Jarrett (8 page)

As soon as they sat down, Mable sat beside them.

“Oh my goodness, your bother has stirred up the town.” She smiled. “Got those Harlan people being packed up and shoved in their truck as we speak. He sure had a burr up his ass about them. Never knew a thing about it.”

As Mable told them what was going on, Jarrett reached under the table and took Addie’s hand. He felt wonderful when she curled her fingers into his.

~~~

Shawn stood up as soon as he saw them. He didn’t know the girl personally, of course, but he did know about her. He shook Luke’s and Jarrett’s hands as soon as they offered. The woman just stared at him.

“You know something.” He nodded at her, having been warned by Slone and Hunter of some of the things she could do. “He’s…Christ. How much?”

Shawn laughed nervously. “I was supposed to tell you right off. Slone said you’d know as soon as you saw me. But in answer to your question, not all, but a big part of it. About four billion is missing.”

“Does Duncan know that you know?” Shawn told her no. The only people that knew were them, his staff, and Luke. “Good. I put all the accounts on lockdown when Slone told me that Luke needed to be here too.”

“What’s going on?” Shawn watched her explain to Jarrett what she’d just found out. She was taking it very well, and Shawn would bet anything that she’d known before now. “Your lawyer is stealing from you. Four billion dollars.”

“Yes. But he’s not aware that we know.” She turned to him, and Shawn could see why Slone liked this girl. She wasn’t just a wealthy woman who’d been handed it on a golden platter, but one who knew her business. “I need a lawyer. Now.”

“I can’t take on another client with the size of your holdings, but Luke said he’d help you until you could find one. And we’ll both help you.” When Addie turned to Luke, he nodded but looked at Jarrett. Shawn had forgotten about the mate thing.

“Okay, I know that I’m just a computer guy, but could you explain to me what’s going on?” Jarrett sounded a little pissed off, and Shawn didn’t blame him for that. He and Luke had talked a great deal since Slone had asked him to look into Addie. And in turn they’d found out that the lawyer was skimming…no, he was raking the books.

“Duncan has robbed me.” Jarrett said he’d gotten that part. “He’s using my money to fund his own little private firm. One that deals in prostitution as well as money laundering for a very big and powerful syndicate.”

“And you knew this?” She nodded, then shook her head. “Which, honey? I’m trying my best to keep up here.”

“He said some things to me a few weeks ago. About my dad’s house and cars. And I checked. That’s when I took control of my father’s business, as well as a few other ones. Like the computer companies you’re dealing with. Insurance companies were paying, but the money was never showing up in the accounts. Then there were the patents on my dad’s inventions.”

Shawn interrupted. “Those have been taken care of. I did it when Luke and I talked.” Shawn turned to Jarrett to explain. “He’s let the patents on a few major inventions lapse. When that happens, the company that she owns will no longer get a royalty from them when they’re used.”

“What sort of patents?” Shawn handed him his lap top. Blazed over the front of it was Parker Industries. “Your family is
that
Parker?”

Shawn found himself standing in front of Jarrett. He saw his wolf there, and while he was scared out of his mind of what the wolf would do to him, he was more concerned for the woman. When she put her hand on his shoulder, Shawn felt it all the way to his feet.

“You knew I had money.” Jarrett nodded when Addie came out from behind Shawn. “You knew that I was born to it and had not made it on my own.”

“Yes. To both those statements. And when I heard the name Parker, it never registered as to you maybe being that part of the family. But I never in my life dreamed you were Addison Parker’s daughter.” He pulled her into his arms, and even Shawn could see that she was stiff as a board. “You’ll have to lend me some money, you know. I’m not nearly rich enough to keep up with you.”

“My dad invented all kinds of things to make people’s lives easier. I think he never saw the money as any more than getting him to the next step in his project easier.” When Addie looked at him and spoke to him, Shawn had a feeling that Duncan Shepard was going to be in big trouble. Bigger than he was with his theft.

