Deadly Payback (Hardy Brothers Security Book 22) Read online

  “I’m prepared,” Peter said. “I don’t look at it as if I’m losing a daughter. I simply believe I’m gaining all of you.”

  “Do you want us?” James asked. “I mean … I’m sleeping in a pool lounger while my wife drinks herself into a stupor in the guesthouse. We’re not much of a catch right now.”

  “Oh, don’t sell yourself short,” Peter said. “You’re the best catch of all. You just need to give yourselves time to come to grips with what’s happened.”

  “Then what?”

  Peter’s smile was enigmatic. “I don’t know much about women, but when Mandy realizes her mistake, you have to make her come to you,” he said. “If you race to her the balance of power will tilt in an unfortunate manner. She needs you to be strong and force her hand.”

  “I’m not sure I can do that.”

  “You can do it,” Peter said. “You love her. You’re destined for happiness. This is only a bump in the road.”

  “I’m not sure Heidi feels the same way.”

  “Yes, well, what happened to Heidi is the talk of the town,” Peter said. “I haven’t been able to get a lot of information out of the sheriff’s department, but I do know that the weapon used was a high-caliber rifle.”

  James stilled. “Like a sniper rifle?”

  “Exactly.”

  “So either someone wasn’t a very good shot or … .”

  “They hit their target,” Peter finished. “Just because Heidi might’ve been the ultimate target after all, though, I don’t think you should let your guard down. Heidi might’ve been the target, but the message associated with it could still have been directed toward Mandy.”

  “And what message is that?”

  “That’s the question we need to answer, isn’t it?” Peter patted James’ forearm before glancing around the back yard. “I don’t suppose you have any liquor around that’s not in the guesthouse, do you? I could use a drink.”

  Despite the stress of the day and the sadness emanating from the house, James smiled. “I think we could both use a drink.”

  “Just don’t drink so much you fall in the pool when you’re looking for the bathroom later,” Peter said. “That would be undignified.”

  James snorted. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

  7

  Seven

  James had the best of intentions when it came to giving Mandy space. He drank enough that he managed to fall asleep on the pool lounger, although he woke up several times when he thought he heard something – or felt Mandy’s heartache from across the water. Each time he stared at the dark guesthouse, as if willing his wife to walk out. She never did.

  By the time he stomped into the kitchen the next morning and found his mother and Ally toiling over breakfast, he realized he was close to blowing his stack. “What are you doing here?”

  “And a good morning to you, too,” Rose intoned, making a face.

  “Good morning,” James grunted. “What are you doing here?”

  “We stayed the night,” Ally replied, not missing a beat. “We wanted to make sure you guys were okay.”

  “Do I look okay?”

  “You look as if you have a tan on one side of your face,” Ally answered. “That’s what happens when you sleep outside.”

  “Oh, bite me,” James muttered, earning a stern look from his father and a warning glare from Jake. He decided to adjust his attitude, if only marginally. “I appreciate what you guys are doing. I really do. I have this, though.”

  “You don’t have this,” Ally countered, skating past Jake’s hands when he tried to corral her on the other side of the counter. She wasn’t afraid of her brother – or his notorious temper, for that matter – and she had no intention of backing down when she saw him floundering. “Mandy is pouting in the guesthouse and you slept outside. That’s pretty freaking far from ‘having this.’”

  “Thank you, Ally. I never would’ve figured that out on my own.”

  “Leave your sister alone,” Rose ordered, cuffing the back of James’ head as she moved past him. She had a bag of bacon in her hand and the mere sight of it made James’ stomach growl. “She’s trying to help. I know that’s hard for you to see given your current mood, but she’s not trying to annoy you.”

  “She’s just so perfect at it she doesn’t even need to try,” James deadpanned.

  “There’s no need for that,” Jake said, drawing his boss’s attention to him over the counter. “She’s been making herself sick because she’s so worried about Mandy. Can’t you give her a break?”

