Ashes of Autumn (Mina's Adventures Book 4)

by Maria Grazia Swan

  She kept staring straight ahead at people with colorful shopping bags. Control your emotions. “Enough about me. What about Margo? You know she is in love with you. You’re going to break her heart.”

  “Look, I may be a decent lawyer and good at playing the dumb spy, but when it comes to women, I’m not Diego. Okay, wrong example, what I meant to say is, I’m no Casanova. I spent most of my life taking care of my sisters. I haven’t had time for relationships. Margo is a breath of fresh air. She never questions me. She makes me feel invincible. Around her I’m a wanted man, no, not wanted, needed. This is the first chapter of our story together.”

  He sounded sincere and a little dreamy. Mina hugged him. “Thank you, thank you. I think you two are perfect for each other.”

  “Well, thank you, Mina, that means a lot to me. I knew the first time I met you at the California Bar that you were not just another pretty face. Now, if you could work on your attitude.” He got all choked up.

  Time to say good-bye and go shoot yourself for what you did to Diego and the bad thoughts about Kalinda. But how can Diego not be in love with Kalinda? So beautiful and smart and successful. She rehashed the question over and over all the way home where, in spite of all her good intentions, once again doubts found their way into her heart.

  She started to sort laundry, trying to keep her mind from going into overdrive again. What if Gino told the truth? What if Diego only pretended to break up, to keep her safe. How did he know about the burned cottage in Laguna Canyon? Maybe he risked his life at the charity event to see her, Mina, after all her name was on the list of paying guests…what if.

  Hope never dies.

  Margo called. She was spending the rest of her day at Gino’s. Once again Mina found herself alone with Aria. When the phone rang it was sort of a welcome relief from folding laundry and beating herself up.

  Adams. “Good news young lady, you may end up making money on the canyon house after all.”

  “How?” She didn’t really care. She was being polite.

  “It’s a bit complicated. Both insurance companies are subsidiaries of the same main underwriter. If we go to court they would be fighting each other. They settled and want us gone from their books. You need to find something else quick.”

  “Oh, Adams, what’s the hurry? This has been a very painful experience and–”

  “I understand, my dear. I do. But it has to do with taxes. The sooner you buy a substitution, the better. So I set up an appointment for you to meet a Realtor I trust very much. Do you have a pen?”

  Why can’t she catch a breath? No sense arguing. “Wait, I’m in the laundry room.” How could Adams assume it would be okay to have her meet a new Realtor so soon? How? Kathy’s ashes had just been released to her sister.

  Might as well get it over with it. “Okay, I’m ready.”

  “Her name is Louisa Lessing. She specializes in mixed-zoning homes, so you’ll have more room to decide what to do with the pet sitting business. She’s meeting you tomorrow at The Ritz Carlton in Laguna Niguel. I’ll have my secretary set up a lunch appointment for you two.”

  “Lunch? At The Ritz Carlton? Are you talking about the one by Salt Creek Beach?”

  “I don’t know much about the beach, but the location sounds right, and no, Mina, no casual attire. If you want to be a business woman you must dress accordingly, and we need to talk about your–car.”

  “What about my car? It runs fine and it locks, remember?”

  “Baby steps. Let’s get the house taken care of. I assume you do own business clothes, right?”

  “Yes sir, I read the book you had mailed to me and now thirty percent of my clothes are–not jeans. Like the book suggested.” They are bathing suits and nighties, and let’s not forget one expensive red Valentino.

  “Good, very good. By the way, my daughter suggested the book. I’m glad you’re making good use of it. I’ll have lunch reservations made for twelve-thirty tomorrow, okay? You will like Louisa. She’s not as young as Kathy was, but she is very professional.”

  She didn’t want to go to lunch with a stranger and especially not at The Ritz Carlton. She wanted to crawl into a ball and die.

