Deadly Illusions (Hardy Brothers Security Book 3) (11 page)

The next few days were tense – for everyone.

Mandy was still playing hooky from work, Judge MacIntosh calling to tell her that he wanted her to take the rest of the week off to recuperate. She’d thought about arguing, but giving James what he needed right now was more important than her work ethic. She’d thanked him, promising him she would return the following Monday, and then proceeded to dote on James every chance she got. He needed her attention, and she was happy to give it.

Slowly, he started returning to normal.

The day-to-day activities at Hardy Brothers Security fell into a rhythm. Every day, Finn would arrive at the office with Emma in tow. Then, the three Hardy brothers would run background checks on the witnesses from Lance Pritchard’s trial. It was slow work, but they plodded along.

Most of the suspects they completed runs on could be ruled out. Other than visits to local therapists, most of Pritchard’s victims didn’t ping on any search engines. The bulk of them had managed to stay off the radar of local law enforcement and seemed to be trying really hard to mind their own business. That didn’t mean they weren’t psychopaths – but the odds were long in most cases.

To keep Emma away from what they were doing, the intricacies involved with invading the privacy of her father’s victims bound to upset her, Mandy kept her busy. She spent her afternoons upstairs with an increasingly bored blonde and her constant litany of complaints. They watched soap operas, gossiped, and generally just lazed about.

Mandy refused to press Emma on what she’d discovered. James agreed to keep quiet, but the way he watched Emma when she was in the room with him was a dead giveaway. That’s why Mandy had insisted on separating herself and Emma from the action downstairs. She didn’t want the woman to feel any more uncomfortable than she already did.

It wasn’t working out as well as she hoped.

“I don’t think James likes me,” Emma admitted Thursday afternoon as she sat on the couch reading a magazine.

From her spot on the floor where she was playing solitaire, Mandy glanced up. “That’s not true. Everyone here likes you.”

“He’s always giving me weird looks,” Emma said. “I don’t think he thinks I’m good enough for his brother.”

Mandy faltered, unsure of how to respond. “James hasn’t really been at his best the past few days,” she said. “That’s my fault, not his. He’s better now.”

Emma sighed. “I just wish he liked me.”

“He does like you,” Mandy said. “He just gets really focused when they have a case.”

“Are you sure?”

“Absolutely.”

“Okay.” Emma still looked doubtful.

Mandy turned back to her game. The truth was, everyone was starting to fray at the edges. They needed a distraction.

“I think we should all go out tonight,” she announced.

“I don’t think James is up for another girl’s night,” Emma said pragmatically. “I think that would be just about enough to send him to the loony bin.”

“No, he’d chain me to the bed before he’d let that happen,” Mandy said. “That’s why we all have to go out together.”

“All?”

“You, me, Sophie and the boys,” Mandy said. “Everyone can hang out in a social setting – get away from the work for a while – and things will be better.”

“Are you sure he’s going to agree to that?”

“Oh, he’ll agree to it,” Mandy promised, not letting the doubt in the back of her mind creep into her voice. “Whether he wants to or not.”

“I CAN’T
believe I let you talk me into this,” James said as they settled around a table at Paul’s Pool House. “Just for the record, I think this is a terrible idea.”

“Everyone needs a break,” Mandy said. “Especially Emma.”

James glanced over Mandy’s shoulder, fixing his eyes on Finn and Emma. They were standing near the bar, placing drink orders, and laughing easily. They looked like they didn’t have a care in the world, like they belonged together.

“You need to stop doing that, too,” Mandy said. “Emma thinks you don’t like her.”

James’ eyebrows shot up. “Why does she think that?”

“Because you’re always staring at her,” Mandy said. “You need to remember that she’s not to blame for any of this. If you keep staring at her, she’s either going to think you don’t like her – or maybe that you like her too much.”

“I don’t mean to stare at her,” James said. “I just … knowing what I know … I can’t help it sometimes.”

“Well, you need to try and help it,” Mandy said. “If you keep this up, things are just going to explode.”

“Maybe they should explode,” James argued. “If it was all out in the open … .”

