Deadly Ever After (Hardy Brothers Security Book 6) (6 page)

“Well, I’ve already suggested that two instances of snipers on the roof in the downtown area might suggest regular patrols up there for the foreseeable future,” MacIntosh said. “The sheriff’s department agreed. This is going to hit the media big time.”

James groaned. “I hadn’t thought of that.”

“Your shooting was bad enough,” MacIntosh said. “Someone shooting at court employees is an entirely different level of concern.”

“Once they tie the two of us together … .” James brushed his lips against Mandy’s temple and pulled her in tight again. “Crap.”

“What are you going to do?” MacIntosh asked.

“I have no idea,” James said. “I need to think.”

“Just … keep me updated,” the judge said. “I’ll go along with anything you want. Just keep me informed.”

“You got it.”

James pushed Mandy into the apartment ahead of him, not surprised in the least to find the room bustling with activity.

“Are you okay?” Ally moved away from her other two brothers and threw her arms around Mandy’s neck. “I was so worried.”

“I’m fine,” Mandy said, disengaging stiffly from Ally. “I wasn’t hit.”

“Only because you bent over at the exact moment someone pulled the trigger,” James said, dropping his keys on the counter and striding over to the refrigerator to grab a beer.

Ally’s eyes widened. “Seriously?”

“Seriously,” James said, gulping from the bottle in his hand and then wiping his mouth. “She’s only here because Heidi dropped a tube of lipstick.”

Mandy pursed her lips together, uncertain. “James … .”

James ignored her and turned to Grady. “Do we have anything?”

“All we know is what we’ve been able to ascertain from your shooting,” Grady said. “Ballistics point to a military-grade sniper rifle. We’re still trying to peg an exact model down.”

James nodded, his mind busy. “Whoever it was, they had to have an escape route planned in advance. There were tons of people at that rally, and yet no one saw him. The same with today.”

“There were less people around today, though,” Finn said. “It wasn’t as hard for him to get away.”

“We don’t even know what building he was shooting from yet,” James said. “We’re going to have to play nice with the sheriff’s department. They’re the ones leading the investigation.”

“I’ll handle that,” Grady said. “It’s not like they like us – especially since the sheriff is likely to lose his position thanks to us.”

James downed the rest of his beer and reached inside the refrigerator to snag another. Grady raised an eyebrow, but he didn’t call him on it. James popped the top off and downed half of it before speaking again. “She should be dead.”

“So should you,” Finn said. “If you hadn’t noticed the guy on the roof at just that moment, he would have gotten you, too.”

“Someone tried to shoot her in the head,” James said, his voice cracking. “A tube of lipstick saved her life.”

“You can’t look at it like that,” Grady said, keeping his voice low as he glanced over James’ shoulder. Mandy’s face was grim and drawn, and she was making an effort to act like she was listening to whatever Ally was saying, but Grady could tell she was shaken. “She’s safe. She’s here.”

“She shouldn’t be,” James said. “She … .”

“You have got to get a grip on yourself,” Grady said. “You need to take care of her now.”

“Oh, she’s fine,” James said. “She wasn’t even going to tell me how close the bullet was to hitting her.”

“That’s because she didn’t want to worry you,” Finn said. “Just like you don’t want her to worry.”

“I … I can’t deal with this.”

“You’re going to have to deal with this,” Grady said. “You’re getting married. You’re getting married soon. That woman is going to be your wife.”

“Tell me something I don’t know,” James grumbled.

“That woman is barely hanging on by a thread right now,” Grady said. “Is that something new?”

“What?” James glanced at Mandy, finally focusing on her. Her hands were clasped together on her lap, her shoulders rigid. “She seemed fine at the courthouse.”

“Maybe you acting like a madman made her rethink things,” Finn suggested.

“Or, maybe she was putting on an act in front of her co-workers,” Grady added. “The judge was there. Heidi was there. She wouldn’t want to worry them.”

James sighed, rubbing his forehead. He downed the rest of his beer and made his way across the room.

