"We're never gonna make it." Cody gripped the steering wheel in frustration. "I can't believe this. Today of all days!"
"It's gonna be fine, man. Just drop me and Boz at the Pier and go pick up your mom. We'll take care of everything."
"Come on, Nick, it's hopeless. We're not gonna make it."
"It's not hopeless—"
"Yeah, Cody, have a little faith." Murray was leaning forward between the seats.
"I'm supposed to pick her up at 6:45 on the dot! Murray, you've only talked to my mother on the phone—you just don't know her that well; she's a stickler about punctuality. It's—what time is it, Nick?"
"Ya got ten minutes. Look, just drop us at the gate and go pick her up. And quit worrying; we got this."
Cody blew out a deep breath of frustration as his partners climbed out of the Jimmy. As he drove off toward the hotel, he glanced in the rearview mirror and saw Murray helping Nick hobble down the companionway. Of all the days for this to happen. Of course, it started out just fine despite the fact that Cody overslept and had to skip breakfast…
They had a long list of witnesses to interview. A local lady of means had been conned out of fifty grand in what seemed to be a fairly sophisticated sting. She'd been taken to several locations around the area that were all reportedly owned by an investment company. She was introduced to a variety of employees of this fictional company and had been shown paperwork verifying that her investment would be safe. Turned out the whole thing was a scam, and Joanna had recommended the agency when the department's leads dried up.
The list of witnesses included several people who really did work at the locations their client had been shown as proof of the fake company's viability. It had been a long but productive day when they went to see the last witness midway through the afternoon.
The first thing that rang suspicious was that the address provided by the police turned out to belong to someone else entirely. Assuming that it had been written or transcribed incorrectly, they called the man's place of employment where, sure enough, they got a completely different address. The second residence turned out to be a cheap, road-side motel badly in need of repair and a good cleaning. Odd that a supposedly established resident lived in such a place, but Boz confirmed the address on his portable computer. Skepticism was evident in all three members of the Riptide Agency as they climbed the outdoor stairs to the third floor.
Their suspicions firmed up when the witness answered the door but didn't invite them inside. And his answers, while reasonable on the surface, sounded practiced and slick and didn't actually give them any worthwhile information.
Finally, the witness agreed to accompany them to his work place. He went back in his room to change clothes while they waited…until Murray caught a glimpse of the guy sneaking out of a room three doors down. At that point, a chase ensued through all three floors of the motel that included an attempted flying tackle by Nick, resulting in a graceless tumble down the second floor stairs to the concrete parking lot below. He ended up with a twisted ankle and wrist and a long scrape on his forearm as Cody finally collared their witness-turned-suspect.
When Joanna and her officers arrived, they found the suspect had a large portion of their client's money in his room which turned out to connect to several rooms on either side. The absent occupants of those rooms were also apparently part the ring and were out setting up their next mark. Joanna was smiling in anticipation as she planned the stakeout to catch the rest of the network. But all of this took time to figure out, and the cops had to get statements from Cody, Nick, and Murray to start the necessary legal processes which would hopefully result in court convictions.
Cody felt torn by the day's priorities. First was the client who had hired them to recover her money and secure the arrest of the perpetrators. Well under way, but still a work in progress.
Second was Nick falling down the stairs. It didn't seem serious, but he was notorious for downplaying injuries. His first words were always, 'It's just a scratch.' Maybe, maybe not, but Cody hadn't had a chance to get a look himself. One of the cops handed over a first aid kit, and Nick had at least made a token effort to clean and bandage the scrape. Still…
And last, lurking in the background, was tonight's dinner with Cody's mother. She wasn't a person who liked surprises, so the fact that she had shown up out of the blue seemed ominous. Cody almost dreaded finding out what she had in mind this time.
After her call last night, he'd spent several hours lost in thought, walking the beach and the pier, eventually ending up at the helipad. He'd just been drifting aimlessly, wondering what motivated his mother's visit, and he suddenly realized that he'd just walked under the arch heralding Mimi's home. Nick always seemed to get such comfort from the old chopper; at that point, Cody was desperate. "Maybe I need another woman's opinion. What's my mother doing out here?" When Cody realized he'd just asked for advice from an ugly pink rustbucket, he decided it was time to go back to the boat. Which was dark, and he belatedly noticed that it was several hours past midnight.
And now, Cody was watching his rearview mirror as his partners scrambled to help him entertain his mother. Who must have had a reason for coming to California in the first place.
Beatrice Allen was waiting in the lobby of her hotel. As Cody walked up, her smile was small but genuine. "I was afraid you'd be late."
Cody leaned down to kiss her cheek and wrap her in his arms. "No, you've been on my mind all day." Which was true even if it wasn't in a way she'd probably appreciate.
"You look good, son."
"You look beautiful."
"I'm reminded of your father when you start flattering me."
