The Caspian Wine Mystery/Suspense/Thriller Series

by Maggie Thom

  “Great; can you draft something, send it to me and I’ll have a nice sign made. Do you have time at work to do this?”

  Jill looked around nervously. “No. I can do it on my break. There are too many rooms to clean for me to take time for that.”

  “How about this? Instead of doing it at work, I’ll pay you five hours for you to come up with something to post. Would you mind also being the voice for staff? Talk with other employees, not just about smoking but what else they’d like to see here for staff benefits. Get some feedback and then send me what you have.” Tijan dug in her pocket and pulled out a business card. As she looked at it, she stopped and ran her thumb over her father’s name—James Madsen. She had a feeling he wasn’t going to like what she was doing.

  “Ma’am?”

  Tijan looked up, her mind still fathoming that she had a father. “Sorry. Here’s my card; do you have a pen? I’ll write my name and contact information on it.”

  Tijan filled it out and handed it back. “Send me what you’ve got to this email and you can call and leave me a message on this cell. Okay? Oh, and who is your supervisor? I’ll send her a note so that you won’t get in trouble.”

  Jill nodded and quickly returned to her cart left sitting just outside of a room before she disappeared inside a nearby room. Soon she was back with a stack of linens. She tossed them inside the cart before disappearing again. Tijan was fascinated with how quickly she moved.

  At one point Jill looked at her. Her eyes widened. “Is something wrong, Ms. Madsen?”

  The quiver in her voice reminded Tijan just how much clout her position carried.

  “Sorry, Jill. I was just admiring how efficient you are at your job. You’re a hard worker.”

  Her face turned red but she smiled, shyly. “Thank you. I try.”

  “Is there anything that would make your job easier?”

  The warm, friendly look disappeared. She glanced into her cart just for a second. “No ma’am. Everything is fine.”

  Tijan moved closer to her, making a point of looking inside the bag of laundry. “Is something wrong?”

  Jill shook her head.

  Tijan pulled out one of the sheets. “It appears to be rather thin. Do we need to buy some new ones?”

  “These are new.”

  Tijan reached for some nicely folded ones on the cart. The material wasn’t very soft or nice to the touch. She stepped back. “Thank you for your help, Jill. I’ll look into this.”

  “I don’t want to cause trouble.”

  “You’re not. If something isn’t working well or looking good, I want to know about it. Okay?”

  Jill nodded but wouldn’t look at her. Sensing she’d made the woman uncomfortable, Tijan headed for the stairs, already focusing on her next issue.

  She needed to talk to her sister. And soon.

  As she made her way up a few steps, she realized that climbing them was going to be an issue. The three-inch spike heels that Tarin had loaned her were killing her feet. She kicked them off and carried them up seventeen flights.

  Chapter 39

  Arriving on the floor, August was about to step off the elevator when he noticed JT sitting on the edge of Mary’s desk, laughing and joking with her. JT was obviously laying on the charm. Mary had a big smile and laughed a few times. She seemed enthralled with the guy who was at least twenty-plus years her junior. JT was laying it on pretty thick. Age didn’t seem to matter to him, from what August had seen so far.

  It dawned on August that the door was taking a long time to close and then realized it wouldn’t until he either stepped off or used his key to choose another floor. He strode toward the two people, noting when they turned to look at him, there was a guilty look on both their faces. Mary immediately dropped her eyes to his chin, obviously uncomfortable. JT though pushed himself slowly to his feet and sauntered around the desk like he owned the place. August sidestepped him and headed for Tijan’s office.

  “She’s not there.”

  August spun around in time to see the smug, know-it-all expression on JT’s face. He seemed quite proud of his knowledge.

  “Oh. Where is she?” August didn’t like that she hadn’t let him know she was going out of the office.

  “She said she had to leave and not to bother her. She left about a half hour ago.”

