“Derek?” she’d called out.

“Follow the roses.” His voice came from the bedroom. This was going to be good.

Following the rose path didn’t lead her straight to the bedroom, though; it led to the bathroom, where he had the door closed. Outside the door on the floor were two champagne flutes and a bottle of Dom. He’d taped a note on the door. Move in with me, it read.

Nikki had reread that note ten times in a fraction of a second, her smile growing each time.

“Did you read it?” he’d asked.

She could hear him in a bath.

“Yes.”

“I’m not good with rejection, you know, so if you’re in, then bring the champagne and get in here with me. If you’re not, go quickly so I can drown myself. But stick the champagne in here first, so it won’t be as painful.”

She’d opened the door and picked up the bottle of champagne, walking into the bathroom. Derek had sunk under water and rose with a big smile, tossing his wet blond hair. “Thank you for saving my life.”

“You knew I’d say yes.”

“I was hoping, because drowning is not how I want to go out of this world. You coming in?”

Nikki had undressed, popped the cork on the champagne, and poured them each a glass. Stepping into the warm bath, which was also topped with rose petals, she’d handed him his champagne and slid down into the water. They’d toasted and before long their glasses were empty and there was more water on the floor than in the tub.

He’d given her the cherry blossom perfume later after they’d made love-in the bed this time-and told her that he’d never been so happy. Neither had she.

Nikki missed him now, wondering why he hadn’t called her all day. She knew why she hadn’t called him; another murder would send him over the edge. She’d checked the weather report and knew he wasn’t getting out of New York tonight.

After pulling on a cute pair of dark jeans and a mocha-colored silk blouse, she brushed her hair straight back and patted on enough makeup to keep her from looking like death warmed over. Then Nikki headed back into the kitchen for the finishing touches. She couldn’t believe she’d actually pulled it together.

The food smelled incredible-cornbread, chili, and green salad. It wasn’t gourmet by any means. Just good old-fashioned cooking at its finest. She set the large dining room table for ten. Petie would probably wind up sitting on his mother’s lap. It would be an interesting evening, and Nikki wondered what everyone’s reaction would be to having Robinson join them.

The first to show up were the Sansi family and crew. Nikki was surprised to see that Jen was with them. Sierra was all smiles.

“Thank you for inviting us into your home. I hope you don’t mind that we brought an extra guest,” Lulu Sansi said, wearing one of her flowing skirts, the daisy sandals, and again a poet blouse. Nikki hadn’t gotten a chance to know Lulu or her and Alan’s son, Eli, at all. They were at all of the events but stood back from the crowd and allowed Alan to take the spotlight.

“Not at all. I met Jen earlier this afternoon. Glad you could join us.” Whatever had transpired in the last couple of hours between Sierra and Jen had obviously changed everything between them, because they looked very much together and it sent some red flags up in Nikki’s mind. How juicy was this? Long-lost love that mysteriously disappeared years ago suddenly returns? Nikki was dying to get the lowdown on this one.

But instead she played hostess, serving up the drinks and some appetizers, as Simon and Marco joined the group, all designer duded out and announcing their future plans to become parents.

“But before we adopt”-Simon placed a hand on Alan’s shoulder-“we would really like it if you could perform a partner celebration for us. A kind of marriage, well, duh, I mean a wedding, okay. It’s so hard to know what others will think and say. But who am I kidding? It’s you and me. I’m so wound up. Sorry.”

Marco put an arm around him. “Breathe.” He smiled at Alan and everyone laughed.

The laughter stopped when Robinson walked through the door.

“Oh, no,” Hayden Sansi said. “What now?”

Nikki looked at Hayden, and Rich put a protective arm around her. “Tell us there hasn’t been another murder,” he said.

“No, man. I’m only coming for dinner. I was invited.” Poor Robinson probably felt like the angel of death; the sight of him sent people running in fear.

All eyes, including Robinson’s, now turned to Nikki. “Yes, and we’re waiting for one more guest. Oh, look, here she is now.”

Saved by Alyssa and Petie. They came through the door and Alyssa gave Nikki a hug before glancing around. Seeing all of the strange faces looking at him, Petie started to cry. As much as Nikki hated to see a kid crying, she knew that if anything can break up an uncomfortable silence, it’s the universal fuss that swirls around a kid’s tears. Among the oohs and aahs and soothing words being spoken to the toddler, Nikki made her way back into the kitchen and, much to her own chagrin, slammed down a glass of wine. Wrong thing to do maybe, but she was going to have to handle the evening with finesse. She hadn’t exactly planned it out-how everyone would react to one another’s presence-but Hayden was clearly displeased that Robinson was joining them for dinner.

Robinson came into the kitchen a minute later. “What are you up to, Sands? I doubt you’re hoping I’ll convert and join this group.”

“Of course not.” She’d leave the matchmaking part out of it. “I thought maybe if people were in an intimate situation, you could learn more about them.”

“Technically, I shouldn’t be here. I’m the detective on a murder case where I’ve had to question all of these people and none of them is above suspicion yet. Where’s the dog?”

“I put him in the bedroom. With all of these people, I hate to have him running around. Trust me, he prefers it that way.”

“I’m not liking this, Sands.”

“Lighten up. Have a drink.” She handed him a glass of Merlot and spooned out bowls of chili. “Go set these in there for me, please. Oh, wait,” she said. “Did you find a DVD in Mizuki’s stuff?”

“Yes. Why?”

“Duh. I’m wondering if it’s the DVD I told you about. The one Iwao was trying to hand to Alan the other day. I’m thinking there might be something on there to lead to the killer.”

“There was nothing on it, except a Japanese soap opera. My guess is that the geisha brought it to keep herself entertained.”

“Then that’s not it.” Nikki was disappointed, but the odds that Iwao and Alan shared a mutual interest in Japanese soaps was slim to none.

“Probably not, but we haven’t found any other DVDs,” he replied.

“You need to keep looking,” she said.

“You always this bossy?”

She frowned at him and handed over a bowl. “Please. I know there’s something on that DVD. Now take these bowls out.” She took out the macaroni and cheese she’d put together for Petie and called everyone in for dinner.

Robinson started to sit down between her and Simon but she stopped him. “Nope. I sort of have an arrangement. Do you mind sitting over there? And then, Alyssa, how about you next to the detective? I mean Jonah. Right? We can call you Jonah since this is a social affair.” So much for casually seating the guests in their assigned seats.

Simon leaned in and whispered, “Smooth.”

She kicked him under the table.

Eventually everyone was seated exactly where Nikki wanted them.

“This is wonderful,” Alan said, tasting the chili. “And the wine. I don’t drink much wine, but I really like this.” He held up his glass of Merlot.

“I’ll tell Derek. We only produced a few cases of it. I think we have two left. It’s one of our best wines and I thought it would be nice to serve it tonight.”

“We appreciate it and we appreciate everything you’ve done for the group.” Alan paused. “Nikki, I wanted to let you know that after the meditation practice we did today, I decided to wrap up the event tomorrow morning and allow everyone to go home. I’ve already informed the family and I’ll let everyone else know in the morning. Many of the members aren’t getting what they hoped out of this, for obvious reasons, and would prefer to leave. Is that all right with you, Detective?”