Deadly Arrival (Hardy Brothers Security Book 16) (11 page)

“Hey, maybe you’ll get lucky and she’ll get food poisoning again,” Grady suggested. “That would put her down for days and she wouldn’t want to leave the house.”

“That’s a good idea,” James deadpanned. “I shall ask the cook to poison my wife. That won’t bother her at all.”

“Grady, you’re still up,” Emma said, causing him to groan. “You’re not leaving until you get it right.”

“I think we should order takeout,” Sophie suggested. “I have a feeling it’s going to be a long night.”

“Thank you for your support, sugar,” Grady grumbled.

“Who wants Middle Eastern?” Sophie asked, ignoring Grady’s pouty countenance.

“Oh, that sounds wonderful,” Emma said. “Can we get ice cream, too?”

“You’re pregnant,” Sophie replied. “You can get whatever you want. In fact … Grady, whatever you’re supposed to be doing, get moving. You’re not leaving until we’re both satisfied you’ve got this down.”

Grady shot a dirty look in James’ direction as his brother strolled past. “I think this is your fault,” he said. “I haven’t figured out how to pin it on you yet, but I will.”

“Have fun,” James said, humming the theme to
Jaws
as he headed toward the door. “I know I’m going to, even if I have to bribe my baby with seafood to do it.”

“Are we sure this is the place?” Finn asked, hopping out of Grady’s truck the next morning and glancing at the nondescript, two-story home doubtfully. “It looks like a regular house.”

“What did you expect?” Grady asked, pocketing his keys. “DeAngelo’s ex lives here. It’s not his house.”

“And what did Peter’s report say again?” Finn was nervous. Grady didn’t blame him. He knew his brother hated leaving Emma, but since James was still undergoing training – and Finn was desperate to be proactive – the youngest Hardy brother insisted on going to New Haven with Grady when Peter’s men reported a sighting of DeAngelo in the northern Macomb County hamlet.

“Just that three different people saw him skulking around the neighborhood.”

“Do we think the girlfriend let him in?”

“I think the girlfriend has probably moved on,” Grady replied. “DeAngelo was on his third year of a twenty-year sentence for murder. Most women aren’t going to wait twenty years for a guy to get out of prison.”

“Who did he murder?”

“The girlfriend’s brother,” Grady answered.

“Nice,” Finn muttered, following Grady up the steps and watching as his brother knocked.

Angela Lange opened the door, the sun shining off her ebony hair, and fixed the Hardy brothers with a dark look. “Are you cops?”

“We’re security professionals,” Grady replied smoothly, gracing Angela with a charming smile. “We need to ask you some questions about DeAngelo.”

“The cops have already been here asking questions,” Angela said.

“We have different questions.”

Angela sighed and pushed open the door, ushering Finn and Grady into a neat, but tiny, living room. “Have a seat.”

The men did as instructed, waiting for Angela to situate herself before launching into their questions.

“We know DeAngelo was in the area last night,” Grady said, opting to mix honesty with a bluff. “How long did you talk?”

“What makes you think we talked?”

“Call it … intuition,” Grady answered. “There’s only one reason he would come to this area. It’s not easily accessible to a freeway. You’re what he came to see.”

“Listen, I don’t want any trouble,” Angela said. “If you’re here to shake me down for money … .”

“We don’t care about money,” Grady interjected. “We don’t even really care about DeAngelo. Granted, we’re not thrilled he’s wandering around the streets as a free man, but we’re more interested in Lance Pritchard.”

“The pedophile?”

“Yes,” Grady replied, darting a worried look at Finn. His brother’s face was impassive. “We only care about DeAngelo in the sense that he might be able to lead us to Pritchard.”

“He stopped by last night,” Angela admitted. “He showed up at the back door and just about scared me to death.”

“Did DeAngelo know you lived here?”

Angela shook her head. “I moved here six months ago,” she explained. “I changed my last name two years ago. He still managed to find me.”

Grady knit his eyebrows together. “I’m confused how he found you,” he said. “Did you go to extreme measures to hide your whereabouts?”

“It’s harder to explain than that,” Angela said. “The thing is … well … I knew DeAngelo was trouble when I met him. I was sixteen and he was twenty-five, and all the girls in the neighborhood were wild about him because he drove a fast car and flirted with everyone.

