The Caspian Wine Mystery/Suspense/Thriller Series

by Maggie Thom

  “I’ve had it. I’m going home. If I’m done, then this has to be over, right?” She tried to sound as though she was pleading but she knew she’d failed when he retorted in a curse. Several passengers turned to look at them. He stared back. Bailey couldn’t help but giggle.

  “Not funny. We need to discuss this.” He started to pull her out of line.

  “Don’t let him bully you, honey. I can blow this.” A short, elderly lady retrieved a referee’s whistle from her neck chain and put it to her lips.

  Bailey’s eyes opened wide. As much as she’d love to see that play out, she knew they didn’t need any more attention. She forced a smile. “Thank you. He’s a good guy, just a bit rough around the edges. Don’t worry; I’ll keep him in line.”

  The lady nodded her head sharply, her purple hairdo bobbing drunkenly before returning to its original lacquered shape.

  Bailey allowed herself to be led away. She bit her lip. She thought about all that had happened in the last few days. Her lips twitched. She tried to focus on anything but what had just occurred. When Guy pulled her into the lounge, she couldn’t hold back any longer. She started to laugh. She flopped into a chair, clutched her stomach and continued to howl. The waitress gave her an odd look but smiled, then took the order from Guy and moved away. Several people had given her cursory glances but when she didn’t stop, they openly stared. Normally that would have been enough to end any attention seeking behavior but for whatever reason, the giggles just wouldn’t go away.

  “Care for a sip?” Guy was holding a glass of water in one hand and a beer in the other.

  That just set her off again. Gasping, she tried to catch her breath. Small vibrations started at her core and spiraled outward as she shook with uncontrolled hilarity. Her heartrate jumped to that of a marathoner’s—her hands became clammy, her eyes opened wide. She wasn’t certain whether she’d asked for help or Guy had observed that she was out of control and frightened. He came around the table and pulled her up, forcing her to stand. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her as physically close as he could. Then he began to softly hum. His deep baritone melodic voice reached through her defenses and soothed her frayed nerves. It was so comforting that she never wanted to leave that space. If only it could last. He had given her more than anyone had in her lifetime; he could be all she had ever wanted.

  When she felt strong enough, she reluctantly pulled away and sank into her chair. Staring at the beer in front of her, she grabbed it and downed half of it. As she returned it to the table and played with the label, a warm hand caressed hers.

  “It’s okay. I know you’re not used to accepting help, but I’m not going away. It’s nothing to be embarrassed about. You’ve had more happen this week than many have had in an entire lifetime. Give yourself a break.” He smiled reassuringly. “I know you want this nightmare to end. So do I. But I need you to trust me.”

  She couldn’t quite meet his concerned blue eyes that looked as enticing as a blue sky on a clear day. She nodded and then drank the rest of her beer.

  “Are you okay?”

  Never one to shy away from responsibility for long, she allowed her gaze to meet his. He smiled. It contained warmth and genuineness she wasn’t accustomed to seeing. It zipped right past her defenses and sucker-punched her in the chest. She gasped.

  Immediately, he was out of his chair and kneeling beside her. “What? What’s wrong?”

  She didn’t respond but just pushed him away.

  “You’re all right?”

  She nodded.

  “I’m going to get us on a plane to Toronto. I know you’d rather go home, but will you be able to get any answers there?”

  She shook her head.

  “Then we need to go my direction. That’s... that’s where I hope we’ll get some information that will hopefully unravel all of this. Okay?”

  She half-heartedly smiled.

  “I have a few things I need to check out. I think there’s some surprises even I couldn’t have guessed. I’m going to make a call and get us on that flight.” He headed out of the lounge, stopping just outside the entrance.

  Without him beside her, her thoughts invaded once again.

  The woman she knew as her mom wasn’t. She wondered if that was why she’d never really felt connected to her or if that was just an excuse. Many kids didn’t connect with their parents. She was really no different. Someone wanted her though. Why? Neither of them had ever had any money. The house and store were owned by someone else. Donna Saunders had left letters that had encrypted information in them. Her doll hadn’t been lost.