  “Thank you, Mary.” August just about flipped JT the bird but realized he was not in a position to be scrappy. Besides, he hadn’t reacted that way to anyone since he was about eighteen and still blamed the world. Not a good time to be reverting to old habits, he spun on his heel and walked back into the elevator that hadn’t left. Inserting his card, he realized that this elevator only went to the lobby. Once he reached the lobby, he exited and rounded the corner to the other elevators. As he was entering, he saw a nicely dressed guy with a gold car chain sized necklace around his neck that grabbed August’s attention. It looked ostentatious. An uncomfortable feeling crept up August’s spine. The man turned the corner that August had just left. He was going to the top floor—which meant he was there to meet with Tijan.

  He pulled out his cell and called her. There was no answer. Hopping on the main elevator, thankfully the ride was quick to the eighteenth floor. He hoped that she was there.

  Coming off the elevator, he rounded the corner and headed down the long hallway. The stairwell door flew open and out staggered a sweaty, exhausted looking Tijan. Her shirt had come untucked and she’d taken off her jacket and shoes. She looked a little too sexy and much more human to him. Rushing to her, he reached for her but she jerked back, startled.

  “Oh God, it’s you.”

  Unsure how to take that, he stepped to the side to let her pass, but was rather surprised when she grabbed his arm and leaned on him. Walking her to her room, she pulled out her key and fumbled with inserting the card in the reader.

  “Want to tell me what’s going on?” August escorted her into the room and sat her on the bed, which had been freshly made.

  “Water,” she squeaked out.

  Since it appeared she’d drank the two complimentary bottles that came with the room, August filled a glass of tap water. Handing it to her, she downed it in a few seconds and handed it back for more.

  “Give me a minute,” was all she said to him. Moving to the window he looked out, trying to see if the black limo was still there. The large overhang at the front door obscured his view. Tijan started talking so he turned but soon realized she was on her phone.

  “I know I have to be in the office but people won’t leave me alone. And I realized that I can’t say anything, so we need to come up with a code or something. I don’t know what I’m doing. I really shouldn’t have said I’d do this. I think I’m causing more harm than good. People think I’m you. They expect you, a savvy, beautiful woman who gets this world. I don’t. I’m a country girl and that’s it. How in God’s name do you wear those freakin’ heels? My feet are killing me.”

  August was unsure what he should do or say but since Tijan seemed to be on a tirade and her sister was listening, he sat on the bed and watched her pace. Her hair, which had been beautifully styled earlier that morning in a tight bun at the nape of her neck, was now sagging just above her suit collar and tufts of her hair were sticking out. She looked like she had a lion’s thin mane around her face. He much preferred the look of this woman to the one he’d left earlier. Definitely sexier. As soon as his mind went there, he realized he had been attracted to Tarin the moment he’d seen her. It stopped him for a moment and made him wonder if his attraction to Tijan was strictly due to his reaction to Tarin.

  As he watched Tijan pace, she yanked the rest of the shirt out of her skirt. The whole outfit wasn’t her style. Her sister might have grabbed his attention but it was Tijan that was holding onto it.

  “Dammit!”

  It took him a minute to realize that she’d hung up and was speaking to him. Or at least he thought she was.

  “Bad day at the office, honey?” He burst ou
t laughing when she gave him the finger.

  “Did you know that walking seventeen flights of stairs is good for your heart? I think mine was ready to explode. And I thought I was in shape.”

  “And the stairs seemed like a good idea because?”

  “Because I needed to get off my floor and had to go to the lobby but didn’t want those in the office to know that I’d gone to the lobby and then I wanted to come to my room, here on the eighteenth floor. But we don’t want people to know we’re staying here. That’s why we aren’t getting any room service and why I’m making my own bed.”

  “You do realize that they can’t see the main hotel elevators from the office.”

  Tijan looked at him with the dawning awareness of I’m-such-an-idiot. “Holy crap. That never even occurred to me. I just knew I had to get out of there and I didn’t want anyone to know where I was going. I feel like I have to hide every move I make. Everything I say is calculated. My brain is going to explode. How do people do this?”

