Deadly Payback (Hardy Brothers Security Book 22) Read online

  “I’m on it.”

  “WHAT’S going on?”

  Grady arrived on Mandy’s floor twenty minutes later and widened his eyes when he saw the flurry of activity. He was eating lunch with Sophie across the street when he got a panicked text from James regarding Mandy going missing. He thought his brother was most likely overreacting and he should probably talk him off the ledge before things got out of hand so he cut his lunch short and walked across the street.

  Security stopped Sophie from entering – which annoyed her – but they let Grady through when he explained who he was. Every door to the courthouse was closed and security officers and sheriff’s deputies were searching every room. They appeared to be coming up empty, though.

  “Mandy is gone,” James said, handing Grady her purse and scowling. “Someone took my baby.”

  “You don’t know that,” Grady admonished, sucking in a breath as he darted a look in the judge’s direction. “Do you think she’s gone?”

  “I’m … not sure,” MacIntosh replied, opting for honesty. “It is all very strange.”

  “Well, tell me what happened from the beginning,” Grady suggested. “I need details.”

  “Screw your details,” James hissed, glaring at his brother. “Someone took my wife.”

  MacIntosh shot Grady a sympathetic look. “Mandy came to see me to tender her resignation,” he supplied. “We talked for a few minutes and then she left to get boxes from this closet to pack up her office. James arrived about fifteen minutes later and said her office was locked. We came down here and found the boxes stacked there and the purse on the floor. She was clearly here.”

  “And no one can find her?” Despite himself and his determination to remain calm, Grady didn’t like the story one bit. “Maybe she’s in the bathroom.”

  “We searched all of the bathrooms,” James snapped. “We’ve been looking for twenty minutes. If she was in the bathroom she would’ve come back by now. She’s gone!”

  James was clearly hanging on by a thread. Grady didn’t blame his brother for being worried. The odds of Mandy walking out of the courthouse herself were low. Given what happened a few days before, they were practically nil. She knew James would worry. She would’ve texted if something came up.

  “Okay, well, let’s approach this from a rational place,” Grady suggested. “The building is covered by cameras, right? Let’s go to the security room.”

  “That’s a good idea,” James muttered, stalking toward the elevator. “I swear, I’m going to kill whoever touched her. I’m going to … .”

  “Calm down,” Grady ordered, the odd look exchanged by two sheriff’s deputies not escaping his detection. “We’ll find her.”

  “That’s easy for you to say,” James shot back. “Sophie is safe. You know where she is. My wife watched her close friend die mere inches in front of her face a few days ago and now she’s missing!”

  “Calm down,” Grady said, lowering his voice. “We’ll find her. If she’s in this building, we’ll find her.”

  “And what if she’s already gone?”

  “We’ll still find her,” Grady said, helplessness washing over him. James looked so forlorn he thought his heart might break. “Don’t forget who we are. Don’t forget who she is. We will find her.”

  “Not soon enough,” James said. “I want to see that video footage right now.”

  “WHAT ARE we looking at?” MacIntosh asked, standing behind James as he navigated the computer equipment.

  “I’m familiar with this system,” James replied. “We’ve used it before. We should have multiple feeds of every floor and hallway. The stairwell should be covered, too.”

  Upon entering the room and ordering the security guard to show him all of the footage from the past hour, James grew impatient and kicked the guard out of his seat. Grady knew he needed something to do and merely shot the guard an apologetic look to ease the situation. James was on the warpath. There was no stopping him now.

  “There’s the lobby,” MacIntosh said, pointing at the screen on the far right. “Although … that’s not how it looked when we just went through there, is it?”

  Grady narrowed his eyes as he studied the screen. The judge was right. The picture showed happy people milling about. When the three men strode through moments before everyone was scared and grouping together in the corners. It didn’t even remotely resemble the picture they looked at now. “What the hell?”

  “I don’t understand,” James said. “Grady, look out that door and tell me what you see.”

  Grady did as instructed, finding the lobby overrun with sheriff’s deputies and small groupings of people. It didn’t resemble the footage on the monitor in the slightest. “James, you’re not looking at a live feed. I’m not sure what you’re looking at but … that’s not live.”

  “No, it’s looped,” James said, hitting a few buttons and causing the picture to shift. “Someone spoofed the cameras.”

  “All of the cameras?” MacIntosh asked, alarmed. “I … but how?”

