Love After All (31 page)

She grabbed the phone and called Jackson's office line. His assistant took a message. Next, Jessica called his cell phone and again left a message. She looked at her watch, then at the screen. There was no contest. She grabbed her purse and informed her assistant that she was on her way to her appointment and could be reached on her cell. She exited the building just in time to see Eric carrying his ever-present briefcase and following Shauna into the restaurant across the street.

A black limo pulled up and the door opened. She got inside. “Was that who I think it was?” Jefferson asked.

“Yep, an interesting couple, I think.”

“We might have to consider doing an intervention.”

“For which one?” she asked. He chuckled as she leaned over and kissed his cheek. “Nice to see you again.”

They looked over at the hotel bar again. Eric was already inside. Jefferson shook his head. “It can't be this easy. It's hardly worth the trouble.”

“That's what happens when you retire from the game.”

Jefferson smiled. “Tell me about your brother and my sister.”

Jessica sat back against the soft leather and recapped the past few days from her perspective.

 

His business finished with Marcus for the moment, Eric's day was clear and he was in a great mood. Things were going perfectly. The only thing that concerned him was what Samantha had said earlier. He was sure she knew more about what was going on than she seemed to want to admit.

But now even that didn't bother him. He had a ten-million-dollar certified check and his laptop computer had the majority share for complete ownership of Daley Communications. He was on cloud nine.

He chuckled happily. Seeing Samantha last night and then again this morning had got him thinking. Maybe he was wrong in leaving her to take the fall before. Maybe she was a greater asset than he expected. He smiled leisurely, letting his thoughts wrap around her body. She looked fantastic last night, and then this morning she was breathtaking.

But she was a wild card. He wasn't sure what she was up to, but she was definitely up to something. Maybe it was Jackson that had her all screwed up. His influence on her was obviously something Eric needed to watch. He was just about to call her when he spotted Shauna Cooperman cross the street. An idea occurred to him. His smile broadened.

He already had Daley in his pocket, so conning Cooperman should be a breeze. And the way to get to him was through his devoted daughter. Eric watched her hurry out of the building and then walk across the street to the restaurant. He followed.

Once inside, he looked around quickly. Not seeing her, he assumed that she'd gone into the restroom and decided to have a seat at the bar since it had the perfect vantage point leading to the front door of the main lobby. He walked over and grabbed a seat. The place nearly empty, the bartender looked up from his racing form and came over.

“What will it be?” he asked, wiping the already clean bar counter with a pristine white cloth.

“Yeah, let me have a—” Eric said, then glanced at the draft choices and stopped short.

The bartender stared at him. “What?” he asked, placing a small square napkin in front of him and looked around, trying to see what he saw.

“Hold on,” Eric said, smiling. “I'll take whatever she's drinking and give the beautiful lady another one on me with my compliments.”

The bartender glanced down the bar, and saw the woman who'd just walked in. She ordered and downed a straight tequila shot in two seconds, then asked for another. “Original,” he muttered and dutifully poured two shots. He gave one to Eric and placed another in front of Shauna. She looked up, her eyes clear and focused. The bartender relayed the message. Eric nodded and smiled as she turned her head.

He got up and walked over and set his briefcase on the floor in front of the bar stool.

“Did I ask for company?” she said tightly.

“No, but you looked like you could use a friend.”

“Go away before I have to call my security.”

“That's not nice, Shauna.”

She turned and stared at his face, finally recognizing him. “I know you, don't I.”

“We met last night at Marcus Daley's dinner party.”

She sucked her teeth loudly. “Please, don't remind me.”

“What's wrong?” he asked sympathetically.

“You were there, you saw it.”

“Saw what?”

She sucked her teeth again, obviously annoyed by his lack of coherence. “Her, them, together.”

“Oh, yeah, I saw that,” he lied easily, having no idea what she was talking about.

“She just threw herself at him and he just let her.”

“Disgusting, wasn't it?” he agreed.

“Tell me about it. So what are you doing here?” she asked, getting more comfortable by leaning her elbow on the bar counter.

“No, you tell me more, what happened?”

“I don't even want to think about it,” she said as Eric ordered another round.

“No. I can help, tell me what happened.”

The drinks came and came and came. Surprisingly Shauna remained as if she'd been drinking water. Eric, on the other hand, was seeing double and talking with a definite slur. He had no idea what he'd been saying for the past thirty minutes, but whatever it was got Shauna's attention.

“What do you mean you could still love her?” she shrieked.

Eric's head pounded like a jackhammer as his head swam and spun in circles. What the hell did he just say?

“You,” he corrected quickly. “You, I could love you.”

Shauna smiled coyly, accepting his tangled words as a tequila-induced confusion. “But I told you, I still love him and I know if that hoochie-momma would get her fat butt out of the way we could be good together. Wait,” she said, “that's it. I've been talking to the wrong people,” she ordered another round to celebrate.

“What?” Eric asked as his head floated completely off his shoulders, but he finally understood that Shauna wanted Jackson, and Jessie was in her way. At least he thought that's what she meant. He still wasn't perfectly clear.

“So why don't I go after Jessie and give you a clear shot at Jackson?” he slurred.

“Are you nuts?”

“Huh?”

“Never mind,” she said, sucking her teeth. “I know what to do now.” The drinks arrived.

Shauna picked hers up, took a deep breath and downed it in one gulp. Then she turned and looked at Eric, expecting him to follow her lead. He wasn't there. She looked around the bar, then down. He was on the floor of the bar staring at her shoes.

“What are you doing down there?” she asked.

That was the last thing he remembered, or at least he thought he did. His head fogged completely as someone helped him up.

M
eeting after meeting consumed most of Jackson's morning, keeping him thankfully busy because stopping to think only frustrated him. Samantha meeting Eric on the beach and Shauna's revelations scattered around in his head all day.

