Jack shook his head in disbelief. “Yeah, we’re parked outside. Can you come out here?”
“But we might lose sight of our target,” Betty still whispered.
Jack held back his growl of impatience. “We need to make a plan of attack,” he lied.
“Fine,” Betty grunted and hung up.
“They’re coming out.” He turned to Damien. “They won’t be easy to dissuade.”
A few minutes later Betty and Martha appeared at the entrance to the casino. Jack and Damien got out of the car and walked toward them. Jack grabbed Betty and Damien grabbed Martha. The men pulled the ladies toward Betty’s car, which Jack had noticed parked in a handicapped spot near the entrance. He tried not to roll his eyes at Betty using such an obvious parking spot when she was supposedly incognito.
“Okay, here’s the deal,” Jack started to lecture once they stopped at the car. “We’re taking over from here.”
Betty started to argue, but Damien wasn’t having it. “Darling, we can’t have you or Martha in danger. It would break my heart if something happened to one of you gals.” He laid the charm on thicker than molasses. It sounded sickly sweet to Jack, but the ladies were eating it up. “I just couldn’t live with myself if something happened to one of my girls.”
Martha sighed and Jack knew the battle had been won. Betty grunted her agreement and unlocked the car. “I expect a full debrief tomorrow.” She couldn’t help herself. She still had to try and keep control of the situation.
“Of course,” Jack demurred.
Without another word, Betty and Martha climbed into the car and drove off. Jack was staring in disbelief at the car as it turned onto the main road and sped up. That had been way too easy.
“Come on,” Damien said and grabbed Jack’s hand. “Let’s do this.”
It didn’t take long for Jack and Damien to locate Eric. He was still sitting at the blackjack table. They positioned themselves so that they could watch the game and stay hidden from Eric’s view. They need not have bothered. Eric’s attention was focused on the game and the game only. In quick succession, they watched him lose game after game. How much of the money he had stolen from Jack did he lose without batting an eyelash?
Jack couldn’t take it anymore. He spotted a security man walking the floor. He looked the man up and down. He’d do. “I’ll be right back,” he whispered to Damien and then slid away. He swaggered, making sure to work his hips, toward the security guard and grinned when he saw the guard checking him out.
“Hey,” Jack approached the guard. The guard nodded to Jack but didn’t speak. “Can I ask you a question?” The guard glared at Jack now.
“Fuck, I’m sorry.” Jack decided to lay all his cards on the table. “That guy over there losing hand over fist at blackjack.” He pointed to Eric and the guard nodded. “He’s the manager of my store, and he’s been stealing from me.” The guard didn’t respond. Jack plodded on. “Like six figures stealing from me.” This time Jack heard a quick intake of breath. He continued to lay his cards out. “We couldn’t figure out where the money was going, but then some of my friends saw him here tonight and called me.” There was no way he would talk to a security guard about his wannabe detective ladies. Who knew when they’d be back here causing trouble?
Jack stood quietly for a while, wondering if he should say anything more. He stared without seeing at Eric, trying not to lose his everloving mind. He was just about to walk away when the guard spoke in a barely there voice. “He’s here most nights of the week. Rumor has it he’s in deep with a loan shark.” The guard walked away before Jack could respond. Not that Jack was capable of speech at the moment.
Damien came to Jack’s rescue and pulled him into the nearest bar. He sat him down on a bar stool and ordered a shot of bourbon. Once Jack had downed the bourbon, Damien asked, “So, did he say anything?”
Jack nodded. “Yeah, Eric, the fucker, is here all the time. Apparently my money is not enough for him to lose. He’s also been dealing with a loan shark.”
“Fuck.”
Damien ordered another round.
Chapter 32
Fucking’s right
Damien managed to drag Jack to the room he’d booked once he realized Jack was not intending to just get drunk, but beyond blotto inebriated. He pulled Jack into the room and slammed the door behind them.
Jack looked around the room and spotted the king-sized bed. He turned to Damien and smirked. The shots had obliterated his willpower and he wasn’t waiting any longer to get what he so desperately wanted. He started to prowl towards Damien, who backed up at his advance.