Chapter 8

Duncan left his hotel room an hour before he was supposed to be at the conference room at the hotel. He thought he’d get a bite to eat and have a little bit of coffee before meeting with his boss. He might even splurge on a piece of pie.

Duncan had everything all lined up the way he was going to present it to Addie about the reasons why her accounts were a little short. Her calling him about the computer companies had him a little nervous, but he had that under control too. He would be happy when she made it to her dad’s house and finished herself off so he could move on with things on his end. He even had the changes in her will all ready for her to sign off on. In six months to less than a year, Duncan was going to be a very rich…well, richer than he was now.

The little town they were in was quaint. He might even think about living there for a time, just to see if he could take country life for a while. Duncan waved at the man on the tractor moving along the streets plowing the snow, and he waved back. This was the friendliest town he’d ever set foot in. Going into the diner, he sat in one of the booths and picked up the menu. Even it was simple.

Breakfast. Cold or hot. That was the choice. Then you could have a glass of juice, a cup of tea or coffee, or milk. Lunch was pretty much the same, but had a few more items to pick from. Hamburger with chips. Ham sandwich with chips, or you could have a cup of soup and half of either one of the sandwiches. No fries, not even a baked potato. But there was the coffee tea combo again, plus iced tea. He was wondering why you couldn’t have iced tea for breakfast when the waitress showed up.

“We have soup today. Macaroni and cheese soup with crackers if you want. And Mable has some bacon left over from breakfast if you want a BLT.” He ordered the soup and BLT combo and a glass of iced tea. Then he asked her why it wasn’t served for breakfast. “‘Cause it’s not brewed yet.”

When she walked away, he had to think what that meant. Brew tea? He just used the instant stuff when he was home, and didn’t bother with anything but water usually when he went out. He supposed he knew that people brewed tea, but in a restaurant this busy? Not likely.

He was brought a basket of crackers and a crock of butter. Duncan knew as soon as he opened the little lid it was fresh butter too. Nothing smelled like fresh made butter, he knew. Spreading it on one of the crackers, he moaned when he bit into it. Christ, if the soup was this good, he was fucking going to buy stock in the place.

As he waited for his lunch, he went over the things he needed for Addie to do. First and foremost, he needed her to sign the new will. Then there were the other things she needed to give him the power of attorney over. He frowned when he thought of the few accounts he’d tried to access this morning before he’d gotten dressed, but in small towns like this, Internet service wasn’t that good.

His lunch came and he picked up his sandwich. If this was a half sandwich, he’d almost hate to see the whole one. There was enough bacon on it to be a pound, and he could even smell how fresh the tomatoes were. Not to mention, the bread looked homemade. And the soup…? Nearly made him cry, it was that good.

If someone had asked him to try macaroni and cheese soup, he would have made fun of them. But here he was eating it like it was manna. Christ, it was like having paradise in his mouth with every bite. Between the sandwich and the soup, he couldn’t have told you which he liked better. Duncan was tempted, just barely controlling the urge, to pick up the cup and lick the rest of it from the bottom. He nearly snatched it back from the waitress when she came and cleared his plates a few minutes later.

“Mable said to tell you she’s sorry that you were shorted some of the bacon on your sandwich. She didn’t know that her son had snatched a few pieces before going to work. She said she’d only charge you half for it.” He nodded, stunned that she thought he’d been slighted. “Want some more tea?”

Duncan told her yes, and she brought him a fresh glass. He was sipping it when his phone alarm alerted him that he had to leave. He paid his ridiculously cheap bill with the company card and left a hefty tip in cash.

He was feeling pretty good when he entered the conference room, but sobered up when he saw all the people in the room.

“I wasn’t aware that we’d have company.” He was introduced to Shawn, who he’d been talking to for the past several days, Luke Emerson, as well as Jarrett. As Duncan was being seated, something occurred to him, or at least he pretended that it did. “Emerson? You’re not related to Slone Emerson, are you? She and I have never met, but I’ve heard great things about her.”

