The Caspian Wine Mystery/Suspense/Thriller Series

by Maggie Thom

  “It is.” He knew better than to try to steer the conversation or even really start one. Mr. T always chose where it went and got annoyed way too fast. Two things he’d learned when this man was in his presence—never look him in the eye but never take his eye off him and never presume to know what he wanted. Oh, and one more thing he’d learned: never interrupt silence no matter how uncomfortable it was.

  These were all things that James wasn’t good at. As owner of one of the largest hotel chains in Canada, he hadn’t gotten there by being polite or silent, but he’d learned to be different with this man. So he sat there, his fingers curled tightly on his desk chair, while he kept his gaze in the direction of the man who could make him disappear in an instant; a man he thought at one time he could control. James had been so set on taking his father down that he hadn’t really thought about the consequences of his actions. He’d needed money and hadn’t really cared how he got it. His first choice had turned him down flat. If the Johansen’s had come through, he would never have been in this predicament. Their reaction when he’d presented their granddaughter hadn’t been what he’d expected. Or wanted. And they hadn’t been about to fork over several million dollars so he could grow his hotel empire.

  It still didn’t seem wrong to him. His goal had been to give them the granddaughter they didn’t know existed from a daughter they’d disowned for money. Unfortunately, they hadn’t wanted either one of them and most definitely not for money.

  So then he’d done what he’d needed to do, and now he was reliant on this man. Although he’d tried many times to get him out of his life, James realized that was never going to happen. Unfortunately, this loan shark hadn’t been the only one James had needed to borrow money from in the beginning. He’d played a dangerous game of getting money from one to pay off another while trying to build his legacy, a chain of hotels. He was going to have to do something drastic if he was ever going to get these lowlifes out of his life for good.

  “You’re trying to buy Caspian Winery.”

  James was too schooled to show any reaction but he thought he’d kept that pretty quiet. Was it someone on his end? If so, it meant it had to be one of four people. Or had it been someone on Caspian Winery’s end? Who and how many were on this guy’s payroll? The thought that he was being betrayed was unforgivable. But betrayed to this man? Dangerous.

  “I’ve thought about it. It’s like any business, if they are doing well then they are worth looking into buying.”

  “Yes, and a winery, a very successful one, gives you a bit of that snot-nosed attitude that makes the rich think you’re God. I like that about you James. See, we think alike. I invested in you because then I look legit. And you’re investing in other snooty businesses so you look legit. It works.” He smiled and the diamond on his front tooth sparkled as though mocking James.

  “I just like to keep my options open. And a winery does work well with a large hotel. We serve a lot of wine. If I get the right one, it saves us money and we’d be able to make more by selling the wine to customers.” It took all of James’ willpower not to tell the man to get the hell out of his office and out of his business.

  “But you’ve already bought three wineries,” he was saying, “and it appears that business isn’t all that great at any of them. In fact, you shut one down. So why would you need that big, successful winery? Hmmm. I think this is a perfect time to expand my horizons. And you owe me.”

  “I paid you back the loan you gave me with interest.”

  “Yes, and without me you wouldn’t have been able to build this dynasty of hotels. Without me you’d be nothing. You’d still be trying to take your father down. I helped you succeed with that. You’re actually one of the few I’ve loaned money to that paid me back everything. But see that’s the problem. I decided that wasn’t good for business. And since your business is doing so well, I thought I’d add in a ‘I saved your ass’ tax. The government really does teach a person a lot about how to run a business if one really pays attention. Any time the government needs money they add a tax.” He shrugged. “So I’m doing the same.” He sat back and sipped his whiskey as though he had all the time in the world.

  James felt sick and that didn’t happen very often. In fact, the last time had probably been the first time he’d borrowed money from this creep. James had been young, impulsive and pissed. His anger was aimed mostly at his father and he’d been willing to sign on with the devil to hurt his father where he could the most-in business. And it would now appear that he had given his soul to the devil. James didn’t know where this was going but the more the man talked about it, the more he realized it wasn’t going to bode well for him.

  “I want in on that deal.”

  “Mr. Tesimmon. You’ve been a great help to me in the past but we concluded our business. I paid you back all I owed you plus a hefty amount of interest.” Like ten times the amount, but he wasn’t going to say that to this guy.

  “Here’s the thing. I need to create a sense of legitimacy again. And you were my ticket last time, so why go looking for someone new. You’ve done well, which wouldn’t have happened without my money.”

  James kept silent. He was not including this man in on any of his deals, no matter what he needed. This hotel was James’; he’d worked hard to make it the five-star chain that it was.

  “I understand your daughter is an unwed mother.”

  He was quite sure the man also knew where she was living and with whom but he wasn’t about to ask that. But he did wonder where he was going with his statement.

  “Yes. She is.”

  “That’s perfect.”

  James knew he shouldn’t feel a sense of relief that the man wasn’t going on about the business but he was. Mr. T had asked about his daughter off and on over the years but there had never really been any interest in her, but something had changed in the way he asked this time. Biting his tongue to keep himself from blurting something out that wouldn’t be good for him, James waited, curious about where this was going. Would the man use his daughter against him or his business? An uncomfortable feeling climbed up his throat, giving him a restricted feeling and making swallowing difficult.

