Deadly Conflicts (Hardy Brothers Security Book 21) (13 page)

Jake snorted. “Oh, I love you so much, angel. That right there is only one reason why.”

“I guess we’re a good match.”

Jake clutched her tighter. “We’re the best match.”
And we’re going to be even better in a few days when I can give you everything you wan
t, he silently added. It was close. He just had to get all of his ducks in a row. He would make her happy if it was the last thing he ever did.

J
ames woke
to the familiar sensation of Mandy body weight resting on his, her smooth skin pressed against his chest, and took a moment just to enjoy his life. The sun filtered in through the half-closed blinds on the window and the bed – which used to be in Mandy’s old apartment – was comfortable and friendly. They first made love on this mattress, and he was reticent to ever replace it because it held an important spot in his heart.

“What are you thinking?” Mandy murmured, her eyes remaining closed as she nestled closer. “If you want to do it again I’m going to need something with caffeine to wake me up.”

James chuckled. “I was thinking that … I am so content I don’t even know what to do with myself.”

Mandy finally wrenched her eyes open as James smoothed her tangled hair. As usual, the shark projector put her in a wild mood. They added blueberry margaritas to the mix and had a grand time of it. They were so loud he briefly wondered if his parents heard them. In the end, he didn’t care enough to take things down a notch.

“You’re content, huh?”

James nodded. “Blissful. If we spent the rest of our lives exactly like this I would die a happy man.”

Mandy propped herself up on one elbow so she could stare down at him, the sheet falling down her bare back and revealing a naked breast. James cupped it with one hand, rubbing it lovingly.

“You have a wonderfully romantic streak,” she said. “I didn’t think you did when we first got together – and I was fine with it – but you are amazing.”

“Ooh, you’re the amazing one,” James said, snaking his arm around her waist and resting it on her naked bottom. “Do you want to be amazing together before breakfast?”

Mandy giggled. “What about your parents? They’re probably wondering where we are.”

“For your information, we’re not wondering where you are,” Louis said, appearing in the doorway of the upstairs guesthouse bedroom. “We heard the ruckus last night and we’re not stupid.”

“Omigod!” Mandy shrieked as she dived under the sheet to cover herself, inadvertently kneeing James very close to his groin with her efforts.

“Careful, baby,” James instructed, fixing his father with a dark look. “What in the hell are you doing up here?”

Louis met James’ challenging gaze without flinching and tossed his son’s cell phone at him. It landed on his chest when James didn’t make a move to reach for it. “That has been going off for an hour. I figured it might be important.”

James grabbed the phone and checked the screen. “There aren’t any missed calls.”

“Yes, but Jake has been texting for an hour and he’s all worked up,” Louis said. “I didn’t mean to read the messages, but they scrolled across the screen like magic and I couldn’t help myself. You really should get better security on that thing.”

“I have a passcode,” James said.

“Mandy’s birthday.”

“There’s a backup passcode, too.”

“Your wedding day,” Louis said. “Seriously, upgrade your phone security.”

“Yes, well, I’m used to living alone with my wife and not having to worry about it,” James grumbled, thumbing to the text messages and furrowing his brow as he read them. “Um, baby?”

“Don’t talk to me,” Mandy ordered. “I’m not here … and I’m definitely not naked.”

“Don’t worry, honey,” Louis said. “I didn’t see anything … not that I was looking, of course. You’re a lucky man, son.” He offered James a teasing wink.

“How did you even get in here?” James groused. “I locked the door.”

“Yes, but I have three sons in the security business and I know how to pick a lock,” Louis said. “You should’ve set the security system before retiring. I have a feeling you had other things on your mind, though. I believe there was some horse racing going on because I kept hearing Mandy yell ‘giddyap, little sharky.’”

James fought the urge to laugh – and failed. “That’s a long story.”

“I don’t need to hear it,” Louis said. “I just wanted you to have your phone and your mother wants you to know that breakfast will be ready in fifteen minutes.”

“Thank you, Dad,” James said. “I’m thrilled to hear that. We might not make it to breakfast, though.”

“If you don’t, your mother will come looking for you.”

