A Vintage Murder (10 page)

Liam frowned. “No. The timing works now. You understand. I know you do. I can’t hold off.”

There it was again—Liam and Derek speaking in code. Nikki was going to get to the bottom of their secret.

“As far as my Grace, lunch was her idea. She’s been making Hannah help her all morning. She wanted to keep her away from Lucy because she feels that Lucy has been a bad influence on our daughter. All three of them—Hannah, Lucy, and the makeup kid—keep insisting they were run off the road last night, but I don’t believe it and neither does Grace. They were liquored up and that’s what it was. I keep trying to get Hannah to take responsibility for her actions. Oh goodness, listen to me, I sound insensitive.” He sighed and shook his head. “Neither of them are aware of what’s happened to Lucy. Her death makes me think I shouldn’t be concerned about the kids having a good time last night or the car. Of course, I don’t want anything to ever happen to Hannah, but all the same, I did some dumb things in my youth.”

“We all did,” Derek said.

“As far as our business is concerned, what has happened is terrible. I’m sure there’ll be some kind of fallout because it occurred on my property. If you want to pull back on negotiations because you’re afraid of some kind of negative publicity, Derek, I understand. But really, I don’t think this tragedy should affect our business dealings, which are completely separate from the movie, and now Lucy’s death,” Liam said.

“I’m not concerned over possible fallout. I’m only concerned for you and your family and the timing of it all. I don’t want to add any further stress.”

“I appreciate your concern,” Liam replied. “But it would be best if we try to run life as close to normal as possible. You can put this bad business behind you and go and see some sites later today. I think we should be able to come up with a licensing and distribution deal that satisfies the two of us today and then I’ll have the papers drawn up. And, by tomorrow if you want to head back to the States or travel the country here, you’ll be free to do so.”

Derek nodded. “Sounds good then.”

Nikki shrugged. Well, one thing was for sure: even though that itch in her brain was nagging at her to see what answers she could discover about Lucy’s death, she wouldn’t get the chance. It sounded as if the business between Liam and Derek would be dealt with by the end of the day and they would likely be back on the jet tomorrow. But she did wonder if they would be heading home, or if Derek had any other plans. He had mentioned during their flight over that the trip would be part vacation, and they’d be gone for about a week. It had only been a few days. In light of things though, would he rush them home?

They pulled up in front of the house. “I know this probably goes without saying,” Liam said and looked at his three guests, “but I would be grateful if no one mentioned what happened to Lucy. I’d like to tell Hannah and Grace myself.”

They all agreed and piled out of the cart.

As they entered the foyer, Hannah hurried toward them. “Daddy?” Her face was tearstained, mascara smeared across her face.

“What is it, love? What’s the matter?”

She started crying. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I’ve done something horrible. Please forgive me!”

Liam pulled her into him and stroked the top of her fair head. He glanced at his guests, all of whom had the sense to retreat toward the front door. “What is it? What did you do, Hannah?”

Grace appeared, a grave look on her face. “Oh yes, she’s done something terrible and we are going to have to do something about it. She lied about the car accident last night.” Then she spotted Derek, Nikki, and Simon, and she stopped. “But it’s nothing we can’t take care of as a family later.”

“But, Mum—”

“Go wash up, Hannah. Lunch is ready. We will deal with this later. Now, come in. Nice to see you all again. Lovely day, isn’t it?”

“What is going on, Grace?” Liam asked.

“Later, dear. We have guests.”

“Yes, well, the day is not so lovely. I was going to hold off a bit before I said anything, but Lucy Swanson has died from a snakebite.”

Grace’s face lost all color. “Oh my God.”

Nikki heard a gasp from the stairs and looked up. She saw Hannah turn and continue down the hall, but not before Nikki
thought
she saw a smile on the girl’s face.

Nikki was having a hard time not thinking about the scene that had taken place at the Hahndorfs’. It had been uncomfortable there, and as soon as Liam broke the news to Grace, they decided it would be a good time to leave. Nikki could not get the picture out of her mind of seeing Hannah smile when she heard about Lucy. But
had
she really seen that? Was her mind playing tricks on her? And, what was the deal with Hannah supposedly lying about the car accident she’d been in with Lucy and Johnny?

Nikki kind of agreed with Simon, who’d blathered on in the backseat of the car while driving back to town. He had been saying that the whole lot of them seemed totally dysfunctional, and that Derek should just cancel any business dealings he’d already begun with Liam. He finally shut up when Derek reminded him of their own family’s dysfunctional propensities, which included Simon’s mother and Derek’s stepmom, Patrice, who’d taken the title of stepmonster to the nth degree. Once Derek started in on their family history, Simon didn’t say another word, and when they got back to the hotel he said that he was determined to find another room so that they could have their privacy. Nikki felt bad for Simon and she started after him, but Derek caught her by the hand and insisted she allow his brother to sulk.

“We—
you
—can’t keep rescuing him. Marco is right. It’s time Simon does some growing up, and he needs to go through his own growing pains to do so. We’ll invite him for dinner with us tonight, but for now, let him be. Maybe he can work some things out in his head, and who knows, he might actually pull himself out of it for once. But you can’t do it for him. Besides, I want to spend some time alone with you. Let’s do some window-shopping. Maybe take a drive out to Eden Valley. I’ve heard it’s beautiful, and after what we’ve been through the last couple of days, I’d like to see some sights and just be with you.”

Okay, how could anyone walk away from that? Simon would have to sulk, and even though it left a hole in her stomach to know he was feeling isolated and lonely, she also knew that Derek was right. Simon had to figure some of this out on his own.