  “I don’t know. I loved having my business but it was never on this scale. And I can tell you I know that not every business is run like this. There’s obviously a lot of mistrust here. I feel like someone would use you for the fall guy in a heartbeat. You do realize though that this comes from the top down?”

  When she gave him a hurt look, August felt like kicking himself. He got up and stood in front of her, looking her in the eye. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”

  “No. But it’s true. It is because of my father. I just had a woman stop me to tell me thank you for getting them cigarette ashtrays and a picnic table outside. She made it sound like I’d just given them a spot that was fine dining. It’s just a place where they can hang out. It’s nothing really special just some space surrounded by cement. How can you hire people and not treat them right?”

  August shrugged.

  “Yesterday I asked Mary and JT to make sure that standing cigarette receptacles were to be placed outside along with picnic tables for the staff. They’ve already been installed. Now, do I carry that much weight? Or did we already have that stuff in stock? And if we did, why wasn’t it put out before? Is my father that much of a jerk?”

  “Let’s assume that they’d been ordered with the intent of being put out and that just hadn’t happened yet.”

  “I’d go along with that, but something doesn’t ring true about it. Isn’t it odd that it was done so fast? Are people trying to win points with me?”

  “I think JT would kiss the ass of a mule if it would get him ahead. And I’m not saying that yours looks like a mule’s.”

  Tijan burst out laughing. “Thank you for that compliment, I think. Tarin said that all the anxiety I’m feeling might not be mine alone. She said she’s been pretty freaked out since I decided to see this through for a few days. Could I be feeling what she’s feeling? She asked me the same question. I’ve heard of identical twins having that connection, but do we? I don’t know. I really don’t know. Could we, even though we were raised apart?”

  August didn’t answer as he was pretty sure that she didn’t want him to. He had no idea but didn’t see why their growing up apart would change if they had a deep connection or not.

  “Growing up, I always felt like part of me was missing. When I met her, I felt whole for the first time. I felt like part of me had been stitched back together. So maybe we are connected. Maybe she can feel what I feel. Maybe I can feel what she feels. It’s definitely something I need to talk to her about.”

  “I think you should and hopefully that opportunity will come soon. Unfortunately, we have a problem upstairs waiting for you. I think the mafia has come to see you. Let’s figure out a strategy on how to handle this.”

  Chapter 40

  “This place is crazy.” Tijan sat on the side of the bed and turned to face August at the opposite end. “Eleanor, father’s lawyer, showed up unannounced.”

  “If it weren’t so early in the day, I’d grab you a beer. Since I think we may have multiple issues to handle, take a deep breath and tell me what’s going on. And I’ll share what I know.”

  “You first.” Tijan needed a moment to calm down. She realized her nerves were stretched taut. This feeling was not one she was used to, nor was it one that she wanted to experience again.

  “I met with Guy and Graham. And I’ve determined I suck at surveillance. They had some woman tailing me and I never saw her. I couldn’t even guess who it might have been. I don’t remember a single person of the thousand or so I saw this morning, that I might have seen twice. Just giving you fair warning that I might not be the best help. Although I do think the dude that parked under the overhang downstairs is driving the same car that stopped and chatted with you at the hospital.”

  Tijan’s eyes widened. “Did they come in?”

  “Yeah, and I’m pretty sure that you’ll be getting a call to say they are waiting for you.”

  As if he’d commanded it, Tijan’s phone beeped. She grabbed her jacket and pulled out the cell she was using for work. She’d missed four text messages and two phone calls. There were some people who were insisting she come to her office for a visit. Mary had put them in the conference room as they weren’t leaving without talking to her.

  “Holy crap. Now these guys. Eleanor, the lawyer, tells me that she could help me—dammit. I have to get a hold of Tarin. We’re supposed to set up remote access on father’s computer, so they can take a look at the data.”

  “Okay. We’ll go up and meet with this guy. Want to tell me who he is? And how did Eleanor remind you that you needed to do that remote thing?”

