Deadly Arrival (Hardy Brothers Security Book 16) (6 page)

“I need to see Emma,” Finn said. “We need to stop at Nino Salvaggio’s first, though. I want to take her some of her favorite things. I know it won’t fix anything, but if she would smile – even for one brief moment – I would feel so much better.”

“We’ll get her everything she could possibly want,” Jake said. “It’s going to be okay.”

Neither man believed that. Things were only going to get worse before they got better. They couldn’t delude themselves otherwise, no matter how much they wanted to do just that.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

James pressed his hand to the front door and stopped Mandy from opening it later that afternoon, his expression serious.

Mandy frowned and glanced up at him. “Opening the door for our guests. Peter is outside. I saw him pull up through the window.”

James ran his tongue over his teeth, debating if he wanted to pick a fight while an audience walked up the driveway. “Did you look out the peephole to make sure Peter was actually at the door?”

“No.”

“How do you know someone else isn’t out there?” James pressed.

“Do you ever want to have sex again?” Mandy asked, narrowing her eyes.

“I’m having sex tonight, baby,” James replied, unruffled. “I don’t know what you’re doing, but I’m stressed and I’m going to need some relief.”

“Are you insinuating you’re going to have sex with someone else if I don’t have sex with you?” Mandy asked.

James knew a trap when he saw one. Still, the idea of even touching another woman made him sick to his stomach. “No. I’m insinuating that I will find a way to make sure you have sex with me. I’m not above bribing you.” His grin was charming as he ran his finger over Mandy’s soft cheek.

Mandy wanted to be angry, but she couldn’t muster the energy. “I saw Peter through the window,” she said. “Do you really think Lance Pritchard is going to grab me with Peter out there?”

James growled. “I need you to be careful, wife,” he said, kissing her forehead and drawing her to him as he opened the door and ushered Peter inside. “Thanks for coming to our impromptu barbecue,” he said, smiling. “I need to yell at my wife for a second, though. I apologize in advance for whatever she’s about to say.”

“Oh, no,” Peter said, offering Mandy a wide smile. He was incessantly fond of her due to the friendship she offered Sophie when his foster daughter was struggling with her own problems. “I can’t believe she would ever do anything deserving of being yelled at. She looks like a blond angel.”

James scowled as Mandy preened. “She was going to open the door for you without looking through the peephole or at the monitor that covers the driveway,” James said.

Peter’s smile slipped. “Yell away,” he said. “This is not a time for screwing around.”

Mandy was surprised at the admonishment. “I saw you through the window.”

“That doesn’t mean someone else couldn’t have been there, too, my dear,” Peter said. “You need to understand how serious this situation is. None of us are messing around.”

Mandy made a face and crossed her arms over her chest. “I feel like I’m under house arrest.”

“You are,” James said. “When you’re off work, you’re to be here. When you’re at work, you’re to keep your cute little behind in the courthouse. That means no leaving for lunch with Heidi.”

Mandy’s mouth dropped open. “No way!”

“Baby, I am not moving on this,” James said, leading Peter toward the living room. “I won’t risk you for anything. If you want to put up a fight, we’ll throw down when everyone leaves tonight. I don’t care how angry you are.”

Peter approached Mandy’s murderous expression with a softer touch. “We need to make sure Emma is safe,” he said. “When Pritchard figures out she is untouchable, he will try to grab a bargaining chip. That means Ally, Sophie, and you are especially vulnerable. Do you want Emma to live with the horror of one of you being taken?”

“Oh, that was beautiful the way you just manipulated her into looking like a spoiled brat,” James said, skirting Mandy’s slap as he moved toward the bar. “Do you want something to drink, Peter?”

“Bourbon neat would be wonderful,” Peter replied, his gaze still trained on Mandy. “No matter how much your husband likes to tease you, I was not manipulating you. Emma needs everyone to watch themselves because guilt over someone else’s mistake could ravage her. Is that what you want?”

“No,” Mandy replied. “I don’t think James needs to speak to me like I’m a child.”

“You’re not a child,” Peter conceded. “You
are
his heart, though. Should he stop worrying about you because you’ve decided to be petulant?”

