Corked by Cabernet (30 page)

Robinson let out a low whistle, his car engine running in the background.

“Right. It looked like the deal was back on. But then, in a third and final meeting only two weeks ago, Rich tells Iwao he can’t go through with it. His new wife alone will be worth that kind of money and more, so he’ll have no need to sell his publishing company. Iwao still tries to convince him and insists they go to his home for dinner. No hard feelings if he doesn’t want to change his mind. Iwao even says those exact words on the tape, but apparently that wasn’t the case. Because get this, there’s not just a meeting on there. Iwao takes him to his home and there’s a little party that goes on.”

“Let me guess. It’s Higgins and a private party with a girl.”

“Not just any girl. A party with Mizuki and several friends. But Rich Higgins told me the other night that he’d never met Iwao until this weekend.”

“I have to ask, how do you think Iwao got all of that on tape?” Robinson asked.

“He must have had cameras all over his offices and his home, and then transferred the footage onto DVD with hopes of showing Alan what a scumbag his future son-in-law is. He figured that once Alan knew the truth about Higgins, he would jump ship and go with VisionScope. Why would he continue to do business with a man who was going to sell the publishing house he’d help grow right under his feet? Not to mention marry his daughter when he wasn’t exactly showing how devoted and faithful he would be.”

“Why didn’t Iwao tell him what was on that DVD?”

“I asked myself the same thing and the only answer I can come up with is that Alan didn’t want to hear it. When I saw them arguing the other day, Alan was adamant about not wanting to get involved with any situation surrounding his daughter.”

“Where did you find the DVD?”

“It was in the safe this entire time. The hotel safe. You have to see it. I’m telling you that Higgins killed Iwao and Mizuki. He had to have known about the DVD somehow.”

“I’ll be there in fifteen.”

Nikki flipped shut the phone. Rich Higgins. How stupid. Here he was about to marry a beautiful, sweet woman from a decent family, and running a productive publishing house. His mother had to be turning over in her grave. The man must have wanted more, just as Iwao Yamimoto wanted more. Iwao’s desires dug him a grave, whereas Rich’s would see him behind bars. But what about yesterday’s alibi? Robinson told her that everyone but Ruben and Juan could prove their whereabouts during the attack. Did that mean Hayden had been covering for Rich? Why would she do that?

Higgins knew if he sold off Inspiritus to Iwao that his engagement to Hayden would be broken. The Sansi kids were loyal to their family, and Hayden would not marry someone deceitful like Higgins. And Rich Higgins had probably started thinking this thing through. The Sansi family was worth way more money as a family and a business than Inspiritus. In the long run, and after a kid or two, Higgins would be entrenched in a family that had all the perks of the good life and a guaranteed inheritance. Who knew what Higgins had planned for the future? Nikki got the feeling this guy would kill again if he needed to—if he thought he would gain something from it. By murdering Iwao, Rich gained his silence. The DVD proved his initial attempt to sell off Inspiritus behind the Sansis’ backs. He’d murdered Mizuki because he was afraid that if Iwao had told anyone about Rich Higgins, it would likely have been her.

But why had he attempted to kill Nikki? Because she had been asking questions. She’d tipped her hand by asking Hayden in front of him for those applications and saying that she occasionally helped out the police. How stupid she’d been!

Nikki couldn’t wait for Robinson to arrive. She busied herself with folding the clothes and placing them in the basket. She started to head back through the garage door when she heard the click and felt what she knew to be the barrel of a gun in her back.

“I’VE been waiting all morning, trying to figure out how to get you alone.”

Nikki closed her eyes for a second and shook her head. It was Rich Higgins.

“But all morning you’ve been inside with that killer dog of yours and I couldn’t take that chance. Plus, I know you have that kid in there.”

Nikki shuddered at the reference to Petie. She could hear Ollie at the door, scratching and whining to get out. He had to smell her fear because his whining and agitation increased. She prayed Higgins wouldn’t open the door and hurt her dog. Worse yet, if he got inside the house, would he harm Petie? Robinson better have the gas pedal to the floor.

“I need that DVD.”

“What? I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m sorry.”

“Liar!” He spun her around so she faced him.

His face was contorted and filled with rage. He didn’t look like the charmer and handsome man that she was sure Hayden Sansi loved. “I don’t have it.”

“Yes, you do. I saw you this morning with the girl at the front desk. You don’t think that I haven’t been watching you? I told you that already. You’re a problem. A real problem. You ask way too many questions. I couldn’t believe you when you asked for those applications. I knew I had a problem then. Too bad for me that your buddies showed up and saved you yesterday. And then this morning I’ve had to cover my butt with Hayden and her family to follow you and track you down. I’ve been trying to get ahold of that DVD ever since Yamimoto told me he had proof of my cheating on Hayden and being willing to sell out under Sansi’s feet.” He cringed. “I can’t believe he taped all that, otherwise I never would have killed him. Ever! It would have been Yamimoto’s word against mine.” He started laughing.

The guy was insane.

“You don’t think Alan would have believed him?” Buy time, buy time. Robinson was on the way. That fifteen minutes was down to ten.
Drive, Jonah, drive.

“You’re kidding, right? I’m practically family. Alan is hands-off. Remember, he believes that everyone needs to follow their own journey. His children’s journeys are not his to live.”