  All of it meant... what?

  What kept playing over and over in her mind was the number of people her mother had potentially used and abused. She thought she could find people from her past that would have answers, who would have been able to make sense of a senseless life. The grungy hangouts and the homeless shelters had whisked her back to the various times they’d sought refuge in similar places. It had reminded her of what a belly swollen with malnourishment felt like. Memories flooded in: getting in line for food, begging, lying and stealing, all in the name of survival.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

  Bailey shuddered at the memories that flooded back. There had been no answers, only more questions. Thankfully, Guy chose that moment to return. He sat heavily, propped his elbows on the table and rested his head in the palm of his hands. His fingers got lost in his shaggy brown hair. He breathed deeply several times.

  She couldn’t take her eyes off him. Three bandages covered the outside of his right hand from the wrist to the base of his pinky. Surprised she hadn’t noticed it before she reached out and barely stopped herself from touching him. She looked at her outstretched fingers and then at him. She had nothing to offer him. Slowly, she lowered her hand to the table in front of her. It didn’t stop her from wondering what kind of day he’d had. She was guessing it hadn’t been all that dissimilar to hers.

  When he didn’t raise his head after a few moments, she realized his breathing was a little too even, too deep. She glanced at the clock over the bar. They had just over an hour until the flight left if he’d managed to get them on the one he wanted. Reaching toward him, she placed her hand on his leather clad, scuffed shoulder and gently shook him. “Guy.”

  No movement and no change. She tried again but was a little firmer in her shake and in her voice. When that didn’t work she nudged him a little harder but she got little more than a grunt. A woman jabbing her husband with her elbow caught Bailey’s eye. She realized again they seemed yet again to be attracting unwanted attention. Besides the fact she didn’t like being in that position, they needed to be more inconspicuous.

  Getting up, she smiled at the people staring and rounded the table. Once she was beside Guy, she leaned down and whispered in his ear, “Time to get up, sleepyhead. We’re attracting attention and our flight is leaving soon.”

  Another unintelligible sound. Hissing through her teeth, she drove her tongue into his ear, pulled it out and said, “Let’s go, big boy. Now. Or you don’t get any.”

  His head snapped back. She snorted in mock disgust and headed to the exit. He blinked several times but soon stumbled to his feet and followed after her.

  “Where’s our tickets and boarding passes?”

  “We have to pick them up from the ticket counter.” He swiped his hand over his stubbled jaw. “Slow down. We’ve got time.”

  She maintained her stride until his hand halted her.

  “What the hell is your problem? I’m sorry I fell asleep. I’m tired. All right?”

  She thrust her chin in the air and turned her face away. “Get our tickets, okay?”

  He grabbed her arm and pulled her into line with him. “All right. What’s got you upset?”

  “I could use some slumber too. Uninterrupted slumber.”

  “Then what’s the problem?”

  “You. You wake up as soon as there’s a sexual suggestion. Nothing else would ope
n your baby blues.”

  He groaned. “Since I’m not a hundred percent sure what you’re talking about, did it ever occur to you that maybe you tried several things that started waking me and it was the fifth or tenth thing you said and not the mere suggestion of sex that was successful?”

  Two young women blatantly ogled Guy. He leaned close and whispered in Bailey’s ear, “I don’t know what sex you were offering but I’m saying yes. And no, I wasn’t thinking of another woman. Baby blues, huh?” He moved to the open counter.

  Stupefied, Bailey stood there until she heard one of the women say, “Wow, is he hot.” Then she joined Guy. Not quite daring enough to slide her hand into the crook of his arm, she leaned in close so the two chicks would know he wasn’t available.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

  “Why’d you come after me?”

  “I wasn’t going to let you go wandering off by yourself.” Guy wanted to heave a sigh of relief now that they were finally in the air, but he couldn’t quite shake a well-founded paranoia.

  “I meant, why did you come and find me in the first place?”