They took a driving tour of the three towns that made up the Barossa Valley: Angaston, Tanunda, and Nuriootpa. The towns were only about five miles apart from one another and were serviced by bitumen roads. The scenery was beautiful in between each town with vineyards, wineries, and Australian native trees. They spotted plenty of active wildlife along the way.

They decided to stop at one of the more interesting-looking wineries and see what they had to offer. “I’ve heard of this place,” Derek said. “They do small, boutique wines. Limited editions.”

The sign on the front read “Fritz Winery.” “What is it with all the German names?” Nikki asked.

“From what history I know, the inhabitants of the Barossa descended from free migrant German and Austrian stock. Supposedly, the Eastern States of Australia like Victoria and New South Wales were colonized by convicts from Scotland, Ireland, and England.”

“Interesting. Should we go in? I love these boutique wineries.” In Napa and Sonoma there were hundreds of boutique wineries. They couldn’t compete with Malveaux as far as sales went, because Malveaux had wide distribution and funds to advertise. However, the smaller wineries seemed to maintain an artisan’s viewpoint on the effort that went into making wine. Nikki felt many of them produced better-tasting wines than some of the more commercialized wineries. But she wouldn’t tell Derek that.

Walking into the small winery gave Nikki a feeling of going back in time. Maybe it was because they were in a different country, or because the winery itself was an actual barn.

There were a couple of tables. A group of five people sat around one and appeared as if they’d been enjoying a tasting all afternoon. They chatted, laughed, and continued to pour the wine. A woman with long bright, almost orange hair who looked to be in her fifties walked around a long wooden bar, where she took out three bottles of wine and placed them on top. “G’day,” she said. “I’m Sarah Fritz. I own the place. I expect you’re here for a tasting.”

Nikki noticed the woman had a long scar across her right cheek. Whatever had happened to her looked like it had been painful.

“Yes, ma’am,” Derek said, pulling out his wallet.

She waved a hand at him. “No charge for the tasting. But you have to buy a bottle of wine.” She winked at Nikki. “For your girl.” Derek agreed to her terms and she started pouring.

“This is my Sauvignon Blanc. Good stuff. Not too much grapefruit flavor like so many of them. I think it has a crisp pear flavor myself.”

Nikki swirled, sniffed, and did the whole wine-expert thing, which was funny, because although she sold it for Derek and helped manage his winery, she never really considered herself an expert. There was always more to learn and discover about growing grapes and making wine, and about what people enjoyed about wine. “It is good. I can taste the pear.”

“You’re from the States,” Sarah said.

They nodded. “Napa.”

“Ah. So are you here for pleasure, or is this a business trip?”

“Both,” Derek said and left it at that.

“We’ve had some meetings with the Hahndorfs,” Nikki added. Derek nudged her. Oops, she hadn’t realized she wasn’t supposed to say anything.

Sarah didn’t respond for a second, her face shadowed by what looked to be anger. “I see. Yes, well, I can warn you that you don’t want to be involved with that family.”

Nikki glanced at Derek, who looked down. He sighed, knowing she would take Sarah’s bait. And she did. “Why do you say that?”

Sarah poured herself a full glass of the Sauvignon Blanc and then poured them each a taste of a Viognier. Before expanding on her opinion of the Hahndorfs she gave a brief description of the wine. Nikki sipped it and thought it okay, but wanted this Sarah lady to continue her story.

After another sip of wine, Sarah said, “Liam is a decent man. Quite the entrepreneur in these parts. Rumor has it that he’s planning to make a deal with Derek Malveaux. I’m guessing that’s you.” She raised an eyebrow and Derek nodded, not looking exactly pleased.

Maybe Nikki should’ve kept her mouth shut. She knew he didn’t care to gossip, and she was probably going to catch an earful.

“But I’m telling you the one behind that empire is Grace. She is a control freak and neurotic as hell. Liam doesn’t jump unless she tells him to.”

“I didn’t get that feeling. We’ve been at their place. Grace Hahndorf seems like a nice woman, and I got the impression that she was hands-off with the business,” Nikki said. True, but she did think Grace had some oddities about her.

“Oh no. She puts on a good show. Liam goes right along with it. She’s quite the scam artist, I tell you. For Grace it’s all about appearances.” She leaned in. “Don’t you think for a minute that this idea of you labeling his Australian wine in California was his idea. Not at all. Liam is simple folk, like most of us. Grace is a snob. She runs the show. Watch out for her. Such a shame things didn’t work out the way Liam wanted twenty years ago.”

“What do you mean?” Nikki asked.

“Liam should have wound up with Elizabeth Wells. She was his first and only true love, but she died.” Sarah shook her head.

Derek was frowning.

“How did she die?” Nikki asked.

“Fluke. Elizabeth was a zoologist and conservationist. She was trying to save a sick baby koala out in the bush. Guess the mother had died. Anyway, nasty story, but a crocodile got her.”

“Oh my God!”

“Yep. Here the poor girl was trying to save one animal only to slip and fall near the river, where the croc got her.”

“That’s awful.”

“Yeah, I know, and then poor Liam winds up with Grace, which is even worse.”

“I don’t know what you mean about Grace. She really does seem lovely.”

“Looks are deceiving.”

Derek cleared his throat and set his glass down. He took out a twenty-dollar bill and handed it to Sarah. “That should cover our bottle. Nikki. We gotta go.”

Uh-oh. He was not happy.

Sarah called out to them as they left. Derek didn’t look back. Nikki turned and shrugged, giving her a smile. She was pretty sure that Sarah Fritz would have some opinions about the two of them to share with the locals.

Nikki followed him back to the car. He didn’t say anything for a few minutes as they pulled out of the winery. Finally he spoke: “Why do you always do that?”

“Do what?”

“Ask questions. Buy into what people are saying.”

“I didn’t necessarily buy into what she was saying.”