll be excited when she finds out she’ll be staying in such a great house, so if you’ll excuse me—”
“Hold on. That witness I was taking care of, she gave me the slip. Did you see her on your way out during that storm?”
“The only thing I saw was flashes of lightning and branches flying around, along with a few garbage cans. I can’t imagine she’d get very far in such wild weather.”
“I’d like to know that too,” Matt remarked, lowering his tone and narrowing his eyes. “She couldn’t have taken off without help.”
“The last time I saw her was when you marched her away. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m taking that swim,” Nick said briskly, then abruptly turned and waded off.
“Keep your eyes open,” Matt called after him, but Nick didn’t respond.
Whether Nick had purposely ignored him or simply hadn’t heard, Matt didn’t know, but as he began walking back to the house, he glanced down the beach to Nick’s modest cottage. Two men were on the roof, one wearing a cowboy hat.
A deep frown crossed Matt’s brow.
Was he wrong?
Had Bianca found help from an unknown source?
She’d taken her phone.
It was possible.
But as he looked back at Nick swimming parallel to the shore, a ripple of doubt remained. He’d be keeping a close eye on his new neighbor, a very close eye.
CHAPTER9
Nick had swum parallel to the beach until he was in front of his cottage, then jogged up the sand to meet with Brad and John. They’d been initially wary about working on a case involving Lorenzo Albertini, but after he’d explained the details, they were unwavering in their support. Even so, he’d assured them their roles would be limited, and he’d do his best to keep them at arm’s length.
A former triathlete and martial arts devotee, Nick enjoyed staying in peak condition, and sprinted back to the Cape Cod home through the deep sand. Taking the steps up to the elevated terrace two at a time, he brushed the grit from his feet, retrieved the keys from his zippered pocket, and entered the house. Before he’d left he’d positioned nanny cams in the living room, den, and kitchen, and hidden his phone inside a bronze urn on a bookshelf. Quickly retrieving it, he checked his messages and found a text from Cindy.
Bianca is on her way. She looks great. I’m heading back to the office.
Always cautious, he moved into the garage and climbed into his SUV to call her back.
“Hey, boss, I’m just walking out the door.”
“Do you know what comes next?”
“Digging?”
“Yep, check out Bianca’s social media, her friends, the usual. Apparently there’s a guy she hangs out with named Sammy Parker. I need to know about him, and compile a detailed dossier on Detective Matteus Anderson. He claims to be a detective with the LVPD and he has the badge, but I don’t believe him. He may have been at one time, but I don’t think he’s active.”
“Will do.”
“I also want to know about one of Lorenzo’s executives, Brian Mancini. See what you can find out. Send the info to my SurfsUp account. Any questions?”