  “That’s a really good question,” James said. “I … can’t seem to think. I … Grady.”

  “I’m going to call Maverick,” Grady said, forcing himself to remain calm as his brother fell apart. Someone needed to maintain control. “He’ll be able to see if the cameras were recording even though something else was being played on the monitors.”

  “Who is Maverick?” MacIntosh asked.

  “He’s our computer guru,” Grady replied. “We need a genius. You’re probably going to have to talk to the sheriff’s department to clear the way and get him in here.”

  “Consider it done,” MacIntosh said, casting a worried look at James. “I’m sure she’s fine.”

  “She’s not fine,” James said. “Someone took her. I was right here and they took her anyway. My baby is in trouble.”

  “And we’ll find her,” Grady said.

  “We have to.” James lowered his face to his hands. “I cannot lose her.”

  “You won’t.”

  “I can’t.”

  “We’re on it,” Grady said. “We’ll find her.”

  Even as he said the words, though, he wasn’t sure he was right. What if they didn’t find her? What if something terrible had already happened? What if they were too late?

  11

  Eleven

  “Well?”

  Grady kept one eye on Maverick as he worked and another on James as he paced a groove in the small room. The longer James went without word of Mandy – and each time a security guard or sheriff’s deputy reported a floor or area being clear but no sign of his beloved wife being discovered – the more James deflated. He was breaking down, and Grady had no idea how to fix it.

  “Whoever did this knew what they were doing,” Maverick replied. He’d been briefed on the situation upon his arrival and he didn’t offer any of the lame jokes or mocking he usually brought to the table when hired for a job. He wasn’t generally cognizant of other people’s emotions, but he could read James’ distress today. “They set up a program to record the activity in the lobby on a normal day. Then they just played it back from a remote receiver and no one was the wiser because they weren’t looking for the clues.”

  “Do you know when it was filmed?”

  “No.”

  “What does that even matter?” James snapped. “What about today’s footage? Were the cameras still recording?”

  “No,” Maverick answered, steeling himself in case James unleashed his temper. “They shut down the cameras today.”

  “Son of a … .” James tugged on the ends of his hair as he turned to face the wall.

  “Calm down,” Grady instructed. He’d said the words so many times they’d lost all meaning, but he had no idea how to rein in James. “Do you know when the cameras were switched off?”

  “Yeah, it happened right around ten this morning,” Maverick answered. “It was done manually, but whoever did it had the camera controls sent to another location some
time ago. So, when he did it, he could do it without being in the building. He might never have been here.”

  “He was here,” Grady countered. “He took Mandy from this building. That means he was here.”

  “That doesn’t mean he triggered the camera switch from here, though,” Maverick pointed out. “For all we know he was watching the feed until he saw Mandy. Maybe that’s what he was waiting for. When he saw her he made the switch and waltzed in without anyone being the wiser.”

  “You’re talking about someone who knows the building,” MacIntosh said. “You’re saying it has to be someone familiar with security procedure here.”

  “I guess I am,” Maverick conceded. “Some guy couldn’t walk in off the street and do this. There are too many people around. Whoever switched over the system needed time.”

  “How much time?” Grady asked.

  “At least a few weeks to do all of the work,” Maverick answered. “He would’ve had to hack into every single camera. They run in tandem, but separately, too. They were designed to keep running even if another camera failed. Heck, even if all the cameras but one failed, they were still designed to keep running.”

  “That means we’re dealing with an insider,” Grady said.

  “Do you think this has something to do with what happened to Heidi?” MacIntosh asked.

  “I’m not sure how the two things couldn’t be linked,” Grady replied. “I mean … think about it. The odds are astronomical for it to be a coincidence.” He turned to James. “Where were you at ten this morning when the cameras switched over?”

  James rubbed his chin as he racked his brain for an answer. “We were in the parking garage,” he said. “We left the house and came straight here. We talked for a few minutes because Mandy was worried about me going inside with her. She wanted to hold her head up high and do it herself. I should’ve told her no.”

  “You couldn’t have known what would happen,” MacIntosh said. “There’s no way you could’ve known.”

  “I should’ve kept her safe,” James said, his eyes filling with tears. “That was my responsibility. I failed her.”

  “You haven’t failed her,” Grady chided. “We’re going to get her back.”

  “You don’t know that,” James countered. “She could already be … dead.”

