Beverly Barton - Grace Under Fire

Jed barely restrained himself. He wanted to grab Booth by the throat and choke the life out of him. How dare he threaten Grace right to Jed's face! He wanted to warn his uncle that if he tried to harm Grace, he'd have to answer to him personally. He wanted to shout at the top of his lungs that Booth was on the verge of being arrested by the FBI.

"My job is to protect Ms. Beaumont. I'll do whatever it takes to make sure no harm comes to her."

"Yes, I'm sure you will. But I'd hate to see the two of us on opposite sides. After all, you are my nephew. Your rightful place is here with me. Don't you ever regret having given up the chance to inherit my empire?"

"I regret a lot of things."

"It's never too late to right the wrongs of the past." Booth eased off the edge of the desk, reached out and placed his hand on Jed's shoulder. "But before I could trust you again, you'd have to prove yourself."

Jed glared at his uncle's hand resting on his shoulder. Booth squeezed his shoulder, then released it. "You're in a unique position to be of service to me."

"How is that?"

"You're Grace Beaumont's bodyguard."

"You want me to kill her, is that it?"

Booth smiled. "Just persuade the lady, by whatever means necessary, that digging into the past is dangerous."

"You made two mistakes," Jed said and chuckled when his uncle's smile vanished. "First, you assumed that I might be interested in inheriting your crime empire. I'm not. Second, you assumed I'd be willing to kill an innocent woman. I'm not." And what Booth didn't know was that Grace Beaumont's life was worth more to Jed than his own.

"Headstrong and stubborn as always," Booth said. "And just a bit weak. Like your mama. I thought maybe you'd gotten tougher, but I see you haven't."

Jed walked to the pocket doors, opened them, then said, "I'll say goodbye to Charmaine and let her know I'll be at Jaron's funeral."

"If you have any ideas of renewing your relationship with my wife, I advise against it. You must remember how possessive I am of my personal property."

Yes. Jed remembered all too well the beating he'd taken at the age of ten when he'd dared to borrow one of Booth's diamond rings. Booth had caught him taking it from the jewelry case in his bedroom. It had been the one and only time his uncle had physically abused him, but Booth had beaten him so badly that he'd learned a lesson he never forgot. Never steal from Booth. Never lie to Booth. Never double-cross Booth.

"Take care of yourself, Uncle Booth," Jed said sarcastically. "And enjoy what you've got… because you never know when it's all going to come tumbling down around you."

Booth waited until Jed said goodbye to Charmaine, retrieved his gun from Ronnie and got in his car before he picked up the phone and called Curt Poarch.

Curt answered on the third ring. "Yeah, Poarch here."

"Curt, there's something I'm going to need you to do for me."

"Yes, sir. Name it."

"I want you and Charlie to get together and come up with a plan to ensure that Grace Beaumont isn't a problem for me anymore."

"All right I'll get with Charlie later today and-"

"Get together with him now. I want it taken care of this afternoon."

"You want us to handle it personally or bring in an outside man?"

"I'll leave the particulars up to you. Just be sure that by tonight, the lady is no longer a thorn in my side."

Grace straightened the collar on her beige blouse and re-arranged her pearls so that they lay in the center of her chest. After hurriedly applying peach-tinted lip gloss, she donned her brown silk jacket and picked up her brown leather clutch purse. As she headed for the stairs, she checked her wristwatch. Ten-thirty-five. When she'd awakened an hour ago alone in bed, she had glanced at the clock on the nightstand and realized Jed had already left for Beaulac. After their heated confrontation, she hadn't questioned him any further about his mission, his reasons for making a personal call on Booth Fortier, but when she'd told him she'd figured out the FBI was somehow involved, he hadn't denied it.

As she made her way downstairs, she thought about the hours she had spent in Jed's arms this morning and a fluttering sensation tingled through her body. She was in love. Crazy in love. Unexpectedly in love. After Dean's death she had thought herself incapable of ever loving again, of finding someone who made her heart sing.

"Morning, Miss Grace," Laverna met her as she came down the back stairs into the kitchen.

"Good morning," Grace replied. "I don't want breakfast this morning. Just coffee and juice. I'd like to go to the office as soon as possible."

"Yes, ma'am."

Kate Malone stood by the bay window, a cup of coffee in her hand. "Jed should be back by noon, if you'd like to wait for him."

"He can meet us at the office." Grace placed her purse on the counter, accepted the small glass of orange juice Laverna held out to her, downed it in one long gulp, then handed the glass back to the housekeeper. "We're in the process of acquiring TV and radio stations in Newport, Arkansas, and in Corinth, Mississippi. I'm expecting updates on both negotiations today and I'm sure we'll have something to celebrate. Plus, we have a company picnic coming up in a few weeks and I always help Elsa plan the event."

"When do you want to leave?" Kate asked.

"In five minutes." Grace accepted the coffee cup Laverna handed her and said, "Please, ask Nolan to bring the car around." She looked directly at Kate. "You can ride with me, and Mr. Shea can follow. Will that be satisfactory?"

"It should be. Just as long as one of us is with you at all times."

Grace took several sips of hot coffee, then placed the cup on the saucer sitting on the counter. "Ask Mr. Shea to contact Jed and tell him to meet us at Sheffield Media headquarters."

"While you finish your coffee, I'll tell Dom. He's in the den."

The minute Kate left the kitchen, Grace lifted the telephone from the wall, dialed her office number and picked up her cup.

"Sheffield Media, Inc.," Elsa said. "Ms. Beaumont's office."

"Hi, Elsa. I'll be coming in late this morning. We're leaving here in five minutes."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Have we heard anything from Newport or Corinth?"

"I received a call from Mr. Sullivan. He's still negotiating terms with the lawyers representing both affiliates, but he said to tell you to pop the champagne. He's sure it'll be a done deal by this afternoon."

"Wonderful." Grace sipped on her coffee. "Since a celebratory lunch is in order, please, make reservations for two… no make that for six, at Rudy's. I want you and Hudson to join us-Jed and I and the other two Dundee agents. Mr. Shea and Kate have become my second and third shadows. By the way, when you call Rudy's make sure you speak personally to Rudy. I want our lunch prepared by Rudy himself. And be sure to ask him to chill a couple of bottles of Krug Grande Cuvee."

"Yes, ma'am. I'll see to it immediately."

Grace knew Elsa was probably dying to know all about the corpse that had been dumped at her gate, but was too circumspect to boldly inquire. "I suppose you've heard about the gangster that was dropped off in front of the house last night."

"Yes, everyone's heard. It's front page news this morning. And Hudson approved having our radio and TV stations cover the story. He felt that you wouldn't want Sheffield Media to shy away from the story just because… well, because you're involved. And he chose not to bother you at home with making the decision."

" Hudson did the correct thing."

"The man who was murdered, the police identified him as Jaron Vaden, one of Booth Fortier's top henchmen," Elsa said. "They say Fortier is married to Vaden's sister."