The Caspian Wine Mystery/Suspense/Thriller Series

by Maggie Thom

  “Hey, you okay?”

  Tarin barely nodded as she stepped into Graham’s embrace, wrapping her arms around his waist and resting her head against his chest. The steady beat of his heart was the tonic she needed.

  How long she stood there in the cradle of his arms, she wasn’t sure but it felt like time had stopped. She was safe. Chance was safe. And for that short period of time, nothing in the world was going to get to her. Pushing back, she looked up. Graham kissed her long and hard before gently setting her back from him. She reached for the doorframe as she watched him stride across the room and take a sleepy Chance from Bill. He brought him over to her.

  She should have known Bill would call Graham.

  Taking her child from Graham’s arms, she held him for a minute but he was ready to get down. Bill had set up some toys in the corner. As soon as she set him down he toddled over to them. Bill squatted beside him. She watched for a moment but then she heard the distinct scrape of a chair. Striding in to the inner office, she glared at the man she was sure who had been trying to destroy her life. Wanting to punch him, she chose instead to clench her fists and burn off some energy by walking back and forth a few feet in front of him. Cal’s eyes tracked her every movement. And every now and then he’d jerk, making the chair grate along the floor.

  “So, Cal. The men in the next room are ex-military. Ex-Navy SEALs that are really good at torture techniques.” She slowly circled him. Finally, she stopped and leaned in close. “So what’s it going to be, me or them?”

  His expression became immobile, his eyes dark and hardened. She pushed back and made her way toward the door. He made a grunting sound and she glanced over her shoulder to find him making head tossing motions.

  She stepped back and without warning, ripped the tape off his lips. Tears immediately filled his eyes, which he blinked frantically to clear.

  “My father never knew you were doing this, did he?”

  He glared at her.

  “It was all your idea. You’re the one who wanted to take Chance?”

  Defiant, he held her gaze.

  “You’re the one who wanted to abduct me? What were you hoping to gain? Kill me? And then what? My father might not like me but I don’t think he wants me dead. Might be bad for business.” She highly doubted that. In fact, she was quite sure he’d use it to his advantage.

  His sullen face never changed.

  “So, I guess when the police get the arrow that would have killed me had I not dodged it, they won’t have any problem lifting your fingerprints. I wonder how much fun jail is these days, for a young good—”

  “Screw off. I never shot nothing at you.”

  “Come on Cal, I have it. I know you did it. I just want to know if my father knew what you were doing. You have to the count of five. One. Two. Three. Four—”

  “He only had you to have an heir. And then you turned out to be a girl. All that money spent and he couldn’t even get a son.”

  “What do you mean all that money spent?”

  “He hired a chick to have you. Once you were born, he paid her and she split. Pissed of course, because he only paid her a quarter of what she’d have gotten had you been a boy.”

  The room spun ever so slowly. She reached behind her for something to hold onto but her hand vaguely waved in space. She closed her eyes for a second but the scraping of the chair had them flying open again. He was trying to lunge at her. He’d managed to get one of his feet loose from where it had been bound to the leg of the chair. She sidestepped just in time, and he landed face first.

  Graham, Guy and Bill rushed in. Graham didn’t pause to ask questions. He immediately grabbed Cal and flipped him upright as though his weight was inconsequential and then got right in his face.

  “I am going to enjoy dealing with you.”

  If her mind hadn’t been in turmoil over Cal’s words, she might have laughed at the look of horror that crossed his face.

  “Are you working with Geoff?”

  As Guy and Graham interrogated him, she went to her office and sat at her computer. Bill and Chance were playing cars in the corner, which seemed so out of place with what was going on. Shaking her head she quickly logged into her site to find several messages. Six were new women sharing their stories while only one had some similarity to hers. She skimmed the rest, several which were spam. It was on the second page of messages that she spotted the one she was looking for. It was from the woman who had planned to meet with her at the restaurant but had never showed or responded to any emails. Fingers shaking, she clicked on it.

