Rachel looked away from the screen of Nick’s notebook computer. “I rented her the latest Harry Potter movie. She and Deke are propped up in bed watching it. I see you’ve really collected a lot of information on Tanus and Fletcher employees.”
“It will make our Sarasota adventure less exciting if we can spot some of the players near the bank. My software program didn’t register a break in Tanus’s firewall until just before my shower. The names and faces you have on the screen are the latest.” He threw the towel aside.
Rachel put her arm around Nick’s waist as he stood alongside her chair. He had put on black boxer shorts before coming out of the bathroom. She kissed his side, leaning into him for a moment. “Leslie was pretty good with the cops. They hardly asked you anything.”
“She put them right on the defensive, then steered her way into the middle of their investigation. I made a simple statement, backing up her version, and she made them leave me alone. Leslie had all the right questions for them, too, about whether the police had priors on the young men, or if they fit car theft profiles in the area. She called hotel managers she knew and confirmed those clowns had been spotted before, after robberies at other hotels.
“I have your meal on warm in the microwave.”
“Bless you.” He pulled her up from the chair. “I’ll eat, check on Danger, walk the wooly mammoth, and then see if I can entertain you for a few hours.”
“Wow, aren’t you ambitious? Sit down, and I’ll bring the food and drink. You must feel a lot better after your shower.”
She brought out the carton with Nick’s order from the restaurant and set it down in front of him on the table near his notebook computer. She retrieved napkins and their drinks before sitting down with him. Lips parted slightly, she watched him eat the food in his black boxer shorts. Nick noticed her appraisal.
“I’m underdressed for dinner, huh?”
“Overdressed.” Rachel ran her hand along his thigh. “How’s your meal?”
“Other than having it with plastic utensils, it’s great.”
“Are we leaving tomorrow?”
“I’d like to stay,” he answered between mouthfuls of his hot turkey sandwich. “They found the van in Las Vegas. Leslie asked me about whether I’d heard the news when I told her we had a house in the Las Vegas area.”
“They’ll never pull your name out of that hat, Nick,” she kidded him.
“The quickest way to get into trouble is to start assuming facts not in evidence. I’m thinking we need to stay another day because we don’t want the cops around here getting suspicious of us fleeing the area after my run in with the locals tonight. They have our information on the register, including the Escalade’s license plate.”
“So, we stay.”
“We’ll play it by ear tomorrow and see how it goes.”
“Hey Nick, I’ve wanted to ask you something about your writing. How did you ever get your assassin stuff published?”
He leaned back with Rachel’s hand in his. “What makes you ask?”
“I’ve always heard it’s hard as hell to get published.”
“It took me three years for an agent to get beyond the first paragraph. A writer has to send out a query first with what they call a hook. If an agent or publisher likes your hook, they ask to see more. I had some requests for partials, but nothing panned out until near the end of my third year trying.”
“What did you do besides kill people while you waited?” she needled him.
“I wrote more books. By the time my first manuscript was picked up, by a publisher instead of an agent, I had four more books in the series done. Editing took up most of the two years after I hit the best seller list for my first book.”
“You must have had a lot of rejections in three years.”
“Quite a few,” he admitted.
“Did you ever want to shoot them?”
“Very funny.” He stood up. “Want another one?”
“Sure.” Rachel handed Nick her empty can. “Did you ever get discouraged, or think about giving up on the idea of writing?”
“Nope. Writing gave me an outlet. It was pure enjoyment. I had a woman editor during the second year say she liked the idea, but the writing needed work. Usually you only get a form letter rejection. She sent an attachment with what she claimed were suggestions. I opened up the attachment in her e-mail, thinking it would be a critique pertaining to my manuscript. Instead, it was a list of basic things not to do while writing a novel.”
“So, you hunted her down, right?”
“You are so out of line.” He returned with their drinks, chuckling at Rachel’s banter. “No, I didn’t hunt her down. It was cute. At least it wasn’t another form letter.”
“The editor insulted you,” she argued, feigning rage. “How dare she insinuate the only thing good in your manuscript was the idea. Let’s go get her now.”
“Right, Nikita, we don’t have enough people to kill as it is. We need to start hunting down agents and editors from my past that sent me rejection notes. I don’t think so. I have a better idea. Let’s go watch the end of Harry Potter, play some Frisbee, put Danger and her sidekick to bed, then come back here. You can lecture me some more on how to handle rejection.”
“I’m thinking you probably won’t be getting anymore rejections.” Rachel shifted over into Nick’s lap.
Chapter Seventeen
“Uh oh, here comes the Huntress.” Rachel avoided looking directly at Leslie Tobler as she approached their table.
Nick nodded, winking at Jean, who smiled back. They had decided on an early breakfast in case there were any developing complications.
“Good morning, Mr. Weatherby.” Tobler smiled at Rachel and Jean. “You’re not leaving us soon, are you?”
“Good morning, Leslie, this is -”
“Jane Austen and her daughter Jean,” Tobler finished for Nick, holding out a hand to Rachel. “The Jane Austen?”
“Uh, no.” Rachel laughed, shaking Tobler’s hand. “Would you like to join us?”
“I’ll have a cup of coffee, thank you,” Tobler replied as their waitress appeared with Tobler’s order as if by prearranged agreement. “I only noticed one vehicle registered for both of your rooms. Are you all traveling in one vehicle?”
“Yes, we met in Las Vegas and decided to travel together,” Nick answered. “We have business in the East and decided to take the trip in my Escalade.”
“Where at in the East?”
“You ask a lot of questions, lady,” Jean piped in. “Mom says it’s rude to question people.”
Nice one, Danger, Nick gave Rachel a small head shake as he could tell she intended to rebuke Jean.
“Quite right, Jean, I suppose it is,” Tobler admitted. “I apologize if my questions are out of line. Our skirmish with the three young gentlemen last night caused quite a stir. It seems they are indeed responsible for many of the vehicle thefts in the area. The police wondered how I noticed their out of the ordinary behavior.”
“I see,” Nick acknowledged. “Did they have more questions for me?”
“No, I told them what you informed me of last night about the three as if I had noticed the odd behavior and not you. I explained you simply lent a hand when the young men became violent. I wondered if my taking credit for your exemplary perception was out of line?” Tobler watched Nick appraisingly.
“Not at all. The three of us are trying to travel with as little fanfare as possible. I’d rather we didn’t attract any unnecessary attention. Did it help raise your intrinsic value with the police?”
“It did.” Tobler stood up with her coffee. She shook hands with Nick. “I hope you’ll stay with us again in the future.”
“We will. Thanks for the help.”
“It was nice meeting you, Ms. Austen, and your daughter.” Tobler gave Rachel and Jean a small hand wave before turning to walk away.