In Safe Arms (23 page)

‘He can get in anywhere.’

Nate rested his head against the seat and closed his eyes for a beat. ‘I owe you one, mate.’

‘You’re tired. Two years undercover is too long — for anyone. The quicker you finish this, the better.’

Nate gave a quick nod to show that he’d heard, and when he opened his eyes, Luke was checking his watch. ‘It’s two thirty. I don’t like keeping things from Allegra, but I won’t see her until she finishes around six. Hopefully, Tom will have your info by then.’

There was a flash of excitement, and something close to anticipation shining in Luke’s silver grey eyes.

Nate held out his hand. ‘Thank you, man.’

They shook hands again, and Luke checked the side and rear mirrors. ‘All clear. Go now. Say hi to Josie.’

Nate smiled to himself as he opened the door.

He could count on Luke, for Neilson loved locking up the bad guys — just as much as he did.

2:40 p.m. Thursday

Josie glanced at Dickson over the laptop screen. ‘Allegra’s going to be horrified when she finds out.’

‘She won’t be the only one.’ Dickson didn’t ask to what she was referring. They’d discussed little other than Henry Grace since returning to the hotel around mid morning.

‘Nate should be close to finishing with her husband.’

The hours had crawled by, worsening Josie’s demeanour as road block after road block thwarted her progress. Her efforts to navigate the endless maze of companies had yielded nothing, while “providence” loitered at the edge of her memory, as annoying as a pebble in her shoe.

She exited the ASIC website and typed “providence” into the general search engine, running her eye down the list of results.

The first link gave a definition as divine guidance or care, while the second referred to the Rhode Island city of Providence in the New England area of America.

Oh to hell with this!

‘I’m taking a break.’ On edge, and impatient to see Nate, Josie stood up and walked over to the bed, grabbing a travel magazine off the small table as she went.

‘Good idea.’ Dickson watched as she kicked off her shoes. ‘Nate will be back soon, and the sexual tension will be steaming up the room.’

‘Yeah, yeah.’ Since Barry Simpson’s attack, they’d grown more comfortable with each other, to the point where Josie could imagine them being friends in the future.

Dickson grinned and returned to his work, and Josie stretched out on her side, propping her chin in her hand as she began flipping through the magazine. There were promotions for adventure tours into the Australian outback, and diving holidays on the Great Barrier Reef. There was even a feature article on golfing safaris, including a round of golf and lunch at each course.

The magazine barely held her attention, and before long her limbs grew heavy and the print shimmied in front of her eyes. She roused herself as Dickson chuckled, blinked heavy eyelids at the page.

God, she was tired. But she didn’t want to sleep. She wanted to hear what Nate had to say about his meeting with Luke.

Josie yawned and continued flicking through the pages. Maybe she should get up, splash her face with cold water and make another cup of coffee.

Then suddenly a photograph caught her attention. She became more awake, peering at the article featuring two Clare Valley wineries. There was an impressive cellar door, and a highly regarded restaurant which had featured in the Good Food Guide. One of the wineries had an art gallery attached to it, but it was the vineyard itself that evoked images from the past.

The place looked familiar, though she’d never visited the Clare Valley — not even once.

Distant memories rose, but like fragments of a dream that melted away upon waking, they stayed beyond reach.

Providence
?

Trying to remember that name was making her crazy, and it was a miracle she hadn’t dreamt about it, not that she’d had much sleep the past week.

She turned another page, telling herself she was still keyed up from seeing Mr. Grace this morning, when another photograph jumped out at her. Taken from the air, row upon row of grape vines stretched all the way to the mountains, turning the landscape into a green patchwork of rolling hills that contrasted brilliantly with an azure sky.

She
had
seen it before.

In black and white.

Someone
had shown her this picture.

Josie sat upright, wide awake now, heart jumping in her chest.

What was it she couldn’t remember?

Conscious of Dickson watching her, she carried the magazine to where she’d been working on his computer. Sliding onto her chair, she typed the word “providence” into the search engine again.