“We’ll be there,” Mandy squeaked, causing Louis to chuckle.

“She’s so darned cute I can’t stand it,” Louis said, shaking his head as he turned to leave. “I would text Jake back, too. He sounds angry.”

“Yeah, I noticed,” James said dryly, glancing at the lump under the covers. “Baby, you didn’t tell Ally Jake’s plans by any chance, did you?”

Mandy was offended, even though she refused to take her head out from beneath the sheet. “Of course not! I’m not stupid. I wouldn’t ruin things for Ally.”

“Jake thinks you did.”

“Well, Jake is a butthead.”

James pressed the heel of his hand to his forehead. “He says Ally asked where he saw their future going last night,” he said. “That seems a little coincidental that she would bring it up so close to Jake proposing.”

“What are you accusing me of?”

James pushed the tip of his tongue against the back of his teeth as he considered his options. He wasn’t particularly in the mood for a fight. “I’m accusing you of being the love of my life.”

“Good answer, son,” Louis said as he descended the stairs. “Don’t forget breakfast. Your mother will come looking for you if you’re late.”

“And we don’t want that,” James said, patiently waiting for Mandy to poke her head out. When she did, he fixed her with a pointed look. “Are you sure you didn’t say anything to Ally?”

“Of course not!”

“Okay.” James kissed Mandy’s forehead. “It must’ve just been some weird coincidence. I wouldn’t worry about it.”

“I’m not worried,” Mandy muttered.

“So … we have ten minutes until breakfast,” James said. “What do you want to do?”

“Go back in time so your father doesn’t see me naked.”

“I can’t arrange that but, I think I can schedule a trip of another sort if you want to join me in the shower and multitask.”

“Fine,” Mandy grumbled, throwing the sheet off her body and hopping off the bed. “You’d better wow me, though.”

“Consider it done.”

“
A
RE YOU
sure
?”

Jake didn’t want to call his boss a liar, but ever since Ally pressed him on the issue of their future he couldn’t get the idea of Mandy letting something slip out of his head. Ally seemed happy with their living arrangements before yesterday. Now Jake was nervous and antsy and he needed someone to blame. A loose-lipped blonde seemed like an easy mark.

“She didn’t say anything,” James said, following Jake into a dark parking garage on the south side of Warren. “I asked her twice. She said she wouldn’t do that to Ally and I believe her.”

“I’m not saying she did it on purpose,” Jake clarified. “It just defies reason for Ally to bring it up when she did.”

“I agree,” James said. “Mandy didn’t say anything, though. She’s gossipy, but she would never do something like that. She loves Ally too much. If she did do it she would freak out and run to me to fix it.”

“Maybe she told someone else,” Jake suggested.

“No, she would tell me that, too,” James said. “She can’t keep her mouth shut. Even when she does something wrong she tells me. She’s a terrible liar. I would know.”

“Then I don’t know what to do,” Jake said. “Ally looked so sad I almost blurted it out right then and there. I don’t even pick up the ring for another two hours.”

“Chill out, drama queen,” James intoned, narrowing his eyes as he studied the numbers on the wall. “Sven said it was just around this corner. He should be waiting for us.”

James was in the middle of an uncomfortable family breakfast – Mandy refusing to make eye contact as Louis kept laughing to himself – when he got a call from Peter. Someone found a car matching the description of Vince’s stolen model in an abandoned parking structure in one of Macomb County’s largest cities. The parking garage itself was rundown and ramshackle. It was due to be destroyed later in the week, in fact. James couldn’t believe the car would be that easy to find – or think of a rational reason for someone to dump it in an empty garage after all the work it took to steal it – but he knew he had to exert due diligence and check it out.

“It’s over here.”

James recognized Sven’s voice and moved in that direction until he saw a familiar figure under the limited emergency light on the wall. Sven stood next to the car, his boredom evident, and waited for James to close the distance.

“Well, it certainly looks like our car,” Jake said, shaking his head as he circled the vehicle. “It still has all of the tires and rims, which defies logic.”

“The VIN matches, too,” Sven said. “I checked it myself. No one tried to file it.”

