Deadly Dealings (Hardy Brothers Security Book 13) (14 page)

“When are we going to do that?” Grady pressed.

“I … we’ll have a family dinner tomorrow and go over everything.”

“I guess that’s fair,” Grady said, sighing. “We could call everyone over and do it now. This is a serious case. Mandy almost died. We should talk about it now.”

“Grady.” Sophie’s voice was low and full of warning.

“I’m going to pop your head like a zit,” James threatened.

Grady finally let his expression slip and he graced his brother and sister-in-law with a smile. “I’m glad you two are having fun and not letting things get you down. That being said, though, I was worried. I need you to respond when I text and email you.”

Realization dawned on James. “Oh. I didn’t think that through. I’m actually sorry about that.”

“I’m going to let it go this time,” Grady said. “Don’t do it again, though. I’m serious. I was … worried.”

“I’m sorry,” James said, contrite. “That was stupid of me.”

“Well, I’m used to you being stupid,” Grady said. “We’re going to leave you two to … whatever it is you’re doing. We have our own love nozzle in our hot tub across town and we want to play with it, too.”

James scowled. “We were just … having a little competition.”

“There’s no way for the man to win the competition with the love nozzle,” Grady said, tugging on Sophie’s hand so he could draw her back in the direction of the house. “The woman can win ten times in a row if you do it right, though.”

“Ten times?” James was intrigued. “We should try that, baby.”

Grady didn’t get a chance to hear Mandy’s response because she was squealing so loudly he couldn’t make out her words. He was glad they were enjoying themselves – and more importantly, safe – but he was also annoyed for having to make an unnecessary trip.

“Come on, Sophie,” he said, pulling her behind him. “We’re going to see if we can get you up to eleven in our hot tub. I have no intention of losing to them.”

“Your home is as lovely as ever,” Peter said, leaning in so he could hug Mandy the following evening. “And you are as lovely as ever.”

Mandy preened under the compliment. “And you’re as charming as ever.”

“Stop hitting on my wife,” James said, shaking Peter’s hand in greeting and ushering him into the house. “I’m glad you could make it for the big pow wow.”

“When Sophie called and asked, I was thrilled with the invitation,” Peter said, following Mandy and James into the living room. “I enjoy spending time with all of you and I do think we need to make a plan so we can deal with this problem.”

“I agree,” James said. “We’re still waiting for Finn and Emma, though, so I was hoping we could wait to talk about the serious stuff. I don’t want to have to go over everything twice. We can leave the hens here to cluck and go out to the guesthouse for drinks and to talk after dinner.”

“That sounds fine,” Peter said, smirking at the way Mandy rolled her eyes.

“Hens?” Mandy made a face. “Did you just call me a hen?”

“Cluck, cluck, wife,” James said, leaning over so he could kiss her cheek.

“I hate to break it to you, but I’m as much a part of this as you are.”

“Mandy, you’re not getting involved in this,” James warned. “I don’t want to fight, but I will dig my heels in on this. You almost died on me. You’re not doing anything but sitting there and looking pretty until this one is solved. Period.”

Mandy narrowed her eyes. She wasn’t particularly in the mood to fight either, but she was willing to give in to her baser urges if it became necessary. “Shouldn’t I be able to help catch the people who tried to kill me?”

“I’m doing that for you,” James said, plastering a smile on his face and fixing his attention on Peter. “What do you want to drink?”

“A glass of wine is fine,” Peter said, pursing his lips as he tried to refrain from laughing at Mandy’s murderous face.

“Red or white?”

“Red.”

“I’m not done talking to you,” Mandy said, hurrying after James.

“Oh, I know you’re not,” James said. “You can keep clucking while I get our guest a drink. That’s the polite thing to do, after all.”

Mandy graced Peter with an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry. I am being rude. I’m still going to kill my husband.”

“That’s unfortunate. I think you’ll regret it. If you need to hide his body, though, I’m sure I can be of assistance.”

Given Peter’s line of work it was hard not to worry that he was being serious, but Mandy couldn’t stop herself from laughing. “I’ll keep that in mind. Did you hear that, James?”

“I heard it,” James replied, unruffled as he poured a glass of wine for Peter. “He’s only telling you that because he finds you delightful and cute. If he spends more than a few hours in a row with you, he’s going to be fitting you with your own set of cement boots.”

Mandy scowled. “My husband is irritating me this evening.”

