Deadly Payback (Hardy Brothers Security Book 22) Read online

  “Besides, we don’t exactly know she was the target,” Jake added. “We don’t know anything.”

  “No,” James agreed. “We’re going to find out, though.”

  “Oh, we’re definitely going to find out,” Jake agreed, pushing himself to his feet. “I’ll go to the sheriff’s department right now and see what I can dig up. I’ll keep in touch.”

  “Thank you,” James said. “The most important thing is that everyone act as normally as possible without pushing her. That’s the best we can do for this morning. Does everyone understand?”

  Ally kicked her heels together and saluted. “Yes, sir!”

  James made a face as Jake managed to muster a small smirk.

  “This is going to be a long day,” James muttered.

  “Welcome to happily ever after,” Ally shot back, taking her brother by surprise. “Even happy endings have bumps in the road. This bump could’ve been a whole lot worse.”

  “For us,” James clarified. “I’m not sure how much worse it could’ve gotten for Heidi, and it certainly ended her happily ever after.”

  Ally’s eyes clouded. “I know. I can’t help but be grateful Mandy is still alive, though.”

  James rested his head on top of Ally’s wild mane of brown curls and offered her a rueful smile. “That’s what hurts the most, isn’t it?”

  “HEY, baby.”

  James ushered Mandy to the table and pulled out a chair so she could sit. The look on her face reflected uncertainty as she glanced around at the expectant faces.

  “Ignore them,” James prodded. “Can you please try and eat something for me this morning?”

  Mandy pressed her lips together and shook her head.

  “No?” James was resigned. “Will you at least drink a glass of juice to shut me up?”

  Mandy wasn’t thrilled with the prospect, but she offered her husband a slight nod as she ran her hand through her damp hair.

  “I’ll get it,” Ally said, hurrying toward the refrigerator. She opened the door and immediately reached for the tomato juice – Mandy’s favorite – but stilled when James grabbed her wrist and shook his head. She watched as he selected the orange juice instead, confused. “But … .”

  James ignored his sister’s look of consternation as he poured Mandy’s juice. While Mandy preferred tomato juice most mornings, he worried the texture of the juice looked too much like blood and that was the last thing he wanted to cause his wife to think about the day after he spent an hour combing through her flaxen locks to make sure her friend’s bodily remains didn’t cling to the follicles.

  “Here, baby,” James said, pushing the juice in front of her as he kissed the top of her head. “I’m going to put some toast over here, too. I know you probably won’t eat it, but if you could take a few nibbles, that would be great.”

  “I don’t want to eat,” Mandy said, missing the looks of relief that flashed over her in-laws’ faces when she finally spoke. “My stomach is upset.”

  “I know that,” James said. “You’re going to make yourself legitimately sick if you don’t take care of yourself, though. You haven’t eaten in twenty-four hours.”

  Mandy shifted her sea-blue eyes to him as she did the math in her head. It was true. The last meal she ate was breakfast the previous day. That didn’t mean she was hungry. “I can’t eat. Not right now.”

  “Then ignore the toast,” James instructed. “I’m still going to make sure you have it.”

  Mandy nodded and focused on her juice. James knew she was avoiding eye contact because she didn’t want to risk bursting into tears if anyone showed her an iota of kindness. Instead of hovering, James moved behind the counter and reached for the loaf of bread. The sound of the front doorbell chiming caused him to jerk his head in that direction and scowl.

  “Who would be visiting this early?” Rose asked, confused.

  “It’s either the cops or reporters,” James replied, his patience wearing thin when he saw the panicked look on Mandy’s face. “I’ll take care of it, baby. Drink your juice.”

  James worked himself up into a righteous snit by the time he hit the front door. He was ready to explode at whoever dared ring his bell the morning after his wife was almost killed. Instead of finding uniformed officers – or vultures masquerading as media members, for that matter – he found a despondent looking Judge MacIntosh.

