“No recon missions,” Noel bellowed. “I’m serious.” He took the time to pierce each member of the would-be spy squadron with his stare. “This is dangerous. If Eric really is stealing from the store, he’s got a reason to be paranoid. And paranoid equals reckless.”
“Yes Noel,” the ladies dutifully chirped in chorus, but Jack could see the wheels spinning in their heads.
“I’m holding you responsible for their actions.” Noel stared at Jack until Jack nodded in acquiescence. “I’ll look into the matter myself.”
Izzy reached out and grabbed Noel’s hand to stop his pacing and nearly fell out of her chair. Noel righted her with a smile and small shake of his head. “Calm down babe. Let’s have some pie.” She rubbed her hands in gleeful anticipation.
Chapter 26
Another recon mission
Jack wasn’t surprised when the first text message arrived.
Knitting group meeting tomorrow night at Martha’s house. Be there.
But he was surprised by the second message.
And don’t forget to bring Damien.
Huh? He was pretty sure Izzy didn’t like Damien and he was damn sure she didn’t like the idea of him being involved with Damien. Why the change of heart? He shrugged and went in search of Damien to let him know he was expected to attend a meeting with a bunch of elderly women obsessed with reliving episodes of Murder, She Wrote.
Izzy was waiting at the door of Martha’s house the next night when Jack showed up with Damien. “Turn your phones off,” she whispered without greeting the men. Jack rolled his eyes, but he knew better than to argue. He shrugged his shoulders and grabbed his phone from his jeans pocket before turning it off. Damien looked even more confused but followed Jack’s example.
“Why are we whispering?” Jack asked Izzy when the phones were turned off.
Izzy motioned the men into the house. When they were behind closed doors in the living room, she turned to them and spoke in a normal voice. “I don’t want Noel finding out where we are.”
Jack smirked. “I don’t think he’s going to hear us on Martha’s porch.”
“I think they can trace your cell phones even if they’re off,” added Damien. Izzy made a face at him.
“Maybe so, but at least you won’t be tempted to answer if Noel calls.”
Jack shook his head. “If you’re so worried about Noel finding out we met, why are we meeting?”
Of course, it was Betty who answered. “Noel said we should keep our noses out of the Eric situation. He didn’t say anything about us investigating the Wyatt/Derrick situation. So that’s what we’re going to do.” Jack smiled at the group of grandmas gathered in Martha’s living room. He had a seat on the sofa next to Izzy and motioned to Damien to take the chair next to him.
“Well, yeah,” answered Jack. “He doesn’t think Wyatt’s involved.”
Izzy tapped her jaw. “I’m not convinced.”
“Me either,” Rose agreed and the other members of the silver-haired squad nodded in agreement.
Jack sighed, but Damien spoke before he had the chance. “You have to admit he’s acting weird.”
Jack snorted. “When isn’t Wyatt acting strange?”
Izzy grabbed Jack’s hand. “I know Wyatt has always been the ex from hell, but this is different. He freaked out about the invoices because of this Derrick character. That’s not like him.”
Jack shook his head. “I think he’s just worried that if I know he’s with someone else, he’ll never have a chance with me.” He snorted. “Not like he’s got a chance anyway.” He couldn’t help but slide his glance sideways to look at Damien seated next to him. Damien smiled and winked. Jack’s face heated, but he smiled in return.
Betty cleared her throat to get everyone’s attention. “He’s a suspect and we need to investigate him if you want to be sure that he’s not involved.”
Jack couldn’t deny his desire to ensure that Wyatt wasn’t involved. Even though he was no longer in love with Wyatt, it would hurt if his former lover and business partner was stealing from him. He clasped his hands together in his lap and lowered his head in thought. They were going to have to do this. Especially since Noel automatically assumed Wyatt wasn’t involved. He straightened his back and looked directly at Betty. “Okay, let’s do this.”
The ladies clapped in excitement, and Izzy grabbed Jack’s hand for a squeeze of support. “Oh, God,” Damien whispered into Jack’s ear. “What have I gotten myself involved in?” Jack chuckled but didn’t bother to respond.
