“Good God,” Tyler said. He didn’t think the day could have gotten worse.
“Why
“Do you think this is really the best time to talk about our dating history?” Tyler said.
“It’s okay, Nana,” Jess said. “He’s always been a little touchy about sharing his feelings.”
“College was a long time ago,” Tyler said.
“Yeah,” Grant said. “Tyler now regularly gets choked up by greeting card commercials.”
“You are not helping.”
“What? This is fun.”
“Can we please get back to the issue at hand?” Tyler said. “Which is that two men burned your house down and tried to kill you this morning for something you supposedly found after the Roswell incident. Do you know why?”
“That’s why I wanted to consult with you,” Fay said. “Jess said you were the best forensic airplane crash analyst in the world.”
“Jess told you to hire me?”
“Not in so many words,” Jess said. “That’s why I was surprised to see you earlier. When Nana said she was looking for someone to look at her piece of wreckage, I must have off-handedly mentioned you worked for Gordian.”
“It wasn’t off-handed,” Fay said.
“Nana!”
“She was reluctant to call you. She had no idea I asked you to consult with me.”
Jess glanced in the mirror at Tyler, then looked at Fay. “Wait a minute. Is this why you asked me over to lunch today and wouldn’t tell me why?”
“I thought it might be nice for you two to get reacquainted.”
“Why are you even here?” Tyler asked Jess.
“In the car or in New Zealand?”
“In Queenstown.”
“I live here now. Moved here three years ago after a stint doing encryption analysis for a global private security firm in Auckland.”
“I thought you were going to be an economist.”
“Oh, right, I was still an economics major then. No, I switched to mathematics. I thought I was going to work for Wall Street, but the thought of spending every day dressed in a suit made me want to throw up, so I went into codebreaking. It paid almost as well, and I could come to work in sweats if I wanted to.”
“What are you doing here?”
“After my parents died, they left me some money, and I wanted to be closer to Nana. Since I have dual citizenship with the US and New Zealand, it was easy to buy a part ownership in a business here.”
“In encryption?” Grant asked.
Fay shook her head. “Jessica has a stake in one of the biggest extreme sports tourism companies in Queenstown.”
“I’m not much more than an investor, but I come up with some of the ideas for new activities. The best perk is that I get to beta test all of the new experiences. Other than that, I spend most of my time on the slopes or the hiking trails around Queenstown.”
Tyler was surprised by none of this. One of the things that had attracted him to Jess in the first place was her outgoing nature, willing to try anything and everything, convincing him to take risks that he might not have without her. She was an excellent skier, rock climber, and swimmer, and she loved spending time outdoors. Jess had always been more interested in play than work, so it sounded like the new gig was a perfect fit for her.
Jess turned into the drive of a small bungalow with an expansive view of the lake and the Remarkables range behind it.
They got out and Fay took Grant’s arm. “I bet you’re as hungry as I am. Come help me make lunch.”
“Happy to,” Grant said, and they went into the house, leaving Jess and Tyler alone outside.
“Nice place,” Tyler said.
“It does the job. I’m not here much so I don’t need a lot of space.” She turned to him and gave him a serious look. “I was sorry to hear about your wife’s passing.”
Tyler did the head bob he always used to acknowledge that kind of sentiment. He’d gotten accustomed to it over the years, and everyone seemed to understand what the gesture meant.
“And I’m sorry about your parents.” After an awkward silence, he said, “Jess, what’s going on here?”
“With my grandmother?”
He nodded.
“She’s told me her story so many times, I’d come to think of it as a myth. Now I don’t know what to think.”
“What story?”
“She’ll have to tell you. She’s much better at it.”
“I’ll be interested to hear it. Then Grant and I will have to be on our way. Given what happened today, we thought it would be prudent to head back to Seattle tomorrow.”
“That’s why I asked Nana to take Grant inside. I want to hire you.”
Tyler was taken aback. “I wasn’t going to charge Fay for the consult.”
“No, I want to hire you to find out why someone tried to kill her. She’s the only family I have left in the world, and I owe it to her. Especially now that she has nowhere else to go.”
Tyler hesitated, so Jess went on. “If you’re worried about the price, I can afford whatever you charge.”
“It’s not that. It’s just … I mean, Roswell?”
“I know it sounds crazy, but you have to admit there must be something to these artifacts she has if someone wanted them badly enough to chase you down the Shotover River for them.”
Tyler looked out over the water, then back at Jess. “I can’t make any promises. I need to hear what Fay has to say.”
Jess smiled. “Oh, and by the way …” With both hands she pulled Tyler’s head down and planted a kiss on him. For a second he was a college junior again, and his stomach did a flip as he lost himself in the moment.
Jess stepped back and said, “That’s for saving Nana’s life this morning.” She walked into the house, leaving Tyler to wonder what just happened.
EIGHT
Jess was pleased with herself. Not because she had kissed Tyler. Ever since she’d seen him this morning, she’d had the overwhelming urge to do that. What she was proud of was that she had the willpower to go no further.
Tyler had aged well. He used to be as lanky as dried linguini, but obviously he’d filled out during his Army years. Though the sun had weathered him a bit, the lines on his face and long jagged scar on his neck added a rugged dimension to his tousled hair, strong jaw limned with a two-day stubble, and alert blue eyes. Now she recalled why he was the one she’d approached in history class. At first he hadn’t gotten the hint, so she’d maneuvered herself into getting invited to a party he was attending.
She smiled at the memories and opened the front door of her house. Jess turned to Tyler and said, “Well, aren’t you coming?”
Tyler recovered from his flabbergasted reaction and nodded, walking in her direction.
She found Fay and Grant making ham-and-cheese sandwiches in the kitchen.
“I think we all need a drink,” she said, and grabbed four bottles of Newcastle from the fridge. She popped the top on hers and took a long draught.
Tyler came in, spotted the beers, and drained half a bottle without a word.
“We haven’t been properly introduced,” Jess said to Grant. “My name is Jess McBride. Only Nana calls me Jessica.”