“Then why would he care if you had a party with some Japanese women that was a wee bit X-rated? Or that you wanted to sell a company he helped grow?”

“Sarcastic bitch, aren’t you!”

Ollie scratched violently at the door. Nikki’s side ached. She needed to set down the laundry basket and see what kind of leverage she could get on Higgins. Could she defend herself at all?

“What were you afraid of then, if Alan refused to see the DVD? What was the big deal?”

“The big deal was Lulu and the rest of the family might have seen it and they aren’t exactly as philosophical and mellow as dear old Dad. Yamimoto told me that he would give me twenty-four hours to make a deal with him, this time for a lot less money
and
I had to convince Alan of the benefits of pimping himself to the world. Can you believe that? That little asshole wanted to blackmail me! I had no choice.”

“You wrote that note to Iwao about the party and the business dealings.”

“Of course I did. I gave it to his whore, Mizuki. That’s when he came to me and told me about the DVD and said that he wanted his way or I’d be out of the way. God, you’re lippy. I need that DVD, and I know it’s in your house.”

“How do you know that?”

“I watched you and that other woman with the baby bring it down here.”

“If that’s so, why did you wait in the garage for me?”

“I’m not totally heartless. I would never hurt a baby, and your friend didn’t stay long enough to watch it. I only take care of necessary problems and you’ve become one.”

“So, Hayden isn’t involved? How did you get her to give you an alibi yesterday? You had to have been the one to attack me.”

“Shut up! That’s what I mean. You’re too mouthy. Hayden is easy to handle. I gave her a glass of wine, put something in it to make her fall asleep, and she thought we both took an afternoon nap together. Never knew I was gone.”

Yep. Total psycho. Ollie’s whine on the other side of the door turned into a low howl between long growls. She eyed the side door.

“Don’t think about it.” He had spotted where she’d been looking. “I locked the door. You rely on that dog a little too much. And as far as he goes, he’s becoming a real problem, too. But I need that DVD, and if I have to kill you and that dog to get it, I will. But I’d rather not kill the dog.” He grinned maniacally.

C’mon, Robinson. I’m running out of time here
. . . She prayed Petie wouldn’t wake up.

“But if I have to, I will. So, here’s the plan. I brought Fido—”

“His name is Ollie.”

“Whatever. I brought the doggie a nice big bone with meat still on it, right here in my pocket. You will toss it in, in front of me, and then subdue the dog. If you don’t subdue him, I will have no problem pulling the trigger. None.”

She would not let him kill Ollie. But more importantly, she had to protect Petie. The little guy was inside sleeping. There was no telling what this madman was capable of.

“Do you understand me?” he growled, his face purple with rage.

She nodded, her stomach knotting into a mixture of fear and adrenaline. She tried to keep her hands steady and her knees locked because at some level she felt she could collapse, and there was no room for cowardice at a time like this. Think! And do it quickly! “Can I put the laundry basket down so that I can get the bone?”

He eyed her with an intensity that literally sent a shiver down her spine. “You want to put the basket down?”

“Yes. If I’m going to give the bone to my dog, we should probably start with me setting the basket down.”

“Are you being smart with me?” he yelled. “You think you’re so smart! You and your talk on wine! I could see how you think everyone is so beneath you! Now look at you. Bet you don’t feel so high and mighty now!”

She didn’t move.

“Okay, yeah, put the basket down.”

Nikki turned back around to set the basket on the washer. She wasn’t even thinking, knowing she had to act fast. This man was going to kill her.

“Just set the thing down, I said!”

With every ounce of strength, Nikki swung the basket around as hard as she could, which was enough to catch him off guard and cause the gun to come out of his grip and fly through the air, knocking it to the ground. It went sliding under the washing machine.

Nikki used a roundhouse kick on his knees. Higgins wobbled and then came up, lunging at her. He grabbed her arm and pulled her back toward him. His strength by far outweighed hers, but she had agility and speed on her side as she rounded her foot around his knee, causing him to fall off balance again. He let go of her arm and she darted for the back door. She reached for the handle as he grabbed her shirt and dragged her backward. She cocked her fist and, with every ounce of strength she could muster, pulled herself around and cold clocked him in the face. He brought a hand up to his eye. Now he was good and pissed off. “You bitch!” Not the first time she’d been called that before.

He charged her and pushed her hard. This time, Nikki was thrown off balance and into the back door. As Higgins started coming for her again, she turned the handle on the back door and Ollie rushed out and jumped Higgins, knocking the man straight to the ground.

“What the . . . !”

A glass window in the side of the garage crashed to the ground. Robinson stood outside the door yelling, “Nikki! Nikki, are you okay?”

Ollie had Higgins pinned. Nikki hit the open button on the garage remote and saw Robinson, gun pointed at Higgins, as the door rose up. Nikki sank to the floor. Ollie found the dog bone in Higgins’s pocket, tore the pocket off, and with instructions from her, got off the man so that Robinson could cuff him and cart him away. “Yeah. I’m okay,” she replied.

Ollie came over, licked her face, and then went back to his bone. She wrapped her arms around him. Boy, did she love this dog.

PETIE slept through the entire ordeal. Robinson had called in backup and transferred Higgins into the squad car to be taken to the jail and processed. It would be a long time, if ever, before Higgins saw the light of day.