Abducted Heart (Z-Series) (8 page)

“Yes,” he said to him, then proceeded to ogle Casey.

For some reason, the gesture irked the hell out of Lynch, but he refused to show it. He needed this man's cooperation to find out how much money Brent lost in the casino.

“I'm Casey Jackson. My father is Daniel Wheaton. I'd like to talk to you about my husband Brent's gambling habits in here,” Casey said, surprising him. She'd dropped her father's name. Not a dumb thing to do since
anyone
who was anyone would have heard of the local shipping magnate. Even Lynch had heard of the man growing up, and they sure as hell didn't run in the same circles.

The man smiled. “His name again?”

“Brent Jackson.

The man frowned. “Right. Yeah, I know the guy. He's still in arrears to us for close to fifty-thousand dollars. We finally had to ban him from the casino.”

Casey's eyes widened. Lynch could hardly blame her since they'd both seen the number of transactions paid to Harrah's. Brent had to have owed the casino over two-hundred thousand at one time—way too much money for one man to be in debt for.

*

Casey imagined this is what a person in shock felt like. How could her husband have hidden something like this from her?

She followed Lynch out of the casino, feeling as if her world had imploded. She was married to this man. Any debt he'd incurred was hers, as well. How was she going to pay the casino and his company any money he'd stolen from them?

“You okay?” Lynch asked, touching her arm.

Casey pulled away. All the men in her life had done nothing but hurt her in one way or another. She'd never let it happen again. Ever.

Squealing tires had her looking around. A white van barreled toward her, and she found herself paralyzed--unable to move.

Casey closed her eyes, waiting for impact. Strong hands wrapped around her shoulders and yanked her backward. She slammed against a wall, her breath gone. Lynch blanketed her body with his. The sound of his heartbeat echoed around them both.

For what seemed like hours, they remained still as Casey's mind started to work again. Someone had just tried to run her down. She'd be lying dead if Lynch hadn't pulled her to safety. She owed him her life.

At that moment, he looked down at her, and Casey's heart took off again. Why did she have to feel things for this man? As soon as he found Brent, he'd be heading back to Virginia—away from New Orleans—away from her. She had to remember how that had affected her the last time he'd left. It had changed her life completely and she couldn't go through that again.

“You okay?” he asked, a hitch in his voice.

“What just happened? Is someone trying to kill me?”

His shifting eyes gave her his answer.
Yes
. Someone was trying to kill her. But why?

“Come on. Let's get you home. We can talk then.”

Casey allowed Lynch to lead her to the car, her mind going over the past couple of days. Brent was kidnapped. She gets ransom money from Daddy. Then someone breaks into the house. Yet nothing was taken. The intruder comes into her bedroom and...

Casey swallowed hard. That person hadn't come to take the money. They'd come to kill her.

Her attention flew to Lynch. She pulled at his arm to stop them both. “What the psychic said the other night about you knowing I was in danger. She was right, wasn't she? What are you not telling me, Lynch?”

“Can we talk about this later?”

Casey clutched his arm tightly. “No. I'm not moving until you tell me what you know.”

He closed his eyes and shook his head. When he opened them again, he cleared his throat. Whatever he was about to tell her was going to hurt deeply. She could see it. But she needed to know the truth.

“Just tell me.”

“All right. I found some insurance policies in your name in Brent's desk at work.”

“So? I knew about mine. We both had one.”

“Do you have the policy on Brent?”

“No. He has them both, but I know we had them because I was there when we set them up.”

“Well, I couldn't find one on Brent and you have two. With a double indemnity clause that would make your husband rich if something bad happened to you.”

“How rich?” she asked, a numbness washing over her body.

“A million dollars rich.”

Casey's hands flew to cover her mouth. This wasn't happening. It was a dream, and she'd wake up soon. Because if it wasn't, Brent was evil, and she'd make sure he paid for what they'd planned to do to her for money.

Tears clouded her eyes and she felt weak in the knees. Before she went down, Lynch scooped her up into his arms and started toward the car. Casey wrapped her arms around his neck and held him tight. She needed to feel safe, and he was the only person who could do that. He'd always been the
one
.

