The Caspian Wine Mystery/Suspense/Thriller Series

by Maggie Thom

  Tarin came to mind. She hadn’t been what he’d wanted or expected but he’d made do. When he hadn’t been given what he’d wanted in life, he’d learned to make them happen. What made him smile and would undoubtedly piss her off to no end was she had no idea what she had done for him. He was pretty sure she had questions; not that he really cared, because she’d been a means to an end. He was pretty sure she hated him, but if by chance she didn’t, she would soon.

  Parting with her son would be difficult for her but that wasn’t his problem. He wasn’t letting anyone get in the way of his plan. The boy was his and always would be, no matter what. Someday, she’d come to understand, even if he had to get a little firm with her.

  He downed the rest of his drink and set it on the crystal tray on the mahogany table before pushing to his feet. He brushed off a piece of imaginary lint from his Italian silk suit before staring out the wall of picture windows that provided a clear, unhindered view of the city. To be sure, it was not the one he wanted to live in but had to until he was able to put his plan in place. Once he had the boy, he’d have to find a reclusive spot for a while but he was prepared for that. In fact, he’d be moving much closer to where it had all started for him.

  He just needed his heir. Waiting even one more day was almost asking too much but he would. All the books said that early childhood was the most impressionable stage, so he wouldn’t wait much longer. It was definitely time to take his son. He wasn’t about to compromise on what he wanted, what was rightfully his, not for anything or anybody—even if they were family.

  He picked up the phone and made the call he’d patiently been waiting to make for a long time.

  “He’s two now. I want the boy.”

  “I thought you wanted to wait until he was at least two-and-a-half?”

  “Things change.”

  “Yes, but we have an agreement,” Stephen’s voice trembled ever so slightly as he responded.

  That sound of his sniveling was such a sweet balm; the guy still feared him, which was exactly what he wanted. It made it easier to keep him in line. “Oh, I get it. You’re worried that you won’t be paid for the next five months.”

  “Well—”

  “Nothing’s changed, except I’m taking him a little early.”

  “Give me another week or two? And then you can have him.”

  “I’ll meet you on Monday at the Calgary Zoo. That should be a good place to start our bonding. Make sure she doesn’t come with you.”

  “That’s not going to be easy.”

  “I don’t care. Get me the boy. I’ll be there Monday to collect him.”

  “And the fee is now twenty million dollars.”

  “Really, you think you can blackmail me?”

  “Well, I’ve been following your orders for years. I’ve done my job—”

  “—and been paid handsomely for it. I will pay the original final payment of three million dollars, plus the five months we originally agreed on, plus the exorbitant living allowance and not a penny more. Don’t screw me on this. If you need to know what I do to people who cross me—”

  “Forget it. Fine. I’ll have the child there three weeks Saturday. I have my promotion party next Friday. I need her to attend with me.”

  So he thinks he has a say. How cute. He was about to argue when he realized he still had some unfinished family business. It would be better if the boy wasn’t with him when he dealt with that but he wasn’t going to let this asshole think he had that much power.

  “Fine. Two weeks from Saturday and not a day late.”

  He hung up, relieved this was finally going to be over. He could move forward with his plans. Everything would work out the way he wanted it to. Family would pay and he’d have his son.

  Chapter Twelve

  ‘You can’t do this, Tarin. I’ll make you pay... making me look like an ass... what makes you think you can take Chance from me... Bring him back. Now... who the hell do you... you’ll be sorry... bring him home and I’ll take you on that holiday I’ve been promising.’

  Those had been some of the texts from Stephen that had started her day. There were at least another dozen or so oscillating wildly in their emotions. It all served as a reminder that she wasn’t there on a holiday; she had work to do. She needed answers so she could cut him out of her life for good. The only positive she could glean from his texts was she was pretty sure he had no idea where she was... yet.

  “So how’s the job hunt?”

