There were several beats of silence.
"Thanks for picking me up tonight," Zinnia said after a while.
Nick said nothing. He was fairly certain that any remark he might utter would make the situation worse.
"I called you because I was afraid the whole thing was connected to the journal. I didn't realize that it was only Dexter scaring me to death."
"We can't be sure yet that it wasn't related to the journal."
She glanced at him. "What do you mean?"
"Have you been having trouble with your car lately?"
"No."
"It just quit on you tonight with no warning?"
"That's right." She crossed her arms. "A few sputters and then it stopped cold. Right in the middle of a deserted neighborhood."
"Not like a good jelly-ice engine to up and die without warning. I'll have a mechanic check it out tomorrow."
"Are you saying you think someone sabotaged it?"
"I'm saying it needs to be looked at. Once we have a mechanic's verdict, we'll take it from there."
"Even if someone did fool with it," she said, "that doesn't mean the someone in question wasn't good old Cedric trying to stage another photo op."
"I know. In which case, in addition to losing his job, he'll pay for the repairs."
"Nick, the best thing you can do is forget Dexter and Synsation. Trust me on this. I've been through scandals before. The only way to survive them is to ignore them. Eventually they go away. You can't buy respectability with a lawsuit against a tabloid photographer."
"I'll deal with Dexter later. Zinnia, we have to talk."
"Yes." She gazed straight ahead through the windshield. "I suppose we do. What did you discover today when you went to the forger's house?"
He frowned. "That wasn't what I wanted to discuss."
"Do you want our partnership to continue?" she asked much too sweetly.
"Damn it, yes, I want the partnership to continue."
He realized he was struggling to hold on to his temper. "But we're also lovers now and that's what I want to talk about tonight."
"I'd rather not," she said primly.
A strange kind of panic seized him. "You were disappointed, weren't you? You waited a long time to have sex and the experience didn't live up to your expectations. Look, I'm sorry. I rushed things. Next time-"
"For heaven's sake, will you stop talking about sex?" She half turned in her seat. Her eyes blazed in the shadows. "Sex has nothing to do with this."
He tried to assimilate that. "It doesn't?"
"Can't you get it through that thick matrix-talent head of yours that I'm not mad because the sex was a disappointment? It was what happened afterward that upset me."
"Afterward?" Nick relaxed slightly. This he could handle. "Right. The photo in this morning's paper. I'm very sorry about that. I thought I had got the film out of Dexter's camera. Obviously it was a decoy roll. I promise I'll take care of him tomorrow."
"For a supposedly brilliant matrix, you're as dumb as a bowl of jelly-ice when it comes to some things. Listen to me, Nick Chastain, it wasn't the photo that annoyed me."
He sighed. "You're angry because I went to see the forger with Leo and didn't take you along."
"Congratulations on the stunning flash of insight."
"I explained that. I had to move quickly. There wasn't time to call you and arrange an appointment with Wilkes."
She drummed her fingers on her jean-clad leg. "Did you find anything of significance?"
"Maybe." He eyed her warily, uncertain of her mood.
"Talk, Chastain."
"I told you that Wilkes had skipped out before we arrived."
"And someone had searched his workshop?"
"Yes. Looking for financial records related to the forgery of the Chastain journal."
She turned her head to study him. "How can you be sure of that?"
He hesitated and then reached into the pocket of his jacket. "Leo and I didn't find any useful financial data, but I did discover this."
He put the cuff link in her palm. It gleamed in the lights of the dash.
"I don't understand." Zinnia examined the small gold link. "Do you think it belongs to Wilkes or to the man who searched his workshop?"
"It belongs to my uncle, Orrin Chastain."
Zinnia sucked in a deep breath. "The head of Chastain, Inc.?"
"Yes."
"What was it doing in the forger's workshop?"
"Good question," Nick said. "I haven't had a chance to ask him. I intend to do so tomorrow. This isn't the first time his name has come up in connection with this mess."
She closed her hand around the cuff link. "You didn't mention that little fact."
He felt a sudden need to explain his silence on the subject. "I didn't say anything because-hell, I don't know why I didn't tell you. But it wasn't because I'm a paranoid matrix. I just wanted to think about the situation for a while, that's all."
She raised one shoulder in a small shrug. "You didn't tell me because it was a family thing. Your first instinct was to protect your uncle until you knew what was going on. Perfectly understandable. I'd have done the same in your place."
He was startled. Then he tightened his hands on the bar. "Don't make me into a saint over this. Orrin and I can barely stand the sight of each other. There's no love lost between us."
"But you are family."
"Not in his view."
"Never mind. You did what you had to do. I can respect that."
"You can?"
She smiled for the first time since he had collected her from the temple office. "I know it must have been difficult for you to share this information with me. But because you did, I'm willing to let bygones be bygones. You can consider our partnership to be reinstated."
He took a deep breath. "What about our affair?"
"I'm going to have to think about that. To be perfectly honest, I'm not sure if it's a good idea for me to have an affair with you."
He felt as if he had just been run over by a fast-moving glacier. He struggled to breathe. The air was so cold it froze in his lungs.
"I see," he managed after an eternity had passed. "Let me know when you've made up your mind."
"I'll do that." She gave him an unreadable look. "But for the record, I wasn't disappointed last night."
Chapter 17
The first thing Zinnia saw when she opened the door of her loft apartment the following morning was the photograph of Nick and herself on the steps of the Children of Earth Temple. It was on the front page of the new copy of Synsation.
"Great shot." Leo stood directly behind the paper, holding it up so that she could not miss the picture or the caption.
Has Casino Owner Nick Chastain seen the blue light? Or is this his idea of how to show the Scarlet Lady a good time?
"Cedric Dexter strikes again," Zinnia said with a groan of resignation.
"Synsation sales will go through the roof today."
"Oh, lord." Zinnia snatched the paper out of his hand. "Nick is going to be very upset about this."
"Very upset?" Leo chuckled as he walked through the door. "I wouldn't be surprised if he put Synsation out of business before the day is over."
"He couldn't possibly do something that drastic."
"Wanna bet? Something tells me Nick could do just about anything he decides to do."
Zinnia's brows rose at the note of masculine admiration in her brother's voice. She closed the door and turned around. "What's this? Since when did you become a fan of Nick Chastain?"
"He's okay." Leo ambled into the kitchen, opened the icerator, and began to rummage around inside. "We had a long talk yesterday."
"Before or after the two of you went merrily off to search Alfred Wilkes's house?"
"Before." Leo removed a carton of fruit juice from the refrigerator. "You know, I've been thinking."