“Where do we start?” Ally was the calm voice of reason.
Izzy reached down and grabbed her laptop from the bag at her feet. She set it up on the coffee table and turned it on before speaking. “First, let’s research this Derrick dude online.”
“Why don’t we just do another recon mission?” asked Martha. She looked at Damien and blushed before mouthing sorry.
Damien shook his head and did his best not to laugh out loud at the memory of the elderly ladies being dragged to the police station for peeking in his windows. He pulled his smartphone out and turned it on. “Hold on,” he said as he waited for the phone to turn on. “The company he works for is in Oklahoma City. I assume he lives there.”
“Oh bummer,” muttered Martha.
“Okay,” Damien said as he pulled up some documents. “I’ve got his company website here. Shall we start there?”
Izzy’s fingers flew over the keyboard in an attempt to work up a background for Derrick Taylor. He worked as a customer representative for the supplier in Oklahoma City and, according to his LinkedIn resume, had been there for five years. Although he was heavily into social media, his account settings were on private and Izzy couldn’t get any further information.
“I’ll send him a friend request,” Damien said as he opened the Facebook app on his phone. Jack bristled, but Damien patted his arm and winked at him. Derrick accepted Damien’s Facebook friend request without question, allowing them even more insight into the private life of Derrick.
“Shit,” Damien said as he scrolled through Derrick’s pictures. He showed the phone to the room, but the ladies squinted their eyes and shook their heads in confusion.
“Here,” Izzy said pointing her laptop at Damien. “Log in on here so everyone can see.”
Damien quickly logged in and opened Derrick’s Facebook page. He opened the pictures and flipped through them slowly so that everyone could follow. Picture after picture of Derrick’s penthouse apartment scrolled by. Wyatt was in several of the pictures; some of which showed Derrick and Wyatt in compromising positions.
“I hate to say it Izzy, but I think Noel was wrong,” Betty was the first to speak up.
Izzy nodded. “It’s been known to happen.”
“Before we condemn Wyatt and Derrick, let’s think about this,” Rose said and then turned to Damien. “Could he afford this apartment on his salary? What do you think?”
Damien was surprised Rose asked him. “I couldn’t afford that place if my salary was tripled. But we don’t know what Derrick earns.”
Rosemary grunted. “Delilah used to live in Oklahoma City. Her husband is an investment broker and he couldn’t afford that place.”
“Delilah’s married?” Izzy was the first to jump on that juicy bit of gossip.
Rosemary waved her hand in dismissal. “I’m not supposed to talk about it.”
The ladies turned as one to Rosemary with interest in their eyes. Apparently, Rosemary hadn’t been sharing with her besties. Jack shook his head. He loved gossip just as much as the next person, but there were bigger fish to fry at the moment. “So,” he said loudly. “What do we think is happening here?” He pointed to the computer screen to make sure everyone was on the same page.
Betty answered, “Whatever it is, it’s not good Jack.”
“Fuck.” Jack dropped his head in defeat. “What am I going to do?”
Izzy grabbed one of Jack’s hands while Damien grabbed the other in a un
ified show of support. “You’re going to have to confront Wyatt again,” Izzy insisted softly.
Jack blanched. “Again? It’s not like he was forthcoming last time.”
“Do you want me to call Noel?”
Jack’s face turned even whiter. “Fuck no. I don’t want Noel involved in this.”
“You’re going to have to involve him if it turns out Wyatt is stealing from the store,” Damien kept his voice soft and even, soothing. He tugged on Jack’s hand and Izzy released his other hand so that Damien could pull Jack into an embrace. “We got this. We’ll figure something out.”
Chapter 27
Would we do something stupid?
Jack mulled over the different ways to confront Wyatt about Derrick. He didn’t want Wyatt to get the wrong idea – that Jack was still romantically interested – because Lord knew that ship had not only sailed but sunk in the deepest depths of the ocean’s water. But the knitters were right, which was annoying in and of itself, he needed to confront Wyatt and make sure he wasn’t stealing from the store. What a bleeping mess!
