Captured Lies

by Maggie Thom

Guy looked at the caller display, took a deep breath and answered his phone.

  "Where are you?"

  "Uh, what's up Grams?" Guy looked wide-eyed at Graham.

  "I just had? I was at the Board meeting?"

  Guy stood up straight, every nerve in his body alert. "What's going on?"

  "I, uh? I may need to hire you for some more investigative work."

  "Oh?" He stared off into space. He'd never heard a hesitant word out of Dorothea's mouth. Ever. "Are you okay?"

  "Well of course I'm okay. I don't need some young pup questioning me. I'm simply telling you that I have?"

  He let her ramble on. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven.

  Guy took a deep breath. "Grams, why did you call?"

  There was silence.

  "You had your board meeting right?"

  "Yes."

  "So you called me because of something Geoff did or didn't do?"

  "What makes you think it has to do with him? I know there have been issues between you two."

  "Gram."

  "All right." She huffed out a breath of air. "Something's not right with the South Shore Winery we acquired. I've been staying out of it but?"

  "But something isn't sitting right, which means Geoff is up to something."

  "I think he's being framed."

  "Geoff?"

  "He was late for the meeting. He looked like he'd been attacked. He said he'd stopped to help at an accident. He was acting weird. Not himself. He was dreadfully late. I had to apologize to everyone. I-."

  "I think you mean smearing his name? Setting him up?"

  "Yeah, that's what I mean."

  He snorted with laughter. His uncle was a jerk and it wouldn't surprise him if he was a crooked jerk, as well. He doubted very much that anyone would have the nerve to smear his uncle's name, at least not if they wanted to live.

  "Don't laugh at him. He had enough of that in his lifetime. I think someone is blackballing him."

  Guy managed to hold back the chuckle that was trying so hard to burst free. He never understood why his grandmother protected the man. He was pure evil. There wasn't an honest bone in his body. There was no way he'd allow anyone to smear his name. If there was something going on, he was behind it.

  "I'll look into it, Grams. I've got to go." He ended the call.

  "Geoff screwing the old lady over again?" Graham swiveled in his chair.

  "I think there is much, much more going on. I need you to expand your search into his background. Look into that South Shore Winery we started acquiring several months back. Anything that has Geoff's name on it, I would like you to look into it."

  "We? I thought there was no way in hell you were going into the family business as long as Geoffrey, my dear boy, was involved?"

  He gave him a baleful look.

  "All right, oh masterful one. And what will you be doing?"

  His face felt on fire, from the red heat that was crawling up. He looked at Graham who was giving him a very quizzical look. "I'm sorry, man. I didn't mean?"

  Graham waved him off.

  "I think Geoff is behind something bad. Something big. I don't know what. But I know. I know you didn't find much yet, which just reinforces that he's into something bad. Really bad. Who else hides their existence? A few more days and we'll figure out what he's up to."

  Graham grinned as he spun back to face his computer. "I love your optimism. Wasn't it you who said this situation, finding Bailey, telling her who she really is, would be over before it started?"

  CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE