“Nothing is going to happen.” He met my gaze. He knew what I was worried about, and he was telling me to trust him. “Deek is on the job.”

  I laughed, letting the unease settle. “Anyway, call me if you need anything.”

  “You always have to put a damper on my take-over-the-world plans,” he called after me.

  “Even the CEO of Starbucks has a budget,” I called back. “Don’t have too much fun.”

  As I made my way into the California sunshine, I was smiling. We might be a minicrew right now, but the people who worked for me were family. Not just people who wanted jobs. They cared almost as much as I did about the shop and customer service. I had the best job ever. Of course, I was a small business owner. It wasn’t really a job; it was a lifestyle. One that gave me the ultimate access to my two favorite things: coffee and books.

  I waved to Emma as I drove past the house. She couldn’t see me, of course, because she was probably sleeping inside in the kitchen. I’d dropped by Esmeralda’s last night to give her my schedule and hotel information and let her know where the treats were stored. Her cat, Maggie, had immediately jumped up into my arms and given me kitty hugs. What can I say? Animals love me.

  Esmeralda had a client at her fortune-telling shop, judging by the Rolls-Royce in her driveway. I didn’t know why she even stayed working as the part-time police dispatcher; her side business had to be raking in the moola. I didn’t understand what she really did. She called it “reading people with a little extra.” She had told me before that I had a touch of the gift, but if it was anything like I’d experienced with Masters and the kidnapping vision, I’d rather return the gift unopened.

  As I drove to the airport, I thought about that experience and whether it meant anything to the murder investigation Greg was trying to solve. I didn’t see how. Frank had been hit right in front of me. No one had put a cloth with sleeping gas or whatever over his face. Maybe the simplest answer was the easiest. I had been too tired and had slipped into a waking dream. I’d heard of things like that happening to people.

  Satisfied I’d found an answer that didn’t involve me being crazy or psychic, I pulled into the long-term parking lot and went inside to go through security and find my gate. Once I competed that, I found a coffee shop and ordered a large coffee and a bottle of water for the plane. Then I settled into one of the less-than-comfortable chairs and pulled out a book. I let out a little sigh of pleasure as I cracked the spine.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a familiar face. I was facing the entrance where the TSA-precheck passengers came through security. A man in a black suit glanced my way, then turned to go in the opposite direction. If I didn’t know better, I would have sworn it was Mike Masters. He hadn’t come into the shop to pick up his check, and there was no way he could have already done that and beat me to the airport. Besides, Mike wore jeans and T-shirts. Or had every time I’d seen him. Formal business attire was not his jam.

  I seriously needed some time away from South Cove and Frank’s murder. I was beginning to see things. Okay, so I’d been doing that for a while, but this just confirmed that I needed a weekend filled with fun, laughter, good food, and several adult beverages. And I wasn’t thinking of coffee.

  I returned to the book and started reading. Chapter one.

  * * * *

  By the time I landed at McCarran International Airport in Vegas, I’d almost finished the first book. It was a woman’s fiction summer read and put me in the mood for a frozen drink by the pool. The slots at the airport were filled with travelers on a layover, and everyone seemed to be in a fun-loving mood. I texted Amy as soon as I landed and told her I’d be at the hotel and checked in by five.

  She texted back that they’d meet me in the lobby at five thirty for dinner. Which was perfect. I got a taxi and relaxed for the drive into the Strip. The traffic was brutal, but my cab driver kept pointing out all the new attractions. “You should have been here back in the day. I’ve lived here all my life and all I’ve seen is change. My wife and I like to go to Fremont Street for date night and try to remember what it was like in the golden days.”

  I loved the different feel of each of the fantasy hotels. The Venetian tried to take you to Italy. The Paris Casino had the Eiffel Tower. And there was even a hotel shaped like a pyramid. You could go anywhere in the world just by crossing the street. Treasure Island was built for the-pirate loving crowd. Tourists could watch a staged pirate takeover of another boat right outside the casino. Night after night. And I’d heard their buffet was out of this world.