“If it was all out in the open,
you
would feel better,” Mandy said. “This isn’t about you and me. This is about Finn and Emma.” Mandy reached over and tweaked his nose. “Try to focus on me instead of her. You’re going to give me a complex.”

James wrinkled his nose, grabbing her retreating fingers so he could press a kiss to the tips. “I thought the problem was that I was too focused on you.”

“No, the problem was that you go all alpha and think you’re the boss of me,” Mandy said. “That ticks me off. You just need to realize that I’m the boss of you. You need to get that straight and we’ll both be really happy.”

James smiled, resting his forehead against hers. “If I let you be the boss of me tonight, will you let me be the boss of you tomorrow night?”

Mandy considered the offer. “If you stop staring at Emma? Absolutely.”

James blew out a sigh. “Okay. I’ll try.”

“Why don’t you start by wrangling your brothers into a pool game,” Mandy suggested. “That will allow us girls to relax over here.”

“Deal.” James gave her a quick kiss and then got to his feet. “You better be extra-special bossy tonight, though.”

Sophie sat down in the chair James had just vacated, shooting him a saucy look. “You two are going to give me nightmares.”

James patted Sophie’s shoulder. “Watch my girl.”

“Watch my boy,” Sophie said. “He says he’s going to school you in pool tonight. What is it with men? Whenever they get around sticks, they all try to measure them.”

Mandy snorted out a laugh.

“He’s got delusions of grandeur,” James said. “Don’t worry, I’ll take him down a peg or two.” James dropped a kiss on the top of Mandy’s head and then strode over to the pool table Grady was claiming.

Once he was gone, Sophie focused on Mandy. “What were you two whispering about really?”

Mandy considered unloading Emma’s secret on Sophie, knowing the reporter would keep the secret. The more people that knew, though, the harder acting normal around Emma would be. “It’s nothing.”

Sophie leaned back in her chair knowingly. “You pulled Lance Pritchard’s file, didn’t you?”

Mandy pursed her lips. “Did you pull his file?”

“Did you?”

“Did you?”

“I might have,” Sophie hedged.

“Did you see anything that … freaked you out?”

“Did you see anything that freaked you out?”

This could go on forever. “I pulled the file,” Mandy admitted. “I really wish I hadn’t.”

“I pulled it, too,” Sophie said. “I’m right there with you on the regret. I feel really bad for her.”

They were silent a moment.

“Did you tell Grady?” Mandy asked.

“No,” Sophie said, shaking her head. “I thought about it. It seemed like I was somehow burdening him, so I kept it to myself. Although, I’m really not comfortable keeping a secret from him.”

“You’re smarter than me,” Mandy said. “I showed the file to James.”

“And?”

“And he’s been staring at her and making her feel uncomfortable ever since,” Mandy said. “I told him to knock it off, and he says he’s going to try. I don’t think he’s being purposely rude. It’s just human nature.”

“Is that why you’re bribing him with bossy sex games?”

“Pretty much.”

“Well, whatever works.”

Emma joined Sophie and Mandy at the table a few minutes later, while Finn crossed over to play pool with his brothers. The three women couldn’t hear the conversation across the room – the music and chatter from the other bar denizens drowning it out – but the Hardy brothers looked like they were having a good time.

“It’s weird seeing them together,” Emma said, her eyes never moving from Finn.

“What do you mean?” Sophie asked.

“At first sight, they all kind of look different,” Emma said. “I think it’s the hair. They all have the same angular jaws, broad shoulders, and deep brown eyes. You can tell they’re related when they’re all standing together like that.”

“When Ally is around, she fits right in with them,” Mandy said. “Other than the broad shoulders. She’s just as bossy as they are, too.”

Emma laughed. “Yeah, I can see that.”

Conversation continued at the table, everyone sipping from a pitcher of beer and letting the jovial banter relax them. Every few minutes, the boasts at the pool table got big – and the laughter got even bigger – proving the Hardy men were having just as good a time as the women in their lives.

Unfortunately, the fun didn’t last.