Jack’s phone ringing startled him out of his musings. Noel’s name flashed across his phone. “What’s up, Noel?”
“I’m on my way to the store. You there?” Noel’s voice was all business.
“Yeah, I’m here. Have Danny bring you back.”
Noel cleared his throat. “I’ll come through the back. Wait for me by the rear entrance.”
Oh great. Now Noel was acting all Mission: Impossible secretive spy-like. As if Jack didn’t already have a bunch of wannabe spies in his midst. He shook his head and went to wait for Noel.
Noel arrived within five minutes and pushed Jack through the door and into his office. “Geez Noel, I like that you finally have your hands on me, but this isn’t exactly what I had in mind.”
Noel shook his head and took his hand off Jack’s back. He shut the door to the office behind him and turned to Jack. “I’ve done some checking on Eric.”
“Shit. You don’t look happy.” Jack collapsed in his chair. “What’s going on?”
Noel shrugged his shoulders. “That’s just it. There’s nothing going on.”
Jack sat up in his chair. “Nothing? What do you mean?”
Noel sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “I mean just that. Nothing. I did a credit check on Eric. Nothing unusual. He’s got a mortgage and some credit card debt but nothing that would raise red flags. He lives high on the hog, but his salary here is really high so that’s not unusual.”
“Yeah well, he pretty much runs the store.” Jack was a bit touchy about his salary policy. Wyatt thought they paid Eric entirely too much and managed to work that little tidbit into conversation whenever possible. Not something that Jack appreciated. And, of course, the ladies had also made comments about how he chose to set Damien’s salary.
Noel held up his palm in surrender. “Not judging you here. I have no idea what a general manager typically makes and I know your store turns a really good profit.”
Jack nodded. “So why are you so cagey?”
Noel’s shoulders dropped. “It’s my gut. It’s telling me something’s up with Eric.”
“Okay.” Jack tried to take that in. Noel was normally on the straight and narrow. He didn’t usually work with gut feelings. There must be a logical reason why his gut was trying to talk to him now. “What do you think your gut is trying to say?”
Noel shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know. Eric is the obvious suspect in this whole thing. He’s got means and opportunity. But no motive.” His shoulders slumped again. “There’s no reason for him to be stealing from you. He makes good money. He doesn’t seem to have any bad habits that would cause him to rack up a shitload of debt. Without motive…” His voice trailed off.
“So no hookers, no drug use…” Jack teased, but Noel was serious as a heart attack.
“There’s nothing.” He slumped in the chair on the opposite side of Jack’s desk.
“So you don’t have a good suspect now?” Jack asked for clarification.
“Not really,” Noel mumbled, but he wasn’t really paying any attention to Jack. He was lost in his head.
Crap. If Noel didn’t have a suspect, then Jack was going to have to tell him what they discovered about Wyatt. Noel was going to be pissed, and Izzy was going to be in trouble. Double crap. Maybe he should act like it was just him and Damien doing a bit of investigation. Yeah, that’d be good. Noel probably wouldn’t believe him, but at least he wouldn’t be a snitch.
Jack cleared his throat. “Listen, Noel, I should probably tell you something.”
Noel’s head whipped up. “What?”
“Well um,” Jack stalled for time. “Damien friended Wyatt’s boyfriend on Facebook.”
Noel narrowed his eyes. “I thought I told you guys to leave that situation alone.”
Jack shook his head. “Um, no you didn’t. You told us to not get involved in the investigation into Eric.”
“Semantics,” Noel snorted. “You can’t keep your nose out of anything.”
Jack ignored Noel. “Anyway, it turns out that Derrick, that’s Wyatt’s boyfriend, is living way above his means. I mean like way, way above.”
“Shit, really?”
“Yeah.” Jack nodded. “He’s got a penthouse in Oklahoma City that is absolutely to die for.”
“Oklahoma City?” Jack nodded. “Crap. I don’t have any jurisdiction there.”
Jack started to grin but quickly stopped himself when Noel squinted his eyes at him. Jack shook his head. “I can’t get you or the lady gang out of jail if you get caught doing something stupid in the city.”
