by Ivy Nelson
“So basically, you interrupted me for nothing,” Lance said.
“I’m so sorry.”
“Relax. I’m just messing with you. If you get me access to his phone, I can check and see if the call came from the same number.”
“He’s one of Russell’s guys if that helps.”
“Fuck yeah, it does. I wrote the encryption software for the phones he outfits his teams with. I’m hacking in and I’ll ask for his forgiveness later.”
Garrett didn’t care if he asked for forgiveness or not.
“Bingo,” Lance said a few minutes later. “Same damn number, man. I’m sorry I can’t trace it to an identity. I can tell you one thing, though. Whoever called was somewhere in a two-mile radius of the warehouse based on the cell towers they pinged.”
Garrett cursed. “Thanks, Lance. I’m sorry I interrupted your good time.”
Next, he called Regina. It was after four in the morning in Philadelphia, but he paid her well enough to be able to wake her on occasion.
“I need you to get the facility managers for all fourteen other fulfillment centers on the line by seven my time this morning. We’re shutting Colorado down temporarily and we’ll need to reroute orders and get tomorrow’s trucks out of here as soon as possible.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, I’m gonna need coffee and an explanation, Mr. Oliver. I’m not calling facility managers without knowing what I’m talking about,” Regina said.
“Get your coffee and call me back in thirty minutes.”
He ended the call and paced the room. How would he get a message to Maddox that it was time to end this?
By the time seven rolled around, he’d talked to Jax, his attorney, and the police again. His team spent the rest of the morning figuring out the redistribution plan while the Colorado facility was temporarily shut down.
When he was done, Jax was waiting for him at the warehouse.
“Do you know if this facility was having financial trouble before you bought it?” Jax asked when Garrett arrived.
He shook his head. “No. The fact that it was doing so well is one reason I purchased it.”
Jax nodded. “I had a feeling that would be the case. Tell me what you know about Grant Sterling.”
Garrett furrowed his brow. “Not a lot. He dated Elijah’s wife for a bit before they got together. Worked for her and Patrick’s dad before he went to jail. What does he have to do with any of this?”
Jax flipped through a notebook. “Possibly nothing, but I don’t exactly believe in coincidences.”
Garrett didn’t either.
“Eighteen months ago, Grant Sterling took Maxitech Solutions on as a client. His first after leaving the Sutton Jewelry company.”
Garrett clenched his fists. “Maxitech is the company that stole my contract with the Colorado State Government a few months back.”
“A few weeks ago, Eli brought me Grant’s card and said he found it in your office,” Jax said. “Asked me to dig into him because he just had an off feeling about him. Personally, I just thought it was because of the history Grant had with Holly, so I put it on the back burner while I finished up some other cases. Then his name came up while I was digging through your records, so I took him seriously.”
Garrett closed his eyes. “Three months ago is when Grant hit me up for business. I gave him a meeting but ultimately told him I was already working with enough PR specialists. I’m still not following, though, Jax.”
The cowboy lifted the corner of his mouth in a smirk. “It’s about as clear as mud, I’ll give you that. This is still just a hunch because I don’t have all the proof I need. Maxitech Solutions is a tech production company owned by Maxwell Jameson. It was founded about five years ago.”
“Maddox changed his last name to James for a while and people call him Max all the time. When I was investigating them after they stole my contract, that wasn’t the name on the letterhead.”
Jax waved his hand. “I figured Maxwell was Maddox but that’s not really the important part.”
Garrett narrowed his eyes and pushed his chair away from his desk. “Look, Jax. I’m running on an hour of sleep and not enough coffee and I have a warehouse to tear apart. Can you just get to the important part?”
“Sorry. Let me see if I can sum this up for you. When Solitaire was first opened, there was a lot of contention and we know Nicholas Sutton tried to blackmail David Eastman to keep the club from opening. It was all just part of their ongoing feud in the diamond business. My theory is that Sutton is still pulling strings from inside prison to fuck with the founding members of Solitaire. Especially the ones he thinks has personally offended him and he’s doing it through Grant Sterling. I think Sterling is still working for Sutton.”
Garrett whistled. “That’s a pretty damn wild theory, Jax. Have you shared it with the other board members?”
Jax shook his head. “Not yet. I want more information before I do.”
“It makes some sense. He was hovering when Patrick almost went to prison and we know he was around when Nicholas Sutton was on trial. My problem is, I have no known connections to Sutton so why would he be coming after me?”
Jax held up a finger and pointed it in Garrett’s direction. “That’s the thing. You do. When you told me Maddox almost went down for smuggling diamonds, I started looking back at my old records for my investigation into Nicholas Sutton. Your brother would have had at least some run-ins with Sutton while he was running the jewelry arm of your company. That would have been back before it became your company. Again, we have no solid proof, but if you came in and cleaned house and shut down a smuggling operation that Nicholas Sutton was somehow a part of? He would definitely hold a grudge.”
“Jesus, Jax. This sounds like a crazy conspiracy theory from a movie.”
“Tell me about it. You people keep my life interesting, that’s for sure.”
