Deadly Honeymoon (Hardy Brothers Security Book 7) (11 page)

“Didn’t you say the house was broken into the night before the body was found?” Grady pressed.

“Yeah.”

“What if the guy slipped it in Mandy’s purse, followed you home, and then came back to get it while you were gone,” Grady suggested. “Maybe someone followed him – or was with him – and when he couldn’t find it he killed him because he was a loose end.”

“That makes sense,” James admitted. “I just … what could those numbers possibly mean?”

“These numbers?” Sophie asked. She was studying the sheet of paper from Grady’s file.

Grady nodded.

“They’re dealer packs.”

The four men in the room fixed her with identical puzzled expressions.

“Did she just explain something?” Finn asked.

“I’m not sure,” Grady said.

Sophie made a face. “They’re dealer packs,” she said. “You see this right here? It says ten kilograms. That’s how much a million dollars in hundreds weighs.”

“I don’t understand,” James hedged.

Sophie sucked in a breath, forcing herself to remain calm even though her temper was bubbling at the surface. “When you’re dealing with large sums of money to trade, you can’t sit there and count it,” she said. “You don’t have the time. So, instead, men involved in certain … circles … weigh money instead of counting it. A million dollars in hundreds weighs ten kilograms, or twenty-two pounds.”

Grady was trying to form words, but nothing was coming out.

“So, that document says that there are eight packages, all weighing ten kilograms,” James asked, looking for confirmation. “That’s what you’re saying, isn’t it?”

Sophie nodded.

“And I bet the map shows where those packages are,” Jake said. “That would make sense.”

“And eight million bucks is definitely worth killing someone over,” Finn mused.

James shifted his attention to Sophie. “How can you possibly know that?”

“I know men from all kinds of circles,” she said.

“Peter,” Grady said. “You know that because of Peter.”

Sophie shrugged. “He does run in different circles.”

James rubbed the back of his neck, considering. “Well, this changes things. Now what do we do?”

“I have no idea,” Grady said. “Whatever it is, we need to be smart about it.”

Finn glanced at his watch. “Speaking of, I have to go and feed Emma. I’d like to salvage the night if I can.”

“I’m right there with you,” Jake said. “I need to go and get some Olive Garden for Ally. I’m guessing it’s the only thing she’s going to eat.”

Finn smirked at James. “Are you still playing it tough and not coddling Mandy?”

“I’m not rewarding her bad behavior,” James said. “I’m putting my foot down.”

“I want to be just like you when I grow up,” Finn said.

“But you’re still getting Emma dinner?”

“Of course I am,” Finn said. “If I don’t feed her, there’s absolutely no way I’m getting sex. I’m willing to take one for the team.”

James frowned. He hadn’t considered that. “Well … maybe I’ll get her a bag of chips or something.”

“Hey, baby.”

James found Mandy sitting at the small dining room table, a bottle of water in front of her, and a weary smile on her face.

“Hi, husband.”

“You’re calling me husband now?” James asked, dropping the bag of food he was carrying onto the kitchen counter as he looked her over. She seemed better. She didn’t look one-hundred-percent healthy, but she definitely appeared to be on her way to recovery. She’d showered, and her face had that “just scrubbed” look he loved so much.

“I’m trying it on for size.”

“How does it fit?”

“It feels … awkward.”

“Why are you trying it on for size?” James asked, pushing her blonde hair back from her forehead so he could replace it with a kiss.

“I don’t know,” Mandy said, shrugging. “You call me nicknames, and they make me feel … special. I don’t call you anything but James.”

“And you think that giving me a nickname will make me feel special?”

“I … I just want to call you something that no one else calls you,” she admitted.

“Husband works for me,” James said. “You could call me stud,” he suggested. “Although, that kind of defeats the purpose of the name being special. Any woman who has ever slept with me knows I’m a stud.”

He expected her to smile, but she didn’t.

“I don’t want to be picky,” Mandy said. “But most women don’t like their husbands talking about all of the other women they’ve slept with.”

“I was doing no such thing,” James protested. “I was … .”

“Did I ever tell you about my college boyfriend, Todd Marin?” Mandy cut him off. “He was hung like … .”

“Don’t you dare finish that sentence,” James ordered. “I will never bring up any woman from my past again.”

“You’re a peach,” Mandy said, mulling the word over in her mind.

“You’re not giving me a nickname that can double as food,” James warned. “I draw the line at that. Just call me husband – or ‘love of my life.’”

Mandy smirked, lifting her nose as the smell of dinner hit it. “What did you get?”

“Well, I wasn’t going to get you anything,” James admitted. “I didn’t want to reward your bad behavior.”