  What if Gino told the truth about Diego? Oh, my God. Instead of being supportive she tried to kill him…what must he think of her? And what about Kalinda? She should send her a get-well card, with flowers. What did Gino mean by an inside job? On television shows an inside job often meant a dirty cop who took bribes. When it came to Diego she was clueless. She had no idea who he worked with. Besides, talk about enemies–look at what she did. One minute she couldn’t live without him, the next she tried to run him over. Would De Fiore talk to her? Okay, suppose she called him. What would she ask? What do you ask a man who wouldn’t even admit to a relationship with a nice woman like Kathy. Oh, no, she never sent flowers to Kathy’s memorial service. She had become a self-centered bitch.

  Mina spent the rest of the evening searching news programs on television hoping to find out more about Kalinda, but apart from a brief mention about a car catching fire on the 5 North near Los Angeles, nothing else surfaced.

  Margo showed up at about ten a.m. and had a good laugh at her expense watching Mina trying to match clothes to wear to the lunch at that swanky place. Why The Ritz Carlton?

  She left early, wearing a light blue sweater and some old black yoga pants she hadn’t worn in ages. With heels they looked like snug-fitting regular pants. Plus, the heels made her legs look longer. For a minute she thought about Kalinda’s legs she had been so envious of. The long strands of black beads belonged to Margo, one of her most subdued pieces of costume jewelry. She felt perfectly at ease dressed that way and decided it was good enough for The Ritz.

  Instead of taking the 5 South she opted for the slow, scenic Pacific Coast Highway. It was sort of like revisiting the last three years of her life from the Condo in Newport Beach, Balboa Island where she first met Diego, and Corona De Mar where Kathy’s place was now in escrow.

  She drove past Crystal Cove, home of the younger generation of new money, zipped by the Cottage Restaurant in Laguna, where she shared a meal with Kathy the day they found the house now gone, down the hill to past Main Beach with tan shirtless men playing basketball, and carefully avoided looking toward Laguna Canyon.

  From time to time she found herself glancing back hoping to see a daredevil biker dressed in black leather catching up to her ragtop. But once most of the touristy part of town was left behind and the coastal homes became newer and larger, she knew there wasn’t any motorcycle coming her way, and she resigned herself to the scheduled meeting. Argh, she forgot. She would need to give her car to the valet, no escaping the system at this swanky place, and still she grumbled about Adams choice of the ritzy resort. Why? The only good memories she had of the location were the few times she walked down the hill to the beach below the hotel. There she could park her own car.

  Stop it, Mina. Grow up.

  Grow up, that was it. Adams wanted her to act her age, as Americans liked to say. She turned right into the private road leading to the hotel entrance. The white miniature tower reminded Mina of a lighthouse, pointing the way to the two-way palm-lined drive ending in front of the despised valet center of operations. She anticipated the reaction to her old car, and now the scuff mark on top of everything else, too bad.

  Apparently half of Orange County must have decided to have lunch at the Ritz. The line of cars waiting their turn backed almost to the main road. Great, she’d probably be late to the meeting. Should she call Adams? No, maybe the Realtor was in one of the idling cars. For every vehicle moving ahead there seem to be one leaving. She could see the young men in uniform rushing to get the automobiles to the departing guests then opening the doors of a car waiting to be parked. Poor kids, must be a very hard job, running all day, hopping from car to car, counting on tips to make ends meet.

  She tried to see how many vehicles were ahead of her, five. Nooo, five more, she’d been sitting there for
twenty minutes. Why so many cars? What, they were giving away free food? More like free booze. Whatever. The lot reserved for valets must have been on the other side of the large circular driveway. The young men ran in that direction with the key, number and location of the car, then soon they would drive back, help the lucky owner into the vehicle, collect their well-earned tip, and onto the next.

  Mina wished she were one of the departing guests instead of just arriving. And now another car being brought to people leaving, this one a real beauty, flashy color, almost the same shade as the ocean and all that chrome reflecting the noon sun.

  Well, what do you know? It looked just like that car she and Margo saw up the canyon that day they were lost. It had to be the same car. What were the chances of two alike? Curious to see who owned it, she kept her attention on the automobile. Maybe it was the same man taking pictures of the canyon, or maybe not.