  Sorry I didn’t show but someone doesn’t want me sharing my story. I feel like I’ve been followed since I had my daughter four years ago. She died two years ago but that feeling won’t go away. I have to disappear. I can’t help. I wish you luck.

  “Noooooo.” Tarin propped her elbows on the desk and dropped her head into her hands. Frustrated yet feeling she was so close, she considered how she would ever find out the truth about what happened to her three years before.

  Her cell phone vibrated and she reached for it. It was a text from Stephen, who had been surprisingly silent.

  You’ve upset him. He wants his child.

  Tarin almost heaved. Since she no longer had to worry about contact with her father, she flung the cell phone against the wall and watched it break into several pieces. Graham rushed from the inner office but stopped when he the pieces sprawled across the floor.

  “Testing your pitching arm, I see.” He gave her a slight nod before going back into his office.

  That small gesture made her feel so much better, almost stunning her with the impact it had on her emotions. Feeling energized, she opened several more emails. There were about ten more to go through, when she decided she’d open one more. Randomly she picked one and clicked on it.

  Next time I won’t miss.

  She stood and strode purposefully into the other office. Guy and Graham were sitting on their desks. She walked right up to Cal sitting in the chair, his head hanging down. She slapped him hard.

  “What the hell?” he said as his head reared back.

  She grabbed his shirt in her hands. “You ever threaten me again or come near me or my son, I’ll kick your ass, with my seven inch spikes down Freeway 401. And then I’ll ram that arrow up your butt and drop you over Niagara Falls.”

  Graham and Guy laughed.

  “I never threatened you. I didn’t try to kill you either. I just tried to kidnap you.”

  Graham was at her shoulder in an instant but she ignored him. “It’s bad enough you shot an arrow at me but you send me an email telling me you won’t miss again?” She was breathing so hard, her hands so tightly clenched in his shirt, she wasn’t sure she would be able to unclench them.

  “I never shot at you!”

  “Like hell—”

  “I never did. I don’t even know how to shoot a bow, let alone load an arrow into one. Check my history, the most active thing I’ve ever done was run from the cops.”

  She stared at him, trying to decide if she should believe him. She released him and stepped back, never taking her eyes off him.

  “He’s telling the truth about that. He’s got a juvenile record a mile long.” Graham had obviously taken him seriously.

  “How did you get that information? It’s supposed to be sealed.”

  Graham tore his attention away from her to smile wickedly at Cal.

  “But if it’s not you, then who?”

  “I swear it’s not me. I don’t like you and I don’t like that your father would drop me in a snap but I never tried to kill you.” The way he stared at her defiantly contradicted his words. Not only had he thought about it but he would do it. But this seemed too distant; he’d want to be up close and personal so she’d have no doubt who was doing away with her.

  “What do you do for my father? Besides beat the crap out of people?”

  He sat up straight. “I’m his personal security. No one gets near him without g
oing through me. I help negotiate deals. I keep his life simple. But I don’t kill people.”

  As she looked at him, his tough outer shell seemed to fall away and she saw instead a young, frightened man, who had thought his life had changed because her father had taken him in, trained him, taught him how to be a shark in business. Only he never really got past being his lackey, his muscle. Depressed at how many people her father had hurt, she gestured for Graham and Guy to follow her out.

  “I’m sorry about all this. I swear I wasn’t trying to hurt you or your business. But it would appear I have. My father is a ruthless man. And if Calvin isn’t behind it, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have someone else. I’m—I wish I had told you sooner.”

  She sat at her desk and showed them the email. She clicked on the source code in an effort to decipher where it had come from.

  Graham grabbed her hand to stop her from clicking off the current message. “That son of a bitch. I don’t think it’s your father that’s been creating havoc with our company. It’s all been a little too personal. I’m quite sure I know who’s responsible, though.”