Mandy stuck her tongue out.

“Finn informed me that if I didn’t feed you, I probably wasn’t going to get sex,” James said. “And, since last night was the first night we haven’t … um … basked in each other’s love since we got married, I didn’t want to let the streak continue.”

Mandy lifted an eyebrow. “Basked in each other’s love?”

“Do you prefer fornicated like fluffy bunnies?”

Mandy giggled, but then her face sobered. “You’re right.”

“I’m always right.”

“No, you’re right about last night,” Mandy said. “I broke the streak. I ruined our ongoing honeymoon.”

James made a face. She was so maudlin sometimes. It drove him crazy. “Technically, we had sex yesterday morning,” James reminded her. “Our streak is still intact. We just can’t let tonight slip away from us.”

Mandy nodded, studying her cuticles. James knew what she was thinking.

“If you sit there and pout about breaking the streak all night, I’m going to have sex with myself and call it good,” he threatened.

Mandy’s chuckled, clearly amused with his empty threat. “I am sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry,” James said. “I’m just giving you a hard time. It’s not like you were driving. The night just got away from you. I think we can blame Ally for making the drinks so strong. It’s not like you ever get falling-down drunk like that. It’s not a big deal.”

“But … .”

“Not buts – well, maybe later,” James said, pinching her rear for emphasis. “Now it’s time for dinner. Then we’re going to watch some television. And then? Well, then I’m going to be the one groping you in the hot tub tonight.”

“I love you, James,” Mandy said, her voice small but warm.

James leaned down and gave her a sweet kiss. “I love you, too,” he said. “And I don’t know why you can’t just call me James. When you say it, it makes me feel all warm and tingly.”

“I think that’s because I have my hand in your pants,” Mandy teased.

“Soon, baby,” James said, dropping the takeout container on the table in front of her. “Now, eat your dinner.”

Mandy didn’t have to be told twice. The sound of her growling stomach told James this was the first nourishment she’d had all day. He was suddenly glad he’d given in and picked up dinner.

“So, how was the move?” Mandy asked.

“Quick,” James said. “Even with all of Grady’s stuff there now, the house still feels empty.”

“They’ll fill it with stuff over time,” Mandy said. “I think Sophie doesn’t have anything sentimental because she lost it all once before.”

James sat down at the table and opened his own dinner, transferring the beet sticks to Mandy’s box out of habit. He didn’t like them, and she loved mixing them in with her rice. “What do you mean she lost all her stuff?”

“When she was a kid,” Mandy said. “They just stuck her in the foster system. She has no idea what happened to all of her parents’ things. She didn’t have any other relatives, so it’s just all gone. She doesn’t have any of her childhood dolls, or photo books, or tea sets. She just doesn’t have that stuff.

“I think Peter would’ve given her anything she wanted,” Mandy continued. “Sophie kind of steeled herself to lose stuff, so it’s like she doesn’t want to buy new stuff because she thinks she’s just going to lose it again.”

James considered his wife’s words. “You know, I have to give you credit,” he said. “Women have a certain intuition when it comes to stuff like that. You’re pretty insightful.”

“I’m amazing,” Mandy agreed.

“You will be in a few hours,” James said. “Once that food bolsters you, you’re going to be downright amazing.”

Mandy ignored him. “So, did anything else happen? Did you yell at Ally for her drinks?”

“Ally was home in bed, too,” James replied. “And so was Emma. We didn’t see Sophie until right before we left, and she looked … rough.”

“Did she look as bad as I did this morning? I’m going to burn your phone if you don’t delete that picture, by the way.”

“Go ahead,” James said. “I’ve already saved it to the cloud. I showed it to Jake and Finn, too. They didn’t think you were nearly as cute as I did.”

“I want a divorce.”

“Maybe tomorrow,” James said. “Despite her hangover, Sophie is the one who discovered what those numbers on the flash drive meant.”

“She did? What do they mean?”

“They’re dealer packs.”

“Like for weighing money?”

James stilled. “How can you possibly know that?”

“I work in the court system,” Mandy reminded him. “I hear the lingo from time to time.”

“I’ve said this before, and now I’m saying it again, but you constantly amaze me,” James said.

“That’s sweet, but I should’ve figured it out when I saw the numbers,” Mandy said. “It said ten kilograms, that’s what a million dollars in hundreds weighs.”

“Did you sell drugs in another life?”

Mandy ignored him. “That means that there is eight million dollars out there, and we have a map to it.”

“Do you want to go back to Bermuda and look for it?”

“As much as I loved Bermuda, I love our life here more,” Mandy said. “I was just thinking out loud.”

