The shed was silent, dark and vacant. A figure, dressed head to toe in black and wearing a balaclava, stood in the shadow cast by Vinnie and Anna’s house and breathed deeply while he studied the closed door. There was no moon and his only light was a tiny white pinprick from a miniature torch hidden in the palm of his gloved hand.
He walked noiselessly to the shed door and pulled the small pack from his back. Within minutes he had gained access and disabled the very basic alarm system, surveyed the main room, and then turned his attention to the storage area. The door was heavy and impossible to open silently. There was nothing for it but to pull it open and close it quickly to shut out the bright light. He had chosen a night when the surf was pounding onto the beach, and hopefully that would mask any other sound.
He stood inside the room and waited. There were no sudden lights; no one came crashing into the shed to investigate. Finally, he checked each stack of black boxes in turn to find what he wanted. With precision and care he knelt down on the hard cool-room floor, opened the backpack and withdrew a large glass syringe, a glass vial and a pair of heavy gloves.
Mitchell was sitting on his deck reading a book about the history of chilli when a big, wet chocolate Labrador came charging up the sand and almost bowled him out of his chair.
‘Merlot!’
The dog licked his face and shook seawater all over him.
‘Do you want something to eat? Do you, boy?’ He stood up and went inside. ‘Come on, come and see what I’ve got in here.’
Merlot trotted obediently after him into the kitchen and stopped at the closed fridge.
‘Oh, yes, you know where the meat is, don’t you?’ Mitchell put a plate of steak on the bench, cut a hunk off and dropped it on the floor beside the dog. As Merlot wolfed down the meat, his tail wagged furiously.
Mitchell watched him, then picked up the plate and walked towards a closed door. ‘Come with me, boy, and I’ll give you some more.’
‘Hello, you two very fine people.’
Mitchell was strolling along the beach when he saw the Wilsons coming towards them. He waved to them.
Anna hurried over to him. ‘Have you see Merlot, Mitchell? He’s gone walkabouts and we can’t find him. Our chocolate Lab.’
Mitchell frowned. ‘No, I can’t say that I have, but I’ll keep a lookout. Could he have gone visiting?’
‘We’ve checked with all the people he knows and no one’s seen him,’ Vinnie said.
‘It’s just not like him. He never strays from home,’ Anna added, and Mitchell could see the worry on her face.
‘Don’t worry, my dear. I’m sure he’ll be home when it comes time for dinner and a cuddle.’
Mitchell spent the minutes before he went to bed watching the dog stretched out in his spare bedroom. He had always wanted a cat, but he’d known his father couldn’t be trusted around small defenceless animals, so it had stayed a secret desire. Then, when he grew up, he became a man who couldn’t be trusted around small defenceless animals.
He considered his options. He could poison it and dump the body in the Wilsons’ driveway or he could take it fifty miles down the road and let it find its own way home. But neither of those things was convenient. He knew that Vinnie was going away in the morning and Anna would be by herself, alone, grieving, vulnerable.
‘You’re just a little bonus, aren’t you, Merlot?’ he murmured as he smiled at the dog.
Vinnie hugged Anna and brushed the hair out of her eyes. ‘If you want me to stay until he comes back, I will,’ he said gently.
She shook her head. ‘Don’t be silly. He’ll come racing in for his food anytime now. He never misses a meal, and he’ll be starving.’
‘If he doesn’t, will you organise a search party?’
‘If I have to.’
‘And will you ask Mitchell to help?’ he asked.
She pulled back. ‘Do you mind?’
He hesitated. ‘No, not really. But I do think he fancies you something rotten. I might have to teach him a lesson.’
She smiled at him. ‘Should I hide the wine bottles?’
He laughed. Their humour was a barometer of the relationship. ‘Pétrus is definitely too good for him!’
Anna poked him in the chest with her finger. ‘Do you remember Louisa Logan, mister?’
He grinned sheepishly. ‘Yes, and I get the point. She fancied me and we used to laugh about it.’
‘Exactly. Mitchell can fancy me all he likes but the best approach is for us to laugh about it. He won’t get anywhere.’
Vinnie kissed her on the cheek. ‘Call me as soon as that scoundrel dog comes home.’
After breakfast, Mitchell put Merlot in his sports car and drove down the road to the Wilsons’ home. Vinnie’s car was gone and the back door was closed. Anna answered the bell and, when the door opened, Merlot shot past her and into the house.
‘Merlot!’
Without looking at Mitchell, she turned and followed the dog inside. When Mitchell joined her in the lounge, she was on her knees hugging Merlot and having her face licked.