  “I’m sorry to call on you so early, but … I had to see Mandy,” the judge said, his eyes red-rimmed from a long night. James couldn’t help but wonder if it was all crying that made Mandy’s generally stalwart boss look that way. If he had to guess, there was some drinking involved, too. James didn’t blame him. “Is she okay?”

  “She’s up,” James said, pushing the door open to allow the judge entrance as he scowled at the reporters gathering toward the end of his driveway. “I’m going to turn the sprinklers on them.”

  “I would encourage that,” MacIntosh said. “That’s the last thing Mandy needs. How did she sleep?”

  James admired the judge’s adoration of his wife. Instead of curling into a ball and mourning himself, he was worried about Mandy. He was the only thing James would miss when Mandy left the courthouse. “She slept like a rock,” he replied. “She took the medication from the paramedic and knocked herself out.”

  “And this morning?”

  “She’s drinking juice.”

  MacIntosh pressed his lips together and tilted his head to the side as he considered James’ simple statement. “How is she, though?”

  “She’s sad and she doesn’t want to talk,” James answered, opting for honesty. “I’ve decided not to push her because she can’t take it. If you go in there, please keep that in mind.”

  “I understand,” MacIntosh said, pasting a grim smile on his face as he followed James into the kitchen.

  Mandy’s eyes widened when she caught sight of her boss and she struggled to push herself to a standing position. MacIntosh waved off the effort and hurried to her side, pressing her shoulder down to keep her sitting.

  “Rest,” MacIntosh instructed. “I’ll sit next to you. Don’t worry about that.”

  Mandy wordlessly nodded as she studied the judge. She had a million questions to ask and yet she couldn’t force her mouth to work.

  “It’s okay,” MacIntosh said, his eyes soft and fatherly as they locked with Mandy’s conflicted blue orbs. “Take your time.”

  “Judge MacIntosh, I made a ton of food for breakfast,” Ally said. “Would you like something? I have hash browns, eggs, corned beef hash, toast, bacon, and ham.”

  MacIntosh flashed Ally a warm smile. “I would love some corned beef hash. I haven’t had that in ages. My doctor won’t like it for my cholesterol reading, but I don’t really care about him today.”

  Ally beamed, merely happy to have something to do with her hands. “Coming up.”

  “I drank a bit last night,” the judge admitted, smiling at a sympathetic Louis as the man poured him a mug of coffee. “I can’t remember the last time I drowned my sorrows in alcohol. It was somehow easier to handle it that way, though.”

  “That sounds like something I would do,” Louis said. “Did it make you feel better?”

  “I think that ‘better’ is a relative term,” MacIntosh replied, his expression rueful. “Everything I tried to run from last night was still here this morning. The only thing different was the hangover.”

  “Have you talked to Clint?” James asked, keeping one eye on Mandy to see how she would react as he fixed the rest of his attention on the judge. “How is he?”

  “The poor boy is crushed and falling apart,” MacIntosh replied. “He started talking utter nonsense at the courthouse yesterday. One of the other security guards took him home.”

  “Where is Heidi?” Mandy asked, her voice barely a whisper.

  “She’s at the morgue until this afternoon,” MacIntosh replied, not missing a beat. “Then she will be transported to the funeral home. Visitation is tomorrow and the fu
neral is the next day.”

  “That’s fast,” James said. “Which funeral home?”

  “Stark and Bettany.”

  “I’m familiar with them,” James said. “I’ll get flowers over there as soon as possible.”

  “Get the pinwheel roses,” Mandy choked out, her eyes filling with tears. “Heidi wanted them so badly. She said she wanted to be a butterfly so she could live in them. I don’t think Clint ever had a chance to get them for her. I … want her to have them.”

  “I’ll get them,” James said, moving to stand behind Mandy’s back as she sobbed. “Baby … .” He’d never felt so helpless.

  “Let her be,” MacIntosh instructed, his own eyes watery. “You cannot begin to heal until you get out all of the mourning. Let her be.”

  James didn’t know what else to do, so he followed the judge’s instructions. In the end, he knew he couldn’t save Mandy from the heartbreak. She had to get through things on her own terms. All he could do was support her, so that’s what he did.