Cody didn't know how to respond appropriately to that, so he just smiled and offered her his arm. "Are you ready to go?"
"Yes. Shall we?"
He assisted her into the Jimmy and noted her barely hidden displeasure that she was in a truck. He wondered briefly if she'd ever ridden in one but decided it wasn't worth asking as she didn't comment. Instead, after a quick update on old friends he'd not seen in a while, he pointed out buildings of interest that had gone up or changed since her last visit a few years back. She murmured and nodded appropriately and asked about some of the places she remembered from when they'd lived in the Los Angeles area decades ago.
By that time, they were back at the boat, and Cody felt his anxiety level ratchet up. A quick check, and it was almost seven. Nick and Murray had had only twenty minutes to get the boat and dinner ready for his mother. Cody should have insisted they go out.
He helped his mother climb aboard the boat and pretended not to see her expression of faint disapproval. She'd never appreciated his love for the sea. Cody'd always had the impression that she'd disapproved of his grandfather as well. As they crossed the afterdeck, Murray came out of the wheelhouse.
"Oh, good, you're here!"
Cody grinned, knowing he could always count on Boz being gracious and exuberant. "Mom, this is Murray Bozinsky; Murray, I'd like to introduce my mother, Beatrice Allen."
"Mrs. Allen, it's a great pleasure to finally meet you in person."
"Please call me Beatrice."
"And you must call me Murray." He took her hand and gallantly helped her up to the wheelhouse. "Welcome aboard. What a lovely surprise that you could come visit Cody this time."
"I do wish he lived closer and could come see me more than once a year. One would think, being self-employed, that a son could manage that."
Cody bit his lip and resolved not to answer.
Boz jumped in anyway. "Yes, well, you know how it is. We keep pretty busy around here. Let me help you into the salon. The steps are pretty narrow and steep so be careful."
Cody brought up the rear, dreading to see what his partners had come up with in twenty minutes. Please, please not frozen pizza or hot dogs.
When he got down the steps, he hoped the surprise didn't show on his face. The room was neat as a pin, and the table was set with a white cloth, four place settings, and candles. Truthfully, they generally kept the boat pretty neat as a small space housing three adults almost required. But Cody was stunned that the salon seemed so elegant in such a small amount of time.
"Well, this looks lovely. And dinner smells wonderful. Thank you, son, for going to so much effort."
Cody was still staring at the table in amazement but quickly pulled his attention back to his mother. "It was no trouble at all."
"Is dinner ready now, or do we have time for a quick tour? I haven't visited since before Murray moved on board."
Boz piped up, "Of course we have time!" He took her hand and escorted her down the aft stairs to Cody and Nick's stateroom. Cody waited till they were out of sight and then ran down to find Nick in the galley.
"How'd you do this?"
Nick was feverishly chopping mushrooms, a large salad bowl in the sink beside him. He was having a little trouble holding the mushrooms steady with his bad wrist, but fortunately, his chopping hand was okay. "Hey, give the dressing a quick shake; I don't want it to separate."
Cody checked the lid on the jar before giving it a jiggle. He eyed the pots on the stove, "Is that your spaghetti sauce? How did you do this?"
Nick dropped the mushrooms into the salad and ran his hands through the whole thing. "Okay, pour on the dressing."
Cody hurriedly complied, and Nick did another quick toss to mix everything.
"After you went out last night, I tried to think how I could help. I got worried that something might come up today and we'd be pressed for time, so I ran to the grocery and made the sauce last night and stuck it in the fridge. Figured it could be warmed up, add a salad and some garlic bread, and we'd be good."
Cody could hear Boz and his mother coming back into the salon.
"And of course, down here is the galley and my room is on the other side."
Cody stood to one side as Murray assisted his mother down the narrow steps.
Nick turned to her and wiped his hands on the towel slung over one shoulder. Generally in the Riptide Agency, Cody was Mr. Charm with a ready smile and golden dialogue. But bring on any woman over fifty, and Nick was the man. "Hey, Mrs. A, welcome back." He leaned down to kiss her cheek.
"Nicholas, please call me Beatrice. We've been over this."
"Yeah, I know, but I just can't. It's like I got a mental block or something." He shrugged helplessly with a broad smile, completely unapologetic.
She shook her head fondly, "Dinner smells heavenly."
"No promises. Cody just tried to 'help', and once he sticks his nose in, there's no telling what kind of disaster will result."
She smiled indulgently as Cody put in the expected objection. His mother playfully swatted them both on the arm and then followed Murray on through to his cabin. Nick squeezed Cody's shoulder in support before turning to check the oven and the pasta boiling away on the stove.
Cody followed his mother into Murray's room and found her looking at the equipment in amazement. "My goodness. Cody told me you were an expert, but this reminds me of Mission Control at NASA."