  Mr. T sipped the scotch that had been poured for him. “Hmmm. Not your best stuff James. Trying to get cheap on me?”

  James tried to swallow but realized that wasn’t going to be possible. The bile would probably choke him first. “I’m sorry Mr. Tesimmon. It’s the same brand I always buy but I’ll look into it. I do have a new bottle of 40-year-old scotch, if you’d like—”

  He waved him off before standing and setting his glass on the polished top of the desk. “No but don’t make that mistake again.”

  James nodded, feeling too weak in the knees to be able to stand although he knew he would have to soon. He wasn’t intimidated by many but he was smart enough to be intimidated by this man. He was only a few inches shorter than James’ own 6’2” frame but the evil that seemed to thrive within him made him seem all that much bigger than James. He had this looming ability.

  “I want your daughter to meet my son.”

  “What?”

  “I would like to see my son married and it would be a great merging of our two businesses. She seems smart and she’s gorgeous. And hopefully understands better than you what this could mean to our businesses. My son has done well for himself. Got himself a respectable, highfalutin job.” The man grinned as he stared at James and then burst out laughing like he knew the best joke ever.

  James had never been one to squirm or shy away from controversy but Mr. T made him feel like the devil had just landed in his life and was going to dance around him until he was six feet under. It felt as though all the wrongs he’d ever done were coming back for payment and the payment was his business, which for him was his soul.

  “I’ll get a hold of you and let you know when.”

  James pushed himself to his feet and nodded as Mr. Tesimmon turned to leave. “By the way, that lawyer of yours is qui
te the shark.”

  “Oh?” James wasn’t sure where this conversation was going but he did know that he’d never shared with this man the identify of his lawyer.

  “Yes. Eleanor is really good at knowing the ins and outs of acquiring businesses, especially those that don’t want to be acquired.” With that, he had his two bodyguards who’d come in with him step into line close behind him. Two other bodyguards waiting for him outside the door took the lead. It made it pretty much impossible for anyone to get near the man or even take a shot at him; something James had thought of many times over the years. Not that he would have done it personally but he was sure he could have paid someone. The fear of failing had always kept him from even attempting it, though. He did not want to be on Mr. T’s hit list. People didn’t just die if they crossed him; they were tormented, tortured, beaten and then allowed to die in the most heinous, painful way possible.

  That was not going to be him.

  And it looked like his once-upon-a-time money savior was back in his life, whether he wanted him to be or not.

  The conversation about his lawyer, Eleanor, left him feeling a bit unsettled. That she worked with Tesimmon bothered him a lot and surprised him that she hadn’t mentioned it to him. Not that they’d ever shared their professional business with each other, but he didn’t like knowing she was working with organized crime. He was sure that Eleanor hadn’t had a choice; when Mr. T made a decision, you were going to help him. The fleeting thought that she would share details of his business with Tesimmon wouldn’t go away. Eleanor was a professional and would never cross that line. At least he hoped. She hadn’t shared with him that she was working with Tesimmon, so he had to assume she hadn’t told Tesimmon about him or his business. But if it wasn’t her, how did Mr. Tesimmon know who he was using for legal advice? He’d have to ask Eleanor the next time he saw her.

  Since that was a headache that he couldn’t do much about at that point, he started to think about what else Mr. T had said. It looked like he might have to sacrifice his daughter. Maybe he could use this to his advantage and finally turn the tables on this man, who felt he owned him. James just needed to know how badly and really why Mr. T wanted his daughter for his son when he could have bought him any woman. It wasn’t going to be easy to find information on the man or his connections; it was a tight-knit group of people who had no problems selling out anyone to stay on the man’s good side.

  He had to own Caspian Winery. Then he’d tear it down.

  A cough caught him off guard. He reached for some more cold medicine he’d finally picked up that morning, sure that it would kick whatever bug he’d caught out of his system.

  He needed to talk to JT, his Vice President of Sales and not because JT knew anything about the potential deal with Caspian Winery since he hadn’t been brought into those conversations, but rather to have him buy their wine for his hotels. He wanted to immediately purchase a large amount of Caspian’s wine and get it on their menus. Maybe he could get into their good graces. Dorothea had refused to meet with him but if he was her biggest client? That might change things in his favor.

  What he needed was to get his two ‘helpers’, as he liked to call them, out there and snoop around—they had done some snooping legitimately but now it might be time for some not so legal searching. The more he knew, the better the strategy he could put in place to make sure the winery was his.

  Pushing himself to his feet, he was surprised that the world seemed to be moving. His hand slapped down on the desk to steady himself. One thing he’d learned early on was never to let anyone see your weakness. And this was definitely a weakness. He was going to do something he’d never done in his thirty-five-year career; he was going home to rest. But first he needed to talk to his daughter.

  Could Tarin be the answer to him finally paying off his lifetime debt the man felt he owed him?