‘Where did you get to? Naughty boy.’
‘I went for a walk in the trees on the other side of the road. I called him and – wouldn’t you just know it – he came to me. I was going to give him some steak but I wasn’t sure what you fed him,’ Mitchell said.
Anna got up and held out her hand. ‘Thank you so much. I was afraid we had lost him.’ She kissed him on the cheek and he returned the kiss.
‘You’re so welcome, glad I could be of service.’
Anna laughed. ‘Oh, you’re so delightfully American – a real southern gentleman.’
He gave a little bow.
‘Would you like to have dinner with me this evening? To celebrate the dog’s happy return?’
She gave a little frown. ‘I’d love to but we have a problem with one of the batches, due to go out Friday, and it needs my attention.’
‘Oh no. What kinda problem? If you don’t mind me asking.’
She was obviously reluctant to share.
‘If it’s a chocolate issue, I’d be mighty interested to have a look. It could help with my research,’ he added.
She seemed to make a decision to trust him. ‘Oh, it’s not a massive disaster or anything. When the girls were packing the white chocolates, they noticed that some of the boxes were stained. They opened them and the chocolates are leaking, possibly something to do with the coconut oil. But it’s not every box in the batch, which is strange.’
He leaned towards her and put his hand on her arm. ‘My goodness, Charlotte, how fascinating! What will you do with them?’
She couldn’t help it, she wanted to show him how in control she was – it was written all over her face and that amused him.
‘We can’t sell them and we can’t put them back into the next batch, it’ll upset the balance. So we’ll check every box and see how many are affected, then use those as give-aways, maybe donate them to a charity to use for fundraising.’
He grinned broadly. ‘Well, I suppose as long as someone gets to enjoy them. It would be a right shame if they got thrown out.’
She gave a small laugh. ‘That won’t happen. There’s too much investment in the ingredients, and there’s nothing wrong with them.’
‘Has anyone tried one?’
She shook her head. ‘Not yet, but we will, before we give them away.’
‘Surely you deserve a little break, just one night. They’ll keep. I’ll show you my chocolate research,’ he added.
She smiled at him and sighed. ‘How can I say no to that?’
‘Splendid! Around seven-thirty and I’ll barbecue you something special.’
Vinnie strode into the Chocolate Box in Parnell, his supplies in a carry-all box in his hand. ‘Good morning, my lovely. How are you?’
The owner looked up from the shelf she was stacking and grinned at him. ‘Michael Wilson, my favourite rep. And I need you – just about sold out.’
‘That’s what I like to hear.’ He put the box on the counter and looked at the arrangements behind the glass. ‘Wow, you are low!’
She climbed down the stepladder. ‘And you have a fan. I had a lady come in asking for some chocolate she’d tasted and couldn’t remember the name. We narrowed it down and it was you.’
‘How did you narrow it down?’ he asked.
‘She said it was exotic, unusual.’
Vinnie was reading the backs of blocks of chocolate as he listened. ‘Am I exotic?’ he asked.
She nodded. ‘By far the most exotic rep I know and, you have to admit, some of the flavour combinations are unusual, delicious, but unusual.’
‘Ah well, you solved the riddle, that’s the main thing.’
‘I did. She wanted to buy direct but I told her she would have to buy through me. I suspect she was a tourist as she didn’t seem to know the country.’
‘What nationality?’
‘English.’
Vinnie sat on the wall at Mission Bay beach and watched the ferry chugging across the harbour. It was on its way to Waiheke Island. He was trying to make up his mind. Something in the conversation he’d had that morning had rung a tiny bell in the back of his brain. He needed to check to see if a larger plot was swirling or whether he was suffering from old imaginary fears. He dialled a number on his phone. It rang three times before the call was picked up.
‘Hello, Louisa Logan speaking.’
‘Louisa, it’s Dom Darcy. How are you?’
There was a small silence.
‘Dom, how lovely to hear from you! Where are you?’
He smiled; she was as nosey as ever. ‘Making an honest living, and missing you all. Lou, I have a question for you. Is that okay?’
‘Of course, darling. Fire away.’
‘Have you had anyone on a tour asking about us? About the winery?’
There was that pause again. ‘One or two are interested in Rocky Bay, and they usually don’t know it has changed hands. And yes, recently some have asked questions, wondered where you’ve gone, but I didn’t tell them anything, naturally.’
He felt a slight lurch in the pit of his stomach. ‘Thanks, Lou. Love to everyone.’
‘But wait a moment, Dom, you –’
He hung up and pocketed his phone.