  “She said she had accessed Father’s laptop remotely. It seemed to be something I had to initiate from the laptop. But what if it isn’t? What if she’s spying on what I’m doing?” She stood abruptly. “I need my horse and some wide open space. But first I need to look presentable. Please text Mary back and tell her I’ll be there in fifteen.”

  Heading into the bathroom, she grabbed a fresh blouse out of the closet on her way. Looking in the mirror, she was shocked at what she saw and only one and a half days in. It wasn’t that she looked so wild; that she was used to but usually her clothes fit her appearance. In dress clothes, she felt like she’d committed a mortal sin by looking so harried, whereas in her blue jeans and t-shirt it would have been fine. She really had a disconnect to this world, like a horse on the downtown streets of Toronto—spooked, wide-eyed and ready to bolt. What was she going to look like at the end of two weeks? She hadn’t taken into account how long she was going to have to play this role.

  When she finally looked presentable, she went back into the room. Picking up her jacket off the bed, she shrugged into it. August was standing at the window but turned to look at her. His hair was pulled back into a small tight bun at the base of his head. Looking at him from the front, he looked like he had short hair. It so matched the suit he was wearing. She held his gaze for a few minutes, liking what she saw—a good guy. It made her feel a bit more confident about having him with her through this.

  “Well James, shall we go?”

  “My name—”

  “Sorry. I was trying to be funny. You know, James, as in the limo driver, ‘home James’. Which really was in poor taste as my father’s name is James and—” She dropped her head back and looked at the ceiling. She was a bit startled when she felt August’s hand on her arm.

  “It’s okay. This is super stressful. I just didn’t get the reference. And although this is not home, let’s go find out what some well-dressed thug wants. You can share with me on the way down and then back up—unless you’d like to climb two flights of stairs.”

  Tijan smiled. “No. My legs are still a bit rubbery. I don’t recommend taking the stairs if you don’t have to. Well at least not seventeen flights of them.”

  August laughed. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

  When they arrived at the office, Tijan stopped just outside the door. “I wonder why he called his hotel chain C-Li
te Hotels. It seems like an odd name, no?” Tijan turned to August who was watching her closely. “Just another thing I don’t know about the man. And may never get to ask.”

  She reached for the door, took a deep breath, pasted on a smile and walked in, hoping that her odd limp wasn’t too obvious. She was in good shape but seventeen sets of stairs were letting her know she wasn’t in great shape.

  “Hi, Tarin. The man, a Mr. Tesimmon, is in the conference room. JT’s in there with him.”

  “Oh, who gave him permission to do that?”

  Mary sat up squarely. “He’s worked here for a number of years. Mr. Madsen trusted him.”

  “Thank you, Mary. I’ll be sending JT out soon. Can you have him look into the linens? It appears there is a problem with the last shipment.”

  There was a clunk like a lock had been released. It seemed to have come from the door to the left of Mary’s desk. Hoping she wasn’t going to look like an idiot, Tijan reached for it. It opened easily and as she stepped through, she realized she was a few steps away from the conference room. She stopped suddenly, causing August to slam into her back. She stumbled forward but he grabbed her, which is probably what kept her upright. Ignoring the two deadly stares from the two huge men standing as guards outside the conference room, she stepped away from August but motioned for him to follow her. Back-pedaling a few steps and moving through the closed door that led to her office, she walked through.

  “We need to find out who this guy is. I’m guessing he might be the organized crime dude that the CSIS wants us to inform them about.”

  “I think you’re right. Those guys look like they could punch through steel.”

  Tijan shivered slightly. What had her father gotten her into?

  “Okay, let’s go. I don’t want to keep that man waiting. Mainly because I want him out of here as soon as possible. Then we contact Tarin and get them access to the computer and doing some research on the staff here. Then we get out.”

  August led the way back to the meeting. Tijan stepped around him, moving between the two goons before they could say anything. She opened the door quickly. There were four men in the room but it was the look that passed between JT and Mr. Tesimmon that grabbed Tijan’s attention. The two men at the door immediately grabbed her and August.