A Good Day for Chardonnay (Sunshine Vicram #2) by Darynda Jones

“Mom,” Elliot said, his expression stern, “we had to keep you safe. You and Adam.”

“Oh, sweetheart.” She hugged him again and wrapped an arm around Adam as well.

“You are the bravest kid I’ve ever met,” Sun said to Elliot. “You stayed alive and kept your brother alive, too.”

“Keith knew something was up when that guy tried to stab him at the gas station.” His lower lip quivered. “That’s when I told him what I did, but he didn’t care. He wasn’t even mad. And he didn’t think it was the Delmar family, either. He went to meet his contact and said if he wasn’t back by dawn to clear out and don’t come back. He would find me.” He wiped his eyes with the back of an arm. “I did, but then I got worried. I thought they would go after Mom and Adam. That’s why I took him, and I was coming to get you, too, Mom, but Dad came home before I could get you.” His shoulders slumped. “I had to leave you there. I’m sorry. I was going to come back.”

“Elliot, why didn’t you just come to us? Why leave the messages?”

He lifted a shoulder. “I knew Keith would get in trouble even though he didn’t really kidnap me. And my mom. I just wanted you guys to find the money.”

Addison covered her eyes with a hand as she hugged him. “I can’t believe any of this is happening.”

“Yep,” Sun said, nodding. “You are definitely the bravest kid I’ve ever met.”

A dubious frown slashed across his handsome face. He didn’t believe her. She would just have to spend the next few days convincing him.

“You’re Auri’s mom,” he said.

Surprise rocketed through her. “I am. Do you know my daughter?”

“Yeah. I see her at the lake during the summers. She’s really nice.”

“Nice?” Adam asked, wrinkling his nose at him. “You said you liked her butt.”

Elliot slammed a hand over his brother’s mouth and put him in a headlock. “He doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”

“And her boobies,” he said, his voice muffled.

A bright hot blush blossomed across Elliot’s face. Oh, yeah. They were going to get along great.

“Wait, where was the money?” she asked. “Before you moved it? And how on earth did you get a hundred fifty million dollars up here?”

A calculating grin lifted one corner of his adorable mouth. “I’m sworn to secrecy.”

She laughed.

“So,” Adam said, his voice still muffled, “are we, like, brothers?”

Another helicopter flew overhead and news crews were beginning to show up.

“Sunny!”

Sun turned to see Quincy running up to her.

He skidded to a stop, not an easy task considering his size. “We have to go.”

She shot to her feet. “If this is about Randy,” she warned. That raccoon was a menace. When he put a hand on her shoulder, she sobered instantly. “Quincy,” she said, the warning in her voice much sharper that time.

“It’s Auri.”





23


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Sun and Levi commandeered a ride into Albuquerque on the medevac with Agent Wilcox, making for a very tight squeeze with both a nurse and a paramedic also on board. Because Wilcox’s life wasn’t in immediate danger, the paramedic rode up front with the pilot.

Reception was so spotty, she didn’t get much info from Salazar. All she knew for certain was that Auri was being airlifted to Pres with blunt force trauma to the head.

Sun’s world turned upside down with the news. She hadn’t eaten. Hadn’t slept. Her adrenaline had reached new heights in several ways that day. She was running on fumes and yet she willed the helicopter to fly faster with every ounce of energy she had left.

Levi took her hand, his jaw hard set. He was just as worried as she was.

She had the pilot patch her through so she could call her parents from the helicopter, at first wondering where they were when all of this was happening, then suddenly worried they were hurt, too. But she could not blame them. She had a sneaking suspicion this was all Aurora Dawn Vicram.

Unable to hear half of what they said, she got the most important bits. They were fine. They were following the ambulance that was carrying Mrs. Fairborn. The kids should already be at the hospital.

“Mom, you guys have to calm down. You’ll have a wreck. Why don’t you meet Quincy when he gets to my cruiser and come down with him?”

“This is all our fault,” her mother said, clearly in shock.

There was no getting through to them. Her only hope was for Quincy to hurry and try to catch up. Thankfully, Albuquerque traffic wasn’t bad after nine. They should be fine. And, lest she forget, her dad was in military intelligence and drove missions all through the Middle East. Surely, he could handle a Tuesday night in Albuquerque.

With more than enough law enforcement officials at the mine, Sun ordered Zee and Rojas back to town to help Salazar with the crime scene. And yet another dead body. Del Sol seemed to have entered The Twilight Zone. Mid-season. And with ratings plummeting.

The DA was going to go ballistic. The mayor was going to kill her. Yet Sun couldn’t find it in her to care. Her daughter could have died. She still could. Nothing else on Earth mattered.