Hot on Her Heels

Dana shook her head. “Nothing that simple. He’s so damn sure of himself. Confident he’s going to win. And just when I think he’s barely human, I remember those scars.”

Izzy had told them both about Nick and Garth’s time in the jungle. Lexi could only imagine what the scars looked like, but Dana had seen them for herself.

“What does he think of Izzy’s plan to bring him into the family?” Lexi asked.

“It confuses him. Of course that’s just a guess on my part. We aren’t exactly sharing secrets.”

“Do you like him?”

Dana glanced at her. “I don’t hate him.”

“Izzy would say that’s progress.”

“It depends on how you look at the situation. I still don’t trust him. But he’s not the devil.”

There was more. He made her uneasy. His casual touch on her back had seared her down to her bones. She’d felt each of his fingers, the pressure of his palm. She’d wanted to move toward him.

Garth made her aware of her weaknesses and that terrified her.

“What happens now?” Lexi asked.

“I wait for him to make a mistake.”

“What if he’s no longer our enemy?”

“Then everything changes.”

CHAPTER FOUR

JED TITAN HAD KNOWN Brock Lyman since college. Nowadays they were both tall men with graying hair and a taste for the good life. They’d played football together and Brock had introduced Jed to his first wife. Something Jed never held against him. Now some thirty-plus years later, Brock was the chief financial officer at Titan World and the only person Jed was willing to trust.

Which didn’t mean he had to like what his friend said.

“He’s bought even more stock,” Brock said from his place across the conference table.

Jed and Brock were having their morning meeting. In the past, the time had been more about sports scores than any real business, but in the past few months, they’d been scrambling to manage what seemed like a new crisis every other week.

“Did he file with the SEC?” Jed asked, even though he already knew the answer. Damn Garth Duncan. He was always careful to follow the rules. Once he’d crossed the threshold of stock purchases, he’d done all the paperwork required. Just once Jed wanted him to make a mistake.

Brock nodded. “Filed on time and correctly. He’s up to fifteen percent ownership in Titan World. More in a few of the subsidiaries. So far we’ve been able to keep the news out of the media, but I don’t know how long that will go on. A few major stockholders have taken notice.”

Which was Garth’s plan, Jed thought, annoyed by how well he was being played.

By buying large blocks of stock and holding on to them, a case could be made that Garth was planning to take over the company. That made other stockholders nervous. SEC rules required public filings when a shareholder reached a certain amount of ownership, which Garth had done. He wasn’t hiding what he was doing, and that made Jed uncomfortable. He couldn’t go after someone who wasn’t breaking the law.

“If he wants to buy the company, why doesn’t he approach us?” Brock asked, obviously frustrated.

“It’s not his way. He’s waiting until the time is right.”

It was all a game and whoever had the most at the end won. Jed could almost be proud of Garth. After all, the man was his son. But things had gone too far. Garth had to be stopped.

“What about the investigation of the oil rig explosion?” Brock asked. “Why hasn’t Garth been arrested for his involvement in that?”

“I don’t know.” Jed couldn’t figure it out, either. Enough evidence had been planted to indict Garth. What had gone wrong? “He’s smart. Maybe smarter than we gave him credit for. We have to find his vulnerable spot. No target is off-limits.”

“First we have to find one,” Brock grumbled.

“We will. In the meantime, we have to buy back shares. He owns too much of the company.”

“There’s no money.”

“We’ll find it. Borrow it, whatever. I want to start buying back shares from anyone who will sell.”

“If word gets out,” Brock began, then shook his head. “No one can know, Jed. People will think the company’s in trouble and that’ll start a stampede of shareholders trying to sell. Any panic will drive down the price of stock.”

“Then we’ll keep it to ourselves.”

“We’ll need a bunch of cash. I don’t know where we’re going to get it. Unless you’re willing to start selling some of your assets.”

Something Jed had always refused in the past. There were dozens of choices but only a few worth tens of millions. His racehorse farm, the shipping company and Glory’s Gate, the family home.

It was all about winning. Defeating the upstart bastard who was trying to take him down.

“This is war,” Jed said at last. “Sacrifices have to be made. Start making discreet inquires about potential buyers. But remember, this isn’t a fire sale. I want top dollar.”

Brock stared at him for a long time. “It may not be enough.”

“Then we’ll figure out something else. I don’t care what it takes to beat Garth. I want him crushed and swept up with the trash.”

DANA DID HER BEST to sit quietly in the lobby of Garth’s condo. Usually she enjoyed a good stakeout. She found it relaxing. It gave her time to think. But today her brain was not her friend, not when it kept racing from subject to subject, the most annoying of which was the anticipation she felt at the thought of seeing Garth again.

She was actually worried about what she was wearing. She’d thought about changing her clothes. Worse, she’d gone home and put on mascara, which happened to be the only makeup she owned. Mascara. Like she was a sniveling teenaged girl nervous about a date.

This wasn’t a date—it was surveillance, dammit.

She shifted on the comfortable bench, thought about leaving, then tensed when the elevator doors slid open and Garth stepped into the foyer of his condo building to pick up his mail.

He looked good. The stubble on his jaw, the slightly loosened tie all suited him. There was a weariness in his eyes, as if it had been a long day. She felt a definite quiver low in her belly and did her best to ignore it. She wasn’t the type of woman to quiver for any man and if she pretended it wasn’t happening, eventually it would go away. At least that was the plan.

“Hope you like Italian,” he said, holding up two shopping bags.

He’d stopped for dinner. One part of her brain said it was no big deal. He wasn’t the kind of man to cook for himself and he’d known she would be here. The other part of her brain wanted to know if he’d bought dinner with her in mind. If he’d thought about what she might like. As if this were…

Nothing. It was nothing. He was nothing, they were nothing. That’s the way it was going to be.

She stood and walked toward him without saying anything. Garth collected his mail, then walked back to the elevator. She took the food from him and followed. George wished them a good night.

The elevator ride was silent. When they reached his floor, he pulled out his keys and they stepped into his condo. She collected plates while he chose a bottle of wine. She set the table, he flipped on a CD. Their actions were familiar, which should have been comfortable but instead made her nervous. It was only the second night. There was no way she could be comfortable around Garth.