  Tarin wanted to climb back into bed and pull the cover over her head but then that never solved anything. “I think I messed up, Bobbie.” She didn’t bother to tell her friend that she’d only applied for one job because she had to get it. Most employers took their time in selecting someone, but they had seemed in a hurry and she’d made it clear she was ready to start tomorrow. That had been yesterday and still no call. Maybe their sense of urgency and hers weren’t quite the same.

  “I thought the interview went well?”

  She coughed more as an excuse to turn her head so she didn’t have to look at her friend when she answered. “It did, although I acted like a bit of an idiot.” She couldn’t very well tell her friend that she’d lied and cheated in the hopes of getting the position. She wasn’t sure Bobbie would understand why she’d done it—or more likely, want her to explain her reasons, something she wasn’t ready to share.

  “How are you doing? You seem annoyed.”

  “I’m fine.”

  “Come on. I can tell you’re upset. Is it something I did?”

  “God no. It’s my mother. She drives me nuts. You know that Mercedes she was going to test drive?”

  Tarin nodded.

  “She wants to buy it for her boyfriend.”

  “I thought she said yesterday she wanted it for herself?”

  “She does but if it will keep young stud number three around, then it’s for him. He’s a whole year older than me. So why can’t I find a man? Because my mother is busy bedding them all.”

  Tarin snorted. “I’m sorry. That’s really not funny.” She tried hard to stop laughing but she couldn’t.

  Bobbie smiled at her indulgently and then made a face before chuckling as well.

  “She sure likes to spend money. I guess that hasn’t changed.” It had always been a problem when they were younger.

  “Nope. That’s one of the reasons Dad split. He couldn’t handle being broke all the time.”

  “Is your mom working?”

  “Oh good gravy, no. That is such a dirty word in her book.”

  “Are you supporting her?”

  “Me? No, not really. I’ve taken over her finances because she gets swamped with bill collectors when she doesn’t pay. She’s holding me over a barrel. She’s a pro at blackmail.”

  “So she has money?”

  “Yeah, she got a hell of a settlement and roped yo―” Bobbie’s eyes opened wide. “She’s got some money.”

  Tarin frowned. Something struck her as odd but she was too busy with her own worries to figure out what might be going on with her friend.

  Bobbie made her way across the room. “So you’re not sure about your job? Don’t worry about it. I’m sure if you don’t get it there are others. Let’s not sit around here moping and waiting for a call. Let’s go do something.”

  Tarin contemplated that for a moment. If she didn’t get this position, she wouldn’t have the access to what she needed; however, there were other ways to gather information. The logo on the paper that had been stuck to her back was the only clue she had to what had happened to her.

  She watched her friend as she paced back and forth in her tiny room. Bobbie hadn’t looked at her once. Something was off. Her mom had obviously upset her. Tarin would have done almost anything to have a mother drive her nuts.

  “I could get my dad to help if money is an issue?”

  “God, no!” The words were spit at her almost before she was done speaking.

  “Okay. I just—”


  “I know. You want to fix it like you do everything. Leave it alone, Tarin. Okay?”

  Tarin nodded but was taken aback by Bobbie’s forceful, hard tone. Bobbie’s phone suddenly rang.

  “Dammit. It’s Mom. I’ll be a while.”

  “No worries. I’ll figure out something for this afternoon.” She watched as her friend walked out of her room, already talking away. She hated to see her so upset. Her mom was something else. Tarin had always thought she was a very selfish woman. Everything was always centered around her personal needs. She’d rarely come to visit Bobbie at boarding school and when she had, she’d done nothing but complain about her life and gossiped about everyone else.

  Tarin gasped. If Mrs. Benson had told her dad she’d seen her, he’d know where she was. If she asked for help for Bobbie, he’d know where she was.

  How did my life become such a mess?

  She had to get answers before her dad discovered what was happening in her life. There was no way he was aware of the predicament she was in, and there was no way he knew he had a grandson. If he had, he would have taken control of her life but more importantly, he’d have taken Chance and raised him like the son he’d always wanted.

  She jumped out of bed almost in a panic. Her dad couldn’t find out about her and what she was up to... not yet. If Bobbie’s mom talked...