  “Oh.” He looked at the newspaper he’d purchased before boarding the airplane. I owe my grandmother, well really my step-grandmother. “I...I guess you could say I was doing a favor for someone. I was intrigued. Of course, this became so much more than I figured.”

  They shared a commiserating smile. Now that they were en route to Toronto, they both relaxed a bit. Guy felt safer heading back to his own territory, but he wasn’t confident it was the right decision for Bailey. What if he was taking her back to where it all began thirty years before, only to find the same threat was still there?

  “Excuse me, would you like a beverage and snack?”

  They both took the offered juice and cookie, wolfing it down before the flight attendant had even moved forward. He caught her looking at him as guilty expressions morphed into amused ones.

  “Well, that ought to knock off the twelve-hour hunger.”

  He looked out the window at the darkening sky and the black clouds. He thought of his attacker and wondered if they’d shaken him at last. Graham hadn’t heard back from Detective Bean yet, so neither knew whether he’d been arrested.

  Guy shoved his hand through his disheveled hair, dropped his head back and breathed a sigh of disgust. This is crazy!

  He closed his eyes and recalled his conversation with Graham just prior to getting their tickets.

  “Where the hell are you and what’s going on? Are you all right?” Graham had demanded.

  After Guy had assured his partner he was okay, Graham had continued, “The guy you wanted me to track down, John Denori, has a long rap sheet. He’s a con man—theft, fraud, assault, outstanding warrants for questioning on three attempted kidnappings occurring in 1978, 1979 and 1980. Sound familiar?”

  “Attempted?” Guy had answered.

  “It appears that in each case, a family member was behind the abductions. He was fingered as the guy they’d hired. Sick.”

  “No wonder he wants Bailey. Maybe she’s the last link to his nefarious career with the black market. I’m assuming that’s what his gig was?”

  “I suppose. In each case, it appeared someone’s inheritance was threatened by the person they wanted abducted.”

  “Jesus, there are some sick relationships. Makes you wonder.” Guy had stared off into space, his mind trying to fit the pieces of the puzzle together. “Before we go too far with this, I need two tickets to Toronto. There’s a flight leaving in about an hour and a half. Can you get us on it?”

  “Yes. But you need to fill me in on what’s happening.”

  “Did you get hold of Bean?”

  “Yeah, that ungrateful s.o.b. He acted like he was doing me a favor instead of the other way around. Dick. Anyway, I haven’t heard back from him. Doubt I will, so I’ll hack into the Edmonton Police files later to see if they arrested Denori. Sorry I can’t give you a definite.”

  After he had filled Graham in on all that had happened, he’d asked him for a favor.

  “Graham, I need you to do some research for me. It may take you a while and I need everything kept so silent, there’s not a whisper of it anywhere. Okay?”

  “You know me, I don’t share spit with anyone.”

  “I know that Graham, but no one can trace you. And before you tell me you never leave a trail, I need you to make sure. These are some serious people and the person I want you to do some checking on may have connections and be into something that no one will believe.”

  “I’m taking it you know this person. So before I let you tell me, is this going to put my life in danger?”

  “It might. Want out?”

  “Hell, no. I just like to be prepared for excitement if it’s coming my way.” He’d sighed. “I live such an exhilarating life that this will feel like a walk to the washroom. I look forward to this trip. Thank you, my friend.”

  Guy had laughed. “You are so odd, Graham. Must be why we’re friends. Thanks. The person that I need a complete history on is Geoffrey Caspian.”

  A long slow whistle had met that announcement. “Oh, really? Well the good old chap is showing his true colors, eh? I’ll get right on it. Be careful. I don’t like the fact that family might be involved in this dirty stuff.”

  “Me neither.”

  His conversation with Graham left him feeling like the ride hadn’t even started. All that they’d been through so far was the warm up.

  What are you going to do about it?

  “What are you doing?”

  Startled that Bailey was asking him the same question that was going through his head, he frowned at her. “What?”

  “You’re twisting that package like you’re trying to make a rope.”

  Looking at the mangled snack box, he said, “Just thinking.”

  “Care to share?”