“I thought I won the lottery when we hooked up,” she continued. “That lasted until the first time he hit me. I was scared to get out of the relationship, so I stayed with him. He wanted to get me pregnant, but I took birth control pills on the side and kept it to myself.”

“That was probably smart,” Grady said. “Why did he kill your brother?”

“At a certain point I decided I was done and asked my brother to help me move,” Angela responded. “DeAngelo walked in when we were almost done and … got angry. He stabbed my brother in the neck with an ink pen and then watched him die. He ate a sandwich while my brother gasped his last breath.”

Grady’s heart rolled. “I’m sorry that happened to you.”

“My brother’s death is my fault,” Angela said. “I didn’t kill him, but I created the situation that took him out of this world. I’ll never forgive myself. Neither will my mother.”

“That doesn’t seem fair,” Finn said. “I’m sure everyone made mistakes. You didn’t kill your brother, though.”

“It doesn’t matter to my mother,” Angela said. “Since I was on my own, I decided to change my last name and make a clean break from everything. I got a job as a secretary and I took on my father’s last name. My mother always hated him, so it somehow seemed fitting that I take on his last name when she started hating me. I got a job in the suburbs and moved up here. I was trying to put all of that behind me.”

“Did DeAngelo know your father’s last name?”

“My father didn’t raise me, and I can’t remember DeAngelo ever asking about my father, so I honestly don’t think he did,” Angela said. “I’m not sure how he found me.”

“He probably went to someone you used to know and put the pieces together,” Grady said. “Still, he worked fast to do that on his own. He has to be working with someone.”

“Other than Pritchard, you mean?” Finn asked.

“Both of them managed to uncover information about the people they were looking for a heck of a lot faster than they should’ve been able to do it,” Grady said. “They’re getting help from someone. We need to find out who that person is. They could lead us to Pritchard.”

“Did DeAngelo try to hurt you?” Finn asked.

Angela shook her head. “He actually apologized. He stole all the money I had on me, but he apologized. He didn’t touch me.”

“Why didn’t you call the police?” Grady asked.

“I want to forget my old life,” Angela said. “I can’t do that if I’m in the middle of things again. I just want to let it go.”

“Do you think he’ll come back?” Finn asked.

“There’s nothing left for him here,” Angela said. “If he does show back up, I’ll call the police. I don’t want to be involved, but I’m not going to ignore things a second time.”

“I have one more question,” Grady said. “Did DeAngelo mention anything about where any of the men he escaped were going?”

“He didn’t say one word about anyone but himself,” Angela said. “Trust me. If he had said something about Pritchard, I would’ve called the police right away. That man is a blight on humanity.”

“And then some,” Finn intoned.

JAKE
shook hands with Harlan Lassiter, the warden at Jackson’s prison, and took the seat across from his desk.

“Thank you for seeing me.”

“Mr. Hardy explained your situation, although only marginally,” Lassiter said. “I understand how worried you all must be, especially since Pritchard managed to make it into the Macomb County courthouse undetected. Did you guys figure out how he did that?”

“He went in through the garage,” Jake answered. “There are cameras out there, but it’s a municipal lot and only for county employees. He stole one of the parking stickers off a car in downtown Mount Clemens and then waltzed right in with a different car.”

“Where did he get the second car?”

“He stole it from a residential street a few blocks away,” Jake said. “He dumped it on the other side of Mount Clemens upon leaving the courthouse. They’ve closed off the garage for now, but I’m not sure it matters. Pritchard would have to be a moron to return to the building.”

“He’s definitely not a moron,” Lassiter said, glancing at the office window before turning his attention back to Jake. “Is it true you’re close with Pritchard’s daughter?”

“I work for her fiancée and future brother-in-law.”

“What is she like?” Lassiter asked. “I know her mother is evil and her brother is in prison, too. Is she the only good apple in the bunch?”

“While I don’t condone what Jeff Pritchard did – I don’t think theft is ever okay – he’s not a bad guy from what I understand,” Jake argued. “He was desperate to feed himself and Emma. He did some bad things. He did not do them out of malice.”

“That’s not what I asked,” Lassiter pressed. “How is the daughter?”

“Emma is the sweetest woman I’ve ever met.”

“It sounds like you have a thing for her,” Lassiter said, causing Jake to frown.