“I want you so fucking bad,” Jack whispered into Damien’s ear once he had Damien cornered against the wall. His entire body boxed Damien in so Damien had no choice but to give Jack his full attention.
Damien shook his head vigorously. “We can’t.”
“Why the hell not?” Jack growled.
“You don’t really want me. You’re drunk. You’ll regret it in the morning.” Damien spouted excuses while continuing to shake his head.
“Regret it? Are you stupid or just blind?” Jack stared at Damien, daring him to respond.
“What?” Damien stuttered. The words kept coming, but the time for talking was over. Jack grabbed Damien’s head between his hands and went in for the attack, crushing his mouth against Damien’s. After he kissed Damien breathless, he pulled back. “Any questions?”
Damien shook his head, and Jack slammed his mouth down again, punishing Damien for his disbelief and himself for having to wait. He crushed Damien against the wall, grabbed Damien’s wrists in his hand, pulled them above his head, and ground his hips into Damien. Damien’s eyes closed, his head fell back against the wall, and he groaned – long and loud.
“This is happening. Right here. Right now.” Jack’s voice left no room for opposition.
“Fucking finally,” Damien breathed the words out.
“Fucking’s right.”
♥♥♥
Jack woke the next morning with a killer hangover. Bourbon was definitely not his drink of choice at the moment. Then he felt the warm body snuggled to his back and smiled. Bourbon wasn’t so bad after all. The warm and deliciously naked body curled into his body started to squirm. “I’ll quit,” Damien whispered into his ear.
Jack’s heart stuttered and he turned in the bed to face Damien. “What?”
“I want more than one night, Jack. I want a relationship. I’ll quit Fabulous, Darling, if you want me to,” Damien explained. When Jack didn’t respond right away, he blushed and looked away. “That is, if you even want to be with me for more than just one night.”
Jack leaned forward and kissed Damien lightly on the lips. “Yeah, that’s what I want.” He smiled. “But there’s no way in hell you’re quitting.” His voice was firm.
“But,” Damien stumbled over his words. “I thought that’s what was holding you back. I don’t want to cause any problems.”
Jack silenced Damien with his lips again. When they were both panting, he pulled away. “You can’t leave now. I’ve got no one to help me run the store.”
Damien raised an eyebrow. “What about Wyatt?”
Jack chuckled. “He’s pretty useless in doing the management stuff.”
Damien smiled. He’d already realized that Wyatt wasn’t very helpful, but it wasn’t his place to say anything to Jack. It wasn’t his business in more ways than one. “What are you going to do about Eric?”
Jack turned and laid on his back to stare up at the ceiling. “I already agreed to meet up with Noel today. I’m not a cop, but I think they should have enough to arrest him with what we found at the office yesterday.” Jack shrugged. “I don’t think I’m ever gonna see that money again though.”
Damien gasped. “Are you going to be okay? I can take a pay cut if that helps.”
Jack laughed. “It’s fine. The store makes really good money. Hell, we didn’t even notice the missing money until you came around. Whic
h, of course, explains why Eric didn’t want me to hire a bookkeeper.”
“Crap, I’m so sorry, Jack.” Damien reached over and ran a hand down the side of Jack’s face. Jack grabbed the hand and turned it over to kiss Damien’s palm.
“So am I, but I’ve got more important things to think about right now,” Jack mumbled before turning and pouncing on Damien.
Chapter 33
Oh, it’s a problem alright
Jack called Izzy to assemble the troops and Noel for a briefing while Damien drove them back home from the casino. By the time they reached Izzy’s house, the driveway and street were filled to the brim with old lady cars, the kind that didn’t dent when the driver ‘accidentally’ bumped into another car while parking.
Jack and Damien walked hand in hand to the door where Izzy stood waiting. She took one look at their clasped hands and her eyes flew to Jack. He shook his head at her, but Izzy was undeterred. She put her hands on her hips, which caused her newly formed baby bump to pop out. Jack’s attention was immediately focused on his bestie’s future family member. He fell to his knees before her and gingerly placed his hands on her belly. “Hey there,” he whispered to her stomach. “It’s your cool Uncle Jack. I can’t wait to meet you.”