Jack tried his best to look offended. “Something stupid? Would we do something stupid?”
Noel snorted. “Of course you would.” He stood and left the office without another word.
Chapter 28
What’s your big idea?
Damien snuck into Jack’s office and looked around to make sure Jack was alone. “I’ve got an idea,” he whispered.
Jack sighed. He was really tired of playing detective. It was lots of fun when they were chasing Grandma’s murderer, especially since Jack hadn’t believed there was any foul play. He thought it was just a wild goose chase. But now the roles were reversed. Someone was definitely doing something illegal and he was most certainly the injured party. He didn’t like it one bit.
Damien was undeterred by Jack’s sigh. “Derrick posted that he has a big date with his honey bear tonight. I assume his honey bear is Wyatt.”
Jack cringed at the pet name. “Okay. What’s your big idea?”
“We go to Derrick’s house tonight since we know they’re both going to be there and then confront Wyatt there. He won’t be able to deny anything.” Damien smiled in victory.
Jack gulped. Another confrontation with Wyatt? Shit. He didn’t want to go there. “You’ll come with me?” He didn’t like how small his voice sounded, but he couldn’t help it. He needed someone to hold his hand, and Izzy wasn’t available. Oh sure, she’d ditch Noel in a heartbeat to help him, but he didn’t want to come between the two.
Damien gifted Jack with his boxer-melting smile. “Of course.” His entire body pulsed with excitement. Was the enthusiasm of the knitting grandmas rubbing off on him? Jack shook his head at Damien’s uncharacteristic excitement.
Jack decided to keep their expedition to Oklahoma City a secret from their geriatric friends. He didn’t need an audience for his confrontation with Wyatt and there was no way the ladies wouldn’t be piling into a car to follow him if they knew what he was up to. Sure, they’d be mad, but they’d just have to get over it. Didn’t someone say it was easier to ask for forgiveness than permission?
Damien pulled his car up to the rear entrance of Fabulous, Darling and Jack climbed into the passenger seat. He didn’t say anything. Damien patted his leg in comfort and then pulled out of the driveway. The drive to Oklahoma City took two hours. The men remained quiet for most of the tri
p.
“So,” Damien broke the silence when they were nearly at Derrick’s penthouse. “How do you want to do this? You want me to stay in the car?”
Jack shook his head. No way was he heading into a penthouse that contained his ex-lover and his ex-lover’s lover to confront them about stealing from his business without someone by his side.
“Okay.” Damien nodded and found a parking spot.
With a few dazzling smiles and outrageous winks, the two men easily talked their way into the building and were quickly at the door to the penthouse apartment. “Are you sure he’s here?” Jack whispered.
Damien whipped his phone out. He nodded. “Yeah, Derrick just updated his profile. He says...”
“Nope,” Jack interrupted him. “Seriously, don’t want to hear anymore.”
Damien nodded and put his phone away. He looked at Jack, waiting for him to knock. Jack squared his shoulders before pounding on the door.
“Coming!” was immediately shouted from the other side. Were they expecting someone else? Jack really, really hoped he wasn’t walking into some sort of gathering.
The door was yanked open and there stood a Greek god. Seriously. Not only did the man look like a Greek god with sun-tanned olive skin, slightly curly black hair, and strong Mediterranean facial features, but he was also dressed in a toga and sandals. Jack prayed that they were having a costume party and he hadn’t just walked into some type of scripted sex scene. He shuddered.
“Welcome!” shouted the Greek god before he took his time checking out Jack and Damien. “Y’all are hot, but what’s with the lack of costumes?” He opened the door and ushered them in. “And you’re seriously early.”
Damien’s wide eyes stared at Jack, and his lips twitched with laughter. Jack shook his head at him and mouthed keep it together. “Um,” Jack began. “We’re actually not here for the party.”
The Greek wrinkled his nose at him. “You’re not? But what are you here for?” Jack and Damien remained quiet.
The Gray-Haired Knitting Detective Series: (Books 1 - 3) Page 26