“I live with a woman,” Jake replied. “In fact, I live with Finn Hardy’s sister. Finn and Emma are engaged. I consider Emma part of my family. I do not think of her in that manner.”

“Because she’s damaged goods?”

Jake knit his eyebrows together. He was starting to dislike Lassiter. “Because I’m in love with my girlfriend,” he corrected. “Emma was already involved with Finn when I was introduced to the family.”

“I’m not asking because I like to gossip,” Lassiter said. “I can tell by your face that I offended you. I’m sorry if my manner is obnoxious. I’m under a lot of pressure for this mistake. I’m trying to cover my bases, and if this Emma is helping her father … .”

“Emma and her brother were Pritchard’s victims, too,” Jake said, cutting Lassiter off. “He did the same thing to them that he did to those other kids.”

“I didn’t know that,” Lassiter said. “There were no charges in his file regarding either of them.”

“They were embarrassed and afraid,” Jake said. “Trust me. Emma is not helping her father. He’s coming after her. We have no doubt about that. The woman he accosted at the courthouse is also a member of the Hardy family. She’s James Hardy’s wife. The only reason he went after her is because we have Emma locked up. He told Mandy he was going after Emma to finish what he started.”

“He’s a sick freak,” Lassiter said. “Was the woman hurt?”

“No,” Jake answered. “She’s okay. Emma is nine months pregnant, though. She’s due to deliver any day now. We want Pritchard taken out before that happens. What can you tell me about his stay here?”

“He was … an enigma,” Lassiter said. “He caused a lot of trouble when he first arrived. He was racist and got his ass kicked a few times before he learned to lead instead of oppress. I’m sure he was still a racist. He just learned to hide it.”

“Did he get in a lot of trouble?”

“Not really,” Lassiter replied. “He manipulated others into doing his bidding and they got in trouble, if that makes sense.”

“How did he do that?”

“He found God.”

Jake tilted his head to the side, confused. “I don’t understand. Are you saying he’s religious? He didn’t act religious when he threw Mandy against a wall and pulled her hair.”

“He’s not religious,” Lassiter explained. “He pretends to be religious. He started holding Bible study. Every single person who fell under his spell went after Pritchard’s enemies. It wasn’t a coincidence.”

“How come you didn’t stop him?”

“I couldn’t stop him,” Lassiter said. “He wasn’t technically doing anything wrong, and we didn’t have proof that he ordered any of his congregants to carry out the attacks. It was one of those things we knew, but we couldn’t prove it.”

“What about the men Pritchard escaped with? Were they part of his religious circle?”

“No,” Lassiter said. “We’ve been over the footage a hundred times. DeAngelo attacked the guard and the other three just took advantage of the situation. None of them were close. They merely became brothers in arms to escape.”

“We’re pretty sure they all split up on the outside,” Jake said. “My co-workers questioned Lupo personally before turning him into the police. Two people are out following a lead on DeAngelo right now. I have a feeling they’re all going to be caught separately.”

“It would be easy if we could find them together, but I’m under no delusion that’s going to happen,” Lassiter said. “The odds of me being in charge when any of those men return are not good.”

“Do you think you’re going to get fired?”

“I think I’ll be forced to give up my post for the good of the prison,” Lassiter replied. “It’s my fault these men managed to escape. It highlights deficiencies in the security system.

“I’m not offering myself up as a sacrificial lamb, if that’s what you’re thinking, but I think I’m the one who should be punished for what happened here,” he continued. “It’s not set in stone yet, but the minute one of those men kills someone, I’ll officially be done in corrections.”

“I’m sorry you’re dealing with this,” Jake said. “Regarding Pritchard, though, did he ever talk about his family?”

“He talked about them nonstop,” Lassiter replied. “He was desperate to see them. He acted as if he missed and loved them, but there was an air of menace beneath his words. You could tell he wanted to hurt them.”

“Did he ever talk about Emma specifically?”

“Not that I can recall,” Lassiter said. “Keep in mind, I didn’t spend much time with the man myself. He made my skin crawl. It was still important for me to keep up to date on our worst criminals, and Pritchard was on the top of that list.

“He never said anything about Emma that I heard,” he continued. “That doesn’t mean she wasn’t on his radar. It simply means he did a good job keeping his intentions secret.”

“Do you think Pritchard will go quietly when caught?”