The same results came up. The definition. The city of Providence in Rhode Island. The symbol of the eye they’d studied yesterday.

Josie scrolled down. There was Providence the TV series. A map of inner city Providence. Information on Brown University, the much sought after Ivy League College which drew young adults to the city.

The next link was for Providence Winery.

She glanced at the magazine article, beads of sweat breaking out on her forehead. Sliding her finger across the touchpad, she clicked the link and scanned the home page. Providence Winery was situated in the Napa Valley, California. And there, in the top left-hand corner, was the winery’s crest.

An intricately designed Eye of Providence stared back at her, the lines of the crest sketched as vines.

Memories snapped together like pieces of Lego, until they formed a picture in her mind.

‘What’s up?’

She jumped at Dickson’s voice.

‘Nothing,’ she muttered, ‘I’m just tired of going around in circles.’

‘Welcome to police work,’ he replied, and she breathed a sigh of relief when he went back to what he was doing.

Josie refocused on the screen and clicked on the “About Us” page. Finger working the touchpad, she clicked on the heading “History of the Vineyard”.

And then her name flashed in front of her eyes, slugging her with the force of a king hit. Only it wasn’t
her
name, but one very close to it.

Joseph Valenti
.

Her grandfather.

Faint memories drifted back. Sitting on his knee in their family home while he showed her photographs of the vineyard where he’d grown up.

This was it! He’d lived here, in the Napa Valley, before coming to Australia and starting the construction company her father had carried on. The vineyard was so similar to the Clare Valley vineyard, she’d thought it one and the same.

Hands clammy, Josie scrolled further down the page. Oblivious to the room around her, she read about the family vineyard in America her parents had never bothered to tell her about.

The Valenti family emigrated from Sicily after the First World War, purchased a small parcel of land in the Napa Valley and established a winery with vines brought from their native island. Joseph Valenti and his brother, Ziggy, had been born in the depression era. Joseph later emigrated to Australia, and left his brother to run Providence. Ziggy ran the winery until his death, and the company was now under the control of his son, Ziggy Jnr.

Should we be looking for an American connection?

She heard Dickson’s voice in her head and determinedly shut it down. The name had conjured up long forgotten memories — that’s all. It didn’t mean her family had any connection with the company Providence Pty. Limited, which they knew to be involved in the money laundering racket.

The sound of the door opening had her spinning around in her chair. She leaped up, gasped as she came nose to nose with Dickson.

She hadn’t even heard him get up.

Past his shoulder, she could see Nate coming through the door.

Then Dickson’s fingers closed around her arm, as if he thought she might run, eyes moving from her face, to the screen, and back again.

‘I think you’d better tell us what you’ve found, Josie.’

Nate closed the door.

He hadn’t caught Dickson’s words, but his offsider’s fingers were curled around Josie’s arm. And Josie was looking right at him, a shocked expression on her face.

Nate’s heart shifted like a tectonic plate.

‘What’s going on?’ he asked, the words rough and harsh. He looked from one to the other, unsure if he wanted to learn the truth. Hell, it would be easier to just walk out and leave them to it.

‘Oh Nate.’ Josie stepped away and Dickson released her. ‘I’m not exactly sure.’

And there it was — pain so fierce it felt like he was slicing off his skin without the benefit of anaesthetic. Should he be surprised? Not really. He should have known better than to get involved with someone so young, someone who didn’t know her own mind yet.

But Dickson?

Nate clenched his fists.

He wanted to tear the bastard limb from limb.

And then Dickson spoke, surprising him. ‘I knew by the look on her face she’d stumbled upon something. Take a look at this.’

Nate blinked, saw Josie turn away, eyes wounded. She’d read his expression, knew he’d doubted her.

Shit!

He’d jumped to the wrong conclusion and he needed to apologise. Josie wasn’t the type of girl to flit from one guy to another, he knew that, so why had he assumed the worst just now?

Take your pick, Hunter. Bottom line is, you’re nuts about her
.