Boz nodded thoughtfully, "Well, they have more stations and a larger room, of course, but I do see a comparative similarity. Although I doubt they have anything like this modulating frequency adapter. I developed this myself—"
The Roboz rolled up, and his chest monitor flashed red letters. 'Welcome aboard, Mrs. Allen.'
Her mouth literally dropped open. "Well, thank you, uh…"
"Roboz, Mom. That's the Roboz, Murray's robot."
"Well, it is a real robot, isn't it?" She couldn't pull her eyes away.
Cody didn't think he could remember her just staring like that. At anything. Ever. He grinned in amusement. "Did you think I was talking about a metaphorical robot?"
"Well, I…I really don't know what I thought to be honest."
From the galley, Nick called out, "Hey, dinner's ready. The pasta's almost there."
Cody gestured back toward the galley, "Shall we?"
His mother walked out in front of them, and a suddenly worried-looking Boz caught Cody's eye and mouthed, 'Okay?'
Cody grinned in appreciation for all that his friends were doing to make dinner a success.
"Nicholas, may I take anything up?"
"Just yourself. You're our guest, so go on up and make yourself at home. Cody, take care of your mom instead of standing around, huh?"
Cody grinned, "Yes, sir. Mom, why don't we go on up before he really starts cracking the whip."
Cody put his mother at the short side of the corner and then slid in the far end to sit next to her. Murray ran up from behind, placed the salad on the table, and reached into the corner to grab a bottle of wine that Cody had not previously noticed.
Nick hobbled up from the galley with the bread basket and pulled up the rattan chair to sit at the far corner as Murray slid onto the end of the bench seat.
"Nicholas, you're limping. Are you injured?"
He shook his head with an embarrassed grin, "I tripped over a piece of driftwood running on the beach this morning. See, there was this girl…" He let the comment drift off as Cody's mother pursed her lips in a motherly reprimand.
Cody caught Nick's eye and silently thanked him for not mentioning their harried afternoon. He also noticed that Nick had changed clothes; he was now wearing clean, intact jeans and a long sleeved shirt that hid the bandage on his forearm. His partners really had thought of everything.
"Nicholas, the sauce was divine. What's your secret?"
"Come on, Mrs. A. You don't ask the cook for his secrets. Or recipes. Or something like that. I know there's supposed to be some kind of rule."
"He doesn't have a recipe anyway, Mom."
"Well, dinner was excellent. I can't recall a better sauce—even when we were in Italy."
Nick beamed, "My grandmother would appreciate that. She didn't have a recipe either, but she taught me how to make it. She always said that once you learn the basics and how things come together, the rest is mostly instinct and tasting as you go. It's almost never the same twice. And that's pretty much how I cook."
Dinner had been a huge success. His mother was impressed with the meal—hell, Cody was impressed considering the time crunch, and the conversation was relaxed and enjoyable. His mother mentioned the changes in the area that she and Cody had seen on the drive over, and that led to the case they handled for Helen Howell and the revelation that she owned a vast portion of King Harbor. Cody's mother had always been impressed by real estate and finding out that the famous film star of the '30s and '40s was one of their clients seemed to delight her. That and the fact that they still saw and talked to Helen pretty often. When Murray mentioned off hand that they'd also worked for Baxter Bernard and were on a first name basis with the famous inventor/hermit/tycoon, Cody knew they'd hit a homerun with his mother.
Back in the lobby of her hotel, she looked at him with a discerning eye. "Cody, would you be available for breakfast? There's something I need to discuss with you."
Finally.
"We can talk now."
"No, I'd prefer to wait until morning."
Cody's anxiety had been allayed by the successful dinner, but it roared back full strength. "Of course. What time?"
"Nine?"
"Fine. I'll meet you here in the lobby?"
"Excellent. Thank your friends again for a delightful dinner. I'll see you tomorrow."
Cody watched until she was on the elevator, wondering again what she had in mind. Must be big.
Back on the boat, he found his partners cleaning up the galley. The salon was back to its normal state, and the dishes were almost done. "Guys, that was great. She was really impressed. Thanks for everything."
Boz shrugged, "It was Nick really. He just told me what to do."
Cody offered a grin of gratitude, but Nick wasn't satisfied. "Any idea why she's really here?"
"No, but I'm meeting her for breakfast. She said she has something to discuss."
Murray's brows drew down in concern, and Nick bit his lip pensively. "Another round of This is no way to live, you're wasting your life?
Cody rubbed his temples; he was getting a headache. "Yeah, probably. But I bet she's got a new angle or she wouldn't have flown out here. Every time she does this, it just gets harder. We never see each other anymore without her trying to get me to move back East or finish school or go to work for one of Dad's old buddies. One of these days, I'm just gonna…"
Nick squeezed his shoulder, just like before dinner. "No, you're not. She's your mom; she loves you. And you love her. She can't help it that her idea of the good life isn't the same as yours."
Cody looked at his friends morosely. He knew Nick was right, but it didn't make the coming discussion any easier.