Izzy cleared her throat and wiped the liquid starting to seep from the corner of her eyes. Jack quickly stood and enfolded her in his arms. They stood wrapped up in each other until a loud grunt was heard from inside the house. “Can I have my wife back now?” Noel asked, but it was a demand, not a question. Without waiting for a response, he reached forward and pulled Izzy to him. He tucked her under his arm before nodding at Jack and Damien.
Jack smiled and grabbed for Damien’s hand again and pulled him into the house. “Hey Noel,” he called as he walked past the couple.
“They’re in the sun room,” Noel responded before shutting the door and following behind them.
Jack didn’t need to be told where the ladies were. He could hear the chatter from the front lawn. The chatter which abruptly stopped when he entered the room holding Damien’s hand. Betty raised an eyebrow at their public display of affection, but Martha beamed in approval at him. The rest of the group smiled.
“Hey, darlings,” Damien cooed while gracing the group with a panty-melting smile. Jack shook his head at Damien’s antics. Always the charmer.
Betty waited for approximately two nanoseconds after Damien and Jack were seated before she pounced. “Okay,” she said as she crossed her arms over her bosom. “You promised to tell us everything. We’re waiting.”
Jack could only shake his head at her impatience. He looked at Rose and raised an eyebrow in question. She shook her head in response. Okay, then. He’d begin with what Rose and Damien discovered yesterday. “Rose brought it to my attention that none of the suppliers had given the store reimbursements or credit for overpayment. So Damien and Rose went through all the invoices and payments and they discovered something not quite right.” He had to stop and take a deep breath. He still hadn’t accepted the fact that his most trusted employee was stealing from him. He cleared his throat before continuing. “Anyway, Eric’s been paying the inflated supplier invoices into the wrong accounts.”
“The wrong accounts?” Betty asked.
Jack nodded. “Yeah, the account numbers only vary by one number from the account numbers on the invoices, so we didn’t notice.” He shrugged his shoulders. “I mean, who would have noticed anyway? Eric was in charge of paying the invoices. I never checked the accounts.”
“Do you know who the accounts belong to?” Noel asked. Jack looked to Noel, who had pulled a notebook out of who knew where and was already taking notes.
“No. I’ve got all the information for you in the safe at my office.” Noel nodded at Jack’s words.
“What about the casino? What was Eric doing there?” Martha wanted to know.
Noel’s eyes bugged out. “Casino? What casino?” Izzy grabbed his hand and placed it above her baby bump in an obvious attempt to calm and ground the man.
Betty wasn’t worried about repercussions though. “We followed Eric there.” She shrugged as if it wasn’t important. “We were staking out his house, but it was boring so we followed him to the casino. Then Jack and Damien came and took over.”
Noel groaned and buried his head in Izzy’s shoulder. “Why me? Am I being punished for something?” Everyone except Izzy ignored Noel and his grumbling. She smoothed a hand over his hair to pet him.
Betty rolled her eyes. “Anyway.”
“Apparently, Eric has a bit of gambling problem,” Jack continued as if the interruption from Noel hadn’t occurred.
Noel’s head snapped up. “Guess we finally figured out the motive,” he mumbled to himself as he scribbled in his notepad. Looking up from his notes, he asked Jack, “Do we know if it’s a problem or if he just happened to be there last night?”
“Oh it’s a problem, alright,” Jack groaned. “Apparently, he’s in deep with a loan shark.”
Noel’s eyebrows nearly hit his hairline. “What? How did you find this out? Shit, Jack. This is dangerous.”
Jack raised his hands in surrender. “A sympathetic security guard let the word slip. That’s all.”
Noel nodded, reassured that he wouldn’t have to put Jack and Damien in protective custody.
“So,” Jack began. “Can you arrest Eric based on this?”
“I’ll need to see the documents in your office, but if they confirm everything you’ve said then we should have enough to bring him in,” Noel explained.
“And then what?” Betty asked with not a little bit of disappointment in her voice.