Three men, all wearing leather motorcycle jackets and dull expressions on their faces, wedged themselves next to the table with the women.

“You three looked lonely over here,” one of the men, a rough-looking scoundrel with a scar on his left cheek and the name “Road Warrior” emblazoned on the back of his jacket, said as he sat down in the chair next to Sophie. “We thought we would give you some company.”

“We don’t need company,” Mandy said, keeping her tone cool and clipped. “We’re perfectly fine entertaining ourselves. In fact, we prefer it that way.”

“Ah, now, don’t be like that, blondie.”

Since James often used the nickname as a term of endearment, this Neanderthal using it chafed Mandy’s insides.

“Listen, we’re having a good time just the three of us,” Sophie interjected. “I’m sure you gentlemen are … paragons of good conversation the world over, but we’d rather be left alone.”

“What did you call me?”

“She called you an ass,” Mandy said, her temper flaring. “So why don’t you haul your asses back over to your table and leave us alone.”

“You have a mouth on you,” the man said.

“Someone should teach her how to use it,” one of the other man said, cackling maniacally.

Sophie leaned forward, keeping her voice low. “We are not alone,” she said. “And if you don’t leave this table right now, you’re not going to like what happens. I can pretty much guarantee it.”

“Something tells me I’ll like anything you want to give me, honey,” the third man said, reaching over and tugging on a strand of Sophie’s hair.

That did it. Mandy was on her feet, the pitcher of beer in her hand. She heaved it, the liquid inside landing on the moron touching Sophie’s hair, dousing him. The man ran a hand down his face, wiping the beer from his eyes, and fixing her with a murderous look. “You bitch!”

“Go,” Mandy ordered.

“Blondie, you’re going to be really sorry you did that,” Neanderthal number one said, grabbing her arm.

“Is there a problem here?”

Mandy shifted her gaze over the man’s shoulder, focusing on James. “These … gentlemen were just leaving.”

“It doesn’t look like it,” Grady said, moving in behind Sophie. “It looks like they’re harassing our women.”

“Your women?” Sophie asked, her eyes dark. “That’s a little insulting.”

Grady ignored her, never taking his eyes off the beer-soaked man who was standing far too close to his girlfriend. James was focused on the man closest to Mandy, specifically on the hand he had wrapped around her wrist. Finn had moved around the table so he could position himself at Emma’s side.

“Take your hand off her,” James warned.

“What is she to you?”

“The woman I’m going to beat your ass for touching,” James said.

“Are you threatening me?” The man stood up, releasing Mandy’s wrist so he could face James.

“Let’s find out,” James suggested.

This was bad, Mandy realized. This was really bad.

As bar brawls go, this fight wasn’t really one for the record books. Given their military training, the Hardy brothers had a handle on the situation before the rough-and-tumble hoodlums could throw more than one punch each, none of them making contact with their target.

James didn’t hesitate to slam his fist into the face of the man who’d dared to touch his girlfriend, leaving the man screaming and clutching at his nose – which proceeded to gush with blood.

Grady grabbed Sophie’s ‘friend’ by his hair before leading him away, slamming his foot into the man’s knee from behind and knocking him to the floor. He then lifted his knee and made contact with the man’s ribs – tossing him two feet into the air and onto his back – before yanking him back to his feet and pushing him toward the door.

Finn didn’t bother to hit his guy, but the complaining brute found his face slammed into one of the pillars in the middle of the room before being redirected to the exit. Finn professed a weak apology, but the grim smile on his face was a dead giveaway that he wasn’t really sorry.

After James, Grady, and Finn escorted them out of the building – and the rest of the bar patrons erupted into spontaneous applause – everyone settled back around the table.

“I was expecting more,” Mandy said, sighing with faux disappointment.

James rolled his eyes. “Excuse me?”

“I thought you would beat him down to protect my honor.”

“Weren’t you the one who threw the beer?”

“Maybe.”

“I think you protected your own honor,” James said. “I keep forgetting that you can take care of yourself. I don’t know why I keep forgetting that. You constantly manage to amaze me with your ingenuity.”

