Helia snorted. “Ten million in this valley isn’t going to raise an eyebrow, let alone be worthy of press attention.”
“Weird, but true,” Grace agreed. “But in his head…”
“He’s a much bigger deal than he is,” Helia said. “Believe me, I found that out. He’s not a bad acquaintance, which is why I agreed to a date. And stop that growling, Collin,” she said,elbowing him and eliciting a laugh from the others. “Two dates, that was it. He’s just not that interesting.”
“He was seen with my father, though,” Monk felt the need to point out, recalling the social media pictures he’d found.
“And he ended up on the DEA’s radar,” Einstein pointed out. “Not Marcel, but Weber. Why?”
Grace inclined her head. “Since Trish arrived in the area, she’s met up with a bunch of people, including Kelly, Greg,andAkin. She’s also dined at the restaurant Weber works at three times.”
“An expensive place for a soon-to-be-divorcée who was basically begging me for work contacts a few days ago,” Helia said.
“Which is exactly why we started looking into the restaurant. It was out of character for the story she was spreading around about her reason for coming back,” Grace replied.
“Is there anyone else on your radar other than these players?” Hawkeye asked, nodding to the board.
“A few. People you’d know,” she said, looking at Helia. “But no one we think is a threat, as they are further down the food chain and don’t have any connections to Sundaram.”
If Grace didn’t report to Reaper, Monk would have asked more questions. But he trusted his old teammate. If he thought the Falcons should know something, he would have made sure Grace told them.
“What now?” Charley asked.
Grace exhaled. “Now I go over the evidence HICC sent over, and you all get on with your holiday plans.”
“Any idea when it will be all over?” Helia asked. “I haven’t told my parents anything about this and I won’t. But it’s going to impact our business and, well, I guess the sooner we get it over with, the sooner we can start damage control.”
“Speaking of Sundaram, do you have any insight into whether it’s Akin or Greg involved?” Monk asked. He’d been so focused on the same thing as Helia that he’d not bothered to ask the question they’d all lingered on for so long the day before.
“And do you think we’re right about Kurt Fisher and Wei Zhao wanting into the market?” Dulcie asked.
Grace’s gaze once again swept the room, evaluating them before answering. She let out a small breath. “Before moving to San Francisco, Greg Watson managed a high-end restaurant owned indirectly by Mark Pena. We’ve found no ties between Akin and either Haines or Pena,” she answered.
Helia closed her eyes for a second, a brief moment to be thankful that one of her favorite employees wasn’t involved. When she opened them, she squeezed his hand, then asked, “And Kurt?”
“There’s no question DKZ and Wei’s organization are at war. We have no evidence that Peterson was involved in Fisher’s death herself, but we’re investigating the possibility that she ordered it.”
“Do you need us here, or can we head home for Christmas?” Leo asked.
Kendall’s gaze shot to Monk, bounced to Helia, then landed back on him, the conflict clear on her face. She wanted to see Mystery Lake, but she didn’t want to leave Helia. He didn’t have an answer for her; maybe it was better that way and they could figure it out together. Or maybe this was one of those decisions he should make on his own to take the weight of it off her shoulders. Hell, he had a lot to learn about raising a kid.
“I’d prefer it if you did,” Grace said, earning her a few chuckles. “You’ve done a lot in the background to help our case. The prosecutors will be delighted. But no offense, we don’t need any of you being tempted to step in when we make our move.”
“Those days are over for us,” Mantis said before his gaze slid over the room, touching on Lina and Viper, Philly and Callie, and Stone, who sat alone as Juliana hadn’t returned from the store yet. “Well, mostly over,” he amended.
An expectant silence fell over the room, then Grace hopped off her chair and started gathering her things. “I don’t condone vigilante activity, but like I said, the prosecutors will be thrilled with the additional evidence you’ve collected. We’ll also look into Marcel Laurant and see if we can find his family some answers,” she added, directing the comment to Helia, who nodded in response.
“In the meantime, here’s my card.” She handed it to Monk, who’d stepped forward. “I’ll send the evidence team over later today to collect the additional drugs you found, but let me know when you head out. The other players won’t know the drugs have been confiscated, and we’ll do our best to keep anyone from poking around.”
“Some of the employees may come around over the holiday,” Monk said, rising to walk her out. He only anticipated Gretchen and Alessio, and he promised to send their information to her so that the DEA had it on hand.
When he returned to the tasting room, he found it empty except for Helia. “Where’d everyone go?” He had a good idea, based on the sounds he heard, but the question had popped out. Maybe as an avoidance of what they really needed to talk about.
Helia held out her hand. “They’re making a late lunch. Hard to believe it’s only two in the afternoon.”
“It’s been a long day,” he agreed, wrapping his arms around her before lowering his lips to hers. He only allowed himself a small taste. He didn’t trust himself to stop if it went any further than that.
“We need to talk,” Helia said.