  James sighed. “I don’t want to upset anyone,” he said, his tone clipped. “I especially don’t want to upset myself. However, my wife is in that guesthouse and I haven’t seen a light go on in almost twelve hours. I haven’t heard a noise. I haven’t seen a shadow move past the curtains. How do I even know she’s in there?”

  “Because Peter’s men are watching the perimeter and they would’ve seen her leave,” Jake answered, refusing to let James push him into a screaming argument. He had a feeling that’s what the man wanted to make himself feel better, but he would not let James box him in. “She’s in there.”

  “I need to see her,” James said, licking his lips as he moved toward the sliding glass door with purpose. “I’ll just make her let me in.”

  Ally snorted. “Yeah, that will help matters. Are you going to throw her over your shoulder like a Neanderthal and force her to forgive you, too?”

  “No one asked you.”

  “You don’t have to ask,” Ally said, patting her brother’s cheek. “I’m here to volunteer the information.”

  “Oh, well, joy.”

  “Knock it off,” Louis ordered, shaking his finger in James’ face. “I understand you’re upset, but we’re not the ones who created this situation.”

  “No, I did that,” James conceded. “I broke her heart.”

  “You didn’t break her heart,” Rose countered. “Death did that. You should’ve told her the truth, but you would’ve ended up in the same position – just sooner – if you did it that way. Mandy needs time to decompress. We don’t know what she’s feeling. We weren’t in her position.”

  “We didn’t end up with Heidi’s brains and blood splattered all over us,” Ally added, her expression dark.

  “That’s where you’re wrong,” James said. “I know exactly what she’s thinking. She’s thinking she saw her friend die in front of her and that it’s her fault because someone was aiming for her. We don’t know the facts of the case, but that’s exactly what she’s thinking. She has a martyr complex sometimes. She thinks everything is about her.”

  “That’s because you’ve made everything about her since hooking up,” Jake pointed out. “I love you and I love this family, man, but you coddle her. I think I’m bad when it comes to coddling Ally, but you’re ten times worse than I am.”

  “Don’t ever stop coddling me,” Ally ordered. “I like being coddled.”

  “Duly noted, angel,” Jake said, tweaking Ally’s nose. “That’s not what I was getting at. I’m merely saying that Mandy believes everything is about her because history has told her that it is about her. James has set the standard, and now he has to live with it.”

  “Oh, well, that makes me feel loads better,” James muttered, rubbing his neck. “I don’t know what to do to make this okay again.”

  “You can’t make it okay,” Jake said. “Not until she wants you to make it okay, at least. You have to wait for her to open up her heart and ask for help. Until then, well, you’re stuck. I’m sorry. That’s just the way it works.”

  “Well, she can’t go the entire day without food,” James said. “There’s nothing to eat in there.”

  “That’s why I’m taking her breakfast,” Ally said. “If she won’t open the door I’ll leave it outside. I’m putting together fruit and toast for her. I figure that will help with the hangover she’s bound to have. The sugar in the fruit will be good for her. It will help her bounce back.”


  “She has to come out today,” James said. “I mean it. If she’s not out by nightfall, I’m kicking in the door.”

  “We’ll handle that problem when we get to it,” Louis said. “For now, you’re going to have to do your least favorite thing.”

  James cocked an eyebrow. “Eat Brussels Sprouts? Or, wait?”

  “Be patient,” Louis clarified. “That’s what Mandy needs most right now.”

  James wasn’t thrilled with the prospect. “This day already sucks.”

  MANDY spent the day in isolation. She stared at the walls for a bit, and then she reluctantly ate the breakfast Ally left outside the guesthouse door for her. She risked a quick glance at the house when she retrieved the tray and found Rose staring when she did. Mandy didn’t return the wave or acknowledge she saw her motherin-law. Instead she grabbed the food and hid inside.

