“Some of the discussions got a little sensitive,” Alaric told Beth. Technically, he shouldn’t have been present either since his security clearance had lapsed, but Black hadn’t objected and he seemed to be in charge. “It turns out that Nada has a background in intelligence we didn’t know about, so she’s assisting with the overseas investigation of Ridley.”
“Wow, really?”
“She and Judd will be out of contact for a few days.”
“They’re not doing anything dangerous, are they?”
“They’ll be fine.”
Alaric had to believe that. Nada feared her lack of recent training would let her down. As she’d pointed out, “The alkaliba who pushed me in front of the car would never have caught me off guard like that two years ago.” So Stella had swung a punch at her to see what happened, and quick as a flash, Nada got her in an armlock. It was the first time Judd had smiled all evening.
“I’ll keep my fingers crossed they manage to find something since we don’t seem to be having much luck, do we? Are we going back to do the rest of the houses on Lakeshore Drive?”
“Yes, but let’s stop at that diner we passed yesterday for some food first. I’m flagging.”
“Good idea. Breakfast wasn’t the same without Stéphane, was it?”
Stéphane had taken Irvine to church in the morning, and the senator hadn’t looked at all well. In Alaric’s non-expert opinion, Irvine would be talking with the big man in person soon. Harriet had wanted to go with her father too, but one of the horses in the barn looked colicky, so she’d walked the nag around in circles while Beth helped the two ranch hands with the mucking out. Chores at that place were never-ending, a bit like this damn case.
“No, toast and cereal wasn’t a patch on pancakes.”
That was what Beth ordered when they got to the diner. A stack of pancakes with maple syrup and crispy bacon. Alaric opted for sausages, biscuits, and gravy, and he’d also have to fit in a run later if he wanted his pants to do up tomorrow.
A late breakfast at the diner was a welcome respite from the trials of the last few days, made even better by the company. But a yellowed map on the wall made Alaric think of the old days once again. He’d always wanted to drive from coast to coast, meander from Maine to South Carolina, then back up to Chicago and west along Route 66 to California. Long ago, he and Emmy had discussed making the trip, but a lack of vacation time meant they’d done nothing more than talk.
“How do you feel about taking a road trip?” he asked Beth.
“For the case?”
“No, after the case. I know you want to get home to see Chaucer, but maybe later in the year?”
“In America? With you?”
“That was the general idea.”
“Like two friends on holiday?”
Friends? Deep down, Alaric had been hoping for more, but he’d take what he could get.
“Exactly that.”
“What about work?”
“I think the boss’ll let you have time off.”
Beth’s face blossomed into a wide smile. “Uh, okay then. Later in the year. Can we drive some of Route 66? I suggested we do that for our honeymoon, but Piers said it was called flyover country for a reason and booked us a trip to the Maldives instead. Which was lovely, don’t get me wrong, but there was an awful lot of beach and not much else.”
“The scuba diving’s great.”
Beth shuddered. “I don’t even like swimming. When I was little, I went paddling in the sea in Barbados, and something touched my leg. I haven’t been in open water since, not unless you count the time Polo dumped me in a pond at our first one-star event.”
“Tell me you have a photo of that.”
“Worse. There’s a video.” She looked sheepish. “I bet you’re a great scuba diver.”
“I worked as an instructor for a while when I lived in Thailand. It’s really not as bad as you think. Visibility’s better underwater than on the surface, and whatever touched your leg was more likely to have been a plastic bottle than a shark.”
“Logically, I know that, but I’m still sticking with the hot tub. Even just trundling up and down Lakeshore Drive gives me the heebie-jeebies.”
Okay, the lake it was named after was pretty murky, he’d give her that. And he liked the hot-tub idea as long as she was in it too.
“People pay extra for that view.”
“I’d rather live in a broom cupboard.” She clapped a hand over her mouth. “Oh, heck. I shouldn’t joke about that, not after what happened to Gemma.”
“Gemma’s okay. I spoke to her last night. At least with Nada’s drama, she’s got a distraction from her own problems.”
“Every cloud has a silver lining?”
“So they say. Are you going to finish those pancakes?”
Beth slid her plate in his direction. She’d only managed to eat half a portion. “Help yourself. I need to use the bathroom.”
He watched her go. That ass… What the hell had he been thinking, suggesting a road trip? He’d never be able to keep his hands off her if they were stuck in a car together for two weeks, just him and Beth. Dammit, he was in trouble.
CHAPTER 24 - BETH
NEXT TIME, I’D order from the children’s menu. I’d only been in America for a week, and my jeans were already getting tight. If I hadn’t been doing the horses, I’d have needed to go up a size or perhaps start wearing elasticated waistbands. Portions just weren’t the