Who'd she called when all this mess started?
Lynch
. He was her rock. But he wouldn't be here forever, and she had to remember that.

In the car, Casey twisted her hands in her lap and shook her head. “I don't understand, Lynch. Why would he do this to me?”

“Simple. He was desperate for money. It's tax season, Casey. Brent's company was going to find out about this missing money, and he needed to find a way to get it.”

“But resorting to murder? What kind of man would do that?”

“You are asking the wrong man about your husband, Casey. I never liked him. You need to ask someone who knew him. His father, perhaps.”

“If he did this, then his father doesn't know him either. You know Alex. Do you think this is something he'd condone?”

“We need to ask Alex if he lent money to Brent. Because if he didn't, then he was keeping this gambling problem to himself. Nobody knew what was going on with him.”

“I don't think I ever saw the real Brent Jackson, just what he wanted me to see, and that wasn’t all that appealing.”

“I got a taste of the real man. What was Brent's mother like? Do you know?”

She shrugged. “I only met her once. That was at our wedding. She was standoffish toward me, and Brent seemed very odd around her.”

He frowned. “Odd how?”

“I don't know. Nervous she might say the wrong thing, maybe.”

“Is this a subject we could bring up to Alex? Has he ever spoken to you about his ex-wife?”

“No, but at the wedding he seemed uncomfortable around the woman as well.”

“I'm going to call him now. We need to talk to him. I think it’s best we do it at your house.”

Casey agreed. She needed to find out what could make a man who had promised to love and honor her want to kill her instead.

CHAPTER TEN

Lynch paced the living room floor, anxious to talk to Alex. He'd called with the pretense of them all getting together for a family meal, his mother included. He dreaded telling his step-father what he thought. Alex would be devastated to learn what his only son had planned.

What father wouldn't be? To find out your own flesh and blood had orchestrated his own kidnapping so that he could murder his wife and make it look like a home invasion? What kind of man would do such a thing?

“Are you planning to wear a path in the carpet?” Zack said from the office doorway.

Lynch stopped in his tracks. His friend was right. He wasn't accomplishing anything with his incisive back-and-forth motion. But he was anxious—almost dreading what was to come.

“This whole thing with Brent and Casey. I don't know.”

“I do understand, Lynch. But this is really all about Casey, isn't it?”

He shook his head. “What the hell you talking about, Zack?”

“You're in love with her.”

“No. I did love her a long time ago. But that was when I was young and stupid. I'm not that kid anymore.”

Zack laughed. “All these years I thought you were immune to falling in love, and now I know why. You can't love if your heart is already taken. Casey's had it all this time, and you've never tried to get it back.”

Lynch snorted. “You're crazy.”

His friend stared hard at him then shrugged. “I can't make you see the obvious, Lynch, if you don't want to see it.”

“There's nothing to see. Can we drop this now?”

Zack grinned. “Sure. So, you want to hear about the date I have tonight while you have your family powwow?”

“What? You aren't staying?”

“Nope. I'm having dinner with Casey's hot friend, Chelsea. Don't wait up, either. I may be out late.” Zack winked at him. “I'm seriously hoping to get lucky tonight.”

“Do you think it's wise to start something with a woman who lives hundreds of miles away?”

“Why the hell should you care? How many second dates have you had over the past ten years?”

Lynch threw up his hands. “Do what you want, Zack. I was just thinking about Casey. Chelsea is her best friend. They've been close for as long as I've known her.”

“So you do care about Casey's feelings.”

Lynch was getting nowhere in this conversation. Best to put an end to it. Zack was going to do what Zack was going to do. Lynch wasn't going to change that.

“Have a good time. Just don't forget to use protection.”

“Safety first.”

The doorbell rang, and Lynch frowned.

“I'm leaving through the back door,” Zack said over his shoulder as he headed for the kitchen. “Have a nice dinner. I know I will.”

Lynch took a breath. Time to put on a friendly face until after the meal. Then he'd get down to business and find out what Brent's father knew or didn't know about what his son had been up to.