  Chapter Sixty

  “Everything in place?” Graham looked around, making sure the undercover cops were where they were supposed to be.

  “Yeah, unfortunately, I couldn’t talk Dorothea into not attending, no matter how many times I told her this was a fake wedding, she said she wasn’t missing out. Calib graciously gave us use of his hotel even though I warned him it might get damaged. He didn’t care.” Guy shrugged.

  “Do you really think Geoff will show up?”

  “He seems to want Tarin badly. I don’t get it. Since she’s been getting threatening texts from that guy she married it wasn’t hard to convince Walters to check into it. He called a buddy in Calgary to lean on Stephen and he gave up Geoff really fast. Not that he knows much about him, just that a man paid him well to keep her inline, keep track of her, keep her from contacting her father. Anyway, he told Geoff that Tarin and her son would be here for your wedding. Listening to the audio, they confirmed that it was definitely Geoff’s voice.”

  “Are we sure he won’t try anything?”

  “He wants the boy. So I’m quite sure he’ll be careful so he doesn’t get hurt.”

  “Do we have enough men?”

  “We kept it small as we didn’t want it to leak. Everyone who’s here is either undercover or has been trained. This is crazy but we had to call him out. We have to get him to show his face.”

  “I agree. I don’t like that we’ve had to include the others.”

  “Me either but there’s no other way to get close to him. We have to use Tarin as bait. Don’t worry; we’ll keep her safe.”

  Graham didn’t respond but looked around at what they’d set up. He sure hoped this worked. “You know Dorothea is still going to insist you have the big ceremony at her mansion?”

  “I know and if things work out well, Bailey and I will be married today. And then we’ll get remarried on the day we were supposed to. It’ll be a good day regardless because we’ll catch Geoff.”

  “We have to stop him; he’s abused enough people. This plan is our best chance at catching him. He must be livid that you, Bailey and Dorothea are still alive. I’m sure he’ll want to handle this himself.”

  “Let’s hope so.”