“Something tells me it won’t last,” Peter said, his eyes twinkling as he accepted the glass of wine. “So, tell me, how are you feeling after your ordeal?”

“I’m good,” Mandy said. “I feel back to one hundred percent.”

James shot her a challenging look. “She’s still having nightmares.”

“They’re not horrible,” Mandy said hurriedly. “They’re just sort of … vivid.”

“Nightmares are a particularly nasty side effect of Twilight,” Peter said. “You’re lucky you’re on your feet, young lady. You should be nicer to your husband. He’s only looking out for you.”

Mandy scowled. “When did you turn on me? I thought you were on my side.”

“I’m always on your side,” Peter said. “I happen to agree with your husband, though, and you should be taking it easy and letting him dote on you. I think he likes it and most women would kill to be in your position.”

“See,” James said, snagging Mandy around the waist and pulling her with him so they could settle in the armchair at the edge of the room. “I’m right and you should let me dote on you. I think we’re going to invite Peter to drop by daily to remind you of that.”

“Just once I want to be right,” Mandy grumbled.

“You were right the day you agreed to marry me,” James said. “Everything else pales in comparison.”

“Oh, so smug,” Mandy grumbled.

Even though they were sparring, James couldn’t help but enjoy the rush of love that washed over him when he looked at his wife. “I am smug,” James agreed. “I also love you and won’t put you in danger. You’re going to have to let me do this my way, wife. This time it’s my show. You’re going to be a hen and enjoying your clucking with the other loud birds.”

“If you don’t stop calling me a hen … .”

“You’re the prettiest hen in the coop, baby,” James said. “You’re still not getting involved in this.”

“We’ll see,” Mandy muttered.

“We will,” James agreed.

Peter decided to change the subject. “That is a lovely painting,” he said, his attention drifting to Mandy’s work of art on the wall. “Where did you commission it? Did they do it from a photograph?”

“The artist did do it from a photograph,” James said, glancing at the painting. “Mandy is the artist, though.”

Peter perked up. “You painted that? My dear, I had no idea you were so talented. That is quite good.”

“Do you really think so?” Mandy wrinkled her nose. “I’m always worried people say that because they don’t want to hurt my feelings.”

“I had no idea it was your work so you can’t say that about me.”

“That’s true,” Mandy said, beaming. “I just finished one for Ally and Jake, too.”

“Speaking of Ally and Jake, where are they?” James asked.

“I told her the painting was done and she couldn’t wait for Jake to see it,” Mandy replied. “Sophie and Grady went out there, too.”

James snorted. “I wish you would’ve told me they were going out there,” he said. “I can’t wait to see how Jake reacts to the photo Ally picked.”

Peter was intrigued. “Mandy did a similar painting for Ally and Jake?”

“She did,” James replied.

“Is there something wrong with it?”

“No, my wife did beautiful work – like she always does,” James said, tickling Mandy’s ribs. “My sister, however, picked a photograph where she looks like the center of Jake’s world. It’s … hilarious.”

“I think Jake is going to like it,” Mandy said, crossing her arms over her chest.

“I think Jake is going to put up with it because you painted it and Ally is going to love it,” James countered. “I think Jake is going to think he looks like a goofball.”

“Now I want to see this painting,” Peter said, smiling widely.

The sound of the sliding glass door opening – followed by loud voices – caused James to grin. “I have a feeling you’re about to.”

Jake stalked into the room, Mandy’s painting clutched in one hand and an annoyed Ally trailing close behind. “Did you see this?”

“I saw it yesterday,” James said, fighting to keep a straight face. “I think you look … awesome.”

Grady walked into the room with Sophie, his eyes bright. “I love that painting. I think Jake looks manly and stern and Ally looks like a demure flower in his presence.”

“Shut up, Grady,” Jake snapped. “I look as if I’m stoned and Ally is the last slice of pizza on the planet.”

“I told you I was going to have a painting done,” Ally said, her voice bordering on petulant. “I have no idea why you’re being such a … pain … about this. I think it’s beautiful. I love it.”

“That’s because you look like a supermodel,” Jake argued. “I look like the guy who carries the supermodel’s water around so she never gets thirsty.”

James’ chest shook with silent laughter and Mandy shot him a look. “It’s not funny, James.”

“It’s definitely not funny,” Jake said.

“I truly love this family,” Peter said, leaning back on the couch and surveying the room. “You’re all such … spitfires.”