“As she has you.” There was a funny inflection in Luke’s voice, and Duncan wasn’t sure what it was about. When Luke spoke again, Duncan decided to hold the will being signed until he and Addie were alone. He nodded to her when she didn’t seem inclined to take his hand.

“It’s been a while, my dear. How are you feeling? Better than the last time I saw you, I’m thinking.” She told him that things were looking up. He had no idea what the hell that was supposed to mean, so said nothing to her but smiled. “I’d like for us to meet privately after all this is settled. I’m not sure what this meeting is about, but it looks like you have someone here in your corner.”

Duncan was referring to Shawn, but Jarrett thanked him. It took him several minutes of Shawn introducing his team that were surrounding the table to realize that the young man, Jarrett, was smitten with his Addie. That just wouldn’t do, and he thought of all the things he’d have to do to keep them apart. It seemed to him he’d arrived just in time.

“Miss Parker and I have been going over a few things, and there are some accounting issues that we’d like to talk to you about.” Duncan took the sheet of paper from Luke when he handed it to him. Shawn continued before he could explain things. “Then, there is the insurance money from the five companies that were dealing with what is now called Emerson Computers.”

“That’s a subsidiary of Anderson Technologies, isn’t it?” Duncan could feel the sweat beading on his forehead. One of the staff that had come with Shawn gave him a glass of ice water. He sat it down when he realized his hand was shaking. “And isn’t Anderson Technologies owned by the Emerson Holdings?”

“It is. Very good, you’ve done your homework.” Shawn made it sound as if he were talking to a child. “You’ll also know that Mrs. Slone Emerson isn’t happy with the way her company has been treated by the firm of…let me look.”

Duncan didn’t need for him to tell him the company names that were holding back shipping from not just Emerson Computers, but about five hundred other companies. It was not that they were simply not shipping things, but the companies had no money to buy the supplies to fill the orders. The insurance that had been paid to them had never made it, and two of the companies in question were not even going to make it to the end of the month.

“I’ll have someone look into that.” He used that line so much in dealing with businesses that Addie owned that he said it without thinking. But Shawn was shaking his head, and Luke looked at him like he was a bug on a specimen glass. “I know that a few of these companies are having trouble, but I wasn’t aware that…how bad it is.”

“You know everything that’s going on, Duncan. You’re forever telling me that, remember?” He nodded to Addie and smiled. “But this time your lies won’t work. I’ve already sent in some men to look into your home computer, as well as a few of the IP addresses that you’ve emailed me from. You were using other means to communicate with the guy you’re in bed with, I think.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He fumbled with a few of the files he had in front of him and stood up when Luke snatched two from his pile and then handed them over to Jarrett. “Give that back to me right now.”

“It’s a will.” Jarrett handed it to Addie as he looked at the rest of the papers. “Also, there’s a power of attorney for you to sign over a few accounts to him to run, as well as a few…are these your own personal credit card statements that you expect her to approve payment on?”

“I have expenses that she’s supposed to pay.” Duncan took a deep breath and tried for calmness. “Addie, honey. I’m not sure what’s going on here, but you and I have been working together for a long time. Why don’t we adjourn this meeting and have our talk like I said we needed to do?”

“You’re very generous with my money, Duncan.” She tossed the will to him and stood up. “This is giving you everything when I die. I wasn’t even aware that I liked you that much. I especially don’t now. And so you know, the accounts that you were playing with are now closed to you. And your own accounts, all of them, have been raided and the money returned to my own.”

He felt not just fear now, but the knowledge that he was fucked. Duncan tried to think how to salvage this. Before he could open his mouth, Jarrett spoke, his voice a quiet calm as Addison Parker’s had been even when he was royally pissed off.