  Chapter 12

  Tijan tugged on the wig. Being a redhead had never been something she aspired to be but she had to admit she liked the auburn colored hair. And it didn’t look too bad on her. As long as she kept her hair down close to her face and kept on the large sunglasses that she thought looked ridiculous but was assured by the lady in the store they were the ‘in’ thing, she shouldn’t be recognizable, especially if that was her twin or someone who looked like her. She’d read many stories and had seen many pictures of people showing a brother or cousin or even a parent that could easily have passed off as twins.

  It could be just someone who looked like her. But she knew it wasn’t. It was her sister. Staying at Caspian hadn’t been an option. She wasn’t ready to talk to someone who hadn’t been a part of her life and looked way out of her league. She tried to find information on her sister. No matter how much she searched on the Internet, she couldn’t find a picture of someone who looked like her. And trying to find someone by their first name got her nowhere. Stopping at Knight’s Computers was a last-minute idea. She’d called Caspian Winery but had been told that ‘no Tarin works here’. Since the old guy had reacted so strongly to her a few days before, she had to assume that her sister spent time there. Other than almost running into her the day before the only other link she had was the computer place.

  Parking in a new spot so she could approach the building from a different angle, she got out of her rental. This time, since she had on her wig, she crossed the street and walked by the computer store, Knight’s Computers. A few people were entering and leaving the store. She lurked by the door waiting to peek inside to see what there was. When the next customer came along, she waited until they’d entered and then casually grabbed the door as though going to enter. She dug in the massive shoulder bag she was carrying to make it look like she was searching for something. The inside was pretty much what she’d expected. It was nicely decorated, welcoming. There was a display area that had some computers there to look at but not for sale. There were some other displays that showed more about the inside workings of the computer with what looked like explanations for all the parts. That was something she’d never seen a computer store do before. There was a counter where a couple of customers were talking to a few clerks and there were a couple more in line, waiting. Beyond that, she couldn’t see anything as the office area and the computer maintenance area was behind walls. She wasn’t sure what she was expecting or hoping to see, except perhaps it would explain who her sister was.

  Sighing, she let the door go and turned. The traffic was fairly heavy as the afternoon rush hour was just getting started. Movement off to her right caught her attention.

  “Hey, what are you doing there?”

  She jerked back; his harsh tone startled her. The old guy who she’d seen the day before and who she was sure had recognized her was glaring at her. He seemed to come out of nowhere. Again.

  “Do you have an appointment?”

  “Uh... no. Not today but I just uhm—wanted to know where the office was. You know for when I do have to come here.” It sounded so lame she wanted to groan.

  “Why? Who are you meeting with? When are you meeting with them? What’s your meeting for?”

  Clearing her throat, Tijan tried to get her scrambled brain cells to come up with something. “Uh—next week.”

  “What do you know about computers?”

  “Very little.”

  “So, you’re here about...”

  She had the uncontrollable urge to scratch her scalp. The wig suddenly felt like it was made of little strands of wire. His intense look caught her attention. She’d missed what he’d said. “What?”

  “Why are you here? Maybe I should call Graham; he might want to talk to you.”

  From her limited research Tijan knew that Graham and Guy owned Knights Computers. “Look I’m meeting them next week. I don’t want to upset them. I’m new here. I don’t like getting lost. I like to know what I’m getting into. I don’t like a lot of surprises. Sorry if I’ve caused any trouble.”

  “Reconnaissance. Good.” With that he turned and a
mbled down the alley. Tijan was tempted to follow him just to see where he went and who he might be. He reminded her of someone who might live on the street, although now that she thought about that, she wasn’t sure what that meant. His khaki clothes weren’t maybe the cleanest but he appeared to be fairly clean. He could have used a shower but he wasn’t as filthy as she’d thought from the day before. He just seemed to appear and disappear, like he was some sort of security. He was definitely ex-military—the stance, the walk, the abruptness—all went with what she knew about that profession.

  She took his disappearing around the corner as her cue to get out of there. She walked briskly to the other end of the block. A gust of wind suddenly whipped up, blowing her long red wig up into her face and spitting sand and dirt at her. It was like a mini whorl-wind but lasted for a few minutes. Hugging the side of the building, she ducked her head, to protect her face. When it finally ended, she felt gritty and dirty. She took off her glasses and with a quick glance around, pulled off the wig and stuffed it in her bag. The lights changed so she made her way across the street, rubbing her head as she went. The fresh brewed coffee scent, from the coffee shop she’d noticed the last time, wafted to her begging her to come and get a good cup of coffee.

  Holding the coffee creation that she was sure was loaded with sugar, she made her way back out and was headed around the corner when there was suddenly a commotion. A car slammed on its brakes and whipped around in the middle of the road. Car honks and other screeching tires soon followed. Tijan pressed her hand to her chest as she stared in horror at the idiot driver. Feeling stressed and having had enough of the city craziness, she rounded the corner and headed back to her vehicle half-way down the block. She’d almost reached it when suddenly there were more tires screeching. Before she knew what was happening, a car slammed to a stop and a guy was blocking her way.