Garrett stood and paced. “I’m gonna need some time to process this. You have my permission to dig as far back into my business records as you need to find proof. Spend whatever you need to. I just want to get to the bottom of this. If you can somehow find proof that I didn’t encourage the judge and the governor to let Carmen out of prison, that would be even better.”
Jax stood and twirled his hat in his hand. “Why exactly are you shutting this place down?” he asked.
“It’s just temporary. But if he or Darren were somehow smuggling something out of here, shutting it down is the only way to kill their operation. And maybe if I cut off the flow it will bring Mad back into the open long enough for me to have his crazy ass thrown in jail once and for all.”
When Jax left, Garrett continued to pace his office as he silently prayed his plan would work.
Chapter Thirty-One
Day five.
Isabelle sat, staring at her sister. “Come on, Carmen. Wake up,” she murmured.
“Knock, knock,” a familiar deep voice said.
Isabelle’s head jerked up to the doorway. “Hunter! What are you doing here?” she asked, feeling her face go red.
“Good morning, Isabelle. I came to see you, of course. I wanted to let you know Lori got your class schedule shifted back another six weeks, so you don’t have to rush. We’re also giving you paid family emergency leave so you don’t have to worry about your paycheck or coming to work until you’re ready, OK?”
She smiled at him. “That’s so thoughtful. What are you doing in town? It’s not Friday yet.”
Hunter dropped into one of the empty chairs. “Emergency board meeting for the club.”
“Is everything OK? Is it about Garrett leaving?”
Hunter frowned. “No, actually. He’s the one who called the meeting. I’m not sure what it’s about. I do wish you two would work things out.”
Isabelle gave him a sad shake of her head. “I can’t. He’s the reason my sister is here like this.”
Hunter leaned back in his chair. “I can’t tell you how to feel, sweetheart. But are you sure he’s the reas
on?”
She nodded vehemently. “I’m sure. And the bastard still won’t stop meddling.”
“Meddling how?” Hunter asked, his tone kind and filled with concern.
“Let me count the ways. He negotiated Carmen’s release after I asked him not to, because I didn’t want her to get hurt. He’s having my apartment renovated for God only knows what purpose. He won’t call off his security goons. They follow me everywhere. Oh, and the icing on the cake? He paid off my student loans.”
Hunter grinned and she felt the momentary urge to smack him.
“I’m sorry, I don’t mean to make light of your situation. But two things. Aside from what’s going on with your sister, all of those things sound like things you do for someone you love. Second, the student loan payment wasn’t from Garrett.”
Isabelle furrowed her brow. “It was you?”
He nodded slowly.
“Why on earth would you do a thing like that?”
“Consider it a perk of the job. You still owe me two years in one of my hotels, so it’s an investment.”
“I just don’t understand why obnoxiously rich people insist on being so meddlesome,” she murmured. “I suppose I owe Garrett an apology for yelling at him about the loans.”
Hunter chuckled. “I saw him this morning. He’s going crazy without you.”
“I feel like I’m going crazy without him, but then I look at the tubes coming out of my sister’s face and I can’t help but be angry all over again. Our lives are so different, and we seem to have opposite worldviews. I’ll never fit in his world. Though for a time, he seemed to fit fine in mine.”
Hunter laughed. “You fit into his world a lot more than you think, sweetie. Our world is simple to fit into. It just takes a general knowledge of some basic politics and pop culture, an expensive dress, and a good poker face. You’re a smart girl, and you rock an expensive dress—there are pictures on the internet to prove it. We’ll have to work on your poker face, though.”
She tried to stifle a giggle but failed.
“See. Gotta work on that,” he said with a wink. “My point is, you fit, and you need to stop telling yourself you don’t.”
“I appreciate the vote of confidence,” she said with a smile.
“Have you talked to him at all?”
Isabelle shook her head. “No. Not really. I called to yell at him for paying off my student loans, but I didn’t give him a chance to say anything. Apparently, it was you I should have been yelling at,” she said dryly.
“I would apologize but I’m not sorry. Student loans are the scourge of the American higher education system. Ask any of my manager level employees, if they give me two years, I pay them off for them. I feel like it’s the least I can do. I just paid yours off in advance.”
“I think that’s really sweet of you,” she said with a smile.
“Talk to him, Isabelle. I think you might just find that you’re missing some pieces to the bigger picture.”
She sighed. “I’ll think about it.”
He stood and kissed her cheek. “We’ll talk again soon,” he said before turning and walking out of the room.
She lay her head against the back of the vinyl chair and closed her eyes. Garrett’s face, with his intense stare, met her there. Was she really missing part of the story?
One of the machines beeped erratically and Isabelle jerked her eyes open. Carmen was clawing at the tubes.
“Woah. Shh. Relax Carmen,” she said, trying to keep the panic from her voice. Leaning over the bed, she pressed the call nurse button just in case they hadn’t already been alerted by the loud monitors still beeping.
Two nurses rushed in and one broke into a grin. “Well, this is an excellent sign. Miss Carmen, we need you to calm down,” she said as her companion gently pulled Carmen’s hands away from her face.
“If you can, slowly open your eyes.”
Carmen blinked as one nurse started pressing buttons on the machines.
