His Stolen Bride (Chicago Sons)

by Barbara Dunlop

  “So what if he does?” Crista had no intention of hiding from Vern any longer.

  “Take a vacation,” said Jackson. “Get out of the city for a few days.”

  “That’s not practical,” said Crista. Never mind that she had her business to worry about. She didn’t have any extra money to spend on a vacation.

  “It’s better if you’re not here,” he said.

  “It’s better if I figure out what happens with Cristal Creations.”

  “She needs a lawyer,” said Ellie.

  “We have lawyers,” said Mac.

  “Down the hall,” Jackson added with a tilt of his head.

  “There are lawyers down the hall?” Crista couldn’t keep the amazement from her tone.

  “Rush Investigations lawyers,” said Jackson. “Good ones. I’ll introduce you.”

  She hesitated. The solution seemed too simple. Could she trust Jackson’s lawyers? On the other hand, she knew she couldn’t trust Vern’s lawyers. And she sure didn’t have any of her own. It seemed likely that anyone who worked for Jackson would be squarely opposed to Vern.

  And it would be fast. Fast seemed like it would be good in this situation.

  “They won’t mind?” she asked, tempted.

  “Why would they mind?”

  “Because they have real work to do.”

  “This is real work.”

  She made her way toward him, watching his expression closely, trying to gauge what he was thinking. “Are you up to something?”

  “Yes.”

  His easy admission surprised her.

  “I knew it,” she lied.

  “What I’m up to is providing you with legal advice.”

  “Funny.” She leaned closer, keeping her expression serious. “Why are you doing it?”

  “Because your ex-fiancé ticked me off.”

  “And that’s what you do when you’re angry? Provide strangers with legal advice?”

  “No.” His jaw tightened. An edge came into his voice. “That’s not even close to what I do when I’m angry.”

  He was intimidating, and it unnerved her. But her attraction to him was also back in full force.

  He seemed to realize he’d unsettled her. “I’m not angry at you.”

  “Maybe not right now.”

  “Not ever.”

  But she could picture it. She could easily picture it.

  He gave the barest shake of his head. “Don’t even think about it. It’s never going to happen.”

  * * *

  Two days later, Jackson held his temper in check.

  He stared across the prison table at Trent Corday. “So I sliced and diced and dissected everyone involved in Investors Unlimited looking for a connection to Gerhard.”

  He stopped speaking and waited, giving Trent a chance to react to the information he’d just tossed out. The more he’d uncovered, the more suspicious he’d become of Trent’s involvement. He might not be certain how it had all unfolded, but he was certain Trent was somehow operating behind the scenes.

  Trent returned his gaze evenly, his features perfectly neutral. “Why did you expect there to be a connection?”

  Jackson mentally awarded the man points for composure. “Because the two events happened suspiciously close together.”

  “Vern Gerhard must have watched the show,” said Trent.

  “Seeing the show didn’t tell Vern Gerhard about the mine.”

  “The show could have tweaked his interest in Crista.”

  “Interest alone wouldn’t lead him to the mine.”

  “I don’t see how it matters,” said Trent.

  “It matters,” said Jackson.

  For the barest of seconds, Trent’s left eye twitched, and Jackson knew he’d found a crack. He could almost hear the wheels turning inside the man’s head. Trent desperately wanted to know how much Jackson knew.

  Jackson didn’t know much. But he pretended he did, putting a smug expression on his face, hoping to draw out something more. “It wasn’t somebody inside the show,” he said, lacing his voice with confidence and conviction. “It was somebody who already knew about the mine.”

  “No telling who all knew about the mine.”

  “No telling,” Jackson agreed. “But we both know one person who did.”

  “Who’s that?”

  “You.” Jackson tossed a copy of a call list on the table in front of Trent.

  Trent’s gaze narrowed in wariness. “What’s this?”

  “It’s a record of calls incoming to Manfred Gerhard’s private line.”

  Trent didn’t respond.

  “It’s from three days before Investors Unlimited aired the episode with Crista.”

  Jackson hoped Trent would react, but he didn’t.

  Instead, Trent calmly turned the list to face him. He stared at it for a long moment. Then he sat back and crossed his arms over his chest. “You seem to be making some kind of point.”

  Jackson indicated a line on the statement. “My point is that call, right there. It’s from a prison pay phone, this prison’s pay phone. You called Gerhard before the show.”

  Trent pretended to be affronted. “I most certainly did not.”

  “They record those calls,” Jackson reminded him. “I can easily pull the recording.”

  “The call was made at ten forty-five on a Tuesday,” said Trent. “I work in the laundry until noon. I couldn’t have made the call.”

  “This was a year ago.”

  “I’ve been working in the laundry for two years. Ask anyone.”

  Jackson studied the confidence in Trent’s expression. He reluctantly concluded Trent hadn’t made the call. But he was definitely hiding something.

  Jackson leaned forward. “What aren’t you telling me?”

  “Nothing.”

  The exchange was getting him nowhere. What Jackson needed was leverage, but he didn’t have any.

