Corked by Cabernet (12 page)

Marco turned and smiled, giving her a little wave. Simon slammed the door behind them. She laughed, knowing that both the boys of summer were as in on this as she was. They just had very different ways of expressing themselves. Simon liked to use his dramatic flair and Marco played coy and sweet, but she knew when the coffee was steaming hot in the morning, her pals would be right there with her going over her list of suspects and ready to track a killer.

THE boys had joined Nikki for coffee as she’d predicted. She’d gotten up earlier than usual, even though she’d had only a few hours of sleep. It was just past six when she woke up, much to the dismay of Ollie, who’d slept on Derek’s side of the bed. Nikki hadn’t fought him. She’d been too tired and he was a warm body.

She hemmed and hawed about calling Derek. It would have been past nine in New York. He’d gotten in, in the middle of the night, so she justified holding off giving him a call and apprising him as to what had happened. It was possible, even likely, he was still asleep. She knew that he wouldn’t be meeting old man Vicente until lunchtime. Deep down she knew that the real reason she wasn’t making that phone call just yet was because of the reaction she would likely get on the other end; Derek was going to come unglued when he heard about what happened.

She’d had time alone while drinking her first cup of coffee to consider what she knew about the murder.

First, there was Alan Sansi. It seemed like the logical place to start. She opened up her laptop and set up a new document that she titled YAMIMOTO MURDER. Aunt Cara would be proud. She really should call her and get her professional input, but she wasn’t even sure which country Cara was in these days. Since her retirement, she’d become a whirlwind traveler. Her aunt saved a lot of money during her years on the force and had herself a nice sum in her 401(k). She deserved to be enjoying it. But it was times like these that Nikki really missed her and wished she could get her input.

She typed in Alan Sansi’s name and her first impressions of him: TRUE TO HIS CAUSE. Then she asked herself the question she would ask herself about each one of the members. What could be a possible motive? With Alan, Nikki wasn’t sure. But he’d behaved oddly and had had that argument she’d witnessed with Iwao. And it seemed to have something to do with his daughter, who, from all angles, Nikki figured had to be Sierra. She’d been in that photo with his son.
Iwao’s son
. Nikki would have to get in touch with Robinson and tell him the latest she’d learned and that he needed to find out where Jen Yamimoto was located. She should have tried to ask Mizuki if Jen was in Japan or the United States.

There was another thought that came to mind about Alan, but it was so far out there. Then again, nothing about murder was ever really logical. Maybe so in the killer’s mind, but not for anyone else. Could Alan Sansi have killed Iwao because Alan knew Iwao didn’t believe in his theories? Could Alan’s
ego
be the culprit? Wouldn’t that be ironic?

Maybe he knew that Iwao thought his philosophies were “horseshit,” as the dead man had so eloquently put it. Could that have bothered someone like an Alan Sansi, a man who supposedly had no ego and lived only from the soul? It was a thought she’d have to dig deeper into to see if there was any merit to it. There were a few angles with Alan Sansi, but first she’d have to find out if the guru had even disappeared long enough from the train car to murder Iwao.

She listed everyone else she could think of, and the next suspect to stand out was Juan Gonzales. Not because Nikki knew of any concrete motive, but because of the way Iwao had reacted toward Juan. There had been some kind of underlying irritation coming from Iwao toward Juan. She wasn’t sure if Juan had even been aware of the hostility Iwao seemed to be emitting, but she was pretty sure Lulu and Alan had picked up on it, and she would find a way to bring the subject up with them and see what they had to say. There was also this business of a note that Iwao had received from Juan when he arrived in the hotel. Nikki would have to ask any of the Housekeeping staff if they had seen a note.

Juan had acted clueless when it came to the note. If she could get inside Juan Gonzales’s head, maybe she’d learn something. Or better yet, she would get into Iwao Yamimoto’s room to see what she could find. She thought she’d made a decent impression on Mizuki and that in itself should get her in the door. But the snooping around could be another story. Maybe she could send Alyssa in as Housekeeping. No. Probably not a good idea. She’d already employed the boys in this situation; she couldn’t risk Alyssa getting herself into a bad spot.

Once she’d made the list and the boys had gone over it with her, Simon looked up. “You seriously want us to infiltrate these people’s lives?”

“I wouldn’t call it that. Give me a break. Get to know them. That’s what you’re here for anyway, and then report back to me with anything you learn, like oddities, their idiosyncrasies, fears. Their lives, basically. If you fill me in, then I can analyze them and maybe come up with something.”

“This is bad karma, Snow White.”

“Karma shmarma. Face it, boys, I’m not the next Dalai Lama. Now, let’s get out here and get this hike going.”

Simon stood from the table. “I can’t believe you gave me Rose Pearlman to pally up to today. She’s so unpleasant.”

“That’s what you get for being nasty to me.” She gave a flippant toss of her dark hair.

“Wait. Remember that we do have a purpose here and that is to enlighten ourselves,” Marco said. “Have an open attitude toward Mrs. Pearlman, Simon.” He crossed his arms. His melodic voice and accent always sounded so sweet no matter what he said.

Nikki shook her head. “You two throw me off. What? Do you change identities when you sleep at night? You know one day, you’re the sage.” She pointed to Simon. “Then the next day it’s Marco’s turn.”

“We do balance each other out nicely.” Marco laid a hand on Simon’s shoulder.

“Yes, we do.”

The three of them headed up to the conference area, and before long, Nikki’s plan was rearranged because Alan Sansi had formed his own groups. She figured that the boys would know to roll with it and investigate whomever they were grouped with.

Alan came to her outside the bus that intended to take them to the park where they would begin their journey.

“With Iwao gone, I would like to have even numbers in the groups so everyone can participate fully in today’s event. Is it possible for you to be a team player today?”

“Well, I guess I can do that, but I thought you wanted me to lead the group on the hike and point out the various sites.”

He laid a hand on her shoulder. “There are no specific leaders. I’m not even a leader necessarily. We are all each other’s teachers.”

Nikki really didn’t want to hear any more of the “I teach you and you teach me” rhetoric. If there were no leaders in the world, it would be total anarchy. “Sure. I can do, be whatever you need.” Agreeing was far easier than trying to argue her point.

Before they began the first leg of the hike, Alan addressed everyone again. “Last night was difficult. Today is a new day, yet we don’t forget yesterday, but instead we move forward and breathe through our intentions today. You may dedicate this hike and what you learn today to Iwao and his life, or to yourself, or to someone else. Feel free to share, talk as you walk, or simply absorb the nature around you. Whatever you are guided to do is what you are supposed to do.”

Oh, brother. Was there no structure? No basis in reality here? It was like Gestalt therapy gone wild. Nikki liked Alan fine, and she knew this was what he believed in and preached. But come on, sometimes you
had
to do what needed to be done and not just go the way the wind blows.

They reached their destination and Nikki momentarily played head of the class by describing some of the native plants and possible wildlife they might come across. A glance at Alan told her to let everyone go off willy-nilly, except for the pairs he’d come up with. Nikki was paired with Ruben Pearlman, who did not come across as either a sociopath, psychopath, or really any type of killer. However, she reminded herself of something Aunt Cara would tell her, “Information can come from the most obscure places and people. And when it comes, you may not recognize the value in it until somewhere down the line.”

The hike through the park happened to be one of Nikki’s favorite pastimes. She wished she could’ve brought Ollie because he enjoyed it, too. The typically lazy dog would finally spring forth to life with all the scents surrounding the area. A lushness swept across the area and displayed itself in green, gold, and auburn foliage. The earthen scents that covered the park could be detected only in the wine country, reminding one of a simple, light, and fruity dessert. The redwoods gave off their own heady, earthy scent. Nikki couldn’t imagine ever leaving Napa Valley. This was her home now. She’d finally felt like she had roots after having none for so long. Aunt Cara had given her some stability in Los Angeles and she’d been the only parent Nikki remembered. She vaguely recalled her biological mother, who she knew was still alive in the hill country of Tennessee, but she shoved away any memories of that woman (and pretty much her entire family, sans her aunt) because they weren’t exactly people she wanted displayed in picture frames on her wall.

After about fifteen minutes of everyone doing as Alan suggested, which was taking in the beauty and meditating on it, silences broke with pairs of people as they began talking and asking each other questions. Nikki did find that fascinating about human nature—people were ever curious. She just happened to get a double dose of curiosity when she entered the world and had been that way since she could remember.

“Do you like living in New York?” Nikki asked.

Ruben Pearlman, whose breathing was somewhat labored, nodded. “Yes and no. I’ve lived there all of my life. I’m newly retired and would like to move somewhere less fast paced.”

“Like here?” Nikki asked.

“This would be wonderful, but probably as expensive as Manhattan or close, and Rose wouldn’t have it. I had to beg and plead with her to come on this trip with me. A tad too country for her. I’m sure she’s not exactly enjoying the hike, but it’s good for her, and I keep thinking that with time she’ll come to appreciate the lessons Alan teaches us.”

“Haven’t you been members for a while?”

“Yes, but Rose has only visited the places she’s really interested in, like Hawaii or Fiji. She likes the travel part of this deal, not necessarily the workshops. She wanted to go to Bali, where we were supposed to go on this event, but since they had to cancel the locale and have it here, she wanted to hang back home. I told her it would be wonderful and begged her to join me still. My wife doesn’t realize that we may not be able to travel as much as we used to, and we may have to move from Manhattan no matter what she wants. I hate to admit it, but I might also have to withdraw our membership in the group.” He looked down and kept walking.

“Do you mind if I ask you why?”

“Finances. Money is tight for us. I made a bad deal not that long ago that has hurt us, and our lifestyle will have to change.”

“I’m sorry about that.”

Ruben waved a hand. “It’s okay. It really is. If there is one thing that I have come to realize by being a part of this group, it is that it does not matter how many dollars are in your bank account, or if you have designer furniture or clothes, or drive a Mercedes, or whatever it is that you think floats your boat. None of it matters all that much if you’re not happy in here.” He pointed to his heart.

Nikki stopped for a moment and he halted along with her. “You get this, don’t you?” He did. Ruben Pearlman was for real, and for the first time since she’d heard all of Alan’s philosophies, she believed that Ruben Pearlman was enlightened.

“I hope I do. It took me a long time to understand that. My wife is still out there floating around in her Donna Karan outfits and spa treatments, none of which are wrong or bad, but they don’t make her happy. Nothing makes her happy. If she gained the happiness that I finally got, then all of the fringe would be icing on the cake.”

“You’re pretty cool,” Nikki said.

“Thanks.” His face turned red. Could that have been from embarrassment or from how hard he was working on the hike?

“What did you do before retirement?”

“I’ve been heavily involved in various media productions. I worked for years in the record industry, but with the transition it’s taken over the last few years, I had to branch out a bit. At my age that wasn’t easy. I dabbled in some movie production stuff and that’s when things turned sour for me. Not that long ago I kind of had to back out of that.”

“I understand that. I used to act.”

“Tough business,” he replied.

“Don’t I know it.” How was she going to get him to talk about the other members? His background was interesting and he’d been confirming her first impressions of him as being a stand-up guy. Now she wanted to know if he had any insight into any of the others. The best way was to ask. She glanced up ahead of her and saw that Simon was jabbering away with Marco. Okay, that was not what they were asked to do. She gritted her teeth. They knew plenty about one another and neither of them was a killer.