by Maggie Thom
It was Dorothea though who answered. “When you were cuddling Chance that day of the explosion, I knew he was Geoff’s. I used to hold him like that when he was a baby. There is no question he’s my nephew. I’m truly sorry for what my brother put you through, but I’m so very grateful for the beautiful boy you’re raising.”
Tarin simply nodded; she didn’t know what to do. She couldn’t look away from Graham but she couldn’t read his face either. There was no question he was stunned and hurt but she didn’t know if it meant he didn’t want to hear her version.
At that point, the police returned to the room they’d all been ushered into after the shooting. They’d all been questioned. One officer called Graham and Guy to go outside into the hallway with him. They all seemed to know each other. It was twenty minutes before they came back and another half hour before they were all allowed to leave—but only after they’d confirmed where they could be reached. Everyone went their own way. Tarin, Graham and Chance, who was sleeping in his arms, made their way back down to their hotel room. They hadn’t talked since Dorothea had shared her news.
Graham laid Chance down. While he was busy, she remembered her cell phone and pulled it out of her dress, unsure what shape it would be in. She clicked off the recorder. It was almost dead. She looked up just as Graham turned to face her. He caught and held her gaze.
“I want to find out if there are any other women whose children were fathered by Geoff. I think there might have some I’ve connected with on my site. I may need your help.” She pursed her lips as she handed him her phone. “I think this has some information the police would want about Geoffrey.”
Graham slipped it into his pocket. “I’ll pass it on to Walters. Tomorrow.” He remained still with his hands in his pockets.
“I’m sorry. I know I should have told you but I didn’t know how. I mean, how do I say, by the way, I don’t know who the father of my son is? Makes me sound like a bit of a loose woman, right? I had to find some answers first.”
“So your interest in the job was because of the ties to Caspian Winery?”
She nodded.
“Hacking my computer, same thing?”
Again she nodded. “Uhm, I did something else that you won’t be happy about. I hacked into Caspian Winery and took some information off Oliver’s computer. I heard you talking about him and you couldn’t find some files. I may have what you’re looking for. It’s pretty damning.” She briefly told him what she’d found.
“That’s classic Geoff. He probably had someone Photoshop Oliver’s face onto them. He’s that sick. It appears Tom might have been helping Geoff but we’re not sure of his motive. Money, maybe. His mom’s in a very expensive nursing home. The police will have to sort that out.”
She sat down wearily on the bed. “I truly am sorry.”
Graham’s lack of response was enough to compel her to look at him. He was staring at her bare legs where her skirt had risen without her knowledge. She quickly stood.
“We’re going to have to track down all those women and the kids that are Ge—that man’s. I tried to find who might have helped him. LJ says she tracked the doctor and he’s dead but maybe the code meant that Geoff was paying through Caspian?”
“It’s possible. We’ll look into it. Dorothea has already commissioned us to find everyone that pretty much has ever come into contact with Geoff. Every child that might possibly be his. She wants to make sure all of them are taken care of. That son of a bitch damn near killed her this time.”
“He’s sicker than anyone I’ve ever met and he’s destroyed so many lives.”
“I know. Hopefully we can help repair some of them.” He smiled tenderly at her. “I have to tell you, I know about your internet group for abused women.”
“I know, Janice. Cute name by the way.”
He walked toward her until he stood a foot away. “How’d you find out?”
“I check out everyone who joins or asks to join the inner circle. Do you think you’re the first guy who’s tried it?”
“Sorry. I was just—”
“I know. Making sure I was on the up and up. Don’t worry; I’d have done the same thing.”
“I couldn’t get into much.”
“Well not through your name but when you hacked mine you could.”
“Uh—”
“Yeah. I’m that good too.”
“Well, it’s better than Tari Lynn. Cute alias by the way.”
She smiled and shrugged her shoulders.
He grinned. “Damn, this is gonna be fun.”
“Is it?” She stared at him long and hard, trying to determine if he had forgiven her for all she hadn’t shared with him.
He gently pulled her into his arms and lowered his lips to hers. She leaned into him and pressed her mouth firmly against his, while her arms looped around his neck. She smiled but it soon turned into a frown when she thought about all she hadn’t told him. “Uh, I haven’t told you about my—well everything.”
“We have time.”
“I know, but there have been so many secrets, so many things I’ve kept from you. My father’s not a good man. Although he’s not quite in the same category as Geoff, he’s done his share of ruining lives as well. I have a half-sister I never knew about. My mother was a prostitute, if Cal is to be believed. So you can see,” she added sardonically, “I come from really fine stock. Stephen—”
He kissed her long and deeply. “—is an idiot who didn’t know how to savor what he had. I’m not like him but—”
“I didn’t think that for a minute. He’s—”
“Going to jail for a long time.”
“What?”
“It appears he was selling secrets to rival oil companies. His father isn’t too happy with him.”