  No, because all I have are hunches. And I don’t want to scare you away from your family.

  “Just that this week’s been crazy.”

  She snorted, reminding him if he was finding it nuts, she had to be just about certifiable with what she’d gone through.

  “I should have asked before now, how are you holding up? With losing your mom and all?”

  She glanced at the newspaper he’d stuffed beside him. Seeing the direction of her look, he pulled it out and offered it to her. She shook her head.

  “No. I... it’s just my mom had an obsession with the news. I always thought she was just a control freak, but now I wonder if there could be something more to it. Any ideas?”

  “I don’t know. Any particular part she used to read?”

  “Cover to cover. And every major newspaper she could get her hands on. The weird thing was when I was throwing them away, the ones from years gone by, I remembered where I was on some of those dates.”

  “Oh.”

  Turning, she faced him. “Yeah. Like where we lived. I learned to connect where we were at to a date. It gave me something to do. It kept me from thinking about what was going on in my life.” She twisted her hands together. “Every time we moved, every time we screwed someone over, every time we did something that made my stomach feel like it was full of battery acid, I can tell you the date. Ask me to remember when something good happened and I... don’t know. Sad, eh?”

  “It had to be tough being on the go all the time.” Guy restrained himself from reaching out to touch her, knowing she needed to keep talking and any sympathy on his part would shut her up.

  “You have no idea. But at some point it became an expectation. You never really unpack. Never get too excited. Too attached. Because it will all change.” She knocked her knuckles together. “Okay, enough about me. Tell me something about you. Did you move around a lot?”

  He couldn’t look away from her questioning gaze. He shifted several times in his seat.

  “Ants in the pants? Guess I hit a nerve. Easy to talk about me but you don’t want to follow a pathetic life story, huh?”
>
  “No, I probably can’t beat your story but mine’s not so pretty either. Let’s just say I was the result of a bad situation.”

  He ignored her arched brow for a moment before giving in. “My mother was a maid for a wealthy family, she was said to have been raped. It was hushed up and she was given the boot. Until I was nine, I lived with my mother and grandmother. Then my mom was killed in a car accident. My grandmother was a bit nuts and devious. She was blackmailing the rich family, telling lies and slandering them. She wanted money. My step-grandmother, the matriarch, basically bought me. She paid the old woman and next thing I knew I was growing up in a beautiful, old monstrosity of a house where I was treated like gold.”

  “So your real grandmother didn’t want you and figured you were a good way to get rich? How long did you live with her after your mother’s death?”

  “A few days.”

  “Your step-grandmother put up money right away for you, even though you weren’t related?”

  “Uh. No.”

  “Okay, I’m confused.”

  He met her compelling gaze. He’d never told anyone about his upbringing before. “The day after my mom died, my real grandmother put me in the foster care system. It took my step-grandmother over a year to find me and to stop the old bat from screwing with my life.”

  He didn’t realize his hands were clenched into fists until he felt her soft palms gently caressing him. Taking a deep breath, he allowed her soothing touch to calm him. “So can I compete with your upbringing? No. Do I know what it’s like to be shipped around and unwanted? Yes. Do I know what it’s like to be a pawn in an ugly game? Yes.”

  “I’m sorry.” It was a simple statement but it didn’t hide her depth of emotion or the tears that threatened her voice.

  It almost choked him up that she could feel empathy for him when he’d only had it bad for a short time. She was still living her hell. Opening his hand, he flipped it over and clasped hers. They sat in silence for a long time as they both stared off into space, enjoying their shared camaraderie.

  A long time later, he looked down at the long, disheveled brown hair spread across his shoulder. Her breathing was heavy and constant. She was sleeping hard. He covered a yawn; he must have snoozed a bit too because he didn’t remember her leaning against him. Not wanting to wake her, he settled back against the seat and carefully adjusted her head, so it rested more snugly against his chest. His arm slipped around her. It felt too comfortable. Too natural. Getting involved with a client was a big taboo and had never been an issue for him before. But he was coming to the realization this was no longer just about keeping her safe so she could reunite with her family.