The Bride's Secrets. Debra Webb

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СКАЧАТЬ chest tightening with the emotions charging through her. “Do you have a suspect?”

      Her closest confidants shared another look.

      She wasn’t going to like their conclusion. Victoria wasn’t happy with the concept in general, but obviously the answer was going to be even less palatable.

       The Bride’s Secrets

      “J.T. Baxley,” Ian stated.

      J.T.? “I was at his christening.” Victoria had just graduated from university at the time. One of her dearest friends had opted for marriage over college, and J.T. had been her first and only child.

      Simon nodded his understanding. “We fully understand that you’ve known J.T. and his family for years. But he was one of the few who had access to last night’s schedule.”

      That was true. J.T. had been a part of her security detail last night. And he’d paid the price.

      Victoria shook her head. “This simply isn’t possible.” She had sought out J.T. when his mother had relayed that he had left the insurance industry. Victoria had hoped for years that she would be able to lure him to the Colby Agency. Only a few months ago that opportunity had arisen. He’d signed on as a member of her Reconnaissance group.

      “J.T. ignored the all-hands call this morning.”

      Simon’s announcement sent a new kind of fear throttling through Victoria. “Has anyone checked on him?” The man had been shot for God’s sake. Though the shot appeared to have been clean, in and out of the biceps with no apparent serious damage, there was always the chance something had been missed. With any sort of penetrating wound, internal bleeding was always a concern. She’d thought nothing of his absence, considering what he’d gone through last night.

      “I went to his home myself,” Ian assured her. “He wasn’t there, but the door was unlocked. There was no indication he’d slept in his bed. Nothing appeared to be missing. His cell phone was on the kitchen counter, and his car was in the garage.”

      “Then we should be concerned for his safety,” Victoria argued, “not suspicious of his participation in this deception.” The suggestion was preposterous. J.T. was as trustworthy and reliable as the passing of time.

      “J.T. may not have been a willing participant,” Simon qualified. “We’ve learned some unsettling details regarding his former fiancée.”

      A frown worried Victoria’s brow. J.T. had been devastated when his bride-to-be hadn’t shown. He’d literally been left at the altar. That had been a mere two weeks ago. Rather than having him take on another agency assignment Victoria had allowed him to focus on trying to find out what had happened to the woman, who seemed to have simply vanished. The agony of watching his desperation play out tortured her even now as she considered his plight.

      “Explain,” Victoria prompted her closest confidants.

      “We don’t have in-depth details as of yet,” Ian offered. “But we have uncovered a number of aliases she has operated under during the past six or seven years. From all appearances, Eve Mattson is a serious scam artist. She may have been playing J.T. as a part of setting the stage for Jamie’s abduction.”

      Victoria looked from Ian to Simon. “Find J.T. Whoever this Eve Mattson is or was, we owe it to J.T. to give him the benefit of the doubt. If he’s in trouble, we’ll back him up.”

      Victoria would not let J.T. down. If he had somehow been drawn into this plan against Victoria’s granddaughter, it would have been unknowingly and certainly unwilling.

      “Also, find out who Eve Mattson is,” Victoria went on. “I promised J.T. I wouldn’t interfere with his search for his missing bride-to-be, but this news changes everything. If Eve Mattson is involved in the plan to harm my granddaughter, I want her found and the truth extracted.” Fury detonated inside Victoria. “Whoever is behind this is going to rue the day they picked the Colby Agency as a target.”

      If it was the last thing Victoria did, all involved would pay the fiddler a hefty price for this dance.

       Chapter Two

      J.T. groaned. He heard the sound…wanted to open his eyes, to wake up, but his throbbing brain just wouldn’t make the necessary transition.

       Wake up!

      He needed to wake up. Something was very wrong.

      His eyelids cracked open, but bright light slammed them shut once more.

       Wake up, damn it!

      With tremendous effort his eyelids split open again.

      Where was he?

      His booted feet rested on a stone or concrete floor. Nylon twine tethered his ankles to what looked like chair legs.

       Raise your head.

      Slowly, his head moved. Pain shattered his skull.

      He groaned.

       Damn.

      What the hell had happened to him?

      His eyes opened a little wider. Stark gray walls. He tried to reach up and touch his head. The throbbing above his right ear roared. His fingers fisted in reaction to the pain. He twisted his wrists, couldn’t move his hands.

      He blinked, focused his gaze on his hands…his arms.

      His wrists were secured to the chair’s arms with that same orange nylon twine.

      Okay. Think! He was manacled to a chair. In an empty room. He forced his head to move ever so slightly, ever so slowly from side to side. Yep. No furnishings.

      Where was the light coming from?

      He moved his head back, peered through squinted eyes at the ceiling. A single bare bulb glared at him from a high ceiling.

      Basement?

      Garage?

      How had he gotten here?

      J.T. closed his eyes and summoned the last details he recalled.

      He’d been working Victoria’s security detail. There had been a shootout with four unidentified gunmen. One had escaped, two were killed. Three counting Victoria’s driver.

      J.T. had been shot.

      Instinctively he tried to lift his right hand to inspect his left arm. Couldn’t. Clean shot through the left biceps.

      As if the memory had prompted the pain, an ache speared through his biceps.

      After J.T. was treated at the E.R., Ian had driven him home. He’d waved as Ian drove away, walked onto his porch, and unlocked the door. J.T. remembered going inside and then…

      Pain detonated in his skull once more.

      Someone had attacked him.

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