Relief washed through Wendy in waves—Alejo was here. She noticed out of the corner of her eye that Sam was peeking out the door, but as soon as he saw Alejo, he smiled.
“You’ll have to return with official paperwork,” Alejo went on, calmly. Evenly. “So that I can text it to the owner. And would you like the e-mail address of her lawyer? Yes, I’ll be glad to send you a link, if you’ll give me your name, address, and e-mail.”
Right behind Alejo two new figures appeared, following Alejo through the little gate in the low terrace wall. There was Joey Hu, just as Doris had promised. And next to him, tall, quiet Mikhail Long, whom Wendy had seen once or twice, in company with his sweet wife who everyone called Bird.
The two men approached Coveralls Man, and with a winning smile, Joey Hu said, “As it happens, I’m on Playa del Encanto City Council. Surely you recognize my name, Professor Hu? Of course I’mmostconcerned. Which ordinances exactly are we speaking of here? Would that be under Title Nine, City Growth and Land Development? Or perhaps Title Seven, which covers Environmental Impact and also Heritage Land, both of which this property is duly filed for? As it happens, I was invited by the owner to drive over to inspect the property, which I was doing when you arrived. You’ll be glad to know that I found little more than a few seagulls, and evidence of a coyote.” He looked at the ground and shook one shoe. “No rodents, though there are a few squirrels—no surprise, as the owner has been feeding them forover twenty years.”
His voice, like Alejo’s was friendly and soothing, not at all confrontive. But it was quite firm.
In the truck, a window came down part way. “We’ll return another time,” a female voice called with false sweetness.
“That’s her,” Sam whispered, peeking around the front door again. “Alejo, make her go away.”
Alejo gave Sam a salute. “You heard the boy. Time to go, gents.”
Coveralls Man gave them a tight semblance of a smile, and said, “Good day.” And he climbed into the back of the truck as its engine roared to life.
“Professor Hu,” Wendy said as the truck vanished down the driveway. “Very nice to see you again. Would you like some coffee? Hello. Mr. Long.”
Mikhail gave a slight bow with old-fashioned courtesy as Joey Hu said, “Do call me Joey, or Joey Hu. Everyone does. We were just leaving. I did promise Godiva that I’d take a look around her property once in a while, and so I had a chance to meet Alejo.” He smiled, and added, “We’re parked down at the beach, so we’ll head out the back way.”
“I’ll walk them out,” Alejo said, and the three men crossed to the terrace and vanished among the shade trees.
Wendy turned to Eve. “Thanks for holding them off. Did they set off alarm bells for you in some way?”
Eve scowled. “No…yes. I dunno. I saw that drill, then that guy yapped all that about Concerned Citizens, it felt like gaslighting. I think Godiva should know.”
Wendy said, “I agree.” She looked up—Alejo was back. “Alejo, shall I call her? Maybe we both should?”
“I’ll take care of it,” Alejo said. “Thank you, Eve.”
Eve gave him a thin smile and a short nod, then stomped back inside and vanished.
Wendy turned to Alejo, still trying to deal with that overwhelming sense of relief at his appearance. Alejo smiled her way, half-raised a hand in awe’ll talk latergesture, then addressed Sam, who was still lurking in the doorway, “I’ve got a project all set up, as soon as you finish your homework.”
“A project?” Sam repeated.
“How would you like to build a birdhouse? Perfect size for those doves I’ve seen flitting around.”
Sam turned to Wendy, his eyes wide behind the thick glasses. “Can I?”
“Soon’s your homework is done,” Wendy said.
Sam pelted inside, and Alejo fell in step beside Wendy, who said, “I talked to my mother the other night. She said no one has contacted her at all, and she’s never heard of Stella Porta, but she’s been harassed by developers for years. She’s not surprised at this latest.”
“They all want beachfront property,” Wendy said. “Though why they talk about infestations and bring drills is a new one.”
“The drill is probably for soil samples. These developers are always hoping there’s something worth mining down beneath the soil. But the so-called infestation? Eh, we’ll figure it out,” Alejo said cheerfully. “Until then, no one is setting foot inside this property without invitation.”
Then he turned to her, and his hands flexed once, as if he wanted to reach. Like for her. Or maybe that was just her wish. A very, very strong wish. She was aware that he was close to her, within arm’s reach. But far from crowding her, she liked it—even the whiff of his masculine scent, a little bit of clean sweat, a trace of soap. It washisscent. She fought against a sudden urge to bury her face in his shirt and snuffle him up.
“I’ll bet Sam is racing through that homework,” he said easily. “I should get back and make sure everything is ready. Also, I think I’ll take a look around in case our friends in the truck decide to do a little exploring from the shoreline.”
Alarm shot through Wendy, banishing the haze of pure desire that made her senses swim. “I didn’t think of that.”
“Oh, I doubt they’ll be so overt again so soon,” Alejo said. “Joey Hu sounded really convincing when he brought up specifics in the city ordinances, didn’t he?”
“He did,” Wendy said. “And he is on the city council. I wish I’d thought of asking before he left. Maybe he can look up that Porta Stella, or Stella Porta.”