  I kicked off my shoes and sprawled on my king-sized bed. I know the flight wasn’t that long, but it still sapped my energy. I still had a half hour before I had to meet Amy. I glanced at the book. That should be just enough time for me to read the last few chapters, if I didn’t shower and change for dinner.

  I compromised and took out a sundress with cute flip-flops. Then I curled up on the bed and finished the book. I could run through the shower, dress, and freshen my makeup in less than ten minutes. I just had to finish reading with that amount of time left.

  I missed my goal by three minutes. But I was still in the lobby, dressed, and looking amazing by the time Amy arrived. My friend was typically early, so I counted my blessings. And I had one book read and off my TBR list. It had been a productive day.

  “Your aunt and Harrold are having dinner in their room. She just texted me. Darla and Matt aren’t here yet; they’re driving. So it’s just the three of us.” She smiled up at Justin. “I’ve told him tomorrow he can’t even call me, so he needs his Amy fix tonight.”

  “I can grab a bite on my own if you two want to spend some time alone.” I thought about the next book waiting for me to crack open the spine. And I really wanted to check out the pool.

  “No way you’re leaving me alone with her.” Justin grabbed my arm and moved in between the two of us. “And we’re talking about anything but the wedding. No planning. No linens. And for goodness’ sake, I’m not eating cake samples for dessert. This weekend is all about fun. Do you think Greg will be here for the guys’ night tomorrow?”

  We started walking toward the restaurant in the building. “I’m not sure. He’s trying, but he wouldn’t even let me set up a flight reservation. He’s going to either fly up tonight or tomorrow morning or drive up on Saturday if he can’t get a flight.”

  “Well, I hope he can get here. My brother, who’s going to be the best man, can’t take off this weekend. He just called and he has a big gig on Saturday in Florida. Life of a musician.” Justin paused at the host near the entrance. “I hope you like steak.”

  The place was all old, dark wood and darker colors. Not the type of place I regularly ate, but this wasn’t my celebration weekend. “Sounds great,” I lied. As we were walking in the dining room with white tablecloths and wineglasses already set on the table, I froze.

  There, in a booth, in the black suit I’d seen at the airport, was Mike Masters. He was having dinner with a blond woman who looked suspiciously like the Realtor who’d tried to strong-arm me into selling my house. Our host set us at a table and I excused myself. “I think I know that couple. I’ll be right back.”

  Chapter 20

  I crossed the room and stood in front of the booth until they both looked up at me. SaraBeth dropped her spoon and Mike threw his napkin on the table.

  “Interesting. Your sick mother looks like she’s doing better.”

  “Look, Jill, I can explain.” Mike glanced at the woman. “This is Sara Marston. She’s my partner.”

  “You’re both in real estate? I don’t understand. One of you was trying to get me to sell and one of you was trying to stop me. What was the game? Confusion?” I glanced over at our table, where Amy and Justin were watching me. I nodded that I was fine and turned back to the booth.

  “We’re not in real estate.” He pulled out a card and handed it to me. “As well as being an author, I have a day job. I’m with the FBI. We’re investigating Aaron Presley, the developer of the water park.”

  “I don’t understand. Why are you investigating him?” I held up the card to Sara. “I take it you have one of these too?”

  She nodded. “Sorry to push you so hard, but I had to know if he’d already gotten to you. I mean, you were under some pretty hard intimidation to sell.”

  “The attacks on my shop? That was you guys?” Now I was starting to get angry. Why would they do that to me?

  Mike held up a hand. “No. That wasn’t us. I believe that was Presley and someone from South Cove who was working with him. He really needs your property to get the development funding and grants he wants. Then, once the money is locked up, he’ll start by demolishing your house. After that, he’ll start having planning and zoning issues, or other delays will happen, and he’ll just disappear. I told you before, he’s not a nice guy.”

  “And I told you before, I’m not selling. Look, go use someone else and stop playing with South Cove. If he has to have my house for the project, he’s run up against a brick wall anyway. I’m not selling.”

