“No. I’ve been kind of busy myself. What’s the problem?” She leaned against the stone wall that housed the tasting room.
“Only the biggest snowstorm the East Coast has seen in fifty years. The planes are grounded. I don’t know when I can get home.” Nikki heard the frustration in Derek’s voice. “As soon as Simon told me what happened, I called all the airlines, but I already knew no one was getting out of here tonight. It’s been all over the news. It started early this morning and hasn’t let up.”
“That’s terrible, honey.” Terrible, my ass. Secretly, she couldn’t help being a little glad that he was stuck out there. If she knew him the way she thought she did, he would have already been on his way to JFK if he could to get the first flight home. Nikki was not ready to give up playing Colombo anytime soon; there was a killer in Napa and she hadn’t earned her Nosy Nikki name for nuthin’.
Derek returned the sarcastic nickname exchange and said, “That’s right, that’s terrible, sweetie.”
“Derek?” Nikki heard a woman’s voice in the background. “Your ravioli is on the table. It’ll get cold.”
“Hi, Sophia. I’ll be with the table in a moment. I have an important call here.”
“Sophia? Who is Sophia?” Nikki asked, her blood pressure rising by the second. Anyone with a name like Sophia could mean nothing less than trouble with a capital T.
“She’s Vicente’s daughter. She’s also the family attorney and is going over these contracts with us. She’s a real stickler.”
“Okay.” Nikki didn’t have a more intelligent response in her repertoire. She hated when she sounded jealous. For all she knew, the woman was an ugly hag. “Is she pretty?” Ooh. She closed her eyes tightly. Now why on earth did she have to go there? That was even stupider than responding with the “okay.”
“She’s attractive, I guess. If you like her look.”
Not the answer you want to hear from your boyfriend. Her look? Don’t even pursue this one any further, Nikki warned herself. In fact, talking about the murder suddenly appeared like an easier conversation to have.
“I can’t believe this happened on the wine train. Do they have any idea who did it? And Simon says that the workshop is still taking place.”
“Yes. Alan felt that was the best way to go. And no, Detective Robinson really isn’t sure who did the crime, or if it was one of the members or someone who worked on the train. My guess is that he’s exploring all the angles.”
There was silence on the other end for a few seconds. The only way Nikki could tell that Derek was still there was by the background noise.
“Jonah Robinson is investigating the murder?”
“Yes.”
“Okay.”
She shifted uncomfortably against the wall. “Is that a problem?”
“No. He’s kind of different, and I thought when he was investigating Georges’s murder that he kind of had a thing for you.”
She laughed. “You’re kidding, right?”
“No.”
“Derek, we really need you at the table.” Nikki heard Sophia’s voice again.
“I’m sorry, babe.”
Another freaking endearment. Bad sign. “You have to go, I know.”
“I do, but listen to me. I know you too well, and this is not the ideal situation here. You there, in the middle of a murder investigation. Me here, not watching your back. It’s not good. You better not be poking into this thing. Keep Ollie with you and promise me you’ll stay out of Robinson’s way and let him do his job.”
She bit her lower lip. “I promise,” she muttered. Crap. She hated when he made her make promises that she absolutely knew she couldn’t keep. That was like holding a cookie jar out to a five-year-old and saying, “Now promise me you won’t eat one when I go back and clean my room. You be a good boy, Johnny, and watch Sesame Street.”
Please! And that was the problem: Derek knew she couldn’t keep that promise and she knew she couldn’t keep it, but she made it anyway.
“You better not be crossing your fingers behind your back, Nik. I mean it this time. Keep your word, and just stay away from Robinson. I love you.”
“I love you, too. Enjoy your ravioli.”
And with that, he was gone and she was left standing outside the tasting room, cell phone in one hand, empty wineglass in the other, knowing she’d made empty promises to the man she loved. What a scoundrel! How to live with herself? She looked at the empty glass. She could refill. That might make it easier. No. No. She couldn’t do that.
Okay, since the empty promises had been made and she already knew she’d break them and feel all that guilt and shame, she figured, what the hell? Nikki went to see if she could talk again with Mizuki.
Cheese Ravioli with Sweet Italian Sausage and Bracco Chianti Classico
Sophia! Sophia! That could not be good. All women named Sophia are sexpots and gorgeous. It’s a well-known fact. And Derek is having ravioli with her at an Italian restaurant! Hmmm. Well, the only consolation Nikki can have in this moment is that she knows she makes the best ravioli around. So, when Derek takes a bite of that ravioli he’s eating there with Sophia, he won’t be able to help remembering Nikki’s divine cheese ravioli with sweet Italian sausage.
Got to have a good bottle of Chianti when eating ravioli, right? Yeah, well, Derek better not be with that Sophia! When he gets back to Napa, Nikki will have to make him her ravioli and pair it with her favorite Chianti by Bracco Wines owned by Lorraine Bracco of The Sopranos. The Chianti Classico is an elegant red wine with flavors of black cherry and plum. It’s aged in new Slovenian oak barrels for a year. It’s a fantastic wine for pasta and meat dishes.
12 oz fresh sweet Italian sausage links
1 cup beef broth
1 cup chopped onion
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp olive oil
28-oz can whole Italian-style tomatoes
¼ cup tomato paste
¼ cup dry red wine
2 tbsp snipped fresh basil
1 tsp dried oregano, crushed
¼ tsp crushed red pepper
12 oz dried or 16 oz fresh cheese-filled ravioli
In a large skillet combine sausage links and broth. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Drain off broth. Cook sausage links, uncovered, for 2-4 minutes more, or until brown, turning frequently. Remove from skillet; cool. Slice into ½-inch pieces. Wipe skillet clean with paper towels.
In the same skillet, cook onion and garlic in hot oil till tender but not brown. Stir in tomatoes, tomato paste, wine, basil, oregano, and crushed red pepper. Add sausage to skillet. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes, or to desired consistency.
Meanwhile, in a large saucepan or pasta pot bring 3 quarts water to boiling. Add pasta. Reduce heat slightly. Boil, uncovered, 15 minutes for dried pasta or 8-10 minutes for fresh, or till al dente, stirring occasionally. (Or cook according to package directions.) Immediately drain. Return pasta to warm saucepan. Pour sausage mixture over hot cooked pasta. Serve immediately.
Eighteen
NIKKI peered back inside the wine tasting and saw that Alan Sansi had taken center stage again. This was good for her. It meant she could head over to Mizuki’s suite.
She knocked on Mizuki’s door, hoping no one from the wine tasting was wandering the halls, but there was no response. This troubled Nikki. Where would Mizuki have gone? Maybe she was resting. Both Robinson and Nikki agreed that Mizuki had information to share. The problem was, no one had been able to get that information because of the language barrier. It was too bad the interpreter that Robinson had requested hadn’t come by when he was supposed to. She knocked again before giving up. It was dark. Ollie needed to get out and be fed. Poor guy. He was used to a lot more attention than what he’d been getting over the past couple of days.