“I’ll walk you out,” Harry said.
In silent agreement, she, her mom, and Collin moved to the window and watched as Harry escorted the detectives to their car. The three paused to talk, Harry gesturing to the two police cars, then to the field. Carter and Jess didn’t look happy, but both shook his hand before climbing into their vehicle.
“Well, that was interesting,” Harry said when he returned to the apartment. “I asked them to have the police move their cars to the other property. Was the man really dumped?” he asked, turning to Collin.
“He wasn’t killed there, I can promise you that.”
“Why were they so interested in whether or not you ever dated him?” her mom asked her.
Helia lifted a shoulder. “I don’t know. Maybe because Justin and I dated and for some reason, they think the two murders might be related.”
All four turned back to the window. Two officers trudged through the vineyard toward parked cars.
“Carter said they’d be another few hours before they clear the field. I called Jeff to let him know,” Harry said.
“Jeff is the business manager for the winery that leases the land,” Helia said to Collin. He nodded in thanks for the clarification.
“What now?” Vanessa asked.
“Now we go back to my house,” Helia said. “Collin has some shopping to do, so we’ll head out in a few minutes.”
Her dad’s gaze lingered on the window. “I don’t like this.”
“I don’t much like it either,” Helia admitted. The questions about her and Kurt had rattled her. Only Collin’s hand on her leg kept her grounded.
“I have friends who can look into it,” Collin said. She wasn’t the only one to turn her attention to him. He flashed a rueful smile. “I know interesting people. I already have them poking around Justin’s murder. They’ll be happy to add this to it.”
“The kind of people it would be better for us to not know about?” her mother asked. After twenty years in the military before starting Sundaram, her parents were no strangers to subterfuge.
Collin chuckled, a warm, familiar sound. “Nothing like that. They are a very legitimate company who happen to have a ton of connections, crazy smart people, and, in a roundabout way, see me and my brothers as family. And they’ll do anything for family.”
Her parents studied him a moment longer, then her mom stepped up and hugged him. “I’m glad you’re back in our lives. Not because of this, not because of what you can do to help us, but because we get to know the man you are, the man you’ve become. And I very much like that man.”
Collin blinked and hugged her mom back. When she stepped away, her dad took her place, echoing his wife’s words.
Sensing the mood was heavier than Collin wanted to linger in, she looped her arm through his. “On that note, Collin and I will now go in search of socks and T-shirts and other necessary items. You guys need anything from town?”
Her parents shook their heads and after another round of hugs, she and Collin headed back to her house.
“We need to sneak Kendall out,” he said, sounding happy to be talking about anything other than murder.
She nodded and smiled. “We do, and I have the perfect plan.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
“What’s your plan?” Monk asked, more curious about Helia’s delight than the actual details.
“My car has tinted windows. I’ll pull it up to my house, she can pop in the back, and we can drive away. So long as she leaves from the front door, the police in the vineyard won’t see her. And if she stays down, the cameras won’t pick her up in the back seat.”
He chuckled. “Why do I feel like you’ve done this before?”
Looking over her shoulder at him, she grinned. “Down in San Diego, I had a friend in the military. I might have helped her take a little unauthorized leave for a few hours here and there.”
That grin. It would kill him one of these days, he was certain. A little mischievous, a lot confident, and a whole bucketload of sexy, he’d always been a goner for that look on her.
And he’d kissed her.
Well, technically, she’d kissed him. But he sure as hell had kissed her back. A twist of doubt curled through his stomach into his chest. Maybe it would end with that, with that one searing kiss. Thinking about anything more brought up all sorts of thoughts and feelings he’d rather not confront.