“You’re the one who taught me,” Mandy said. “You shouldn’t forget that.”

James slung his arm over the back of her chair. “Still, throwing the beer was probably a bad idea.”

“I knew you were right there to save me,” Mandy said.

“What if I wasn’t?”

“Then I probably would have thrown two pitchers of beer,” Mandy said, causing Sophie and Grady to start giggling.

“See, that’s what I’m afraid of,” James said, waving a finger in Mandy’s face for emphasis. “That right there is what scares the crap out of me.”

Mandy rested her head in the crook of James’ shoulder. “You love me and you know it.”

James pressed his lips to Mandy’s temple, refusing to rise to the bait. On the other side of the table, Grady was fawning over Sophie.

“Are you sure you’re all right?”

“I’m fine,” Sophie said. “The only thing insulted was my hair.” Sophie turned to Mandy. “Thanks for not getting the beer on me, by the way. That would have been a total bummer.”

“It’s not my first bar brawl,” Mandy said, smiling.

James cocked an eyebrow. “When were you in a bar brawl?”

“I went to college,” Mandy said. “I’ll have you know, I’ve instigated many a bar brawl over the years. Guys in bars just seem to be drawn to me.”

James chuckled. “I think they’re drawn to your sassy attitude,” he said. “They just want to see if they can find a way to shut you up.”

Mandy couldn’t really argue the point so, instead, she focused on Emma. The beautiful model seemed much more shaken by the exchange than Mandy and Sophie. “Are you okay?”

Finn was cupping Emma’s hands between his, but Mandy could see the woman was shaking.
Crap.

“Is she okay?” James asked.

Finn shrugged wordlessly, clearly unsure of why Emma was so upset.

“I’m okay,” Emma gritted out. “I just … I wasn’t really expecting that.”

“What?” Finn asked, pushing a few stray brown waves away from her face. “It really didn’t get out of hand. You were never in any real danger. I wouldn’t let that happen.”

“I’m used to people approaching me in public places,” Emma said. “That’s why I don’t go to bars very often. People get more brazen when they imbibe alcohol – which is why I avoid them. Stuff like this always happens. It gets old. I’ve just never seen … you were amazing.”

“It didn’t do all that much,” Finn said.

“I was talking about Mandy,” Emma said. “I can’t believe the way she went after them. She was so … forceful. She wasn’t going to take any of their crap. I’m just … amazed.”

“Yes, well Mandy has always had a mouth on her,” James said. “She likes to use it whenever she can.”

Mandy scowled.

“But she can take care of herself,” Emma said. “She took care of all of us. She stood up for all of us.”

James considered the statement. “She’s brave,” he agreed. “She stupid sometimes, but she’s always brave.”

Mandy pinched James’ thigh. “Take it back.”

James grunted. “No.”

Mandy pinched harder. “Take it back.”

James yanked his thigh out of her grip. “Fine, I take it back.” He rubbed his thigh ruefully. “Cripes, that hurt.”

“Well, you’re the one who said I could be the boss tonight,” Mandy said.

“Yeah, I thought that was going to include you tying me to the bed and torturing me with an ice cube or something,” James said. “I didn’t think it would include you being mean to me.”

“Being mean to you?” Mandy scoffed.

“You hurt my feelings,” James deadpanned.

“Oh, I’m going to hurt your feelings,” Mandy said.

James met her gaze evenly, sharing an unspoken conversation with the feisty blonde that spanned at least sixty ticks of the second hand on the clock. Suddenly, he climbed to his feet and hoisted her up next to him. “Well, I think we’re going to call it a night.”

Grady laughed. “Yep, I think we all saw that coming.”

Mandy waved haphazardly as James led her out of the bar at a quick pace. Once they were gone, Grady couldn’t stop his guffaws. “How much do you want to bet they don’t even make it home?”

“Someone better look for fogged up windows in the parking lot before we go,” Finn agreed. “We don’t want them to get arrested for public lewdness or anything. That would just be undignified.”

