Crush - Alan Jacobson [95]
Dixon sighed. “I don’t know. Sometimes I think it’s over, then sometimes I think it’s not. We love each other. That’s not the problem. We just, I’m just not sure we’re compatible.”
“Was he good to you, did he treat you well?”
“Yeah, that was never an issue.”
“So you two have some issues. All couples do. But you love each other, isn’t that worth something?”
“If it wasn’t, we wouldn’t still be discussing this.”
“So this guy in the gym—George. Is he better than Eddie?”
“Better? I just met him. How the hell do I know?”
Vail turned her body to face Dixon. “You’re attracted to him.”
“And that’s a bad thing?”
“Of course not,” Vail said. “My take? He’d be a good workout partner. But he didn’t seem to have much depth to him.”
A moment passed. “That’s a pretty huge leap based on one short conversation.”
“I make my living reading people,” Vail said.
“And your read of Jimmy?”
“Please.” She scrunched her nose. “He may be a winemaker, but . . . I wouldn’t even want to work out with the guy.”
Dixon drove another minute before speaking. “Why’d you bring it up?”
Vail rubbed her eyes. “Because I had a shitty marriage. It didn’t start out that way, but it sure ended that way. So I’m pretty careful. No, I’m extra cautious. I wouldn’t even think of getting involved with someone unless I knew certain things about the guy, about his heart. And his soul.”
“And you know all this about Robby?”
Vail sucked on her bottom lip and thought a moment. “It’s funny. I haven’t known him that long, but we’ve been through a hell of a lot together. I trust him. Implicitly.”
Before Dixon could respond, her phone rang. She pressed the hands-free device on her visor and answered the call.
“Roxx, it’s Brix. I got an ID on the male. Where are you two?”
Dixon peered out her window. “Coming up on Opus One. We’re headed to a meeting with someone from the AVA board.”
“Fine. Pull into the Opus One lot. I’ll be there in five. I won’t keep you long. But you need to hear this.”
BRIX WAS A LITTLE LONGER than five minutes out, but Vail didn’t mind. When they arrived at Opus One, Dixon had phoned the board president and told her they would be delayed. During the call, she led Vail up to Opus One’s terrace roof, which afforded a 360 degree panoramic view of the immediate valley. Parceled vineyards stretched in all directions, with the peaks of Mt. Veeder in the near distance.
The terrace was an arbor-covered walkway and patio bordered by rough-hewn limestone walls and planters lining the path. Ahead of them, over the edge, was a lush lawn that sloped gently downward, from the lip of the roof all the way to the parking lot.
“It’d be fun to roll down that,” Vail said.
Dixon’s phone rang. Glancing at the caller ID, she brought it to her ear. “We’re upstairs on the roof.” She listened, then said, “Yeah, meet us up here.”
Thirty seconds later, Brix ascended the staircase and met them at the stone table. Off at the opposite end of the terrace, in a matching area containing tables, a couple stood beside one another at the wall, nursing a glass of wine and taking in the mountain view before them.
They took seats and Brix pulled out his notepad. “I’ve got a couple IDs for us. With all that’s been going on, this kind of got lost in the shuffle. The male victim was Isaac Jenkins. Private equity fund manager who lives in Sonoma.”
“And how did we keep that murder under wraps?” Dixon asked.
“Wife told his company, family, and friends that Isaac had a heart attack. Given what his business is like, and this market, there’s enough stress for ten heart attacks.”
Vail nodded. “Is he on the Georges Valley AVA board?”
“That’d be a ‘no.’ I had Ray check it out. He’s got no connection to the board that we could turn up. Ray also followed up on the question of how the UNSUB got your cell number. He said there was no breach of the department’s data backup, as far as the IT guys can tell. And all support personnel have been questioned.