“Are you okay?” Ally asked.

James ignored her, slipping his arms under Mandy’s hunched frame and lifting her up. The feeling of the trembles wracking her body made his heart flop. He sat back down in the chair, this time settling her on his lap, and he buried his face in her neck. “I’m sorry.”

“What are you sorry for?” Ally asked.

“Ally,” James growled. “Go and spend some time with Finn and Grady.”

“I’m here to see Mandy.”

“You can see her in a few minutes,” James snapped. “Give me some time with her.”

“Don’t you take that tone with me,” Ally warned.

“Don’t make me take that tone with you,” James said. “Just … give us a few minutes.”

Ally scowled, but got to her feet. “You’re a real douche sometimes.”

Once she was gone, James turned Mandy so she was facing him. She hadn’t said a word to him since they left the courthouse. “I’m sorry.”

“You don’t have anything to be sorry about.”

“I do,” James said. “I didn’t realize that you were so worked up. I thought … you were putting on an act at the courthouse, and I should have seen that. The last thing I should have been doing was yelling at you.”

“You didn’t yell.”

“I wanted to yell,” James said.

“I know.”

“And that’s why I’m apologizing,” James said. “You have no idea how scared I was when I got the call.”

“I have some idea.”

“Fine, you have an idea,” James conceded. “I can’t lose you, baby. The idea of it just … it kills me.”

“I’m here.”

“I’m buying Heidi an entire box of lipstick,” James said, kissing Mandy’s cheek. “A whole box of it, I swear.”

JAKE
and Sophie arrived thirty minutes later, Sophie’s arms laden with takeout bags. Ally rushed to Jake, whispering something in his ear as she buried her face in his chest. Grady took the bags from Sophie and then gave her a small hug.

“What was that for?” Her eyes were serious.

“Because I don’t think I hug you enough,” Grady said.

“You hug me all the time.”

“It doesn’t feel like enough after today,” Grady said.

Sophie glanced over at Mandy and James, the duo still cuddling in the chair. “How are they?”

“Better than they were.”

The door opened again so Emma could enter. “I just heard,” she said. “Is everyone okay?”

Finn rounded the table and engulfed her in his arms. “Everyone is fine.”

“Everyone doesn’t seem fine,” Emma said, pulling away so she could scan Finn’s face. “Everyone seems a little scattered.”

“I think everyone is just taking stock,” Grady said. “Mandy was saved by a tube of lipstick today.”

Jake rubbed Ally’s back thoughtfully. “Does anyone else think that this whole situation is a little too … pointed?”

“What do you mean?” James asked, not moving from the chair.

“It’s like a military op,” Jake said. “You were the first target. When that failed, instead of trying to get you again, someone moved on to the next best thing. The goal seems to be hurting you.”

James massaged Mandy’s neck thoughtfully. “Yeah, I figured that out myself.”

“It’s got to be someone you know,” Jake said. “It’s got to be someone with a grudge against you.”

“Maybe it’s someone from Sheryl’s family,” Mandy suggested. “Maybe they’re mad that I killed her.”

“Then why go after James first?”  Jake asked. “And, while I’m not familiar with your stepmother, I have trouble believing her family has the military training an assault like this entailed.”

Mandy furrowed her brow. “What?”

James rubbed Mandy’s thigh. “We all agree that the figure we saw on the roof looked like he had military training.”

“You didn’t tell me that!”

“We wanted to see if Maverick could clean up the video more first,” James said. “Has anyone heard from him?”

“He’s running it through some new filter that reads the dirty edge, or something like that,” Finn said. “I can’t remember exactly what he said. He said it could take days.”

“It’s been days.”

“I’ll call him,” Grady said.

“Why didn’t you tell me this?” Mandy’s tone was accusatory.

“I didn’t want to worry you,” James said, not bothering to think of a lie. “You were already freaked.”

“That’s not the point.”

James sighed, shifting out from beneath his fiancée and leaving her on the chair as he headed toward the table to poke through Sophie’s dinner offerings. “Can we talk about this later?”