Mandy was dumbfounded. Peter was usually on her side. “I’m not trying to be petulant,” she argued. “I don’t see how having lunch at a restaurant is going to hurt anything.”

“What if Pritchard decides to grab you and creates a hostage situation that results in the death of someone else? Are you okay with someone dying because you wanted to eat lunch at a restaurant?”

Mandy knit her eyebrows together. “What are the odds of that?”

“What are the odds that you would be stalked, kidnapped, shot at, and threatened more times than I can count?”

Mandy had no response.

“I love it when Peter comes to visit,” James said, delivering the bourbon to their guest. “He can make you speechless. I think he’s magic.”

Mandy rolled her eyes. “What am I going to do for lunch?”

“I’m going to bring you lunch this week,” James replied.

“Every single day?”

“Yup. We’re going to eat together in your office and then … spend quality time together with the door shut before court starts up again.”

Mandy’s cheeks flushed. “James! You can’t say things like that in front of Peter. He’ll think we’re deviants.”

“He already thinks that, baby,” James replied, nonplussed.

Peter’s shoulders shook with silent laughter. “You two are a nonstop delight.”

“Baby, you have exactly six months left at the courthouse,” James said. “You promised me you were quitting in September. I have a few fantasies we need to get in before then. There’s no time like the present.”

“What if we get caught?”

“Then they’ll fire you early and I’ll be a happy man,” James said, sitting in the armchair at the edge of the rug and patting his lap. “Come pout over here so I can talk to Peter and not worry you’re opening the door.”

“What about when everyone else gets here?”

“They have the security code and keys to let themselves in,” James replied. “You’re sticking close to me for the foreseeable future.”

“That used to be a turn on,” Mandy grumbled, although she climbed into the chair with James and settled herself.

“Oh, don’t be like that,” James said, kissing her cheek. “It will still be a turn on when we scream at each other and then make up. I’m expecting a volatile week, wife. You’d better prepare yourself.”

Peter snorted. “You don’t seem broken up about that.”

James shrugged and tickled Mandy’s ribs until she relented and smiled. “What can I say? I like the way she fights.”

“THE
steaks were marvelous,” Peter said an hour later, wiping his mouth with the napkin and leaning back in his chair. The entire crew gathered around the dining room table, and although Emma was completely silent and morose, everyone else put on a brave front for her benefit.

“I like to grill,” James said. “We haven’t been able to do it since late in the fall because of the weather. This was the first time I could get it out. It’s not exactly warm out yet, but it’s better than it was.”

“I helped,” Mandy said.

“Of course you did,” James said, affectionately tugging on a strand of her hair. “You did a wonderful job sautéing the mushrooms.”

Mandy made a face. “I marinated those steaks, too.”

“You’re a wonder with the wine bottle, baby,” James said.

Grady chortled. “If Mandy cooked we’d all be fighting for the toilet thanks to botulism.”

“I will beat you,” Mandy threatened.

“I’ll help,” Ally offered, yanking on a hank of Grady’s hair for good measure. “Actually, I’ll do worse. I’ll sneak into your house and cut your hair when you’re sleeping and then you’ll lose all your mojo.”

“Don’t kid about things like that,” Grady said, wagging his finger in Ally’s face as he smoothed his beloved hair. While all the Hardy siblings liked messing with each other, Ally and Grady were the most volatile. “That’s not even funny.”

“I won’t let them cut your hair,” Sophie teased, snuggling closer to Grady and resting her head against his shoulder. “I would miss it more than you would.”

“I think he should cut his hair,” Finn said, keeping his arm around Emma’s shoulders as he attempted to cajole her into joining the fun. “I think men are better looking when they have short hair.”

Sophie made a face. “I’m afraid Grady is one of those guys who is only going to be hot with long hair,” she said. “If you cut it, I might find out he’s not nearly as handsome as I originally thought.”

“Thanks for the help, sugar,” Grady said dryly.

“I’ll love you anyway,” Sophie said, rubbing her nose against his cheek. “It just won’t be as easy.”