James reached across the table and squeezed her hand. “I love our life here, too.”

“Even if I get drunk and make a fool of myself?”

“Even if.”

Mandy shot him a small smile before returning to her meal. “Do you think that the guy at the festival put the flash drive in my purse?”

James leaned back in his chair, fixing her with an unreadable look. He hadn’t mentioned that part of his theory to her, and he was genuinely surprised she’d figured it out on her own. “What makes you think that?”

“How else would it have gotten in my purse?”

“I can’t think of another way,” James admitted.

“He was all over me, and we thought it was because he was drunk, but maybe it was because someone was following him.”

“That’s a possibility.”

“He’s obviously the one who broke into the house,” Mandy said. “Then, either because he couldn’t find the flash drive or because someone caught up with him, he was killed outside.”

Her mind was a marvel sometimes, James thought. Even muddled with a hangover, she’d put everything together for herself.

“I bet that whoever tried to grab my purse outside of the furniture store is involved,” Mandy added.

James tilted his head, eyeing his wife curiously. “I … why … shit.”

“What?” Mandy’s eyes clouded with worry.

“I never put that together,” he admitted. “It makes sense, though. Why purposely target you? You were standing outside of a furniture store on your cellphone. People don’t carry cash to a furniture store. That guy made a beeline for you. He didn’t even look at anyone else. I saw him approaching through the window. At first I just thought he was going to ask you for directions. I didn’t realize until it was too late that he was after something else.”

Mandy patted his hand. “I’m fine.”

“Yeah, but … .”

“If you’re going to pout, I’m going to have sex with myself tonight and leave you out of it,” Mandy warned.

James licked his lips, trying to tamp down the laughter in his throat. He failed. “Have you ever considered giving up your job for the judge and coming to work for me?”

“What would the hours be like?”

James leaned forward and kissed her.

“What would the pay be like?” Mandy pressed.

James kissed her again.

“What would the benefits be like?”

James kissed her one more time. “Eat your dinner and I’ll show you.”

“MAYBE
I should come work for you,” Mandy purred, resting her head against James’ shoulder as he cuddled her to him in the hot tub. They were both still coming down from their orgasms, and James was practically boneless. “Judge MacIntosh never did that for me before.”

“That’s good,” James said, rubbing lazy circles on her back. “I’d hate to have to try and get away with the murder of a circuit-court judge.”

Mandy giggled. “How come you get to mention all the women you’ve satisfied over the years, but if I even make a joke about having sex with another man you threaten to kill him?”

“Because I’ve never loved anyone but you,” James said. “You’re not in any danger of being supplanted. The thought of anyone else touching you, loving you … well, I just can’t deal with it.”

Mandy frowned. “I’ve never loved anyone but you.”

James stilled, opening his eyes so he could see her face. “You haven’t?”

“Of course not.”

“But … .”

“But what?”

“I thought women only had sex with men they were in love with,” James said.

“Are you saying you think the hundreds of women you’ve slept with have been in love with you?”

“No,” James said. “They’re nothing like you, though.”

“That doesn’t mean I’m some paragon of virtue.”

“I guess not,” James said. “So, you’re telling me that I’m the only man you’ve ever loved?”

“I thought you knew that.”

“I knew you loved me more than anyone else,” James conceded. “I guess part of me thought that you still might have fond memories of an ex-boyfriend rattling around that busy mind of yours.”

“I’m sure there are some fond memories in there,” Mandy conceded. “I’ve never loved anyone but you. And, yes, I know that makes me sound pathetic. It’s true, though. When I look at you … sometimes … I feel like I’m going to drown in all the love I feel.”

James pulled her back to him so he could kiss her. “I thought I was the only one who felt that way.”

“Not even close.”

“Well, then I guess we’re pathetic together,” he said. “Because when I look at you, there are times I worry my heart is going to explode because it fills with so much love.”

“I think someone is going to get lucky twice tonight.”

“Maybe even three times,” James suggested.

“I bet that can be arranged,” Mandy said, nuzzling her face into James’ shoulder. “Before we move on to round two, can I ask you for a favor?”

“Baby, I’d buy you another house right now,” James said. “Ask away.”

“Do you think there’s a chance that the stuff from Sophie’s childhood still exists?”

James stilled. That wasn’t where he envisioned this conversation going. One look at Mandy’s serious face told him he had to switch gears. “I don’t know. Why?”

“Well, I don’t want to tell her – or Grady, in case he gets his hopes up, too – but I was hoping we might be able to find a few things,” Mandy said. “Even if it’s just a photograph of her parents.”

“She doesn’t have a photograph of her parents?” James’ heart skipped.