“He took off about an hour ago for San Diego.”
“Oh . . . He told me he’d be here. The finally-getting-out-of-your-office party.”
“You have no idea, do you?”
Though it was a question, it seemed more of a statement. “No idea about what?”
“We should probably discuss this outside.” He set his beer on the bar, then led her to the exit. When the door fell shut behind them, he studied her a moment, his expression a mix of concern and curiosity. “How long has it been since you two have talked?”
“He called yesterday. To tell me Adrian Kyril pled guilty. Why?”
Blake took in a deep breath, then let it out slowly. “I’m not sure how to tell you this.”
“Tell me what?” she asked, feeling her heart start a slow thud in her chest.
“He packed up. Leaving.”
“Leaving? To where?”
“He’s taking his old job with DARPA. They’re interested in giving him lab time to work on that laser. And . . . Well, you know how much he wants to finish that project.”
None of that made sense. That was the one thing Sam was sure about, finishing his argon laser on his own. He’d told her he’d lost the funding. But not that he was going back to DARPA.
This was all her fault. Had he not followed her halfway across the world, he wouldn’t have missed his investor meeting that Blake had set up for him.
Blake, apparently, must have guessed what she was thinking. “Look. Sam could’ve agreed to this other deal for the funding. Everything was lined up. The money was there. The timing was off, is all.”
“Because he was in Greece. Helping me.”
He gave a slight shrug. “C’est la vie.”
Maybe for someone else, but Remi was certain that Sam shared her feelings. Life was what you made it. If something happened, you made it work. Hadn’t they proved that over and over again in Fourni? “What’s he doing in San Diego?”
“Meeting with a notary to sign the papers for that empty lot.”
“He’s selling it?” A light breeze swept in from the ocean. Remi barely noticed the cold. “The cliff top? At Goldfish Point?”
Blake, wearing a short-sleeved shirt, shoved his hands in his pockets. “When you think about it, buying such an expensive piece of property without the funds to build was sort of a risk. Luckily the market?
??s on an upturn. The guy made a fortune off of it. So did I, for that matter.”
“But he loves that lot. I have to stop him.” She took out her cell phone and called Sam’s number. It went straight to voice mail. She looked at Blake. “You need to call him.”
“I doubt it’ll do any good,” he said, digging his phone from his pocket and trying himself. He held it out so Remi could hear. Voice mail. “I’m not sure what happened between you two, but ever since, he’s sort of dropped off the radar. I think the only reason he’s answered my calls was because I’m handling the sale.” He shrugged.
Remi looked at her watch. “La Jolla’s what, two hours from here?”
“What are you going to do?”
“Stop him.”
He gave her a sympathetic smile. “By the time you get there, it’ll be too late. As soon as he finishes up with the notary, he’s heading back east.”
“I have to try.” She hurried out to the parking lot, calling again as she rushed to her car. As before, it went straight to voice mail. “Sam. Remi. Call me.”
She made several more attempts on the drive down. The traffic was thick, but by the time she passed San Clemente it had cleared considerably, and she kept one eye on the mirror, watching for the highway patrol as she sped south.
Regardless of what Blake said, this was her fault. Sam had put his life on hold, given up his dream, because of her. But his financing for the laser was only a small part of it—no, not even part of it. She’d been so wrapped up in her own emotions, she’d failed to see the obvious. After everything she and Sam had been through together, how could she ever go back to her old life? How could she ever have a life without him? She gripped the steering wheel, trying to picture the gray void it had become since her return to California—and it had nothing to do with sitting in a cubicle, day after day.