  “You want me to protect Crista?” He played his only card.

  He gambled that Trent cared at least a little bit about his daughter. If he didn’t, he wouldn’t have contacted Jackson in the first place.

  “Crista’s fine,” said Trent. “The wedding’s been called off.”

  “The wedding might be off,” said Jackson. “But Gerhard’s not dead. He still wants what he wants.”

  “You don’t know anything about it.”

  “But you do?”

  Trent’s face twitched a second time.

  Jackson pressed his advantage. “I can walk right now, or I can watch her awhile longer. You screw with me, I walk.”

  Trent stilled, obviously weighing his options.

  “Stop trying to play me,” said Jackson. “The truth is your only option.”

  “I didn’t call the Gerhards,” said Trent.

  “Then tell me what you did. Tell me what I need to know, or I’m out of here and Crista’s on her own.”

  To punctuate his threat, Jackson started to rise.

  “Fine,” Trent snapped. “It was me. I told a guy about the mine. But I had no choice. I had to.”

  Jackson felt his blood pressure rise, while his tone went cold. “There’s always a choice.” He couldn’t believe Trent would endanger his own daughter.

  “They threatened to kill me.”

  “Why?”

  Trent started talking fast. “I owed some guys some money. The deal was to offer her a discount price and pocket the difference. That’s all it was. I swear.”

  “What guys?” Jackson demanded. “Who did you owe?”

  Trent hesitated.

  Jackson started to stand again.

  “It was the Gerhards, okay? It was a land deal a few years back.
I guaranteed their city permits. It didn’t work out. They lost big-time, and they’ve been dogging me ever since.”

  The revelation surprised Jackson. He’d pegged Trent as a small-time criminal. He’d never guessed Trent was involved in this level of corruption.

  He wasn’t sure he believed it now. “How could you guarantee their permits?”

  “I know a guy,” said Trent.

  “You know a corrupt guy in the permitting office who can be bribed?”

  “The Gerhards have men inside the prison. And they were going to kill me. It was my only bargaining chip. I didn’t think anyone would get hurt, least of all Crista.”

  “You painted a target on her back.”

  “And then I came to you when it looked like it would go bad. I came to you for help.”

  “You lied to me.”

  “It got the job done,” Trent said defensively.

  “They didn’t get their hands on the mine.”

  Trent’s gaze narrowed, obviously not getting the point.

  “What now?” Jackson elaborated. “How are you going to pay them back?”

  “I sold them information. About the mine. We’re square.”

  “So, they’re not going to kill you?”

  “That was the deal,” Trent repeated with conviction. He didn’t look like a man who feared for his life.

  But Jackson knew this wasn’t over. If he’d learned anything from his father, it was that criminals didn’t give up while there was still a prize to play for.

  “It doesn’t matter if they kill you or not, they’ve still got their radar locked on her.”

  Trent took a beat. “I didn’t mean for it to go like this.”

  “Well, it went like this.”

  Trent swallowed.

  “You’re a sorry excuse for a father.”

  Trent didn’t argue the point. He barely seemed to have heard the insult. His cockiness vanished, replaced by apprehension. “You’ll look after her?”

  “I shouldn’t have to.” This time, Jackson did come to his feet.

  “But you will?”

  Trent’s emotional reaction had to be fake. But Jackson didn’t care enough to lie. “I will.”

  Trent closed his eyes for a long second. “Thank you,” he muttered.

  If Jackson didn’t know better, he might have thought the man was grateful. But he did know better. Trent was a self-centered, pathetic loser who didn’t deserve any daughter, never mind Crista.

  He pivoted to walk away, letting his frustration and determination take him back down the long hallway.

  The minute he cleared the prison building, he pulled out his cell phone and dialed his friend Tuck Tucker.

  “Hey, Jackson,” Tuck answered.

  “Got a few minutes to meet?” Jackson asked as he strode toward his car.

  “Now?”

  “If you can. It’s important.”

  “Sure. Where are you?”

  “Riverway prison.”

  “That can’t be good.”

  Jackson couldn’t help but smile. “I’m outside the wall.”

  “Glad to hear it. The Copper Tavern?”

  “Fifteen minutes?”

  “Meet you there.”

  As he started his car, Jackson placed a call to Mac.

  “Yo,” Mac answered.

  “You come across anything on the Gerhards bribing city officials?”

  “Bribing them how?”

  “Building permits.”

  Mac went quiet, obviously thinking through the question.

  “Did you find something relevant?” Jackson asked as he turned from the parking lot onto the gravel-littered access road.

  Poplar trees swayed beyond the ditches, and clouds shadowed the sun as the afternoon moved forward.

  “It makes sense,” said Mac. “A few committee decisions were overturned in their favor last year. That’s not unheard of, but there were more than what might be expected. Let me look into it further.”

  “Check on Trent Corday while you’re at it. He may have had a hand in something bad at the city. Turns out he was the one who tipped Gerhard off about the mine.”

  “Why would he do that?” Surprise was clear in Mac’s tone.

  “He was in debt to the Gerhards and trying to avoid death or bodily harm.”