  The car sat there, doors open, idling. Come on people. Let’s move. Oh, a bellboy with two suitcases walked ahead of a young couple. The blonde woman carried something in her arms. She stumbled, and the man caught her. They laughed. How sweet. He kept his arm around her shoulders, the protector… And oh, my God, is that Julian? That same Julian who wrote his phone number on her palm? Too funny. Wait, he owned the car? But…it couldn’t be.

  What was he doing taking pictures of the canyon by the house on the mountaintop? Something wasn’t right. Mina sat back making herself smaller.

  That woman, the woman was carrying a white miniature poodle Luce? The beautiful blonde who owned the dog and looked so frightened of Surowiec…what was her name? Amanda. The couple crossed two cars ahead of hers and reached their destination, the ocean blue car with wide shining bumpers.

  She had to tell someone. This had to be important. Mina shook from the inside out partly due to the excitement of the discovery, the other part an unexplainable sense of fear snaking up her spine. Inside job, Gino said.

  She couldn’t breathe. She turned her head praying Julian wouldn’t see her, wouldn’t recognize her. What now? She had to do something, what?

  The snazzy car drove by slowly. Julian was laughing. A row of tall palms separated their cars, their destiny. She stretched her neck, trying to see which way they would turn once they got to the road, but that was an impossible task. Okay, she would call Gino. He would know what to do. For the first time she thanked Adams for forcing her to keep a mobile phone in her car.

  Maledizione, she didn’t know Gino’s number, and in all the excitement she couldn’t remember Margo’s cell. What now? The car in front of her inched ahead. She was next.

  Hurry, hurry…she dialed the house phone, the only number she could remember. And by some miracle Margo answered. “Is Gino there?”

  “What? Mina? Is that you? What do you want with my Gino, and why do you sound like you’re on fire?”

  “Later Margo, later, I need to talk to Gino. Where is he?”

  “You don’t need to be rude about it, he’s here and–”

  “Wait, wait, I need to talk to you first. Just listen, okay? Very, very important. Remember when we went to Topanga Canyon, but we got lost?”

  “Honestly, Mina, how many more times are–”

  “Do you r-e-m-e-m-b-e-r? Good, now think of the car, the old flashy blue car on the side of the road.”

  “What about it?”

  “I need you to remember so you can tell Gino. One more thing, when we were in that house, the blonde woman who came to get the poodle–”

  “The Amanda chick?”

  “Yeeees. Good, remember that, and now let me talk to Gino. Oh, my God, I feel like my chest is exploding.” She heard voices. Come on Gino, come on.

  “Mina, what are you doing? You upset Margo–”

  “Shut up, this is important. Remember Julian? The weird guy who was at the party, wrote something on my hand, and then stormed out? After I’m done telling you, ask Margo about the blue car up the canyon. Got it? I saw Julian with the same car leaving the Ritz Carlton, oh, five minutes ago? And guess who was with him, all lovey-dovey? The blonde chick we saw in that place, the Surowiec’s house on the mountain. And get this. She had the miniature poodle with her. Oh, my God, I think that’s him. The man with the blue car.”

  “Yeah, well it’s possible. What’s so special about this Ritz Carlton? It is a public place? No?”

  “Gino–the inside job, I think it’s him.”

  “Julian?”

  “Yes!”

  “Mina, who told you about Julian’s…job.”

  “No one, don’t you get it? I figured it out. Look. Ask Margo to explain to you about the car and the blonde, and then if you think I’m right I suggest you call–the cavalry–because they are gone. They had their suitcases with them. You’ll know how to reach me. I’ll be having…”

  The car behind her beeped, and the driver motioned her to move. She realized it was finally her turn to give her car to the valet, but she wasn’t sure that was what she wanted to do.

  “Miss, is there something wrong with your car?” the young valet asked her.

