Page 20 of The Rainbow Recipe
“Unicorn option!” Evie shouted, watching expectantly.
Everyone else snickered but Jax understood. She knew him too well—or read his aura.
“We take the proceeds in stock, making us a majority owner.” He waited. His friends were computer geniuses. DVM was essentially a technology company producing electronic voting machines. They could work it out.
“Losing proposition,” Ariel said without expression.
“Probably,” Jax agreed. “But until now, profit hasn’t been their only motive. They survived the last court battle and kept on making dishonest machines. If we’re not involved...”
Reuben was the first to whistle in understanding. “Quality control. You need someone honest in there making certain they don’t pull no more ringers, disrupt no more elections.”
Ariel pointed at R&R. Jax nodded. Evie grinned.
“Us?” Roark asked in astonishment. “You’d forget the money, keep the stock, and leave it tousto keep the company honest?”
Given what they’d sacrificed trying to keep the military honest, Jax had no doubt they could do it. “Who knows? That stock might be worth millions one day. Except we have to share the board with ambitious, wealthy politicians. We’d be walking a treacherous tightrope.”
Evie’s big grin disappeared. Watching her expression had given Jax the courage to suggest this mad scheme. Now his antenna for trouble rose. “What?”
“What kind of corporation runs La Bella Gente? Would Kit-Kat have been on the board? Would it be like DVM where major stockholders could demand quality control?”
Shit.Ariel vanished inside. R&R climbed back into their utility van. And Jax kicked himself three ways from Sunday.
Evie had said her ghost had complained of fraud. Motive with a capital M.
Twelve: Pris
Italy
The twins were Lucia’s!
Pris processed that bombshell as Leo led her on a tour of the underground cellars where they stored barrels of oil and crates of bottled wine. Leo informed her that they sent the grapes elsewhere for wine production, but they stored bottles under their own label.
What if the twins weren’t Dante’s? Maybe that’s why he avoided them. Now she really wanted to meet this Lucia. She had so many questions. . .
Retreating to her usual nonchalance, blocking any mental interference, she glanced around at the cavern. High enough for even Dante to stand upright, wide as a warehouse, it was pretty impressive. “Back home, they’d open a rathskellar and have beer parties in here. How far back does it go?”
“The original tunnels were probably dug by the Etruscans.” Dante had followed them on his crutch. “There’s more than one reason the Romans and our medieval ancestors built fortresses on top of inaccessible hills. Besides the defensive location, the Etruscans had settled there first. They’d already dug wells in the volcanic tuff, dug out the caverns to store their food, keep their cattle, and as shelter against invading barbarians. Entire medieval towns grew out of those ancient farms. This particular hill just wasn’t close enough to trading routes to need a fortress.”
Mansplaining, but interesting. Pris regarded the rough stone walls with new appreciation.
Leo shrugged, unimpressed. “Most of our tunnels collapsed long ago. Since we’re not fighting the Visigoths, we’ve not dug out more than we need for storage.” Leo checked the labels on his oil barrels. “This is the new batch. If Lucia doesn’t offer a new contract...”
“She doesn’t ever come home?” Pris had hoped this might be the link they needed to Katherine’s elusive half-sister. “Even if her parents are dead, surely she’d want to see the twins? And her farm?”
Dante snorted rudely. “All I’ve received is their passports and a packet of paperwork signing away her rights, making it clear the twins are solely my responsibility. My mother would probably shoot her if Lucia came within a mile of us.”
Looking harassed, Leo ran his hand over his hair. “She’s not been back since then. She incorporated her products, started making fortunes, leaving me to deal with her business people these days. I text and email but seldom get a personal reply. She has secretaries.” He kicked a barrel.
If it had been Lucia instead of Kit-Kat who’d died, Pris would understand the need to murder. Maybe the two were a lot alike? But no, Kit-Kat had an entourage surrounding her. Lucia apparently preferred hermit-hood. Maybe she lived in a cave.
Now that he was out of the cart, Dante lurched over the uneven ground toward the back of the cavern. “I wonder...we’d need a topographical survey. I seem to remember Lucia teasing me with tales of the side tunnels we couldn’t excavate. Her father blocked off the back of this section so we couldn’t go into them, but it looks like you’ve expanded. If one might take us down to the lower tunnel...”
“Don’t you think one of my starving ancestors would have sold any artifacts he found? There’s no treasure trove. My luck doesn’t run that way.” Leo rolled his eyes and headed back out.
Treasure? One more new angle to ponder. Did Italy have pirates?
Never show she cared...Digging her hands into her back pockets, Pris swung around to study the high walls and said casually, “Any treasure trove would belong to Lucia, right? It might bring her back here.”
