Chuckling, she patted him on the back. “See you at six.”
***
As Wade finished dressing the next morning, he thought about Martinez’s expression when she’d told him. He doubted Shelby knew he’d be there too. Would she leave when she saw him?
He walked outside to the bright sunshine and wondered how long it might last, what with the weather forecast. The possible threat of the edge of a tropical storm in a few days was something he’d never experienced before. How much rain could it dump on them? He hoped it didn’t delay work or, worse, damage any work already done. It’d also make for a rough sail for the commuters. At least there hadn’t been any more incidents with sabotage.
Martinez had texted him where to meet, so he went to the trailhead. He’d hiked with the bodyguard twice, and they’d taken a different trail each time. After the first time, he’d pulled out one of the designs. It turned out the trails made a fifth destination. Located on the original island, visitors coming for a day of hiking would be presented with a fabulous view of all four villages. What better advertising?
When Wade arrived at the trailhead, the women had already arrived and were stretching. Martinez must have heard his approach because she looked up from her standing hamstring stretch.
“You made it.” The bodyguard straightened.
“Oh, hi.” Shelby glanced up at him for only a second before bending to tie her shoe.
Perhaps not a greeting Wade might have hoped for, but she hadn’t shown any sign of leaving. He decided to count it as a win.
“We ready?” Without waiting for an answer, Martinez headed up a trail she’d taken him on the first day. “There’s a path that branches off that I’d like to check out. Doesn’t look as used as the others.”
“A road less traveled?” Wade positioned himself between the two women.
“Like the poem?” Shelby asked.
“Yeah,” he said. “It’s a favorite quote of my parents.”
Wade hoped she’d keep talking, but she didn’t say anything else. She could be such a conversation killer when she wanted. Matching his stride with hers, he thought over what to say that wasn’t about work, but nothing came to mind. “How are the books coming?”
“Interesting, to say the least.”
“Have they confirmed the decision to let Conti go?”
“Oh, yeah.” Shelby finally glanced at Wade. “Apparently he was also better at tekkie stuff than he led us to believe. Grantham’s IT is still working through some sophisticated protections he had in place.”
“This way.” Martinez pointed to the side.
“Are you sure that’s a trail?” Wade squinted at the barely there break in the bushes.
“It’s probably a path the animals use to get to a water source.” The bodyguard pulled aside some vines with purple flowers, and both women went through.
“Must be small animals, then.” Shelby squeezed through the narrow opening. “That might be easier to get through if we crawled. Where’d you learn all this, Ava?’
“My grandparents were migrant workers, but my dad got his law degree. In fact, he’s a law professor now. He moved us out of the San Joaquin Valley and farther north. Bought some land outside of Arnold.”
“Where’s Arnold? Whoa!” Wade ducked his head to miss a low branch.
“Isn’t that close to Calaveras Big Trees?” Shelby held another branch so it didn’t hit him in the face.
“Thanks.” He ducked under and matched his pace with hers up the sharp incline.
They focused on the trail for a couple of minutes before he asked, “Have you been to that tree place?”
“Calaveras Big Trees.” Shelby paused to catch her breath. “I’d never been camping before and begged Alan to take me. You might not have guessed, but he’s not much of an outdoorsy guy, but he did it. Calaveras Big Trees is exactly that. It’s a park of Sequoia redwoods.”
“Like the kind you can drive your car through?” Wade asked.
“I never saw any trees that cars could drive through there, but the trees are big. And old,” Martinez said. “Back in the late 1890s or around there, some idiots cut some of them down. One had a stump so wide they used it for a dance floor.”
“They have some campgrounds nearby, and that’s where we stayed.” Shelby laughed. “You should have seen the two of us, trying to set up the tents and then cook our food. Some nearby campers came to our aid. I talked Alan into going into some of the caves in the area. He had a hard time of it, but he didn’t want me to go alone.” Her expression turned reflective. “You know, he didn’t have to do it. But he did it because it meant so much to me.” She looked down at her feet. “And I never once thanked him.”