“And then you let the police do their job and stay out of trouble,” Noel spoke between gritted teeth. Izzy slapped his arm. “Calm down. They don’t mean any harm.” Noel sighed and shook his head. “It’s a good thing I love you.”
Izzy winked at him. “Love me or the bun in my oven?”
“Both.”
Chapter 34
It’s all really simple
Noel followed Damien and Jack to Jack’s office to collect the documents that Damien had stuffed in the safe. Damien quickly made copies of everything. Then they sat at the conference table in Jack’s office to discuss how to proceed.
“This should be enough for me to get a search warrant for the bank records,” Noel commented after Damien had explained how the invoices were being paid into the wrong accounts. Something no one had noticed.
“That’s a fucking relief,” Jack sighed and Damien put his hand on Jack’s shoulder to give it a squeeze. Jack sagged in relief at the contact.
Noel looked between the two men and smiled. “It’s about time.”
Jack laughed. “Your wife doesn’t seem to agree.”
Noel shrugged. “She’ll get over it. She’s all over the place with those pregnancy hormones. It’s like I’m living with five different women now and I have no idea which one will be there when I get home.” He shook his head.
“Man, that sucks,” Damien commiserated.
“No worries. One of the women is a nympho, so it’s all good.” Noel chuckled.
“Ew. Didn’t need to hear that.” Jack made a face at Noel.
Noel stood to leave. “I’m gonna go get that search warrant.”
“What about Eric? Aren’t you going to arrest him now?”
Noel shook his head. “Not yet. I want to get the whole picture first. Makes things easier.”
Jack grabbed the back of his neck and squeezed. “What should I do? He’s here working. Right now,” he whispered as if he suddenly realized that the man they were contemplating putting into prison for a long time was actually just a few doors down. “I thought you’d arrest him when you had that.” He pointed to the documents in Noel’s hands.
Noel shrugged, obviously more used to being up close and personal with thugs. “Send him home or put up with him for a few days. You’ll figure something out.” He waved as he walked out of the office.
<
br /> “Crap,” Jack said and stood to go deal with Eric. Damien grabbed his hand to stop him. Jack looked at him in confusion. “If you can’t come up with a good excuse, just let it be. If he becomes suspicious, he might take off and then where will you be?”
Jack nodded his agreement. “Might as well get comfortable. There’s no way in hell I’m leaving Eric here alone.”
After they had waited for Eric to leave for the day, Jack took Damien home for the night. He needed some comfort and he’d be damned if he was going to deny himself now that he had a taste – in more ways than one – of the goods. Of course, Damien didn’t protest and was happy to satisfy Jack’s needs for comfort as well as any other needs he had.
They decided to stay in bed the next day. Jack ignored the numerous calls from Izzy and tried not to think about anything or anyone except the delicious man sharing the bed with him. They only left the sanctuary of Jack’s bedroom to grab food and once for a steamy shower that Jack was dying to repeat just as soon as his leg muscles recovered.
The phone ringing on their second day in bed woke them. Jack immediately answered, knowing that he couldn’t keep Izzy at bay for more than a day. But to his surprise, it wasn’t Izzy calling.
“It’s Noel.” Noel’s voice was all business.
Jack sat up in the bed, not bothering to cover his naked body. “What’s up?”
“I’ve got Eric in lock-up. Can you come down here and file an official complaint?”
“On our way,” Jack responded before jumping out of bed. He turned to Damien and threw his phone at him. “Call Izzy. Tell her to meet us at the station.”
“Us?” Damien asked as he searched Jack’s contact list.
Jack rolled his eyes and didn’t bother to respond to the question. “Get your ass moving.”
Jack and Damien were at the station within fifteen minutes. Izzy showed up five minutes later. She walked to Jack and kissed him. “Sorry, I take longer to get my butt moving nowadays.” She turned to Damien and kissed his cheek as well. Jack raised his eyebrow at Izzy’s action but didn’t have time to question her abrupt acceptance of Damien as Noel had arrived.
The Gray-Haired Knitting Detective Series: (Books 1 - 3) Page 28