  “They aren’t just going to take your no and go away. The intimidation will get harder.”

  “I live with a cop.”

  “That might not be enough.” Mike moved over in the booth. “Look, sit down with us and we’ll explain our plan. Once we get him cornered, you’ll be fine.”

  “Sorry, I’m with friends.” I glanced back at the table, and now Justin was standing up. I shook my head and he sat down. “Call me on Monday and I’ll schedule a meeting with you two and Greg. I need his input on this.”

  “We may not have until Monday,” Sara said flatly.

  A chill went over my entire body. Maybe I should call Esmeralda and have her move Emma. With Greg and Toby out of town, it might be easy to do something to my house, like set it on fire. The only thing in the house that I couldn’t replace was my dog. “You think they’ll destroy the house? My dog’s in there. You need to put someone there to watch it.”

  “Like we have the funding for that.” She snorted and returned to her steak dinner.

  “But you have funding to eat in a place like this.” Now I was furious.

  “Jill, call me tomorrow and we’ll set up a meeting. I don’t think you have anything to worry about right now.” He glared at his partner. “Sara can be a bit premature.”

  I pointed at him. “If anything happens to Emma, you’re going to be sorry.”

  I walked back to the table, fear chasing me with every step.

  Amy put her hand on my shoulder as I dug for my phone. “What’s wrong?”

  “I’m just a little worried. Let me call Esmeralda and have her go get Emma out of the house. Then I can eat.” I glanced at Justin. “Can you order for me? And get me a beer.”

  I hoped the alcohol would keep my hands from shaking. When the call went through, Esmeralda picked up on the first ring.

  “I don’t know how you knew, but she’s over here with me,” Esmeralda said before I could even ask her to get Emma.

  “What happened?”

  “Someone tried to break into your house. I saw Toby’s truck take off about four. I knew you were gone and Greg was still at the office because he’d just called about a file he couldn’t find. When the van pulled into the house, I called Greg back, and they caught the guys before they could even pick the lock.”

  I took a deep breath, tears filling my eyes. “And Emma’s okay?”

  “She is now. I guess Greg said he could hear her barking when he pulled up behind the van. She was so loud, the guys didn’t even hear him come up behind them.” Esmerelda laughed. “Right now, she’s lying on her bed in my kitchen with Maggie cuddled up next to her. I’m pretty sure she’s asleep. She was worn out.”

  “Thank you. She’ll be okay there, right? You don’t have any clients coming in who this might be an issue for?”

  “Nope. I’m done for the day. I’d rescheduled some of my appointments so I’d have a short day today. I guess a little bird told me I needed to free up some time.”

  “We’ll go with that. Thanks for taking care of her.” I was about to hang up when I heard her call my name.

  “Jill, when I told him I was calling you, Greg said to tell you that he was on his way as soon as he got these guys set up in a cell for the weekend.”

  “Thanks. I’ll give him a call after dinner.” I hung up the phone, and instead of tucking it away, I put it on the table.

  “What in the world is going on?” Amy looked at me, then the phone. “Don’t tell me something happened to the house.”

  “No. At least, it didn’t because Greg stopped the bad guys.” I went on to tell them all about what happened, stopping the story to order food because they’d waited for me to get off the phone. They had ordered drinks, and as soon as my beer arrived, I ignored the chilled glass and drank down half of the bottle. When I ordered my dinner, I added in another beer. “So, long story short, Emma’s fine and Greg’s on his way here as soon as he gets done locking up the ones who tried to get into the house.”

  “Do you know what they were looking for?” Justin asked as the waiter started setting food on the table in front of us.

  “My guess? After hearing what Mike had to say, I think they were going to set it on fire. And probably steal some easy-to-fence things. We don’t have much. But I bet Greg’s new television wouldn’t have been found in the fire. Or any of the computer stuff in the office.” I took another sip of my beer. “I’m just glad Emma’s okay.”