  “And let’s hope we’re prepared.”

  ~~~~

  At seven, Graham knocked on the door. Her cell phone buzzed at the same time but she ignored it as she rushed to open the door. Fluffing her hair with a last flick of her hand, to volumize the messy, sassy style she’d chosen, she opened the adjoining door. Her mouth dropped open when she saw Graham in a tux. It hugged his broad shoulders, following the lines of his long, lean body. She almost felt the need to fan herself. She grew warmer still as she felt his gaze travel the long length of her sleek gown, right down to where the slit in the side left her right leg bare.

  Chance ran past her, which jerked her back to the present. He launched himself at Graham, who caught him and swung him high. He giggled.

  “All right. I think we need to get going or we’ll be late.”

  He led them out of the room and took the elevator up to the twenty-first floor.

  They heard soft, romantic music emanating from Room 2121 even before they reached it. The door was opened ceremoniously by a man in a tux and white gloves. The room was awash in flowers—roses, lilies, daisies, carnations. The scents were amazing. Several rows of chairs were arranged. Two men sat on the left, causing Tarin to wonder if they were Guy’s brothers or friends. Two other men were standing at the back by the refreshment table.

  Dorothea, who looked like nothing would stop her from attending, was sitting in a wheelchair with an oxygen tank, its hose wrapped around her head, the tubes up her nostrils and an IV in her arm. She was very pale. A young, nicely dressed lady sat on her left, attentively checking on her and the equipment.

  “Okay, stop fussing. I’m fine. The worst that will happen is I’ll die right here,” Dorothea’s voice was quiet but carried very well in the small banquet room.

  Tarin gave the young woman, who’d turned red but was smart enough not to reply, a reassuring smile. She returned it before facing forward again, slyly still ensuring that everything was working fine.

  Her grandfather, who was sitting on Dorothea’s right, turned and upon seeing them, gestured for them to join him. Before she made her way to him, she scanned the rest of the room. Bill was seated in the back as close to the door as possible. He sat so stiffly, his feet flat on the floor, his back so ramrod straight that it didn’t even touch the chair. He wore new khaki shirt and pants. She smiled at him and Chance waved and grinned at him as she walked to the front. Bill gave her a slight nod as she passed. She sat and her grandfather grasped her hand in a reassuring squeeze. She held onto it. A few minutes later Guy, who was decked out in a white tux, walked in with the minister.

  “That’s my cue.” Graham who had followed her and paused by her chair, touched her shoulder before taking his place beside Guy at the front of the room. A few minutes later, the doors opened again for Bailey, decked out in a classy Valencienne bridal gown, to enter.

  As Tarin watched the beautiful ceremony, she saw them gaze at each other with love and trust. She tried to recall her own wedding and realized she didn’t remember much about it. The whole thing was a blur. It was as though she had been in a fog. As she tried to concentrate, bits and pieces started to come back to her. There was no way she had looked at Stephen the way Bailey looked at Guy nor had he looked back at her with that much loving emotion. Stephen had been too busy rushing the justice of the peace. At the time, she’d thought it was endearing. Little had she known, she’d just become his prize possession.

  He’d whisked her out of City Hall and taken her back to a hotel room. He’d wanted to make love right away but she hadn’t been able to. He’d been angry. He’d ordered a bottle of wine and she’d downed most of it. They’d made love—or rather they had sex; not that she remembered much about it in her inebriated state. But there was something else. Something she wasn’t quite able to recall. It was playing at the back of her mind. Stephen had said something to her. She pressed her hands to her face and her fingers into her eyes as she tried to recall what it had been.

  It’s too bad you’re pregnant...

  She sat upright so fast, she almost dumped Chance onto the floor. He squealed, thinking it was a great game. She looked horrified as she gave him a toy to quiet him down as everyone was now staring at them. He’d known. Stephen had known she was expecting but she hadn’t told him until a couple of months after they were married. In fact, she hadn’t been sure herself.

  The drone of the service was there but she never heard a thing.

  He’d known. Had he been in on it?

  Her mind immediately conjured up the hell she’d gone through. A whole week of her life had vanished with only tidbits of memory—voices, whisper of air over her skin, trying to
move, feeling odd sensations, her mind knowing something was wrong, her thoughts screaming at her to run, praying it was all a dream, a nightmare and being so scared she wouldn’t come out of it alive.

  Who’s sick enough to do that? Could Stephen really have been part of it?

  The only thing she knew was that she had to get out of there and soon.

  You may kiss the bride pulled Tarin back to the present and to the realization of what she had to do. She glanced around to see if anyone had noticed her mental absence. Thankfully, people were already rising to congratulate the happy couple. Graham had taken Chance and was now busy bouncing him on his knee. He was giggling so much she couldn’t help but smile.

  “Congratulations, you guys. It was beautiful.” Tarin kissed Bailey and then Guy on the cheek.

  “And will be repeated as soon as we can have it at the estate with all the guests,” Dorothea said very firmly. No one would have guessed the woman had just had a heart attack.

  Guy rolled his eyes but laughed when Bailey mock-punched him. Guy, Graham and Bailey soon were standing in a huddle in the corner of the room. Whatever they were talking about had them baffled.

  “Where is he?”

  “I thought for sure he’d show up.”

  That was all that she managed to hear without knowing who they were referring to. Her new cell phone dinged, which surprised her as she had meant to leave it in her room.

  ‘Come to your room. Bring the boy. Now. Or I’ll make sure you and your new friends don’t live to see your child grow up. Do anything to alert them and you’re dead.’

  Her fingers curled around her phone. How the hell had he gotten her number? Trying to act casual, she looked around. The champagne had been opened and Graham was handing her a glass. Reluctantly, she accepted it. She waited patiently while a few toasts were given. She tried to stand still but couldn’t; she shifted from foot to foot. She glanced at her watch. She gulped her drink like it was water.