DURING
the ride back to the apartment, Finn was lost in thought. The trip to the bar had been fun, relaxing even, until the altercation. Even then, the fight hadn’t been more than a few loud words and a brief scuffle.

So why was Emma so upset?

Finn risked a glance at her over the console. Her gaze was pointed to the window, watching the businesses on the road skim by as he drove. She was a prisoner in her own mind – and Finn was pretty sure the thoughts trapping her were deep and dark.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

Emma glanced over at him. “About what?”

“I know something is wrong,” Finn said. “It might help if you talked about it.”

Emma inhaled deeply. “Have you ever been afraid?”

“Of course.”

“No, I mean really afraid?”

“I served a tour in Afghanistan,” Finn said. “I was afraid more often than I would like to admit. You can’t help it when you’re in the trenches. You either have to learn to live with the fear, overcome it, or you just succumb to it.”

“And yet you survived,” Emma said. “You did your job. You didn’t fall victim to it.”

Finn waited.

“I’m always afraid.”

Finn kept his eyes on the road, worried that even the slightest shift would force her to retreat inside of herself. “What are you afraid of?”

“Everything,” Emma said. “I’m afraid of everything.”

“Why do you think that is?”

“I know the easy answer,” Emma said. “I’m afraid because I always believe the rug is going to be yanked out from underneath me. That every time I get traction, real traction, I’m somehow going to lose it.”

“Because that’s what happened when your dad got arrested?”

“Because that’s what happened my whole life,” Emma said. “It’s not like things were good before he got arrested. People seem to think that, but it’s not true. It’s not like we were some happy family and then our lives were shattered. Things were always bad for us.

“And yeah, sure, things got really bad when my dad was arrested,” Emma continued. “They were never going to be good, though. Not in that house. Not with my family. We were all already ruined before the police even knocked on our door.”

Finn’s heart squeezed. Life in the Hardy house wasn’t perfect, but there was love and laughter. No one ever doubted his or her place in the world. Emma had never had that – and he wasn’t sure how to give it to her. He just knew he desperately wanted to.

“What you said about Mandy tonight, that she saved you and was brave,” Finn started.

“She was.”

“She is brave,” Finn said. “She didn’t save you. She mouthed off and handled the situation. That’s not saving someone.”

“That’s as close to a rescue as I’ve ever seen,” Emma said. “Mandy saved me tonight, and you saved me at the boat show. Those are the only two times in my life anyone has ever tried to save me. Those are the only two times anyone has ever cared enough to save me.”

That admission made Finn indescribably sad. “I don’t know what to say to you, what you need to hear to feel safe. I keep trying and I keep failing.”

Emma’s eyes widened. “You haven’t failed me one time since I’ve met you.”

“That’s not how it feels, Emma,” Finn said. “It feels like I’m constantly failing you.”

“That’s because I’m damaged,” Emma said, her voice without a trace of guile. “That’s because I’m broken.”

Finn swallowed the lump in his throat. “We’re all damaged, Emma. All of us. Mandy is damaged. James is damaged. I’m damaged. You can’t go through life without being damaged. But you are not broken. I’ll never let you break.”

“You’re always so earnest,” Emma said. “You wear your heart on your sleeve. When you say things like that, things that are so sweet they literally make my heart hurt, I want to believe you.”

“But you don’t, do you?”

“I want to.”

“How can I make you believe?”

Emma shrugged. “Maybe you’re not the one who has to make me believe,” she said. “Maybe I’m the one who has to finally let go and grow up. Life isn’t a fairytale. It’s certainly better than what I was living, though.”

Finn nodded, parking the Escalade in front of the apartment and killing the engine. He didn’t open the door right away. Instead, he reached over and grabbed her hand. They sat in the vehicle, silent, for almost ten full minutes. Then, they wordlessly exited together.

That night, when they made love, it was slow and sensuous. No words were spoken. No fervent groans and grunts were uttered. They just lost themselves in each other until they were spent.

When they were done, Finn wrapped his body around hers – warding away the evil memories that threatened her dreams – and protected her from her own dark thoughts with the only weapon he had: His heart.