Stealing Gold (The Logan Series Book 4) Read Online Free Page A

all over the
States. Unlike her, they had family they were desperate to see again, friends,
lovers, wives, husbands.
    She’d
never been great at socializing, and Lester’s over protective behavior had made
things worse. In all the years she’d been his client she’d barely had any free time
or vacations. She shoved her plate aside and replaced it with her laptop to check
her email.
    A
message from the company in charge of her tour made her reach for her cell
phone.
    “Stacy
Gold calling for Ben Jackson.”
    She
was put through immediately.
    “Are
you home, Stacy?” Ben cut straight to the point.
    “I’m
in Nashville, my house is being renovated…” She was rambling. “What’s going on,
Ben? Your email said there’s an emergency.”
    “I
don’t want to talk about it on the phone. Can you come to my office?”
    The
previous day, the Super had revealed her car was parked in the underground car
park under the condo. “Sure.” It beat sitting around feeling sorry for herself.
“I’ll be there in half an hour.”
    *****
    “How
long have you been in these offices?” Stacy walked over the silver stars woven
into the navy carpet to Ben Jackson’s oversized chrome and glass desk.
    Ben
met her halfway. “A couple of years.”
    A
couple of years. Had it really been so long since she’d visited Kickin’ Music
Tours’ offices? She guessed it had been. The tour came under the umbrella of
business. And business was Lester’s remit. “Better late than never.”
    With
a smile, Ben led her to a sofa. “Would you like something? Coffee? Tea?”
    “Coffee
would be great.”
    He
made a discreet call to his secretary and ordered some. “You’re one of our most
dedicated artists. An eight month tour…” He shook his head from side to side,
admiration shining in his eyes. “Damn impressive for a solo artist.”
    The
secretary arrived with the coffee, and made her escape.
    Then
Ben got to the crux of the matter. “What do you want first, the good news, or
the bad news?”
    Ben
Jackson had been organizing Stacy Gold’s tours for close to a decade—he should
know her well enough by now to realize she always wanted to know the downside. The
snags. The unpalatable truths.
    “Bad.”
She crossed her legs. “Just give it to me.” A bunch of monkeys on trampolines
bounced in her stomach. She’d been on the last leg of her European tour when
she received a phone call from Ben last week. Dashing from city to city with
barely enough time to register what country she’d landed in, never mind see any
sights. Worn out and exhausted, she’d been concerned when he said he need to
talk to her, not Lester, about something important.
    She
reached for the cup his secretary placed before her. Drank. And acknowledged it
would take more than a gallon of coffee to make her feel human after the
whirlwind of recent activity.
    “You
flew in last night?”
    “Yeah,
it’s been a long week.” She rubbed the back of her neck. “Just get on with it,
Ben.”
    Ben
grimaced. He opened a file he’d carried from his desk. “There were some
anomalies in your tour account, so I hired a PI to investigate. I hate to tell
you this, Stacy, but Lester and your accountant have been robbing you blind.”
    Shock
slammed into her. “He…” She couldn’t get the words out. Soon after their wedding,
Adam had said the same thing, that he didn’t trust her manager. She’d shut him
down for even suggesting such a thing, and divorced him less than a month
later.
    Her
stomach twisted, and the monkeys jumped faster. “The accountant, maybe.” Lester
had employed a new one while she was on tour, a Mrs Kensington. “But Lester,
no. I saw him yesterday.” And he’d been freaked out and sweating, desperate to
make the deal. Now he was missing. She checked her cell phone. No new messages.
    Ben
shook his head. “I know you want to believe that. Hell, Lester’s been your
manager for years, hasn’t he?” He pulled a piece of paper  from of the