“I think I could believe that, but what about the taunting of the police with the cork-in-the-mouth thing?” Nikki asked.

“Maybe whoever hired him is beyond prosecution. Maybe Kurt is being protected by someone untouchable, like a government agency, and Iwao really was a bad guy or someone trying to harm our country and now Kurt is trying to plant diversions by doing the crazy stuff.” Simon was talking at warp speed, caught up in his titillating theories.

“Okay, Jason Bourne, say that’s true, why kill Mizuki?”

“Because she’s also bad.” Simon propped his feet back up on the coffee table. Ollie sidled up to him and Simon shooed him away. “I’ll be Jason Bourne any day, by the way. I looove Matt Damon.”

“I thought you loved me,” Marco said.

“Don’t be silly. You know what I mean.”

“Guys!”

They both looked at her.

“You could be on to something.” Nikki had thought of the organized crime angle before. What if Iwao did have some kind of bad business deal? From all accounts with Juan Gonzales (and possibly Ruben Pearlman), he’d done so. What if he’d screwed over someone he shouldn’t have and Kurt Kensington was simply a hired gun, or like the other two men, Kurt had a direct link to Iwao? Had Iwao done something to piss him off, too, and Kurt, being a loose cannon, snapped? “Hold that thought.” Nikki jumped up from the couch and took the applications off the counter. “We have work to do, boys.”

“Wait a minute, are those what I think they are?” Simon asked.

“Yes, and I don’t need a scolding. Let’s start with Kensington.”

“What does she have there?” Marco asked.

“The S.E.E. applications,” Simon said.

Marco brought a hand to his mouth. “No!”

“I do.”

“Bellissima, you have gone too far.”

“No. I have not. Maybe we can read these over and find the crazy person who did this. It’s worth a shot and I say we start with Kensington.”

“Don’t fight it, babe. It’s a losing battle.” Simon knew that there would be no stopping Nikki now. “At least you know that you can remove ours from that pile. Go ahead and hand me some.”

“You are a quick study, my friend,” Nikki said.

Simon shrugged, and took a handful from the stack of folders.

Marco followed suit and Nikki opened up Kurt’s file. She skimmed over the usual name and address stuff and then read the essay section. The first question was, Who are you? Kurt’s first sentence was, I am a killer.

“Okay, guys. I think I may have something.” Nikki continued reading and shared the content with her now captive audience. “Kensington was in Iraq with the special forces. He killed a civilian and was put on trial for it. He says that he was guilty of the crime but thought the man was a terrorist and he was discharged from the army after the trial. He has since been seeing a shrink, who suggested he find his soul and spiritual side again-thus his application to become a member.”

“Oh, that’s good,” Simon said.

“Good? Good? No. The guy is an admitted killer,” Nikki said.

“He thought the man was a terrorist,” Marco interjected.

“Yes, but the thing is, this guy knows how to kill, and from reading this, he does seem a bit unstable,” Nikki said.

The boys couldn’t disagree with that. Over the next couple of hours, way late into the night, they all read over the applications. Nothing else really stood out. Yes, everyone had some kind of dysfunction and turmoil. They were all seekers of enlightenment, but nothing screamed at Nikki the way Kensington’s application had. Combine that with his horrific dream board, and as far as she was concerned, he appeared certifiable.

The three of them lay back on her couch looking stoned and feeling wiped out.

“You did good, boys. Thank you. I needed your help. But I have to tell you that you scared me to death tonight. You can’t tell me that it took you five hours to break and enter the suite and then head on over to Barnes & Noble.”

“It did take some time to locate the books,” Marco said. “But that’s not the only reason it took so long.”

“Oh,” she said. “I get it.” Oops. She did not need any intimate details.

“You have such a dirty mind, Snow White. It’s not what you think.”

“It’s not?”

“No,” they both said.

“After Marco heard about the vision board and the baby idea I’ve been mulling over, he was kind of surprised. We needed to talk.”

“Yes, we did,” Marco added.

“And after we talked, we had a wonderful dinner of grilled salmon in this amazing Pinot sauce, and some champagne. Then we went to the bookstore and found the books, and then we came straight here.”

“That’s all you’re going to give me?” she asked. “What’s the champagne all about?” They drank champagne only on special occasions or to celebrate.

“Well, Snow White.” Simon looked at her with tears in his eyes. “Marco and I are going to have a baby. We are going to find a mother to have our child. In fact, we want to know if you’ll have our baby.”

NIKKI slept soundly through the night with Ollie at her side. Visions of babies and their toys weaved in and out of her dreams. She was happy for the boys but also a little concerned. A baby was a huge responsibility and she wondered if they were truly up for it, or only following what seemed to be the latest fad, adopting. She had told them gently but clearly that, for her, being the mother of their child was absolutely out of the question. She explained that if she had a baby, she was keeping it for herself. Marco understood right away, but it took Simon a little time to get it through his thick skull that she would not even consider the idea.

It was a little past seven when she poured her first cup of coffee and moved onto the porch with Ollie to drink it and soak in the serenity the valley gave her and so many others who lived there. But as peaceful as the valley was at that moment, a dark cloud of murder continued to hang over her and the winery. When she finished her coffee, she would have to call Derek and let him know about this latest murder. She also needed to get ahold of Alan and find out his plans. This morning was supposed to be free time for the group anyway and then the afternoon was to be spent in meditation with the option to take a yoga class. She also had to get those applications back to Hayden as she’d promised.

Thinking about Alan, Nikki remembered that she needed to go over the notes Derek had taken during their meeting the other day. Regardless of the situation, she still wanted to approach Alan on the product deal he’d discussed with Derek. With all the ickiness that had gone on, she’d almost forgot that one of Alan’s reasons for choosing the vineyard as a replacement location to hold the workshop at was because he was interested in working out a licensing agreement deal for the spa products and the organic wines that Malveaux made.

She went into the house, took the notes off Derek’s desk in the study, and walked back outside with the coffee. Ollie hadn’t changed positions. She would really have to get him up for a run today. They could both use it to burn off some steam.

Nikki started reading over the notes. Luckily for her, she’d learned to read Derek’s chicken scratch and then could write things out on a separate piece of paper so they were legible and made sense to her.

Derek had written down what type of payment there would be to Alan and what Alan’s responsibilities to the winery and spa would be. He’d notated a basic marketing campaign and put Marco and Simon in charge. This was all stuff he’d mentioned to her. A note at the bottom of the second page was what caught her eye and made her go “Hmmm.” Derek had written down VisionS cope and next to that Iwao Yamimoto’s name. What was that all about? VisionScope? Nikki knew she’d heard that name before, but maybe she was thinking of the dream boards? No. VisionScope. Nikki wracked her brain. Wait a minute. She got up and went back into Derek’s study, scanning the books on the shelf. There was one on organic viticulture. She pulled it out. She’d thumbed through it before because Malveaux grew their grapes and processed through organic means. She looked on the side of the book; the logo read VS. She knew that didn’t stand for Victoria ’s Secret. No half-naked women in this book. She turned to the inside cover and found the copyright and the publisher to the book. There it was: VisionScope. They were located in Ontario, Canada. What did any of this mean? And how could she call Derek up and ask him? She had to call Derek and tell him what had happened to Mizuki. How could she in the same breath try to tie in this note he’d written in a more nonchalant business discussion? She closed the book. Impossible.