“Huh.” James moved to the driver’s side door and opened it. “How long were you listening to us before speaking, by the way?”

“Long enough to know that Mandy is a blabbermouth, but you would die denying it and that Jake is going to propose, which will make Ally very happy,” Sven replied, not missing a beat. “She’s my favorite – other than Sophie, of course.”

“What about Mandy?”

Sven shrugged. “I like Mandy, too. Ally has a very loud personality, though. Mandy has a weird shark fetish that worries me. Ally’s very cute when she bats her eyes.”

“I’m not sure if that should worry me or not,” Jake said, running his hand over the trunk. “There’s not one mark on this car. It doesn’t make sense. Who would risk stealing a car like this in the middle of a festival for a joyride?”

“That’s a good question,” Sven said. “As for worrying, you don’t have to. I think Ally is adorable, but I would have to kill myself if I lived with her. You’re a very patient man.”

Jake chuckled. “She’s my angel.”

“She also doesn’t shut up,” Sven said. “Don’t you ever just want to gag her so you can have an hour of peace to watch a baseball game?”

Jake shrugged. “Not really. She’s not as chatty when it’s just the two of us. She likes to talk, don’t get me wrong, but she’s perfectly happy with a book and a glass of wine.”

“I have trouble believing that,” Sven said. “What about the blonde?”

“What about her?” James asked, sliding into the driver’s seat and making a face. “Whoever took this car was short. My legs are almost up to my chest the seat is so close.”

“Don’t touch the lever,” Sven instructed. “We’ll dust it for prints.”

“I’m not new,” James said, making a face. “What were you about to say about my wife, by the way?”

“Does she ever sit quietly and read?”

“She likes to read,” James answered. “She’s quiet a lot of the time. She often likes to go to her studio and paint by herself, too. Sometimes she allows me to go with her, but most of the time she prefers to work alone and then show me the finished product.”

“I thought you guys painted naked sometimes,” Jake interjected.

James smiled. “We do, but those aren’t serious projects. When she’s working on something serious she likes quiet. She can’t even listen to music.”

“That surprises me,” Sven said. “I thought for sure she was loud and chatty all of the time.”

“Only during the really good times,” James said, opening the glove compartment and wrinkling his nose. “It’s empty.”

“The car is new,” Sven pointed out. “Did you really expect to find something inside?”

“No. I just … this is so weird.”

“It is definitely weird,” Jake said. “Still, we found it and we can return it to Vince. Once we do that there’s no reason for him to show his stupid face again.”

“I think you’re just annoyed because he’s sniffing around Ally,” James said, feeling underneath the dash. “I don’t blame you, though. He’s an asshole and I don’t like the way he’s looking at her either.”

“I’m sure we can fit him with some cement boots if you’re that worried,” Sven drawled, causing James to do a double take. Sven’s sense of humor was rarely on display, and when it did come out to play it took a little bit of time to adjust.

“I think I’ll just deliver the car and threaten him the old-fashioned way,” James said. “I do want to dust for prints first. Let’s see if we can get video from this area, too. I doubt anyone saw anything, but it doesn’t hurt to look.”

“What about the video from the festival?” Jake asked. “Did Maverick find anything?”

Maverick was Hardy Brothers Security’s technical guru. He was an immature social moron, but also a computer genius.

“I called him, but he was taking part in some
World of Warcraft
tournament and couldn’t look at the footage until today,” James answered. “Since he sleeps until noon, I don’t expect him to start working for another two hours.”

“Well, task him with finding video here, too,” Jake said. “If we could figure out when this car was dumped we might have a better idea of why any of this happened.”

“I’m not sure I can think of any scenario that makes sense,” James said. “Still, you’re right. Let’s dust for prints, run them, see what we can find on the video, and then get this car back to Vince. The sooner he’s out of our lives, the better.”

“Amen,” Jake intoned.

“I still think we should fit him for boots,” Sven said. “If we can’t gag your women, we could at least gag him. It’s been a boring two weeks and I’m itching to have some fun.”

“You’re a really weird dude,” James said. “Like … really weird.”

“From the man who plays shark with his wife as part of a sex game, I’ll take that as a compliment.”