“Stephen’s plenty of things but I don’t think he’d—”
“He probably didn’t. Anyone who crosses Geoff, pays. So do you want to rescue him or let him pay for all of his other illegal and immoral activities?”
His raised eyebrows and expectant look, let her know that her future clearly rested on her answer. She may not have been the perfect daughter or the perfect wife but she wasn’t an idiot. The man standing in front of her was far better than anyone she’d ever had in her life.
“He’s not my problem. I just want my marriage over. Maybe he and Cal can share a cell together.” She briefly told Graham about the ten-thousand-dollar dress she’d left for Stephen tacked to the bed.
He whistled long and slow. “Hmm. Remind me never to piss you off.”
“I really want to help the women I’ve connected with. They’ve been through some awful things and may have no one else to turn to.”
“Any ideas?”
“Some.”
“K. We’ll figure out something.”
“Thank you. I really am sorry about my father, about Stephen, about Cal, about—”
“Stop apologizing for them.”
She jerked away. “Yeah but—”
“It’s a waste of your time and energy. They aren’t your fault.” He pulled her to him. “I guess we’ll have to find something better for you to do, with all that pent-up anger. Any ideas?”
Tarin laughed; for the first time ever, she wasn’t worried about her future, because she’d found one of the good ones.
####
Thank you for reading Deceitful Truths, Book 3, Split Seconds is on the next page... keep swiping.
Split Seconds
Caspian Wine Suspense/Thriller/Mystery Series
Book Three
By
Maggie Thom
Twins... separated as toddlers, reunited as adults... and now they’re switching places in a dangerous game to take on organized crime.
Her sister is alive! Excited to discover her twin didn't die as a toddler, Tijan can’t wait to meet her other half. But why hasn’t her only sibling reached out in almost thirty years?
Although the reunion is joyous, not everyone is excited to discov
er there are two of them. Using it to her advantage, Tijan is determined to take down the one man responsible for it all... her father. The secrets and lies that have kept the two apart, soon unravel but with deadly consequences.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Thank you
The Caspian Wine Suspense/Thriller/Mystery Series
Other novels by Maggie Thom
Acknowledgments
About Maggie Thom
Chapter 1
“Mommy.”
“Mommy. Look.”
Tyana knelt down as her twin daughters hurled themselves at her. She hugged them tight, loving the feeling of their tiny arms wrapping around her. It reminded her how right her decision had been. It may have been unconventional how they came into this world but she wouldn’t give them up for anything. Not even money. “What, Bugs?”
The two giggled, their identical smiles and laughs made her forget that her time with them was going to come to an abrupt end... one day.
“Bee.”
“Boo.”
“Ti.”
“Ta.”
She laughed with them as they pointed to the other and did their name game. “Okay, Tijan and Tarin, how about we get cleaned up?”
“No, Mommy. Come.”
“‘ave to pee.”
Tarin headed for the bathroom while Tijan grabbed her mom’s arm and dragged her outside. Laughing, Tyana followed her bouncing daughter out the door only to stop suddenly. Tijan let her go and ran the short distance across the brown lawn to the bottom of a big old tree with huge draping branches.
“Look! Look!”
But Tyana was frozen on the top step as she stared at the luxurious limo parked at the end of her driveway, like a king showing his minions his wealth and power. She didn’t even have to see who got out of the car to know who it was. To know this day was going to arrive. She’d done everything she could to prevent it. But it hadn’t been enough.
She moved down the path, wanting to get between her daughter and the one person who could ruin both their lives.
“She’s filthy. Her clothes look like you got them at the thrift store; they’re badly stained with God knows what on them. She’s got mud covering her hands and face. She’s barefoot, for Christ’s sake. What the hell have you been doing to her?” The man, who many would say had the clout and power of the US President, looked at her with disgust. “And I haven’t forgotten what you did. Don’t worry; you’ll pay in ways you can’t imagine. I do not appreciate being taken for a fool. And what is mine, is mine.”
Tyana pressed her hands to her cheeks as she came face to face with a man she had somehow managed to outwit and avoid for two-and-a-half years. The game had been about hiding where he would least expect it. This wild, in the middle of nowhere place had been perfect and so far from what either of them had ever known, she had hoped it was beyond his scope of finding her.
Tyana so wanted to look over her shoulder but didn’t. She prayed that her other daughter wouldn’t rush out anytime soon. “Letting her live.”
“Mommy. Come.”
“What the hell were you thinking?”
“I had to. You’d have never let me see my babi—”
“Damn right I wouldn’t have. She’s mine, that’s why I paid you.” He pulled on one of the sleeves of his silk suit jacket to emphasize his wealth.