  She did the same when it came time for lunch, trying to distract her busy mind with her Kindle before giving up and starting a new canvas in her studio. She had no idea what she was painting, and even when she finished the product was more abstract than anything else. It looked like a heart chained up in thorns with a butterfly flying over it … kind of. Mandy couldn’t figure out what it was so she shoved the canvas to the side and went to bed early.

  Her hangover from the night before steered her clear of liquor, and her body and mind were so weary she fell asleep before dusk settled. Unfortunately for Mandy, without the aid of alcohol and medication, her nightmares took over. They were so dark and disturbing Mandy bolted awake in the bed next to her studio, her body slick with sweat. Her heart hurt, and the loneliness was palpable. She only wanted one thing: solace. There was only one person who could give it to her.

  James!

  Mandy rolled out of bed and hurried through the darkened room, gliding down the steps that led to the main floor and scurrying toward the door. The yard was quiet when she stepped outside. Since she had everything buttoned up in the guesthouse, she didn’t realize how stale the air had become.

  She took in great gulping breaths as she tried to center her nerves, resting her hands on her knees as she collected herself. When she looked across the pool she locked gazes with James, who was settled on one of the loungers and flipping through a book by flashlight. His expression was unreadable as he studied his wife.

  “What are you doing out here?” Mandy blurted out, confused.

  “I’m sleeping out here,” James replied, his tone steady. “I can’t be with you, but that doesn’t mean I can’t be near you.”

  Mandy was dumbfounded. “Did you sleep out here last night, too?”

  James nodded. “I wanted to be here if you needed me. Obviously you didn’t.”

  That wasn’t even close to the truth. Mandy gripped her hands together in front of her, twisting her fingers as nerves overtook her. “I … um … .”

  “What’s wrong, baby?” James’ voice was gentle. “Do you need something?”

  “I had a nightmare.”

  “Okay,” James said, putting the book down on the small table on the other side of the lounger and licking his lips. “Do you want to talk about it?”

  “I … woke up alone,” Mandy said, tears filling her eyes. “I wanted you.”

  “I’m right here, baby.”

  Mandy made a beeline for the far end of the pool. James remained sitting – even though it took every ounce of energy he had not to race to her – and waited until she crossed the halfway mark before he jumped to his feet and caught her mid-air. She threw her arms around his neck and buried her face in his chest as sobs overwhelmed her.

  “It’s okay, baby,” James murmured as he smoothed her hair. “Everything is going to be okay.”

  INSTEAD of returning to the main house, James scooped Mandy up in his arms and carried her to the guesthouse. He let her cry until she couldn’t wring another tear out of her eyes, and then left her on the bed so he could turn on the shower in the adjacent bathroom.

  “What are you doing?” Mandy asked, confused.

  “I love you more than life itself, wife, but you smell,” James replied, opting not to mince words. “You’ve been holed up here for two days. You’ve obviously been drinking … and painting. You have paint all over your legs.”

  “Oh, yeah.” Mandy pressed her lips together as she stared down. “I’m sorry I hit you. That was so wrong. If you don’t forgive me, I understand.”

  “I don’t care about that,” James said, running his hand down the back of Mandy’s hair and tilting up her chin. The room was dark, but he could see most of her features thanks to the streetlight on the other side of the window. Her hair was greasy and unwashed, her face sallow. She was still beautiful … and she was his. She would always be his. “It’s not the first time you’ve hit me.”

  “The first time I hit you was because you deserved it,” Mandy said, referring to the aftermath of their first night together when James slipped out and abandoned her while she slept. “You didn’t deserve it this time.”

  “I deserved it, baby,” James said. “I should’ve told you what I suspected but … I didn’t want to make things worse. It turns out not telling you made things ten times worse than telling you. I’m sorry.”

  “I can’t wrap my head around it,” Mandy admitted. “She’s dead because of me.”

  “We don’t know that,” James said, forcing her to look at him even as she tried to turn away. “Do not get ahead of yourself. We don’t know who did this. We don’t know why they did it. All we know is that there’s a bad person out there and we’re going to find him.”