  5

  Five

  “How do I look?”

  The day of the funeral hit with a series of turbulent thunderstorms. They were expected to roll through the area throughout the day, although James knew that wouldn’t stop anyone from attending Heidi’s graveside service.

  Mandy, her features pale and dark circles pooling under her eyes, opted for minimal makeup as she pulled her hair back in a severe bun and climbed into a simple black suit. She looked beautiful to James – he always found her breathtaking, of course – but she also looked beaten down.

  “You look nice, baby,” James said, straightening his tie as he looked at her reflection in the mirror. “Are you sure you’re up for this?”

  Mandy knit her eyebrows together. “Up for what? Saying goodbye to a friend who was always good and kind?”

  “You know what I mean, baby,” James said, refusing to let her draw him into a fight. She’d tried several times over the past twenty-four hours. He knew it was frustration fueling her and opted not to rise to the bait. “You’re still pale and you’ve barely eaten anything since it happened.”

  “I had pizza last night,” Mandy protested, her eyes flashing.

  “No, you ate the cheese, ham, and mushrooms off two slices of pizza and left the crust behind,” James countered. “That’s not exactly food.”

  “Well … it is to me.”

  James didn’t want to smile. It was a somber occasion, after all. He adored her stubborn expression, though. “I’m going to take you out for seafood after the funeral. I think you need something substantial.”

  Mandy balked. “I don’t want to go out in public after the funeral.”

  James sighed as he tugged a hand through his hair. “Fine. Then I will pick up seafood and we’ll eat it here. You’re eating something tonight. I don’t care if I have to wrestle you down, sit on you, and feed you myself.”

  “Yes, well, that will be delightful,” Mandy muttered, tugging on her suit coat as she glanced at her reflection. She almost didn’t recognize the woman staring back at her. “I can’t believe this is it.”

  Sympathy washed over James as he studied his wife’s profile. They talked about going to the visitation the night before, but ultimately James talked Mandy out of it. He was afraid the press would be all over the event and he didn’t want Mandy ambushed out of the blue. As it was, he made arrangements for Grady, Finn, and Jake to cut off any possible reporters at the cemetery and Peter Marconi, Sophie’s adopted father who also happened to be a mob boss, loaned James a few men to fly under the radar and watch the perimeter. If anyone approached Mandy while they were out in the open, they would be dealt with before they even got close.

  “This isn’t it, Mandy,” James said. “This is just … the first goodbye. You’ll always remember Heidi. You’ll always feel her in your heart.”

  Tears pricked the back of Mandy’s eyes as she pressed her lips together. She’d cried so much over the course of the past two days she didn’t think it was possible to muster tears again. Apparently she was wrong.

  “It’s okay, baby,” James said, cupping Mandy’s chin. “I’m going to be right there with you. I’m going to hold your hand. We’ll get through this together.”

  “It’s not okay, James. She was so happy. Right before it happened she was gushing about having everything. How can she be gone when she was so happy?”

  James’ stomach rolled in the face of his wife’s misery. “I can’t answer that, baby. We can only take this one step at a time. We’ll go through it together and do the very best that we can.

  “Eventually, you’re going to be able to remember Heidi without crying,” he continued. “The good times will overshadow the bad. She was always happy and smiling. She wouldn’t want you this miserable.”

  “I don’t know how else to be, James,” Mandy said, anger replacing sadness in her eyes. “She’s gone. She asked me to be her matron of honor and … she’s gone.”

  “Oh, baby.” James felt lost. He had no idea how to offer his wife the comfort she so desperately needed. “I didn’t know that.”

  “She did it a few minutes before … it happened.”

  “Baby, nothing in life is perfect or works out exactly how you expect it to,” James said. “We just have to take the hand we’re dealt and do the very best we can with it.”

  Mandy pressed her lips together and nodded.

  “I love you, Mandy,” James said, pulling her close for a hug. “I’ll be with you every step of the way.”

  “I love you, too.”

  “Then let’s do this,” James said, brushing his lips against her forehead. “It’s time to say goodbye.”