  Amy pointed her fork at Sara and Mike, who were now watching us. Mike was on his phone, apparently getting the same news I’d just received. “What about those two?”

  “They’re feds. Along with having cover jobs like being an author and a Realtor. She’s the one who tried to push me into selling the house.” I cut off a piece of my salmon and took a bite. It was heaven. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the taste and sent a prayer of thanks up for Emma’s safety. I’d never had to worry about her before. Well, just once when Toby left some chocolate down and she ate it. But that had been an accident, because he’d been fighting with his then-girlfriend, Sasha.

  We sat quietly for a while and just ate.

  “I’m sorry I pulled you here for a party.” Amy put down her fork and took a sip of her margarita. “I knew things were going on. We could have postponed this.”

  “No.”

  The emphasis of the word made both Amy and Justin look at me. I’m pretty sure they thought I’d gone a little crazy. I set down my fork and took both their hands. “We have to learn to celebrate the good things in life. Like your upcoming wedding. This party was long overdue. Your engagement party was overshadowed by Aunt Jackie dumping Harrold. You both deserve something that’s just for you. And I’m looking forward to celebrating with you.”

  “That was really sweet of you.” Amy leaned over and kissed my cheek. “Thank you.”

  Justin lifted his drink glass. “To Jill and our South Cove friends. Thank you for making life interesting.”

  I clinked with the couple, then took a sip. “I’m thinking our lives will never be boring.”

  “You know, you and Greg could tie the knot this weekend. Just have a Vegas wedding. We’ll all be here anyway.” Amy took another sip of her margarita, then quickly set it down and reached up to her forehead. “Brain freeze.”

  Laughing, I went back to my dinner. “Serves you right. What part of this-is-your-weekend didn’t you hear?”

  I wasn’t going to tell her that the thought of being married again scared me. I mean, I loved Greg. That was certain, and we seemed to be well suited for each other. We liked being together and we had a lot to talk about. But what if that died? Where would we be? And what about kids? Did saying yes mean getting a brood of kids started? I worried about leaving my dog for a weekend. What would I do if I had a baby? Who would I trust enough to watch her while we traveled?

  My mind was racing and I didn’t like any of the questions or answers.

  Amy shook my arm. “Earth to Jill. Do you want to go to a show with us? We’re going to the circus one. We can get you a ticket.”

  I finished my second beer. “I think I’m going to go find the pool and sit and read until it’s too dark to be outside. Then I’ll go to my room and read.”

  “We came to Vegas for fun.” Amy pouted.

  I nodded. “And for me, having time to read is fun. Look, Greg’s on his way, so I want to be available when he gets here, not in a show so he has to sit in the room by himself. Maybe when he gets in we can meet for drinks after the show and do some gambling?”

  “Now that sounds like a plan.” Justin took out his wallet and put a card on the bill. “That way everyone doesn’t have to be so jealous of me being with the two prettiest women on the Strip.”

  “You’re such a charmer.” Amy smiled at her soon-to-be husband.

  I stood. “I’m going to run back to the room and get my swimsuit on and grab my book. I’ll text you as soon as Greg arrives, okay?”

  “Sounds like a plan. We’ll be out of the show around ten.”

  I left them talking about how excited they were to see the tigers, and I wondered if I should have gone with them. As I walked by the casino on the way to my room, I decided to go play some slots instead of reading. The level of alcohol in my system seemed to think it was a great idea too. I found one that looked like fun, with random bonuses, and sat down.

  That was where Greg found me when he arrived at the hotel. “Winning?”

  “I’m on the same twenty dollars. I get it up, lose a lot, then get it up again. Right now, I’m on an upswing, so I could cash out.” I glanced at my watch. It was after ten. “You made great time. How’s Emma?”

  “Your dog is fine. She wanted to kick some butt when I let her outside. She lunged at the one guy who’d been trying to pick your lock. Good thing we got new locks and a security system installed a few years ago. He would have made short work of the old one.” He took out a ten and slipped it into the machine next to me. I cashed out at just over a hundred, then put in another five and held on to the ticket.