“I told the senator that you were there and what you saw,” Sam said. “Thing is, like a lot of other people around here, Webb figures you’re sleeping with Irene. To his way of thinking that means you’re not the most reliable witness. He also pointed out that you’re new here in town. No one knows much about you.”
“What’s the senator planning to do about his burned-out house?”
Sam’s expression hardened. “The man’s making arrangements to bury his daughter.
He doesn’t want
any more trouble. He just wants to make this whole thing go away.”
“Looks like he’s using you to make sure that happens,” Luke said.
Sam turned a dark, furious shade of red. “What the hell are you saying, Danner?”
“I’m saying it’s not your job to make things go away for Senator Webb.”
Luke put the SUV in gear and drove back onto the road that led to the lodge.
Twenty-One
“They met in the cool, fragrant shadows of the red wine fermentation cellars. Most of the big California wineries had opted for modern steel fermentation tanks for their big reds, but Elena Creek Vineyards had used a lot of oak right from the start. The wood, imported from Europe, added distinctive characteristics not only to the cabernets but to the very air of the cellars.
Jason inhaled deeply, as he always did when he entered the cavernous room. He loved the place. He savored everything about it, from the big vats to the unique smells created in the magical process of fermentation.
“Did he look depressed?” Katy asked anxiously.
“We’re talking about Luke,” Jason reminded her. “If he was depressed, he sure as heck wouldn’t make it obvious. Never knew anyone who could hide his feelings as well as Big Brother. But no, I don’t think he was depressed. If you ask me, he’s having a very good time up there at Ventana Lake.”
Her eyes widened. “A good time?”
Jason smiled. “Yep.”
Hackett folded his arms and propped a shoulder against one of the fermentation tanks. “How could h e having a good time? You said he found a dead woman and nearly got incinerated in a house fire.”
“Yeah, well, you know Luke,” Jason said. “He’s got an odd kick to his gallop when it comes to fun.”
“Or anything else,” Hackett said wearily. “Damn. The Old Man isn’t going to like this. Neither is Mom.”
“Or Dad, for that matter,” Katy said. She rubbed her temples. “They’re all so worried about Luke.”
“I thought it would make them feel better knowing that he’s not sitting around that tumbledown lodge, getting drunk on bad wine and staring at the lake day in and day out,” Jason said, going for reasonableness. “Plus he’s got a new girlfriend. That should be very reassuring to everyone.”
Katy looked at him with an expression of suddenly sharp interest. “Do you think they’re sleeping together?”
Hackett was also watching him closely, Jason realized.
“Well?” Hackett demanded.
“Maybe not quite yet,” Jason admitted. “Irene arrived at the lodge only a couple of days ago. I got the impression that the first night she and Luke were sort of busy finding the body. The second night there was that business with the arson. Things have been a little hectic up there at the lake.”
“And extremely stressful, from the sound of it.” Katy sighed. “You know Dr. Van Dyke says that Luke should not be subjected to too much stress.”
“I’m just telling you that it’s not like Luke and Irene have had a lot of time or opportunity for romance,” Jason explained. “But there’s definitely something going on between those two. I’m sure of it. When you’re in the room with that pair, you can almost hear the sizzle.”
Hackett and Katy looked at him with expressions of acute doubt.
“The question,” Hackett said, “is whether the sizzle fizzles before it gets to ignition point.”
“Okay, so we all know that Luke had that little problem six months ago,” Jason said.
“I got the distinct impression it’s not worrying him much now.”
Hackett’s jaw tightened. He glanced at Katy and then looked away again very quickly. “He’s not likel o talk about that kind of problem to anyone.”
“It’s a medical issue,” Katy said firmly. “He should discuss it with a doctor.”
Jason spread his hands. “What everyone in this family can’t seem to grasp is that Luke is a little different.”
Katy and Hackett exchanged glances again. This time they did a little eye-rolling.
What was it with these two? Jason wondered. On occasion they seemed to be able to communicate telepathically. But most of the time these days they danced around each other like a couple of bad-tempered cats. It wasn’t unusual to see them go from shared laughter to edgy irritation in the spac f a couple of heartbeats. They argued over everything from the plans to remodel the old tasting room to the design of the new label for the zins.
It hadn’t been like that in the old days when they were all growing up together, he recalled. Katy and Hackett had been best friends since forever. It was Hackett who had taken Katy to the senior pro hen her date dumped her at the last minute. And it was Katy who had consoled Hackett when his college girlfriend ditched him in favor of his roommate. They’d always had a lot in common. They enjoyed going to the opera together in San Francisco, and they loved sampling new restaurants and the competition’s wines.
But something about their relationship had changed dramatically about six months ago. It was almos s if Katy’s short engagement to Luke had done something weird to both of them.
“Okay, so we all do grasp the concept of Luke being different,” Jason conceded.
“But what I’m trying to say is that he’s different from the rest of us because he doesn’t feel the way we do about the business.” He motioned toward the jungle of large vats that surrounded them. “The Old Man and Gordon have got to give up the idea of bringing him into the company. It’s not going to happen.”
Katy looked thoughtful. “I think they could deal with his refusal to come into the business if they felt assured that he had found something stable and secure for himself. It’s the fact that he’s so unsettle hat’s bothering them. They’ve got visions of him winding up on a street corner in San Francisco, panhandling for spare change.”