  Chance squealed with delight from the other room where Kim was entertaining him. The sound was like a beacon pulling her back from the edge.

  She had to do something. The pamphlet for a wine tour she’d seen on Bobbie’s table came to mind. There was no reason she couldn’t take a look at Caspian Winery. She might as well do something. She’d moved across the country to get answers; maybe she’d get lucky. She rolled her eyes at that thought as she really had no idea what she was looking for or what she hoped to gain by going there. If she could get near a computer while there, maybe she could get information.

  She fell back against the wall, surprised by what she was thinking. She, who had never stolen a thing in her life, was actually thinking of stealing something... something that could land her in jail.

  “Aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh,” she yelled. The sound shocked her so much that she quickly stopped but not soon enough. Kim rushed into the room wide-eyed. She was sure she looked just as surprised as Kim. “I’m fine. I was—I’m fine.”

  As soon as Kim left, she bent over to take in some deep breaths. She had to do something; she couldn’t live in this limbo of not knowing. Before she could talk herself out of it, she dug out a USB, tucked it into her bag, and then headed for the shower.

  Chapter Thirteen

  “So?”

  Guy plopped down behind his desk, looking almost as tired as Graham felt. “I didn’t find much. I met with the resort who had received the wine, same guy who’s been doing it forever. Then I talked with the distributor, LCBO. I told them I’m from the Internal Affairs Department of Revenue Canada and we’re looking into some inconsistencies.”

  “And they bought that?”

  “Yeah. I talked to one of the middle managers, who only knows so much, right? I told him it was so secret that only a select few knew about us. Whenever you mention something about the government tax arm, people tend to panic. I saw a couple of pictures of some lake and casually said, ‘Does the government know you own this?’ The guy spilled as though a dam had burst. Nothing really helpful though, at least not to us but to the government maybe. Then I met with the employees of Caspian Winery. Not easy to ask questions like, ‘Have you had any incidents of bad wine?’ and make it sound routine. Grandma was very insistent that I not hint about any problems.”

  Graham laughed. “She doesn’t expect much. Better you than me, to deal with her.” He smiled at his friend’s grunt, knowing that Dorothea Lindell could be one tough woman to reckon with. The fact that she was eighty hadn’t slowed her down or softened her demeanor. She was really an admirable lady but he loved to rib Guy as she was quite hard on him.

  “Yeah, well, now she has me doing her manager’s job. I think she’s having some problems with her management team but she wouldn’t tell me anything. She wants me to find out more about one of the vineyard hands that came late last year or early this year. I can’t remember; I have it in my notes though.”

  Graham raised his eyebrows.

  “Yes, I’ve already added him to the top of the list to follow. So I need you to do a full background check. Find out all you can.”

  “Got it. You have fun playing mediator over there.”

  “Right, like I have time to do that.”

  “I know she’s impossible to say no to. Anyway, I found nothing in the cursory background checks on any of the potential suspects you gave me. We need to narrow down that list so we can deep dive on a few. I’ll start with that new guy. Something isn’t right about this whole thing. My radar is going off the charts.”

  “I agree but what? Someone has gone through a lot of work to keep us from finding answers. Ideas?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Geoff,” they said at the same time.

  “Okay, so we’re on the same page. Now what?”

  “Can he still be alive?”

  “It doesn’t seem possible. They found a body. They found that ugly garnet ring he always wore. It can’t be.”

  “Let’s forget him, he’s gone. It’s not as though we don’t have a sufficient number of enemies to choose from. Even though we keep a pretty low profile and our police and government contacts try to keep us in the background, it wouldn’t be hard for anyone to figure out who we are.“ Exasperated, Graham shoved his hand through his hair.

  “True. We’ve probably made one or two hit lists. You’ve got to be right. And it’s really easy to figure out our connection to Caspian Winery. Dorothea raised me from the age of nine and as soon as Bailey and I get married, she’ll be my grandmother-in-law. If someone wanted to get back at us, really it could just be me, couldn’t it? Maybe it’s not aimed at you at all. Anyway, what better way than to mess with our company as well as Dorothea’s?”