She knew about money, she knew about clothes but she had left that world far behind her. Or thought she had. Then she’d met him. A fate she’d thought had been better than what she’d been doing. He’d been her way to truly get away from the corruption of her family’s wealth. Her family’s greed and control. She’d been eighteen and determined to make it on her own. But she should have known money was money and those who gorge themselves on it are corrupt. She’d thought that running away from her upbringing would have been easy but it hadn’t been. Making money had been hard. He’d come into her life when she was contemplating going back to her parents to become the cold shell of a woman they wanted her to be. But she hadn’t needed to because he’d arrived. Only he hadn’t been her answers to anything.
She’d gone from living a precarious on-the-edge kind of life to living in downright hell. So she’d run.
The last few years had been so perfect and had shown her what she’d really wanted. She’d finally been content, happy even. The girls hadn’t known any of the life she’d previously lived and she never wanted them to know what she had done to survive. If she could go back and get a do-over, she’d change almost everything. Her daughter squealed, reminding her that she’d change everything except her two precious gifts, no matter how stupid she’d been to bring them into the world. It wasn’t that she’d had them; it was how they had come about. But they’d taught her so much and now she was in serious danger of losing them forever. The man who was going to ruin her life again didn’t seem to know everything, though.
Going on a hunch, Tyana answered, “You bastard, you’re so cold. She’s only a baby. She needs her mother.”
“You already managed to hide her for two damn years, I’m not letting you have her another second. Be grateful I haven’t killed you yet.”
Tyana turned away from the man in the three-piece suit, so out of place in this backwoods country. She’d hoped the rutted, densely treed area would have been enough to hide her and her girls forever. Her gaze landed on Tijan, who was staring with awe up into the branches. She ran over to her child, fearful it might be the last time she ever saw her. Feigning interest as she couldn’t share the fear that was clutching her in its vice-grip, she knelt down. Her gaze followed that of her daughter’s tiny finger as it pointed up through the dense foliage. There, perched on a branch way above their heads, was the fuzzy baby owl they’d been watching all spring. This was the first time he’d been out of the nest though; at least that they’d seen. His brother or sister had tried to fly too soon and had hit the one and only power line on the property. The girls had been heartbroken.
“Oh, he’s beautiful,” she whispered.
“No fly, Mommy. No fly.”
“I agree sweetheart, we don’t want him to fly yet.”
“No die. No die.”
“Dammit, that’s enough. Ge
t that disgusting kid ready to go.”
Tijan jumped, her eyes round as she hid behind her mom, clutching her mom’s legs with all her might. Tyana put her hands back to hold her daughter close while feeling the distance that was already creeping in. “You can’t take her. Look how happy she is. Please don’t.”
“You signed her over when you took the $50,000 I paid you.”
“I’ll give it back. I didn’t know... Please...” Now she wished she’d asked for ten times that amount. Not because she wanted the money but because maybe she could have used it to hide them better. A man with money, though, was almost impossible to keep away from, at least for long.
“Tee, run inside and get cleaned up, okay? I’ll be in, in a minute. Use soap.”
She ran to the house but went way wide to avoid the man who was glaring at her.
Tyana shuddered. Even her daughter felt the evil in him. “Please you can’t, I’m begging you.”
“Oh, save me the bullshit. I found you hustling for pennies. I gave you a life and a lot of cash. You were more than happy to live the good life. You’re a whore. Do you really think I want you raising my child? That’s a laugh.”
“But I was good enough to have her.”
“Oh, don’t worry I had your background checked out. Funny thing, your family was searching for you. I got pulled in by mistake. Since I discovered that you came from good stock, that was good enough for me. Besides, it’s funny as hell that I got that stupid, rich ass’s daughter pregnant. He doesn’t have a clue I have his grandkid. At least not yet. That alone will sustain me into old age. That and the fact that I’m sure his prestigious career might not survive his daughter being a call-girl.”
“I wasn’t a hooker.”
“A high paid whore, then.”
She cringed. There was a fine line between what she’d been doing and what he was calling her. She’d been so bent on making her own way, her own money. She’d gotten into college because of her family’s name. But they wouldn’t pay and the college had still wanted payment. She hadn’t had any money nor access to any as her parents had cut her off. She’d also discovered that the only jobs that would hire her—someone with no known skills other than partying—were the menial labor jobs. She’d been desperate but that had seemed a bit much. Even though she’d rebelled against how she’d been raised, she’d always had a maid. She couldn’t bring herself to do that kind of labor-intensive job, at least not for the measly few dollars they’d been willing to pay. So she’d gotten into college using her name and they’d given her some leeway to pay later. After all who’d want to piss off her multi-millionaire, influential parents? But the college had finally sent her a letter telling her to pay or she was out. She knew she needed an education to be able to make some good money. So when she’d been approached to go a date as a onetime thing for a $1000, she hadn’t passed it up. And hadn’t been able to afford not to. She’d dumped her family, ran from the overprotective, stale parents that she felt didn’t ‘get’ her, into a life that had made her feel powerful. She’d controlled men. They’d begged for her time. She’d been the queen of it all.