Tycoon Protector

Akeem nodded. “Sure, he was on the case when Flint’s sister Taylor’s son, Christopher, was kidnapped.”

“Yeah and he was there to investigate the explosion and shootings on the airplane that took the lives of three of my men,” Flint added.

Jackson twisted the brim of his cowboy hat. “I don’t trust the man.”

“Any reason in particular?” Akeem asked.

“He seemed more than happy to jump on any excuse to bust me.”

“I noticed that.” Ysabel set her tea glass on a coaster. “It was as though he enjoyed seeing you booked and fingerprinted. He was outright angry when Tom’s sworn statement kept you from occupying a jail cell.”

“Do you still have connections inside the sheriff’s office?” Akeem asked.

Jackson nodded to Ysabel. “That would be Ysabel’s connection. One of your cousins, right?”

“Mitch Stanford. He’s married to my cousin Rosa.” Ysabel retrieved her BlackBerry from her purse and scanned the contact names until she found Mitch. “I’ll give him a call and ask him to keep an eye open for anything that might surface concerning the case.”

“Thanks.” Jackson stared down at his Stetson, lost in thought. “Why are these things happening to us?”

“It’s as if someone has it in for the Aggie Four Foundation, maybe us in particular,” Akeem said, as he gazed out the window at the acres of lush green pastures.

“You think they had anything to do with Viktor’s death?” Flint paused to stare at a picture hanging on the wall of the four of them when they were in college, arms linked over their shoulders, all wearing swim trunks on South Padre beach. The senior trip they’d scrimped and saved their hard-earned money for.

Jackson had a copy on his desk in his office. The Aggie Four had been there for him since they’d all vowed to become billionaires back in their college days. And damned if they didn’t all make it.

“Viktor’s death was half a world away in Rasnovia,” Ysabel observed, her hand poised over the BlackBerry.

Her voice jerked Jackson out of his thoughts, his head snapped up and he stared across at her. A raw, festering ache reverberated through his body at the sight of her. Ysabel had tendered her resignation.

Yet she sat on the leather, wingback chair, her slim knees crossed, long gorgeous legs tipped in sexy black heels. She could wear a brown paper bag and still make a man’s blood boil.

He pulled his gaze from those legs and forced his mind away from how they’d wrapped around his waist and how she’d cried out his name in lust-filled passion. No, now wasn’t the time to get a rise or worry about how he could keep his prized executive assistant.

“That’s true. Viktor and his family were murdered in Rasnovia.” Jackson’s chest tightened, but he forced himself to move on. “The smuggling also began half a world away. The shipment with the saddles and detonators originated in Rasnovia.”

Akeem perched on the edge of Flint’s desk. “I’m amazed you were able to ship anything out of Rasnovia with a civil war ravaging the country since the royal family’s death.”

“Given what the police found in that box, I’m beginning to think it’s not so amazing.” Jackson captured Ysabel’s gaze. “Have you heard anything on that database scan of employees?”

“Not yet. I have Tom working it.”

“You sure he’s the man for the job? He’s so new to the company.”

“If you’d read his résumé, you’d have noticed he won numerous awards for breaking into supposedly air-tight computer security systems. He knows his way around a computer.”

Jackson shook his head and stared at her as if she’d lost her mind. “You hired a hacker?”

“He’s only a hacker in a good way. Pinkerton confirmed his background check. Besides, I liked him.”

A surge of something akin to anger pushed through Jackson, making him want to lash out at the young guy Ysabel had hired. “You trust him inside Champion Shipping’s computer systems?”

“Absolutely.” She crossed her arms over her chest, the stubborn tilt to her chin one he’d seen before when she’d fought for a point in which she believed.

Flint grinned at the exchange. “You know Ysabel’s instincts have paid off for you in more instances than you can count. You better keep her on the payroll.”

Akeem chuckled. “Yeah, I’d hate to see her go to work for the competition.”

Their seemingly innocuous comments hit Jackson square in the gut. What they didn’t know was that Ysabel had more or less given her two-week notice. Although the noncompete clause in her contract would keep her from going to work for his competitors, she wouldn’t be working for him anymore. And that’s what he didn’t want to think about or acknowledge.

“What about the road-rage incident last night?” Ysabel reminded him. “If someone has it in for you all, wouldn’t they try to run the rest of you off the road, as well?”

Akeem nodded. “Sadly, when you’ve clawed your way to the top like we have, you accumulate enemies along the way. Some even out to cause us trouble for the cash.”

“Christopher’s kidnapping.” Ysabel’s hand rose to cover her stomach, making Jackson think she might be having a relapse of yesterday’s sickness. Instinctively, he moved forward several steps before he stopped himself. She’d be ticked if he hovered over her like he had yesterday. But that couldn’t stop him from keeping a close eye on her.

“What got me about that whole kidnapping scare was that the police seemed to know what was going to happen almost before it did,” Flint said.

“Like how did they know where the kidnappers were taking the boy almost before Taylor and I got there?” Akeem asked.

“An insider leaking it out,” Flint stated. It was his nephew who’d been in danger, his sister who’d gone after him with only Akeem to protect her. Akeem had been there for her. Both Flint and Jackson would trust the Texas sheik with their own lives and had on more than one occasion.

Jackson shook his head. “More like an insider giving the orders.” He shot a look toward Ysabel.

“I’m on it boss. I’ll let my cousin know to keep a look out for a dirty cop while I’m asking him to keep us posted on the investigation.”

“Señor McKade?” Lucinda appeared at the door.

Flint nodded toward the housekeeper/cook. “Yes, what is it?”

“Señor Norton is here to see you.”

“Deke?” Flint’s brows tugged inward. “I don’t remember scheduling a meeting with Deke.” He shrugged. “Send him in. Maybe he can shed some light on this mess.”

Jackson raised a hand. “I’d rather not mention it yet. I want to find out more before we share inside information outside this room. If word gets out to the press that Champion Shipping and the Aggie Four Foundation are involved in international terrorism, we could be ruined.”

“And you don’t want our financial adviser to know this.” Flint nodded. “Gotcha.” He tipped his head to Lucinda. “Show him in.”

“Sí, señor.” She backed out of the doorway and hurried away.

“Not that I don’t trust Deke, but he is a financial adviser after all. I don’t want to put him in the position of knowing something about the market before it happens.” Jackson stared around the room at each of the individuals there. “Because of his friendship with all of us it could be considered insider trading.”

A moment later, Deke Norton opened the door and strode in. “Did you see the news?” He walked across to the flatscreen, plasma television set hanging on the wall over the fireplace and pressed the power button.

“Why?” Jackson hadn’t had time to watch the news between running his corporation, spending two hours at the Harris County Sheriff’s Office and then heading out to the Diamondback Ranch to meet with the Aggie Four. Who had time to watch the news when your world was crumbling around you?

“You’ll want to see this.” Deke nodded toward the screen.

A local Houston news anchor blinked into focus. “Late breaking news.” He glanced down at a sheet of paper in his hand. “Houston shipping mogul and former most eligible Texas bachelor, Jackson Champion, was taken into custody today as a possible suspect in the murder of a forklift driver last night at the Port of Houston.”