A Brother's Honor (Grangers) - By Brenda Jackson Page 0,120

knew about Fields. In his early forties, the man had been hired by Jace’s grandfather around seven years ago. He was divorced, and his ex-wife lived somewhere in Oregon. Jace recalled his grandfather mentioning that, after his divorce, Fields had become a ladies’ man around the office. But all it had taken was his grandfather letting Fields know he disapproved of such behavior to put a stop to it.

They left the building together and walked out to the parking lot not saying anything else to each other until they needed to part ways to go to their respective parking spots.

“Have a good evening, Jace,” Fields said as he moved in the direction where his car was parked.

“You do the same, Shelton.”

Jace continued to his car, thinking of the evening ahead and how he couldn’t wait to get to Shana’s place. He pulled the keys from his pants pocket to open his car door and that was the last thing he recalled after feeling a needle sting in the back of his neck.

* * *

Shana smiled as she looked over at the table she’d set for two. Whenever Jace brought the food, they would eat right out of the carry-out boxes. Tonight, things would be different. She had no idea how he felt about her, but she would tell him he would be a father nonetheless.

She was about to step on the patio and relax a minute when her cell phone rang. It was Kent. “Yes, Kent?”

“Get to your computer. I’m about to send you a report that you need to see.”

She glanced at her watch. It was forty minutes past seven. Jace’s arrival at her place was always like clockwork. He was late tonight. “Is it something I can look at later?”

“No, I believe it’s something you should look at now.”

Shana had worked with Kent long enough to know when he was onto something. “All right. Give me a second to boot up my system.”

“Okay. I’m hanging on the phone until you do.”

Shana walked to the extra bedroom she’d made into an office and slid into the chair behind the desk. “You’re still there, Kent?” she asked as she placed her phone on speaker.

“Yes, I’m still here.”

Once the system came up, she immediately pulled the file Kent had sent her. She began reading, and her eyes widened. “Holy cow! How did you find out about this stuff?”

“Doesn’t matter. Jace Granger needs to know.”

Shana agreed and glanced at her watch again. It wasn’t like Jace to be late.

“Hold on, I’m switching to a new line so I can call Jace’s cell phone.” He should have left the office a good forty-five minutes ago, Shana thought.

She tried Jace’s phone and didn’t get an answer. Maybe he’d been detained at the office for some reason, so she decided to call his office number. When he didn’t answer, she clicked back over to Kent as she nibbled on her bottom lip. Something wasn’t right...she could feel it.

“I couldn’t reach him on his mobile line, and I even tried his office and couldn’t get him. It’s not like him not to be accessible,” she said.

“Maybe you need to contact his brothers. There’s a chance he might be somewhere hanging out with them.”

Or his ex-wife, Shana thought, and then forced the thought from her mind. When she saw him at the office, he’d said he was looking forward to tonight. “Okay, I have their numbers. I’ll give them a call.”

* * *

Jace’s head was hurting something fierce when he slowly opened his eyes, regaining consciousness. He glanced around, and the first person he saw when he tried focusing his eyes was Titus Freeman.

And as Jace began coming around, he realized that Freeman was bound to his chair with his hands tied behind his back like Jace was. The only difference was that Freeman was also gagged.

“Welcome to my secret hideaway, Jace.”

Although it hurt to do so, Jace twisted his head to glance up at the man standing in the doorway. He closed his eyes, certain he was seeing things, but when he reopened them and sharpened his focus as best he could, there was no denying the man standing there with a gun in his hand.

Jace’s tongue felt thick, and his mouth felt dry, but he forced the words through his lips. “What’s going on?”

Vidal Duncan let out a screeching laugh, one that grated on Jace’s skin. The man then placed the gun on a table and sat in a chair. “What’s going on is that