Peter smiled, relieved Sophie seemed to be out of her foul mood. She was either putting on a marvelous show for Emma’s benefit, or she was rethinking her interest in murdering Lance Pritchard.

“Okay, hens, we need to talk,” James said, clearing his throat. “Why don’t you guys go out to the guesthouse and do … chick stuff … and we’ll join you for drinks in a few minutes?”

Mandy shifted in her seat, her blue eyes narrow slits. “Excuse me?”

“We have some business to get to,” James replied, not missing a beat. “You guys need to make yourselves scarce.”

“This is my house,” Mandy protested. “You can’t kick me out.”

“I’m not kicking you out,” James said, tugging on his limited patience. “I’m relocating you to a place where you can have fun while we talk about things that aren’t remotely fun.”

“I want to hear,” Sophie protested.

“I don’t care,” James replied, darting a look in Emma’s direction. “You guys need to take Emma out to the guesthouse and entertain her while we’re going through this.”

“Absolutely not,” Mandy said, crossing her arms over her chest. “We’re a family. We’re all involved in this.”

James licked his lips as he took in the determined set of Mandy’s chin. She wasn’t going to give in. In truth, he had no problem letting her hear the upcoming conversation. Emma couldn’t take it, though, and he refused to isolate her from everyone else.

“Fine,” James said, pushing himself up from the table and kicking his chair away. “We’ll go out to the guesthouse.” He gave the other men at the table hard looks to let them know he meant business. “We’re going to leave the ladies here to burn us in effigy. Let’s get this over with.”

“MANDY
is going to kill you in your sleep,” Grady said, pouring drinks behind the bar a few minutes later and fixing James with a dark look. “Sophie is probably going to kill me, too. Thanks.”

“I didn’t have a choice,” James said, his heart pinching as he rolled his neck until it cracked. “You saw Emma. She can’t take what we need to talk about. I’m not sending her out of the room on her own because everyone else wants to hear.”

“Ally is going to be ticked when we get home,” Jake said. “She’s going to take your decision out on me.”

“What other choice did I have?”

“You didn’t,” Peter said, patting James’ forearm. “I agree you made the right decision.”

“Thank you.”

“I’m just glad I’m single,” Peter added. “Your wife is going to rip your hair out when she sees you again.”

James frowned. “I’m going to tell her everything we discuss,” he said. “I just … Emma needs support. We can’t give her the same thing those really angry women can. I wish she could see that.”

“She does see it,” Grady said, casting a worried look in Finn’s direction as his younger brother paced next to the window and watched the house. “They all see it. Emma’s misery didn’t escape anyone. She didn’t say a word the entire meal.”

“I had to make her come,” Finn admitted. “She’s taken to sitting on the floor between the bed and the wall to make herself as small as possible. I think I’m losing her.”

“You’re not losing her,” James countered. “She’s upset and that’s to be expected. This is too much for anyone to bear. When you add in the fact that she’s pregnant … well … I’m sorry this is happening to you. We can’t control a lot here. We can control a few things, though.”

“What do we have?” Finn asked, shaking himself back to reality and moving toward the table everyone sat around. “Do we have anything?”

“I have a line on Lupo,” Peter said. “We don’t have our sights on him yet, but several … business women … say he’s been sniffing around by the casinos. He’s not exactly hiding.

“I have men down there searching the area right now,” he continued. “If they find him we’ll be able to question him before the police.”

“I have a meeting with the sheriff tomorrow,” Grady said. “He wants to share information again. He’s convinced Pritchard is coming back to Macomb County. He wants to catch him. I’m not going to share all of our information. I’m going to keep it … simple … and say we’re doubling our security on Emma. I want to know what he knows, though.”

“That’s a good idea,” James said. “If your men find Lupo, Peter, what are you going to do?”

“Lupo was locked up for armed robbery,” Peter replied. “I have no interest in killing him. We’ll question him about Pritchard and then turn him over to the proper authorities. If he’s captured in Detroit, then we’ll turn him over to the Detroit police. My men have a list of questions to ask … and they’ve been instructed to be diligent in getting answers.”