“No.”

“Sophie brought chili fries.”

Mandy faltered. She loved chili fries. James raised an eyebrow as he held up the container. “You can still yell at me later. These chili fries will only be good for so long.”

Mandy rolled her eyes, but she got up from the chair and snagged the box from him. “This isn’t over.”

“Oh, trust me, I know.”

THREE HOURS
later, it was just the two of them, and James was ready for the verbal assault.

“You have to stop doing this!”

“Trying to protect you? That’s not likely.” He was sitting at the dining room table picking through the leftovers.

“We’re getting married,” Mandy pointed out.

“Huh,” James said, popping a beet from one of the Greek salads into his mouth. “I had no idea.”

“Do you think that’s funny?”

“No.”

“Why are you just sitting there?”

“Because I’m not sure what else to do,” James said. “I figure, if I let you yell long enough, you’ll forgive me or lose your voice. I’m waiting for one or the other.”

“Well, you’re going to be waiting a long time,” Mandy huffed, her hands on hips.

“Do you want me to heat up some fries for you?”

Mandy shook her head. “I’m full. You can’t distract me with food.”

“Can I distract you with sex?” James looked hopeful.

“No.”

“Well, I had to try.” James stood, taking a step toward her. “I know you’re mad. If I was in your position, I’d be totally pissed. In fact, I was in your position earlier today when you were trying to decide if you were going to lie to me about how close the bullet was to you.”

Mandy frowned. “It’s not the same thing.”

“It’s not?”

“I wasn’t trying to lie to you,” Mandy said. “I was trying to protect you.”

“That’s the same thing I was trying to do.”

“You were doing it by lying to me.”

“What were you doing?”

“I was avoiding the question,” Mandy sniffed.

James chuckled, unable to keep the sound from escaping his lips. “We’re quite a pair.”

“I’m mad,” Mandy said.

“I’m mad, too,” James said, reaching for her and drawing her into his arms. “We have a lot of anger between us. Hey, I have an idea, can you think of a way to burn this mad energy off?”

“Yeah, I can take a bath,” Mandy said.

James stilled. “Really?”

“Yup.” Mandy pulled away from him.

“How about I take a bath with you?” James suggested.

“Nope.”

Her back was to him, which gave James a moment to consider his next move. Since she was already mad, he figured now was the time to get everything out on the table. “Well, since you’re already pissed, now is probably the time to tell you that you’re not going to work tomorrow.”

Mandy paused, her hand on the bathroom door. “Excuse me?”

“You’re homebound tomorrow,” James said, enunciating clearly. “You’re not leaving this apartment again until I say so.”

Mandy swiveled around, her hands already gesturing wildly. “You can’t tell me what to do!”

“I just did.”

“No,” Mandy said. “I took two days off last week. We’re going to have two weeks off for our honeymoon -- that is if we don’t die first. I cannot take more time off now. It’s not fair.”

James scowled.

“I’m going to work tomorrow,” Mandy said. “It would be unprofessional for me to take time off now.”

“The judge will understand.”

“Well, I don’t,” Mandy said.

“I don’t care if you understand or not,” James said. “You’re staying here.”

“No, I’m not.”

“Yes, you are.”

Mandy kicked the bathroom door viciously. “No, I’m not.”

“Take your bath,” James ordered. “You’ll calm down in a little while.”

“I will not,” Mandy said. “I just … there are no words for how angry I am with you.”

“At least you’re safe,” James said. “No one can get you here.”

“No one can get me downtown either,” Mandy said. “They’re going to have patrols on the roofs now. He won’t be able to get me there.”

“And what if someone just decides to walk up to you on the street and shoots you in the head there?” Despite himself, despite his pledge to stay calm, James was close to losing it. He’d been angry all afternoon. That rage was finally getting a chance to come out and play and, even if she didn’t deserve it, she was the only one there for him to take it out on.

“I could die in a car accident, or crossing the street,” Mandy countered. “You can’t protect me from everything.”