At two o'clock his father called him into his office.

“You wanted to see me?” Jackson asked.

“Yes, have you seen the overnight projected ratings?” Marcus, standing, dropped a few pages on his desk. “You need to get back on air. And what's going on with that other situation, did you get it taken care of?”

Jackson didn't expect to have his father bombard him with questions as soon as he entered his office. “No, not yet,” he said.

“Look, we've got to get this finished.”

“I know.”

“You don't look too upset,” Marcus said, seeing Jackson's distracted yet calm demeanor.

“I've just got other things on my mind.”

“What's more important than getting this situation cleaned up? You obviously have no idea how damaging it can be. Your mother's dead but this scandal can still damage us.”

“Tell me about the Cooperman deal.”

“What?” Marcus asked.

“The deal with Cooperman, from last night,” Jackson specified.

“Well, it's about time you finally came around. Good, we can reassess the particulars. Cooperman will be thrilled, and Shauna, no doubt, will be ecstatic.”

“I'm just curious about the details. I assume George initiated the deal.”

“No, actually Eric suggested it.”

“I see. How exactly did you meet Eric?”

“I know what you're thinking. I might have been set up for some kind of scam. But you're wrong. An old colleague introduced us, someone I trust, and believe me, he's definitely on the up-and-up. He checked into Eric's background and did a thorough search. He came up clean.”

“Who's the old friend?” Jackson asked.

“Percy Lincoln.”

Jackson's mouth went dry. “Percival Lincoln?”

“Yeah.”

“How do you know him?”

“He was a friend of your mother's from back East. She introduced us years ago.”

As if a lightbulb had just turned on, Jackson instantly knew Lincoln's motivation. He'd been blackmailing his mother. That's how he had copies of the checks. And as a cop he'd easily pulled her files and kept them. That's why none of this ever came out. There was never anything on record because he had the files.

“They're conning you, Dad,” Jackson said. Marcus laughed. Jackson looked confused. “Did you hear me?”

“Yeah, I heard you.”

“And?”

Marcus chuckled again, shaking his head. “Remarkable, Eric told me that you'd say that.”

“He what?”

“Jackson, I tried to offer you an olive branch and you throw it in my face. I wanted you in on this deal with me. I told Eric as much. But he told me that it would never happen and it appears that he was right.”

“Dad, listen to me, Eric Hamilton is a con man. He's conning you, and this deal you think you're doing, it's all a scam…”

“Jackson, please, this is just pathetic. Be a man. Let it go. I won. I just gave Eric Hamilton ten million dollars in investment money this morning. At a fifty percent return, I'm looking at a five-million-dollar investment at one-tenth the price. I intend to approach the board with a firm deal in hand.”

“It's not going to happen.”

Marcus chuckled again. “Fine, let's play your game. Why should I believe you?”

“Because you're my father and I'm trying to protect you and it's the truth. You have a friend on the police force. Have him look up Eric Hamilton and Percival Lincoln.”

Marcus frowned. “My father thought so little of me and my business skills that he handed over the family company to your mother. Yeah, it's true, everything in that file is true. She had a police record, she conned people for a living. Then her faith was just as rewarding as she continued the insult by leaving the company to you. But all that's changed. It's my turn. This cable venture is all mine and my abilities will be recognized. Now, if you don't mind I need to get back to work. I have a lot to do. In twenty-four hours I'll have the money for the down payment on Cooperman's cable company and then all bets are off. I won't need the shares to buy in.”

“What shares?”

“My shares and your mother's shares.”

“That's the majority. Even if Jess and I put ours together it wouldn't add up. You leveraged them?”

“Of course. Where else was I supposed to get the funds to put this deal in motion? But it doesn't matter now since I'll get the cash from Eric.”

“I can't believe this.”

“Believe it,” Marcus said proudly.

“You don't understand. You have no idea what you've done. You just gave away ten million dollars to a con man who will be turning over escrowed majority shares to George Cooperman.”

“Don't be ridiculous, he'd never.”

“Wouldn't he?”

“Fine, if you're so sure that this is all a scam, then marry Shauna,” Marcus said quickly. “He'd never do that if you married his daughter.”

Jackson looked at his father and shook his head, then walked out.

After Jackson left, Marcus sat at his desk contemplating the conversation. A small prickly feeling churned in his stomach. Ten minutes later he picked up the phone and called his friend at city hall.

Jackson left wordlessly, knowing that he still had to save his father, the company, even from himself. As soon as he got to the office door Jessie called to him. “I'm glad you're here, we need to talk.” They walked into his office and she took a seat across from his desk.

“Okay,” Jackson said as he looked at his watch and sat down. “This can't take long. I need to take care of a few things this afternoon. What's up?”

“That's exactly what I want to know from you. What's going on?”

“What do you mean?” he asked evasively.

“Shauna stopped by my office earlier.”

“You, too, huh?”

“She seems to think you have a problem on your hands.”

“You mean other than her?”

“Yeah, Samantha.” She paused, watching the muscle in his neck twitch. “You know that I make it a point not to interfere in your personal life, but if there is something I need to know—”

“What do you think about Samantha?”

Jessie smiled. “She's nice, funny, smart and much too good for you,” she said jokingly. “She's also hiding something and so are you.”

Jackson knew that he couldn't keep anything from his sister for too long. She was too perceptive and had a nose for the truth. “What are you doing this evening?” he asked.

“I have a couple of parties to attend, why?”

“I'd like you to stop by my house later.”

“I can do that. Any particular reason?”

“Yeah, we need to clear the air. There's something you should know.”

“Tell me now,” she said.

“No, I need to clear up a few things first.”

“All right, I'll be there this evening,” she said, standing and walking to the door. “I can't wait.”