“You’ve set yourself up very well, haven’t you?” Duncan wanted to deny it, but he wasn’t sure what to say right now. His mind was a mess. “Billions of dollars in an offshore account. A boat in the Caribbean. Two homes in France. You have…Christ, it says here that you have a personal account with just over eight million in it. Are you paid that well?”

“I know how to make the right investments.” Addie snorted and he looked at her. “What is the meaning of this? Why this witch hunt? I’ve been very good to you over the years. I’ve made you money, more than you can spend in ten lifetimes.”

“Apparently, I’ve been very good to you as well.” She tossed some papers in front of him, and he noticed there was a picture of him under one of them. Moving it to have a better look, he paled. It was a picture of him and Antonio Flicker.

“You have someone spying on me?” He was really taken aback by the photo. No one knew of their relationship, and they both liked it that way. His daughter was happy, and Duncan was thrilled to have the man as an ally at times. But right now, this might get him into deep shit. “What is really going on, Addie? Is it the depression again? Are you having thoughts again about killing yourself? I knew that we had you released too soon.”

“We who?” He tried to think who he could use, but knew that he had messed up so it was better to shut up. “Who were you talking to about keeping me locked up? And for the record, I was in that hospital too long. Even the man treating me said as much. It took me having to go over the doctor’s head that you had treating me to get me out. If I remember correctly, you were not happy about that.”

Duncan turned to Shawn. “She was on suicide watch, did you know that? Tried to kill herself when her father passed, rest his soul. Addie was getting the best treatment money could buy, but she decided that she needed a road trip. A road trip of all things. But like her father did, I indulged her as best I could.”

“She’s still living, so I’m thinking she knew just what she needed.” When Shawn wasn’t helping him, Duncan turned to Jarrett. He could see that the man liked Addie. Maybe it was just her money, but perhaps he could be persuaded to think like Duncan did. Get her locked up before…well, before she found out everything.

“Jarrett, I can see that you really like Addie, and I’m sure you want the best for her. I’m not sure who has been feeding her this information, but you can see, can’t you, how susceptible she is?” He pulled the will out and showed it to him. “Look at this. She told me only days ago to set this up for her.”

“Really?” Jarrett took it from him. When he nodded and smiled at him, Duncan leaned back in his chair. “Well, that’s really strange. Because just today she and I decided to get married.”

“Married?” Duncan looked at Addie, then back at Jarrett. “She’s fucking sick in the head. Why the hell would you want to marry something like that? Did you know that she left her father with strangers to tend to him while she was out partying it up? Good Christ man, she should never have been left in charge of his money. I should have been.”

“You’re fired.” The words startled him enough that he laughed. Then he looked hard at Addie when she spoke again. “As of right now, you are no longer my attorney. You have no access to any of the company accounts or of my personal accounts. You have been locked out of all the buildings that I own, and all the credit cards, even the ones that you think I have no idea about, are void. The bill at the hotel where you are currently staying has been revoked. Cell phone, cars, and accounts at all firms that you deal with personally have been notified as to your termination. I’ve seized your home, your boats, and all the personal accounts you have until such time as all the money that you have taken from my holdings has been repaid.”

“You can’t do this to me.” She stood up when he did, and he felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up when the two Emerson men with her stood as well. “I’ll ruin you. You just wait and see. I’ll ruin you and sit back and laugh when you’re broke.”

“Go ahead, Duncan. But you should also know that I know more about you than you ever will about me.” She turned to the door, and he had it in his head to go after her, but she turned and stared at him. “Oh. I almost forgot. Thank you for the information on Antonio Flicker. I’m sure that the FBI will be contacting you about your son-in-law very soon.”

The rest of the people were packing up. Duncan had no idea what to do now. He didn’t have anything here. No stash, not even a little cash to spend to get home. He’d set himself up a nice severance pay, but he doubted that the company would be honoring that. When he was alone, he pulled out his cell phone and called his secretary. It took him several tries before he realized that his service had already been cut off. Shawn standing before him had him looking up.