He
was
nuts about her, and the unfamiliar possessiveness was weird and disturbing. On top of that, the horror and drama of his job was a permanent encroachment on their time together.

And Luke was right.

He was weary. More than anything he wanted the operation over, so they could spend time developing their relationship.

But Josie knew none of this.

He went to follow her, to apologise, to remove the hurt and admit to being a stupid arse. But Dickson stepped between them, pointing anxiously at the screen.

‘Look at this, Nate. We should pass it onto Neilson’s IT guy.’

More than a little irritated, Nate stepped forward and peered at the screen.

Right off, he saw the name — Providence Winery.

A re-energizing buzz ran through his central nervous system. Was it connected to Providence Pty. Limited, the company involved in the money laundering racket? It had to be, for Josie and Dickson to be so strung out about it.

He moved the cursor across the screen, clicking on the heading “History of the Vineyard”. In the seconds it took for the page to load, he looked across at Josie. She was sitting on the edge of the bed, watching him. He smiled in apology, but she didn’t smile back, just looked at him with unreadable eyes.

Nate refocused on the screen, blinking slowly to clear his vision.

What the fuck?

The words seemed to jump out at him in bold type.

He leaned closer.

Valenti?

The impact hit Nate with the force of a category five storm, sucking the breath from his body like he’d been sucker punched. He rested both palms on the table to steady himself, mind in overdrive as he pulled all the pieces together.

Mulvaney. Josie. Allegra. Henry Grace.

He himself had witnessed Mulvaney’s Skype call to Josie the night he was murdered. He himself had witnessed Henry Grace collecting the money from the gym this morning.

That left Allegra as the only unconfirmed link in the chain. And it fit with what Luke had told him as they’d parted ways.

They’d all assumed Mulvaney was looking for Allegra, but…

Go back, Nate. Go back the other way!

He started over.

Lizard Mulvaney. Josephine Valenti. This time he followed a diffferent path. Silvano and Marilyn Valenti. Providence Winery. Joseph Valenti, so similar a name it could be a family connection. Napa Valley. Sicily. Mafia. Organised crime.

The overseer!

Nate was so cold he could have been carved in ice.

Dear God! Was he right?

By the time he straightened and looked at Josie, she was standing, hands clenched by her sides, green eyes flashing in a silent challenge, daring him to voice his thoughts aloud.

Nate took a step towards her.

‘Is this,’ he stopped and pointed a shaky finger at the laptop, ‘is this what you say you’ve been trying to remember?’

‘
Say
?’ Her nostrils flared, and a furious red stained her previously white face. ‘I
have
been trying to remember it.
You
say it like you don’t believe me.’

He did believe her.

Absolutely. Unconditionally.

But they weren’t alone in the room, and some sixth sense told him not to trust Dickson.

Nate’s stomach twisted. He had no choice but to interrogate Josie. Afford her preferential treatment, and he left himself open to Dickson reporting him for not following the correct methodology.

Moments earlier, Dickson had suggested they contact Luke, making his position clear he thought they should push even harder with the tactic they’d chosen.

To arm Dickson with ammunition he could use later would be foolish. And while he believed Josie, it was crucial he get to the bottom of this if her family were involved,
critical
he remove her from what was certain to be a diabolical situation.

Nate shut out Josie’s face, shut out everything about her. If it were anyone else, he’d be gruelling them.

‘You expect me to buy that?’ He arched an eyebrow, kept his voice cool. ‘You think I’m fool enough to believe this has only come back to you now?’

She flinched, making him feel like such a shit he had to close his eyes for a second.

Dear God, this couldn’t be happening.

He took another step towards her. ‘Did you simply forget about this when we were searching up “providence”?’

‘Nate.’ Dickson shoved the magazine at him, but Nate raised his hand in the “stop” command and spoke to Josie again. ‘Well?’

He didn’t want to hurt her.

He loved her.

Jesus, he
loved
her, and that’s what made this so terrible.

To her credit, she held herself together and stood up to him, just as she had the night he’d abducted her and driven her to his safe house.