Free Abducted Heart (Z-Series) by Jerri Drennen

Because if it wasn't, Brent was evil, and she'd make sure he paid for what they'd planned to do to her for money.
    Tears clouded her eyes and she felt weak in the knees. Before she went down, Lynch scooped her up into his arms and started toward the car. Casey wrapped her arms around his neck and held him tight. She needed to feel safe, and he was the only person who could do that. He'd always been the one .
    Who'd she called when all this mess started? Lynch . He was her rock. But he wouldn't be here forever, and she had to remember that.
    In the car, Casey twisted her hands in her lap and shook her head. “I don't understand, Lynch. Why would he do this to me?”
    “Simple. He was desperate for money. It's tax season, Casey. Brent's company was going to find out about this missing money, and he needed to find a way to get it.”
    “But resorting to murder? What kind of man would do that?”
    “You are asking the wrong man about your husband, Casey. I never liked him. You need to ask someone who knew him. His father, perhaps.”
    “If he did this, then his father doesn't know him either. You know Alex. Do you think this is something he'd condone?”
    “We need to ask Alex if he lent money to Brent. Because if he didn't, then he was keeping this gambling problem to himself. Nobody knew what was going on with him.”
    “I don't think I ever saw the real Brent Jackson, just what he wanted me to see, and that wasn’t all that appealing.”
    “I got a taste of the real man. What was Brent's mother like? Do you know?”
    She shrugged. “I only met her once. That was at our wedding. She was standoffish toward me, and Brent seemed very odd around her.”
    He frowned. “Odd how?”
    “I don't know. Nervous she might say the wrong thing, maybe.”
    “Is this a subject we could bring up to Alex? Has he ever spoken to you about his ex-wife?”
    “No, but at the wedding he seemed uncomfortable around the woman as well.”
    “I'm going to call him now. We need to talk to him. I think it’s best we do it at your house.”
    Casey agreed. She needed to find out what could make a man who had promised to love and honor her want to kill her instead.

 
     
    CHAPTER TEN
     
     
    Lynch paced the living room floor, anxious to talk to Alex. He'd called with the pretense of them all getting together for a family meal, his mother included. He dreaded telling his step-father what he thought. Alex would be devastated to learn what his only son had planned.
    What father wouldn't be? To find out your own flesh and blood had orchestrated his own kidnapping so that he could murder his wife and make it look like a home invasion? What kind of man would do such a thing?
    “Are you planning to wear a path in the carpet?” Zack said from the office doorway.
    Lynch stopped in his tracks. His friend was right. He wasn't accomplishing anything with his incisive back-and-forth motion. But he was anxious—almost dreading what was to come.
    “This whole thing with Brent and Casey. I don't know.”
    “I do understand, Lynch. But this is really all about Casey, isn't it?”
    He shook his head. “What the hell you talking about, Zack?”
    “You're in love with her.”
    “No. I did love her a long time ago. But that was when I was young and stupid. I'm not that kid anymore.”
    Zack laughed. “All these years I thought you were immune to falling in love, and now I know why. You can't love if your heart is already taken. Casey's had it all this time, and you've never tried to get it back.”
    Lynch snorted. “You're crazy.”
    His friend stared hard at him then shrugged. “I can't make you see the obvious, Lynch, if you don't want to see it.”
    “There's nothing to see. Can we drop this now?”
    Zack grinned. “Sure. So, you want to hear about the date I have tonight while you have your family powwow?”
    “What? You aren't staying?”
    “Nope. I'm having dinner with Casey's hot friend, Chelsea. Don't wait up, either. I may be out late.”