"I'm concerned, Lorne. Three days, now. Not a word from Nathan."

"But you told me the other evening that he has a history of acting like this."

"Yeah." I blew a loud sigh. "Yeah, he does. But he's always come simpering back the next day – acting like a contrite puppy. Never more than a day, though. Not like this."

"Hmmm! Where does he go? Stay with family?"

"They're all back east – New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. He takes a hotel room. I should check."

"Check?"

"Online banking. His credit card. Recent activity."

"Can you get access to it?"

"I have it – it's under my account – necessary because I pay all his charges."

"Oh!" There was a pause on the phone before Lorne continued, "I'll leave you to it, then. Not a good time to discuss examining your publishing contract."

"Oh, dear! I derailed your call, didn't I?"

"No, it's fine. You have more immediate concerns."

"That'll take only a minute or two. When had you thought of meeting?"

"My afternoon is free. Your choice."

"You could come over now. I have nothing but writing."

"Hmmm!" Lorne paused a few seconds. "Awkward if he chooses to return while I'm there."

"Yeah. Away from here would be better. Where's convenient for you?"

"My loft is near Olympic Village."

"Ooh! Close. I'm just across the bridge on Marinaside Crescent."

"But even closer – I moor in Quayside Marina. We could meet aboard."

"You have a boat?"

"Yeah, sailing's one of my passions."

"Mmmm! So, where do we meet? When?"

"I'm aboard now. Find your contract, and I'll meet you by the gate at the foot of Davie in fifteen minutes."

"The file's in my computer. I'll bring it and be there in ten or less."

"Great!"

While I scrambled to stuff my computer, phone and wallet into a backpack, my mind rambled. Sailing – my dream activity. No, Lorne's my dream activity. My diddle fantasy. Stupid fricking me, why hadn't I realised he's ace? And how had I missed that he's infatuated with me? That he has been since forever?

Why did I give up on him and go searching? Natural hormonal craving, I suppose. Misread his lack of interest – started with Nathan. But even there, it's always my fingers, never his quickies. Fingers would work with Lorne. Silly! Of course, they would; fantasising about him always pops me. His being asexual doesn't matter.

I blew out a deep breath. Enough! Need to get going.

A few minutes later, at the marina gate, Lorne took my offered hand to his lips, and I heaved a heavy sigh. All the wasted years.

"You appear to be distraught, Kate. About your findings with Nathan's card?"

Darn my rush. "No, I've not yet looked. Thought I'd do it aboard. Hmmm! That's being dishonest, Lorne. Forgot to look. Thoughts of you distracted me."

"Thoughts of me?" He continued holding my hand as he guided me through the gate and down the ramp.

"Yeah, thinking of the wasted years. Never entered my mind that you're ace. Wouldn't have mattered had I known."

"Wouldn't have mattered?"

"Love is much more than sex, Lorne."

He squeezed my hand and nodded, remaining silent until we stopped at another gate. He placed his thumb on a scanner, the lock clicked, and he led me through and along the float past the sterns of several boats. "Here she is, Tastevin."

"Ooh! I drool over this boat from my patio and balconies." I turned and pointed across the marina at the three-storey townhouse. "That's my place, the one with all the flowers on the balconies."

"Small world, amazingly small."

He led me through the transom gate and up into the cockpit, where he thumbed a scan pad and pushed a button, causing a loud click. After opening the doors and sliding the companionway cover forward, he took my hand again and guided me down the steps into the cabin.

"This is huge. How big?"

"Nineteen point eight five metres. It's easier on registration and other regulations being under twenty." He looked at me with a crooked smile. "I sometimes exaggerate the size – call her twenty."

"That's not unusual; most men exaggerate size." I smiled at him and chuckled.

Lorne pointed to the table. "Sit there and get into your computer. Check his credit card transactions to ease your mind. Then, we can relax."

"Umm, yeah. I can tether to my phone."

"Faster with my wifi. I've a satellite connection aboard."

A minute later, when I tapped the wifi symbol and saw Tastevin, I asked, "Password?"

"99LaTache, uppercase L and T."

"Ooh! Great wine. Have you ever tasted it?"

"I have a large bin of the DRC in my cellar."

Hmmm! Yeah, lawyers make a lot more than writers. I entered the password, went to EasyWeb, logged in and selected NathanCard. "Nothing, Lorne. No new charges. No ATM withdrawals. Nothing since his lunch and Ubers three days ago."

"Takes a while for charges to be posted."

"The next day with local hotels, restaurants and Uber. Sometimes the same day, but two days at the most."

"Could have used cash."

"He always uses the card, so he can track his expenses for the accountant and for income tax."

"Yeah, logical. So, what are your thoughts? Is this benign? Or are there other possibilities?"

"He was in a foul mood that evening, ranting about manipulated restaurant reviews, bait-and-switch menus and so on. More seriously, though, in a rage the previous week, he confronted the manager of Dalliance, and –"

Lorne tilted his head. "Dalliance?"

"We went there two weeks after their media launch, finding horrid quality."

"I did the same last week. Terribly disappointed."

"Hmmm! Did you also revisit Zack's after their opening presentation?"

"I did." He grimaced. "Seems to be a pattern here."

"That's what Nathan suggested – and that both places were reincarnations of recently failed restaurants. Prospering, then a rapid decline into bankruptcy."

"Yeah, since the solidification of safe injection and the legalisation of marijuana, we've seen the Mafia and bikers moving into other ventures."

"Oh, God! The manager at Zack's looked more like a Hell's Angel than a restaurateur – as did the one at Dalliance. I wonder – the way Nathan had fumed about Zack's, and his rage when he stormed out of Pearl's – I wonder whether he went to confront the manager, as he had done at Dalliance."

Lorne nodded. "More red flags, but as a lawyer, these always attract me."

"So, what do we do?"

"The first thing is to cancel Nathan's credit card."

"What? Why?"

"If he's been apprehended, they'll have it, and they could milk it dry."

"Yeah."

"What else would he have had in his wallet? In his pockets?"

"Oh, God!" I slapped my hands to the sides of my face. "Driver's license with our address. House keys."

"Did they see you as a couple?"

"Damn! Likely why all the photos. I had dismissed them as candid celebrity shots."

"Need to stay away from your house until we know. Stay out of sight. Too much risk, otherwise."