“I’m about to spit fire,” Jake muttered. “I just … I look like the eighth dwarf and his name is Whipped.”

“I think you just nailed your new nickname,” James said.

“I CAN’T
believe the women all agreed to sit over in the main house and let us talk about this without them,” Grady said, glancing out of the saloon’s window and making sure he could see all of the women sitting around the table by the sliding glass door. “They’re all over there, though.”

“Emma has no interest in what we’re doing,” Finn said. “She’s happy when she gets fed and has her feet rubbed.”

“You’re lucky,” James said. “Mandy is going to be hopping mad when I get back over there tonight.”

“Sophie, too,” Grady said.

“Ally is already angry,” Jake said, leaning back in his chair and sipping his whiskey. “I can’t believe you knew about that painting and didn’t warn me, James.”

“Hey, I didn’t know about that painting until last night,” James shot back. “I told Mandy you were going to have a problem with it. I honestly didn’t think you would make a scene, though. That was a nice chick move there.”

“It took me by surprise,” Jake admitted. “If I’d had a minute by myself to see it ... .”

“You still would’ve hated it,” James supplied.

“I don’t hate it,” Jake clarified. “Ally looks like a dream in it.”

“Your dream,” Finn teased.

“I don’t want to talk about the painting,” Jake said. “I’m going to have to do eight different naughty things to get Ally out of her funk tonight as it is.”

“Nice,” James said. “That’s a great thing to say to her brothers.”

“You’re the reason I have to do them,” Jake shot back. “You and the … painting.”

“I like Whipped Jake,” Grady said, smiling brightly. “He has … personality.”

“I will beat you,” Jake warned.

Peter shifted in his chair, enjoying the interplay but anxious to get to the topic at hand. James didn’t miss his movement.

“I think we need to focus on Peter,” James said. “It’s time to get serious. We can talk about Whipped Jake later.”

“I hate you all,” Jake muttered.

“We need to discuss what we’re going to do about the Twilight problem,” Peter said.

“I don’t like hearing it’s on college campuses,” Finn said, his face turning dark. “That means bad things could be happening to young women.”

“That concerns me,” Peter agreed. “I hate to say it, but it concerns me less than the missing girls.”

“We know we have six missing women,” James said, rubbing the back of his neck. “I’m curious how these women were drugged at haunted houses and parties and removed without anyone seeing it.”

“Do we know that’s the case?” Grady asked. “Has anyone been in contact with anyone from the sheriff’s department since that day at the hospital?”

James shook his head. “They seemed eager to share information. I didn’t pay as much attention as I should have.”

“You were focused on Mandy,” Jake said. “That’s where your attention was supposed to be. We’ve let this case get … muddled … because we’re all over the place.”

“Well said, Whipped Jake,” Grady said. “I’m going to go to the sheriff tomorrow and see what he has. I’m going to tell him what we have. If we put both sides together we have a shot of coming up with a better picture of what’s going on.”

“I think that’s a good idea,” Peter said. “I think you should take Sophie with you.”

Grady balked. “No way. I don’t want her involved.”

“If you try to cut her out completely she’ll do something stupid,” Peter warned. “Involve her. Let her be a part of this. If you do, she won’t fly off on her own personal tangent as a way of showing you what she’s capable of.”

Grady scowled. “You’re right.”

“I am.”

“Fine. I’ll take Sophie,” Grady said.

“I’m going to start doing some digging on the human trafficking,” Peter said. “If any of these women survived, they must be housed somewhere.”

“What if they were sent out of the area?” Jake asked.

“That’s a possibility, but it’s not my gut feeling,” Peter said. “This operation feels local. They’re cutting the drugs locally. I can’t explain why I feel the way I do … I just do.”

“Go with your gut,” James said. “It hasn’t been wrong before. I think the other thing we need to do is focus on Jasper and Winona. Letting Sophie and Ally play with Winona was a bad idea.”

“I agree,” Grady said. “Peter is right. I think Winona knew who Sophie was when she invited her to the bar.”

“What worries me about that is whether Winona was trying to play with Sophie because of her ties to you or her ties to me,” Peter said. “I don’t like it. I’m considering sending a … representative … to speak to her, although I’m pretty sure I’m going to do it myself.”

“You’re not going to kill her, are you?” James asked.

“Not yet.” Peter didn’t appear bothered by the question. “If I don’t like her answers, though, I won’t hesitate to snuff her out. She’s a blight. She has to know what’s happening.”