  She couldn’t think straight, and she couldn’t sit still. Without a word she shifted gears and gunned the car. This was the second time in twenty-four hours she nearly ran over someone’s foot. She made a U-turn at the end of the cul-de-sac and headed out of there under a showing of stunned faces and angry gestures. Driving like a maniac she reached the end of the private road just as Julian’s car turned south. She bypassed the full stop and turned right, oncoming cars barely missing her. Angry drivers let their feelings be known by blowing their car horns. The commotion wasn’t lost on leisurely-moving Julian. She knew he spotted her when he suddenly pulled over and parked in a no parking area. Busted. She had no choice but to drive past him pretending he was invisible. He followed the Bug, but thankfully another vehicle separated them. The car in back of her had its left-turn signal on. She sped up, and so did the car turning left on Niguel Shores.

  The blue car with the shiny bumpers was tailing her. Did he have a gun? He couldn’t pass her to the left. As his car moved closer to the back of her Bug, she made a sharp turn to the left into a private driveway that blended with the sidewalk. She drove on the sidewalk to Niguel Shores hoping not to hit any pedestrians. When she turned right Julian’s car was disappearing south on Pacific Coast Highway.

  CHAPTER 24

  She crossed Niguel Road and parked in front of the Dana Point Public Library smack opposite the Ritz. Mina sat in her car, shaking, trying to calm the beating of her heart by absent-mindedly watching the two flags flapping in the breeze by the library’s entrance. The American flag on top, California the one below. Was it the rule of the land? Nation first, state second? Anything not to focus on the enormity of what she just did. She chased a murderer who almost caught her instead and blew off her lunch appointment with the Realtor, who was probably on the phone with Adams right this moment…

  What should she do next? Call Adams and say something like… her car broke down? No, he was already after her to dump her beloved Volkswagen.

  Never. It was the only thing she had of Diego, the black paint from his bike…and, oh God, what if she was wrong about Julian? Probably messed his life up for good. She sat, her back to the ocean side of the highway, unable to face what she did.

  Maybe she should go back and apologize to the Realtor. What was her name again? Louise something. No, the valet would probably recognize her car, call security, and have her kicked out of there for good. What now? Her phone rang, she sighed, Adams already?

  Wrong. De Fiore. “Hey, I hear you’ve been busy.”

  “Oh, thanks. I’m trying.”

  “Where are you? Please tell me you’re not still chasing a blue car.”

  “Of course not. I’m not stupid you know. Besides he was chasing me. Hey, how do you know about the chase?”

  “I never said you were stupid. You drove on a sidewalk, the wrong way. You didn’t think good citizens would call 911? You’re not dri
ving and talking on the phone, right?”

  “No, Mister Detective. I’m parked in a very safe place.”

  “And that would be?”

  “The library.”

  “You went to the library? Where?”

  “No, no. I’m parked in front of the Dana Point Public Library. You know, across the street from the–”

  “The Ritz Carlton Resort. Of course, still playing spy I assume.” Long sigh. “Get the car in gear, and get yourself out of there now.”

  “But, I–”

  “Now, Mina. Get the hell out of there, and do not go looking for this Julian fellow and do not go back to the Resort. I bet everyone around there can describe your Bug and you to a T. Did you make your usual dramatic exit? No, don’t answer. Get out of there, and don’t go home. Drive to my office. You do know where my office is, right? No questions. You can ask when you get here. Get going.” He hung up.

  What a rude man. She kept an eye on the stretch of Pacific Coast Highway separating the block where the library sat from the Ritz Carlton’s grounds. What if Julian came back looking for her? She couldn’t help noticing a black SUV and two black sedans entering the private driveway to the Ritz, and none of them slowed down to get in line for the valet.

  Aye, aye, aye. Maybe De Fiore knew something she didn’t know. She started the car, her heart thumping in her throat. The call to Adams would have to wait. What if she could get De Fiore to say it was his fault, because…he needed her help. Yeah, that sounded good. She took the PCH to Crown Valley then headed North on the 5. Why would De Fiore want her to go to his office? More photos to look at?

  The minute she stepped into the lobby of the Santa Ana Police Department, an older cop in uniform escorted her to a room, and it wasn’t De Fiore’s office. This was like a meeting room with comfy chairs, big table, computers, even a movie screen on the wall. The detective sat in front of a stack of papers, next to Gino. Gino? Boy, those two bonded quickly.