  “But what do they want? Are they trying to put us out of business, or could someone want to buy up one or both companies? Is that what this is about?”

  “Or is it purely about the money? “

  Graham’s computer notified him of another email. Then it dinged again... and again. Sitting up straight, he clicked on his browser, stunned as thirty-five requests came in, one right after the other.

  “Someone is so screwing with us.”

  “I agree.” Guy set his coffee mug on his desk. “How’d the interviews go? Sorry I missed them.”

  “Like hell you are. You love them as much as I do. Not well. I’d been up a while and wasn’t quite with it. And one never showed.”

  “And the one who did?”

  He hesitated before responding. “Good. In fact, very good. She found all of the trojans I’d planted, all within the time I gave her and with no antivirus program on the computer. She searched but didn’t waste time, then downloaded the same one I would have, ran it, cleaned up the problems and then she downloaded a second program and found a ransom malware I had forgotten about.”

  “So what’s the problem?”

  Guy’s eyebrows shot upwards, which Graham pretended he didn’t notice.

  “Here, read through her information.”

  “Looks good to me. Hire her. We need someone now.”

  “Yeahhhhhh—”

  “Hire her. Or is there something you’re not telling me? She sounds perfect.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Bobbie descended the stairs looking as though she’d just been through a wind storm, her hair tugged in all directions. A good indication, Tarin thought, of how her talk with her mother went. Tarin winced but rather than speak about her mother, she decided instead that Bobbie needed a distraction and she needed to do some snooping.

  “I was thinking about going on a wine tasting tour. Care to join me?”

  “God yes. After
that call with my mom—let’s not go there. I’m in. I’ll make sure Kim can babysit. You’re not taking Chance, right?”

  “No.”

  After several missed turns due to Tarin’s poor directions, they finally arrived at their destination.

  “If you’d told me we were going to Caspian Winery, I’d have been able to get us here with no problem. They have awesome wines. But do you realize we passed about eight or ten really good ones on the way here? The Reynolds Winery right next door is really good.”

  “I know. I saw Caspian’s ad, so their name stuck in my mind. I was a bit curious. We can hit the other ones another time. Okay? You’ve been here before?”

  “Yeah. Several times. I come here at Christmas for the tour; it’s so cool. They do it up right. We’ll have to come this year. We should have come by cab.”

  “That’s okay, I won’t drink. Have you ever met any of the staff here?”

  “The guy that does the vineyard tour is rather hot.”

  “Anyone else?”

  “Yeah, I guess but I don’t remember names or anything. Why?”

  “I thought maybe you could get us a private tour.”

  “No. You’ve got to be family or close friends for that, I imagine.”

  Tarin thought about her hopeful connection through Knights Associates. If... no, when she got the job, she’d ask. There was no if’s about it; she had to get that position. As she entered the building, she realized Bobbie was already asking about the tour and was being told the next one would start in about twenty minutes. They could wander around until then. Bobbie sat down.

  “I’ll wait.”

  “I’m going outside, okay?”

  “No problem, I think I’ll have a glass while I sit here.”

  Tarin smiled and headed out the door. The vineyards were down the hill to the left. Behind her was the area for the wine making but she wanted the administrative center, the best opportunity for locating their computers and data.

  Walking around the building, she noted there were several other buildings. She wasn’t sure what they were for but since there were no windows she doubted any were offices. Around the back, she noticed there were a few workers milling about, some on machinery while others were entering and exiting the shops. Squaring her shoulders, she purposefully strode with an air of authority. At the far end, she turned the corner and found a two-story she was certain contained offices. The side and back doors were locked so she continued around to the front, realizing they were attached to the main winemaking building. There had to be a way into the offices from inside. As she was contemplating what to do, someone walked past her and entered a side door to the winemaking building. She didn’t hesitate to follow suit. Once away from the glare of the sun, her eyes had to adjust to the dimmer light. The incessant noise of the machines had her clapping her hands over her ears. Not wasting any time, she followed a hallway to her right.