“You gave us quite the scare. Let’s get some of these tubes out of you, shall we?”
A nurse turned and held an arm out to the door. “Miss Alvarado, you might want to go get yourself a cup of coffee or something to eat. This part is easier if you’re not in the room. I’m sure you’ve got some family who would like to know she’s awake.”
Isabelle backed out of the room with her cellphone in hand.
“Daddy, she’s awake,” she said when Jacob answered a few minutes later. “The nurses are working on her right now, but she’s awake.”
“Oh, thank God. Let me know when I can bring the girls and we’ll be right there.”
“Let me talk to the nurses and see what they recommend first. I just wanted to give you the good news.”
When she ended the call, she scrolled through her messages until she came to Garrett’s name. She typed a message, but her thumb hovered over the send button for a half a minute or more before she finally worked up the nerve to press it.
I just thought you deserved to know Carmen is awake. I’m sorry I yelled at you about the loans. Hunter told me it was him.
She shoved her phone into her back pocket, unprepared to read a response if he sent one.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Garrett stood in the middle of a mostly empty warehouse watching as his staff moved through the building methodically looking for any signs of smuggling. He’d been so focused on the financial records and the paper trail that he hadn’t thought enough about the physical evidence.
“Mr. Oliver.” His head of security, Rick Balliol, came through a side door and stomped mud off his boots onto the rug.
“What do you have for me, Rick?”
“Sir, we found what we believe to be Mr. Gunn’s car. We knew he had to enter the woods on foot from somewhere, so we started checking service roads. We found a vehicle with front-end damage that suggests his is the car that tried to run you off the road a few weeks ago.”
“Anything else?” Garrett asked.
“Not yet, Sir. I’m about to head out to the loading dock to run through procedure for getting the last trucks out of here tomorrow night. You really think he’ll try something?”
Garrett nodded. “If we’re shutting down his supply route, he’ll either try to salvage what he can by stealing a truck or he’ll try to retaliate.”
“Yes, Sir. We’ll try to be prepared then.”
“Very good. I’ll be upstairs in the office if you need me.”
Spinning on his heel, Garrett turned and walked up the stairs. Opening the door to his offices, he was flooded with memories of Isabelle and he balled his hands into fists.
“She’s very organized, Mr. Oliver.”
He blew out a breath and smiled. Saying someone was organized was perhaps the highest compliment Regina could pay someone. “That she is, Regina. Thank you for getting on a plane so quickly.”
“Your cellphone is going a bit nuts on your desk, Sir,” she said as she continued flipping through files in the filing cabinet.
He moved into his own office and picked up the device. There was a text from Isabelle. His heart thudded as he opened it.
Relief flooded him as he read that Carmen was awake.
He dialed a number and brought the phone to his ear as he paced in front of his desk.
“Yes, Mr. Oliver,” a masculine voice said.
“Aaron, how is Isabelle today?”
“She looks tired, Sir, but the word inside the hospital is that her sister is awake.”
Garrett grinned for the first time in several days. “That’s true. Isabelle actually sent me a text. Do me a favor and let me know the next time she leaves the hospital. I want to pay Carmen a visit, but I don’t want Isabelle to be forced to interact with me. Not yet, anyway.”
“She just left about ten minutes ago, actually.”
Garrett glanced at his watch. He could squeeze in a quick visit before his board meeting at Solitaire. “Great, keep an eye on her and let me know if she heads back to the
hospital.”
He stepped into the other office. “I’m stepping out, Regina. Do me a favor and call Elijah Barrett and tell him I’ll be late.”
“Yes, Sir,” she said, picking up the phone.
Downstairs, Jeff already had the car running and soon they were headed to the hospital. He didn’t know if Carmen Alvarado could provide him with any more information or how badly she’d been affected by the drug overdose, but he had to try.
In the hospital, he read the signs and made his way to Carmen’s room. He knew where it was thanks to the security he’d had watching Isabelle.
Carmen’s eyes grew wide and he heard the heart monitor begin to beep a little faster when he stopped into the room.
“Mr. Oliver,” she whispered. “You’re the last person I expected to see.”
He gave her a tight smile. “I’m glad to see you’re awake, Miss Alvarado. How are you feeling?”
She laughed. “Like I’ve been drugged. Does Izzy know you’re here?”
He dropped into one of the chairs and pulled it next to Carmen’s bed. “Isabelle and I are currently having a… misunderstanding, well call it. If you’re feeling up for it, I wondered if you could answer a few questions for me.”
Carmen nodded and reached for the pitcher of water on the bedside table. Garrett leaned forward and got it for her, helping her fill her glass.
“For starters,” he said as she sipped the water. “Can you tell me how you wound up here?”
“You need to leave.”
Garrett turned at the familiar voice. Isabelle stood in the doorway, looking furious.
Chapter Thirty-Three
“Isabelle,” Garrett whispered.
She was trembling at the sight of him.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
‘I wanted to ask your sister a few questions.”
“I would say she’s answered enough of your questions.”
Garrett sighed and stood. “I’ll go.”
“No,” Carmen croaked out. “I want him to stay, Izzy. And I want you to stay too. You both need to hear this.”