  THE CEMETERY was bustling with people, and when Mandy slipped her hand into James’ as the funeral started she could feel a hundred different sets of eyes on her. She felt them looking at her, the unasked questions brushing against her mind as she tried to ignore the fact that she was the center of attention at Heidi’s funeral.

  She heard a few of the whispers even though people worked overtime to keep their voices low. Why is she alive? Do you think she saw the killer? Did Heidi say anything to her before she died? Do you think she’ll ever feel clean again after having Heidi’s blood all over her? Mandy tried to ignore each one, but it was increasingly difficult.

  James stood ramrod straight, his eyes alert as they scanned the crowd. He let Mandy lean her head against his shoulder and kept it together as she openly sobbed at the loving words being directed toward her friend. When it was Clint’s turn to take the podium, though, Mandy shifted her eyes to him and raised her head. Whatever grief she felt, she knew Clint was going through far worse.

  Mandy barely recognized the man standing in front of the crowd, the far-off sound of thunder warning those gathered that another storm was closing in. As for Clint, he was always thin, but now his clothing appeared to hang off him. His features were white and drawn and the puffiness surrounding his eyes was so pronounced Mandy worried the dark orbs would be swallowed whole.

  Clint cleared his throat before he began speaking. “I don’t want to go on for a long time, mostly because I don’t think I can and with the storm coming … I just don’t know what to say.

  “I wrote ten different eulogies and none of them seemed to do Heidi justice,” he continued. “So, I’m just going to say what I want to say and get it out there. She was a good woman. She was the best woman, in fact. She made me laugh. She was always quick with a joke and a smile.

  “Before Heidi, I didn’t believe in love,” Clint said. “Er, well, I didn’t believe in those types of love that last a lifetime. I don’t think you can believe in that unless it happens to you. I wasn’t looking for Heidi, but I’m so glad I found her.

  “I can’t fathom going forward without her, and I’m not sure what that life is going to look like,” he said. “Right now my head is a mess. I didn’t just lose the woman who was going to be my wife, but I lost the baby we just found out we were having,
too. I lost a family.”

  Mandy’s heart seized as she jerked her chin in James’ direction. The baby was obviously news to him, too, because he looked horrified by Clint’s words.

  “So, goodbye to my family,” Clint continued. “Goodbye to my future. I will never forget either of you and I will always carry you in my heart.”

  Mandy tuned the rest of the funeral out as she worked overtime to slow her busy brain. Pregnant? Heidi didn’t mention that. Wouldn’t Heidi have mentioned that? If she was trying to keep it secret until after the wedding, she probably wouldn’t. Now Mandy understood why her friend was in such a hurry to get married. She was about to get everything she ever wanted, which made losing her all the harder.

  Mandy wiped the free-falling tears from her cheeks as James slipped his arm around her waist. He looked as lost as Mandy felt. Two lives ended on the courthouse steps that day. How many others were forever changed?

  JAMES exchanged a look with Grady once the service wrapped. His brother moved in close to Mandy’s side without making it look obvious he was acting as protection instead of a concerned family member. James still had no idea if Mandy or Heidi was the original target, but he wasn’t taking any chances.

  The small group cut their way through the crowd, Jake and Finn taking up the front as Ally and Emma Pritchard, Finn’s fiancée, walked behind the group. Peter Marconi’s men were already stationed on the other side of James’ Explorer and they watched the perimeter with eagle eyes as they scanned for unseen enemies.

  The Hardys were almost to their vehicles when Clint stepped into their path. James’ heart hopped at the sight of the man, and although he understood Clint’s grief, James wasn’t thrilled with the look on his face.

  “Clint,” Mandy said, her voice cracking. “I … wasn’t sure if I should approach you. I wanted to tell you how sorry I am for … everything … but I didn’t want to make a scene with all of the media people filming from the outskirts.”

  “Yes, they’ve been knocking on my door nonstop,” Clint said, his eyes troubled as he looked Mandy up and down. “I didn’t get to see you the other day … the day it happened … but you don’t look as bad as I envisioned.”