  “By using his own daughter?”

  “Yeah. Getting the mine into their hands was payback for the debt.”

  Concern came into Mac’s tone. “But they didn’t get the mine.”

  “I know. Trent seems to think they’re square anyway.”

  “That doesn’t sound right,” said Mac.

  “Tell me about it. Did you get Crista and Ellie dropped off?”

  “Safe and sound at the Gold Leaf Resort. Ellie’s making spa reservations. Crista’s arguing, but I think Ellie’s going to win.”

  “I hope Ellie can get her to relax, take her mind off all this.”

  “If anyone can do it, it’s Ellie.”

  “Good call. I’m meeting Tuck on my way back.”

  “See you when you get here.” Mac signed off.

  Jackson followed the expressway to the outskirts of the city, then swung off to cross the bridge and pick up the quieter streets that led to the Copper Tavern. It was a laid-back, comfortable sports-themed bar, with dark wood tables, padded leather chairs and good-humored staff that seemed to stick with the place for years on end.

  It was easy to grab a parking spot in the midafternoon. Jackson left the bright sunshine behind and quickly spotted Tuck at a corner table. Tuck gave him a nod of greeting and signaled to the waitress for a couple of beers.

  “Wings and ribs are on their way,” said Tuck as Jackson sat down.

  “Works for me.”

  “You’re buying,” Tuck added.

  “You bet.”

  The waitress, Tammy, arrived with two frosty mugs of lager. She gave Jackson a brief, friendly greeting as she set the mugs down on printed cardboard coasters.

  “What’s going on?” Tuck asked Jackson as Tammy walked away.

  “I need a favor.” Jackson saw no point in beating about the bush.

  “Sure.”

  “It’s a big one.”

  “How big? Should I have ordered lobster?”

  Jackson coughed out a laugh. “It’s a whole lot bigger than lobster.”

  “Lay it on me.”

  “I need you to buy something for me.”

  Jackson slid a web address across the table. “Cristal Creations. They have three stores in Chicago. You buy the company now. I’ll buy it from you in two years. I’ll guarantee whatever return you want to name.”

  Tuck lifted the folded piece of paper. “Why?”

  “I need my name to stay out of it.”

  “No kidding. I mean, why buy it at all?”

  “I know the owner,” said Jackson.

  “You mean you’re sleeping with the owner?”

  “It’s not about that.”

  “That wasn’t an answer.”

  “No,” said Jackson. “I’m not sleeping with her.”

  “Yet.”

  “The person I care about is the jewelry designer, not the company owner. Gerhard Incorporated owns the company. The woman’s had a falling-out with them.”

  Tuck pocketed the paper. “Anything in particular I need to know about that situation?”

  “She was set to marry Vern Gerhard. She backed out. He’s not happy.”

  “But you are?”

  Jackson didn’t bother to hide his smile. “I’m satisfied with the outcome.”

  “And now you need her to sever all ties.”

  “I
don’t trust them. They’re dirty, and they’ve got to be after revenge.”

  Tuck gave a nod. “We’ve got a Bahamian holding company that’s not doing much of anything right now.”

  “Can it be traced back to you?”

  “It can. But it would take quite a bit of time and a whole lot of lawyers. I don’t know why anyone would bother, especially if the price was right.”

  Jackson tended to agree. It was common knowledge that the wedding had been canceled. And Crista had been on network television last year pitching Cristal Creations. An offer to buy the company from Gerhard should look opportunistic more than anything.

  “I really appreciate this,” said Jackson.

  “Not a problem. My brother’s got Tucker Transportation humming like a top. I have to keep myself entertained somehow. So, why’d she do it?”

  Jackson didn’t understand the question.

  “Why’d she leave him?” asked Tuck.

  “He was cheating on her.”

  Tuck’s tone went hard. “Nice.”

  Jackson knew Tuck’s brother, Dixon, had been a recent victim of infidelity.

  “Anything else I can do to help her out?” Tuck asked.

  “Not for the moment.”

  “You think of anything, you let me know. Dixon will help out, too.”

  “Thanks for that.”

  “I’m serious.”

  “I know.”

  There was a moment of silence.

  “The guy cheated on her before the wedding?” Tuck asked.

  Jackson pulled out the photo of Crista. He handed it across the table to Tuck. “That’s the bride. And, yeah, it was before the wedding.”

  Tuck whistled low. “Are you kidding me?”

  “She’s bright, funny…good-hearted. Gerhard’s an idiot.” For that, Jackson was grateful.

  “Or blind.”

  “His loss.”

  “Your gain.”

  “Not yet,” said Jackson.

  “You want some pointers?”

  Jackson turned his attention to his beer. “No, I don’t want some pointers.”

  Tammy arrived with the ribs and wings platter.

  “Can I get you anything else?” she asked.

  Tuck spoke up. “Jackson needs advice for the lovelorn.”

  Jackson rolled his eyes at the absurdity of the statement.

  Tammy took a single step back and made a show of looking him up and down. She put a good-natured twinkle in her eyes. “Show up.”