Temptation - Brenda Jackson [25]
She drew in a deep breath knowing he’d told her he wouldn’t be back. And she knew it was for the best. She would miss him. His appearance at her door tonight had been a surprise. But he had a way of making himself useful and she liked that. Crawford hadn’t been handy with tools. He used to tell her he worked too hard to do anything other than what was required of him at his job. Not even taking out the trash.
And she had put up with it because she hadn’t wanted to be alone.
Moving here was her first accomplishment. It had been a city where she hadn’t known anybody. A city where she would be alone. Go figure. She had gotten used to it and now Zeke had invaded her space. So had Sunnie. The latter was a welcome invasion; the former wasn’t.
As she slid into bed and drew the covers around her, she closed her eyes and ran her tongue around her mouth. Even after brushing her teeth she could still taste Zeke. It was as if his flavor was embedded in her mouth. She liked it. She would savor it because it wouldn’t happen again.
The next day, Zeke leaned back on the table and studied the two men sitting before him and tried digesting their admissions.
“So the two of you are saying that you also received blackmail letters?”
Rali Tariq and Arthur Moran, well-known wealthy businessmen and longtime members of the TCC, nodded. Then Rali spoke up. “Although I was innocent of what the person was accusing me of, I was afraid to go to the authorities.”
“Same here,” Arthur said. “I was hoping the person would eventually go away when I didn’t acknowledge the letters. It was only when I found out about the blackmailing scheme concerning Bradford that I figured I needed to come forward.”
“That’s the reason I’m here, as well,” Rali added.
Zeke nodded. What the two men had just shared with him certainly brought a lot to light. It meant the blackmailer hadn’t just targeted Brad, but had set his or her mark on other innocent, unsuspecting TCC members, as well. That made him wonder whether the individual was targeting TCC members because they were known to be wealthy or if there was a personal vendetta the authorities needed to be concerned with.
“Did you bring the letters with you?”
“Yes.”
Both men handed him their letters. He placed them on the table and then pulled out one of the ones Brad had received. It was obvious they had been written by the same person.
“They looked the same,” Rali said, looking over Zeke’s shoulder at all three letters.
Arthur nodded in agreement.
“Yes, it appears that one person wrote them all,” Zeke replied. “But the question is why did he carry out his threat against Brad but not on you two?”
He could tell by the men’s expressions that they didn’t have a clue. “Well, at least I’m finally getting pieces to the puzzle. I appreciate the two of you coming forward. It will help in clearing Brad’s name. Now all we have to do is wait for the results of the paternity test.”
An hour later he met Brad for lunch at Claire’s Restaurant, an upscale establishment in downtown Royal that served delicious food. A smile curved Brad’s lips after hearing about Zeke’s meeting with Rali and Arthur.
“Then that should settle things,” he said, cutting into the steak on his plate. “If Rali and Arthur received blackmail letters, that proves there’s a conspiracy against members of the TCC. There probably are others who aren’t coming forward like Rali and Arthur.”
Zeke took a sip of his wine. “Possibly. But you are the only one who he or she carried out the threat with. Why you and not one of the others? Hell, Rali is the son of a sheikh. I would think they would have stuck it to him real good. So we still aren’t out of the woods. There’s something about the whole setup that bothers me.”
He studied Brad for a moment. “Did you and Abigail Langley clear things up?”
Brad met his gaze. “If you’re asking if I think she’s still involved then the answer is no. Now I wished I hadn’t approached her with