  “How?”

  “I honestly don’t know,” James replied. “I haven’t been much help. Grady’s been doing some legwork, but we don’t have a lot to go on yet. We’re trying to get a copy of the ballistics report from the sheriff’s department so we can conduct our own investigation, but that hasn’t been going well. They’re a mess over there.”

  “It’s not fair that she died because of me.”

  “Stop saying that,” James ordered. “Even if someone was aiming at you, it’s not your fault. You didn’t ask for it. You’ve done nothing wrong.”

  “It doesn’t feel that way,” Mandy admitted, sighing as James pulled her to her feet and stripped off her shirt. “It feels like I caused Heidi and her baby to die. I don’t understand why she didn’t tell me about the baby.”

  “And I don’t understand why that matters now,” James said. “Heidi loved you, but pregnancy is a private thing. Some people keep it to themselves until after the first trimester has passed. We may never know why she didn’t tell you.”

  “I can’t believe she’s gone.”

  “I know,” James said, tugging his shirt over his head and dropping his shorts before following Mandy into the glass shower. The water was warm and steamy, and Mandy gasped as it connected with her skin. “Too hot?”

  “No, it’s perfect,” Mandy replied. “I didn’t realize how much I needed a shower until now.”

  “Yes, well, you obviously couldn’t smell yourself,” James teased lightly, running his finger down Mandy’s cheek as the water washed away the stress of the day. “Mandy, I love you more than anything. You really hurt me when you shut me out, though.”

  “I didn’t mean to,” Mandy said. “I just … needed to think.”

  “I know that, baby,” James said. “We both made mistakes. We’re a unit, though. Even when you’re angry, you need to talk to me. If you just want to say that you need time alone, I can accept that. I cannot accept being shut out, though. It hurts too much.”

  Mandy solemnly nodded as he reached for the shampoo. “Did you really sleep on the pool lounger last night?”

  “Yes, and I considered kicking in the door multiple times,” James replied. “My family and Peter had to talk me off a few ledges. I’m surprised you didn’t realize that.”

  “I passed out early last night. Since I didn’t eat anything, I was drunk after four cocktails.”

  “I kind
of figured that,” James said. “Still, don’t shut me out again, wife. This soul mate thing only works when it’s a two-way street.”

  “I won’t.” Mandy slipped her arms around James’ waist and rested her head against his chest, taking solace in the steady beat of his heart as he rocked her. “I need you.”

  “You’ll always have me.”

  “No, I need you.” Mandy’s eyes were plaintive. “I need to feel something other than sadness.”

  James realized what she meant after a beat. “Are you sure?”

  “I don’t want anything fancy,” Mandy said. “I just … want to feel you.”

  “Okay, baby,” James said, pressing a soft kiss to the corner of her mouth. “Everything I do is fancy, though. You’re going to have to suck it up and accept that I’m gifted in that department.”

  Mandy snorted. The sound was hollow, but it was the closest thing to a laugh she’d been able to muster in days. “Somehow I think I can live with that.”

  “That’s good,” James said. “I need you, too.”

  “I guess we need each other.”

  “Forever.”

  James lowered his mouth to Mandy’s, keeping the exchange soft and sensual. He had no inclination to push for anything hot and heavy. Tonight they would share their love and hearts, and that was more than enough for both of them.

  8

  Eight

  James woke to Mandy’s bright eyes studying him. She was naked, her body completely on top of his, and he had one hand tangled in her hair and the other wrapped around her waist. Their bodies were entwined together and you couldn’t ascertain where one ended and the other began.

  “Good morning, baby.”

  “Morning.”

  James pressed a soft kiss to her mouth. “How are you feeling?”

  “I don’t know,” Mandy admitted. “I feel better, which makes me feel guilty because I’m pretty sure I shouldn’t feel better given the circumstances.”

  “You can’t flog yourself, wife,” James said. “You’re doing the best you can. Heidi wouldn’t want you to be miserable.”