Still, when you added her brother's abrupt disappearance with Isa's surprise engagement to a man like Robert, no wonder her grandmother was spooked.
"Hi, Isa," the store clerk greeted her. Since she bought a lot of her wine from this place, she'd been on a first-name basis with most of the employees for a while.
"How's it going, Jim?" she asked.
"Can't complain, who'd listen?" he replied with a friendly smile.
Who indeed? Isa mentally agreed. Certainly not the police. She'd gone to them right after Robert proposed, if that's what you could call him saying, "Good news, Isa. I've decided we're getting married," and cutting off her immediate, sputtering objections with, "Seen your brother Frazier around lately?" with a knowing gleam in his dark eyes. Robert had followed up with, "Yep, I know for a fact you'll see him after our wedding, but if we don't have one… well. That brother of yours. He's accident prone, isn't he?"
She'd relayed that to the first police officer she saw at the station the very next day, and Isa would never forget what he did. He looked around, shut his office door, and slid her complaint form back across the desk at her.
"You seem like a nice lady," he'd said without looking at her. "So I'm going to say congratulations on your engagement… and don't ever file this form to me or anyone else if you care about your brother. Or yourself."
That's when she knew all the whispers about Robert Bertini were true. He really did run the streets, and apparently had considerable clout with the police as well.
She might have tried again. Called the FBI, Homeland Security, someone, but later that day, she received a phone call at her restaurant.
"Isa," her brother said as soon as she answered. "Don't say my name, and listen very carefully. I need you to go along with this engagement. Robert thinks he has both of us cornered, but it'll all work out, I promise."
"You're all right?" she'd asked low, trying to look casual in front of her employees.
"Yes. I can't explain, but just hang in there and play along. I'll contact you again as soon as I can, but not on the phone. Robert will probably tap all your phones next."
The line went dead, but Isa said, "Wrong number, no problem," and then hung up like nothing unusual had happened.
It was only later that she'd wondered how Frazier could have said things like "play along" and "Robert thinks he has both of us cornered." As a hostage, Isa didn't think Frazier would have been granted private phone privileges, but it also didn't make sense that he'd say such things in front of one of his captors. Had Frazier somehow managed to get away?
"Hello, Isabella."
Isa had been so caught up in her thoughts, she hadn't even heard the store's door open. Yet there Chance was, standing behind her with a faint smile on his face. Under the harsh fluorescent lighting, his hair looked to be deep brown instead of the darker shade it had seemed last night, and his skin was surprisingly pale. The eyes she hadn't been able to guess a color on before turned out to be an intriguing mix of gray and blue. Like the ocean, she thought. Right before a storm.
She was staring. With a shake of her head, Isa brought herself back to the present.
"Jim, do you mind if I show my friend the new stock in the back?" she asked, flashing a smile at the clerk.
"Sure thing," he responded with a lazy wave. She bought in bulk and she always paid on time. Jim would pretty much let her do anything.
Isa walked toward the back, glad that Chance followed without argument. When they were away from any prying eyes, Isa started right in.
"Whatever my grandmother hired you for, I'm telling you the job's off. If she owes you any money for your time, I'll pay it. Just tell her you didn't find anything or that everything's okay. She doesn't need this kind of stress at her age."
Chance regarded her with open curiosity. "You think I'm someone she hired? You mean your grandmother hasn't told you anything about me?"
"No," Isa said, impatient. "But whoever you are, you don't want to be mixed up in this. Trust me, pal. It goes way over what any pay scale can cover."
He continued to stare at her like she was speaking a foreign language. Isa tapped her foot. Maybe Tall, Dark and Dumb had been an accurate way to describe him after all.
"Has your grandmother ever mentioned the name 'Bones' to you before?" Chance asked in a very careful voice.
"Who?"
Chance inhaled. From her scent—and the thoroughly blank look on her face—she was telling the truth. She had no idea he was a vampire. Odds were, if her grandmother hadn't told her about Bones, Isa had no idea that vampires even existed.
This would make things more complicated.