Ruben looked from Nikki to his wife and to Hayden Sansi, who shrugged and said, “Fine with me.”

“Okay,” Ruben replied but not sounding all that enthused about this new pairing.

Nikki wasn’t too happy either. Although she hadn’t figured Ruben to be one to have anything to offer as far as Iwao’s life and death at first, she now felt that she was wrong. Ruben Pearlman did have information that could come in handy somehow somewhere. Again Aunt Cara’s saying sank in: You never know where information might lead you.

Hayden came up by her as the Pearlmans hung back. “Thank God. Her husband is a saint to keep putting up with her. That woman is a total bore. All I heard about was how plum wine is so much better than California wines, and how when her husband would do business in Japan he’d come back with her wine from there. Boring.”

“Ruben Pearlman does business in Japan?”

“I think so from the way she talked. But if I hear another mention of plum wine, I think I’ll kill her. Oh, God.” She brought her hands to her mouth. “Bad choice in words.”

Nikki didn’t even hear Hayden for a few moments, her mind whirling with this new revelation. Okay, so Ruben had admitted knowing Iwao outside this group, and yes, a lot of people do business overseas, but could the connection between Iwao and Ruben be tighter than Nikki’s initial impressions? Had they done business together? Was Ruben going to tell her that when his wife interrupted them? And if not, what did that mean? She needed to find out exactly what ties, if any, Ruben and Iwao had between them.

WITH her brain still in overdrive, Nikki tried hard to switch gears. The Japanese connection between Iwao and Ruben could be completely fruitless and simply wishful thinking, and right now she needed to turn her focus on Hayden Sansi. She could not waste this opportunity. Befriend the woman. Get her talking about something she’d surely want to talk about.

“You’re getting married. When is the wedding?”

Hayden lit up. “Only three months away. Rich is wonderful. Look at him up there.”

Rich Higgins was walking alongside Alan, and they looked to be in an intense conversation.

“He wanted to get married sooner, but he knows how important it is for me to have the perfect wedding.”

“Sounds like a good guy. We all dream of the fairy-tale wedding, I think. At least women do.” She thought about Derek for a minute. Was there a wedding in her future?

“And Rich has been so helpful. He’s right there with me, planning away. He’s going to fit so well into my family. My mom and dad adore him and think he’s perfect.”

What was it with Hayden and perfection? By the way she made that comment about her parents loving her fiancé, Nikki wondered if she was trying to convince herself of this. “That’s great. I guess you met him because he publishes your dad’s books.”

She nodded. “He’s only recently taken over the active role as publisher. He’s always been involved with the business, but it was his mother who started the company, and that’s who my dad’s relationship was with. His mom lost her battle to cancer last year and Rich had to fill in for her. He and my dad are still negotiating how their relationship works on both a business and personal level.”

“Really? I don’t understand. They get along, don’t they?”

“Sure, sure.” Hayden nodded emphatically. “But Rich does things differently from his mom. He’s a better businessperson in reality. He understands bottom lines and how to manage marketing campaigns. He knows how to grow a business.”

“His mother didn’t?” Nikki was perplexed by what Hayden was telling her. “She must’ve understood business to some degree. She seems to have built a good business with so much of it around your dad’s work.”

“Yes. True.”

That was all she added.

“Right,” Nikki said. “I don’t mean to pry.” Sure she didn’t. “But you’re kind of indicating that the waters are troubled between your dad and Rich.”

“Am I? That’s not what I said. I said that Rich does things differently from his mom and that kind of makes my dad, I guess, irritated at times.”

Nikki did know how to twist words, but she also knew how to read between the lines and when she was pushing the envelope-like now. “I did gather your father is pretty loyal to Inspiritus. In fact, last night Iwao had been talking to your dad and brother about publishing their books in Japan.”

She laughed. “My dad would never do that, even if he thinks that Rich is a little too marketing oriented and isn’t prone to allowing things to go and flow. He finds Rich to be not as sage-like as his mother, Jade, had been.”

“Jade? Kind of a different name for an older woman.”

“She changed it back in the seventies. I think it used to be Amy or something.”

“Ah,” Nikki replied. “Your dad then had a strong loyalty to Rich’s mom and he’d never consider another publisher?”

“Not in a million years.”

“Your brother seemed interested in speaking with Iwao about it.”

Hayden laughed at this, too. “Yeah, my brother, Eli. He wishes he was another one of my dad, but he’s no carbon copy. Dad keeps trying to convince him that he has to follow his own dreams and not try to pattern himself after him, and Eli keeps trying to convince Dad that being like him is his dream. No one’s buying it, though. The facts are that Eli wants to be like Dad because it’s lucrative.”

“Doesn’t sound too enlightened.”

Hayden nodded. “Well, not all of us can be like dear old Dad, and I can’t blame Eli for seeing a good thing and wanting to hang on to it. My father helps us all out, but at a certain point he and my mom have to cut the financial ties between us and let us flop or soar.”

“And you look to be soaring.” Nikki wondered about the nepotism in the family.

Hayden seemed to sense what she was getting at, even though Nikki tried to keep the edge out of her tone. “I soar because I’ve proven to both of my folks that I’m worth working for their business. I keep things organized. Believe it or not, organizational skills aren’t what my parents are great at. I’m a Virgo, so it’s by nature that I can keep things together.”

“You do seem to be pretty together. How about your sister, how is she today?” Sierra Sansi had not joined the hike that morning.

“My sister could be better. Last night when she found Mr. Yamimoto, it was difficult and horrible for her, for more reasons than just finding him.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, Mr. Yamimoto was almost family about a year ago.”

“What?” Nikki practically rubbed her hands together, like this was about to get really good.

“Sierra was engaged to Iwao’s nephew, Jen.”

“Nephew?” Not his son?

“Yes. Jen Yamimoto met my sister through martial arts actually. It’s a long story, but basically Jen broke my sister’s heart and she’s been on a downward spiral ever since.”

“That’s terrible. She’s a martial artist?”

“Yes. An excellent one, too. Black belt. The whole nine yards. It’s a shame for her to be where she’s at in life. There’s no need for it. She was really doing great. Sierra had some substance abuse problems when she was a teenager. Then Dad got her into karate and kickboxing. It mellowed her out and focused her, even though she could totally use her skills and knowledge to really hurt someone. I wish she’d get off of the direction she’s going in and get back with it. My dad even lined her up with a major movie studio, like Paramount or something. She was helping choreograph different moves for dancers and even stunts for martial arts-type movies. That’s how she met Jen. That was also what he did. Or does. I’m not sure what he’s doing actually. I think he could have gone back to Japan.”

“Was he in L.A. before?”