He started for the door, but was sidetracked by Casey who was coming down the stairs. The woman made his step falter. Hell, he almost tripped. She looked stunning—no—she looked sexy as hell in a form fitting dress that matched the color of her intoxicating blue eyes. His groin twitched as he took her all in. This was going to be a difficult night. Harder than he ever dreamed.

The repeated ringing of the doorbell brought him out of the spell.

Lynch sucked in another breath and stalked to the door, angry with himself for letting her get to him. This was the woman who broke his heart in two. She wasn't getting anywhere near it—or any other part of his anatomy. He planned to keep his heart and dick under wraps.

He opened the door and found Alex and his mother waiting. Both gave him a warm smile. “Come on in.”

“Why haven't I seen you except for five minutes since you've been home? What has been keeping you so busy?” his mother asked once they were inside and the door was closed.

She glanced at Casey, and her smile wavered. She of all people knew how much the woman had hurt him.

“So, where's Brent?” Alex asked.

“Let's have dinner first then we'll talk about everything.”

“Brent won't be joining us?” his mother asked, looking from him to Casey.

“No. No, he won't.” Casey clearly was trying to keep a smile on her face for the sake of her in-laws, but Lynch could tell it was a struggle.

“What are you two not telling us?” his stepfather asked, the deep lines in his forehead suggesting he knew something was wrong.

“Let's at least have a glass of wine.”

“We don't want any wine. We want to know what's going on.”

Lynch could tell by his mother's fiery eyes that there was no way she'd not get an answer. He'd witnessed that over the years. Lynch was going to have to tell them everything. “All right, but maybe we should go into the living room and sit down.”

Without another word, the two walked to the adjoining room and took a seat next to each other, then clasped each other's hands and held tight.

“What's going on, Lynch? Are you two having an affair?” Alex asked, his gaze piercing Casey's.

“No!” Casey said.

Wow
. She almost sounded disgusted by the idea. She didn't act that way when he'd had his hands all over her that morning.

“Then what the hell is going on?” Alex was angry, and Lynch knew his reaction was just.

“Did Brent ask you for money in the past… say… six months?”

Alex's eyes narrowed, and he cleared his throat. “Why?”

Something was in the man's eyes, something he'd been hiding even from Lynch's mother. “Did he, Alex?”

Alex rubbed at his forehead, then he nodded. “Yes. He asked for more than I could give him. Told me that Casey liked nice things and he couldn't keep up with her.”

Casey muffled a sob beside Lynch, and he fisted his hands at his side. The man lied to everyone. Had he ever told the truth? About anything?

“I gave him what I could.” Alex looked guilty for some reason. “It was a lie, wasn't it? What has my son been doing?”

“Brent racked up quite a debt at Harrah's and, from what I could gather, stole money from his company to pay off some of the debt.”

“Oh my God.” His mother looked horrified and she didn't even know the worst of it yet.

*

“What else?” Casey's father-in-law asked, watching her and Lynch closely. “I can tell by your faces that there is something worse coming.”

Lynch looked at Casey. She could tell he really didn't want to tell Alex and his mother what he thought, yet he needed to get it all out.

“I have no proof of what I'm about to tell you, but from what I can piece together, and what has happened in the last few days, Brent staged his own kidnapping.”

“What? Brent’s been abducted? Why the hell didn't you call me?” Alex asked Casey.

“Casey called me,” Lynch said, holding up his hands. “She was told not to tell anyone or Brent would be killed. But let me backtrack here. I don't believe Brent was kidnapped. I think he staged the whole thing to somehow break in to this house, then orchestrate a home invasion gone bad to kill Casey for the one-million-dollar life insurance money he has on her.”

“This is crazy.” Alex's face distorted with anger. “Like you said, you have no proof about any of this. What if you're wrong? What if Brent was actually kidnapped? What then?”

“Someone with a key broke into this house. Nothing was touched except where Casey was supposed to be sleeping. If she hadn't called me when she heard the intruder, I believe she'd be dead now.”