  “She’s not dead,” Grady said, adopting a soothing tone as he grabbed James’ wrist. “Think about it. Whoever killed Heidi was sending a message. We had no idea what that message was, but if that individual wanted to kill Mandy, there was never a better time than the day he took out Heidi.

  “All of this was set up to take her, not kill her,” he continued. “Someone was watching the feed. They saw you pull up and switched the cameras. They knew where she was in the building. They knew when she was alone and waited to approach her then.”

  “You keep saying ‘they,’” MacIntosh said. “Do you think it’s more than one person?”

  Grady ran his tongue over his teeth as he considered the question. “I’m going to say no, but there’s no way of knowing for sure,” he said. “This feels like a one-man job, though. Someone wants Mandy for a very specific reason.”

  “And what reason is that?”

  “I have no idea.”

  MANDY’S head felt as if it weighed fifty pounds and she could barely lift it. Her senses returned after riding on a sea of nothingness for what felt like a really long time, poking at the blackness that invaded her mind when she least expected it, and she struggled to make her blurry vision clear as she attempted to remember what happened.

  Her mind was muddled, unbelievably so. Time wasn’t linear in her head, but she knew she wasn’t where she was supposed to be. She was expected to be someplace else. But … where?

  She’d been in the courthouse. That much she remembered. She talked to Judge MacIntosh and made her way to the storage closet to collect boxes. While inside she heard something behind one of the shelves and investigated. Someone was waiting for her. It was someone she didn’t expect but still recognized … and yet the identity eluded her as she tried to focus on the memory.

  Mandy gave up after a few minutes and attempted to stand – or at least roll to her side to alleviate the pain in her arms. She was unable to move, and as her vision cleared she realized she was in a dark room, the only light coming from a tiny window near the ceiling, and her hands were tied behind her back as she sat in a wooden chair in the middle of the dank space.

  Instinctively Mandy realized she was in a basement. That explained the window – and lack of natural light, for that matter. The basement belonged to an older home. It was basically a Michigan basement, boasting a cement floor and wooden walls. There was no drywall. There was only one light in the room, a naked bulb hanging from the ceiling. Even as Mandy found herself able to focus, she realized the room was naturally dim and she wouldn’t be able to see everything surrounding her even when the clanging in her head ceased.

  That’s when she heard the voice. That’s when she realized she wasn’t alone.

  Despite the pain in her shoulders, Mandy shifted her head to the right and came face to face with the man who took her. When she saw him, when she recognized the plain features and the harsh grin, she remembered what happened in the storage room. She remembered who took her, and why his needle attack came as such a surprise.

  “Clint.” Mandy rasped out the name as her jailer leaned over. The smirk on his face was something akin to evil. “What … why?”

  “Oh, now, don’t be that way,” Clint chided, moving his hand to Mandy’s shoulder and giving it a good squeeze. His very touch caused her to recoil and she did her best to jerk away from him. “I see you’re still screwed up from the cocktail I injected you with. I’m sorry about that, by the way. I had to be sure you wouldn’t draw attention to us when I was getting you out of the building.”

  “Where are we?”

  “Home.”

  It was a simple declaration, and yet it filled Mandy with dread. “This isn’t my home,” she replied. Her tongue felt unnaturally thick and she struggled to keep from mumbling. She had no idea what Clint injected her with, but now that he mentioned it she could feel the dull ache of where he pressed the needle into her neck. “I want to go to my home.”

  “This is your home now,” Clint said. “You’ll get used to it. I know it’s not as nice as the house you shared with … him … but this place will grow on you. We’ve got a lake. There are a lot of trees so we can have picnics under them. You’re going to enjoy your time here.”

  Mandy very much doubted that. Even though she wanted to scream and yell, she maintained a calm demeanor as she attempted to figure out her predicament. “Did you take me as payback because of what happened to Heidi?”

  “Is that what you think?” Clint was almost jovial, which Mandy found off-putting. “Oh, no, baby. I took you because we belong together. We’ve always belonged together.”

  Mandy licked her lips as she tamped down the disgust associated with Clint calling her “baby.” She wasn’t his baby. She was James’ baby. Her mouth was dry and she was desperate for a glass of water, but she didn’t trust Clint not to give her something to knock her out again. The only thing she was sure about so far was that her clothes were in place and Clint probably didn’t have enough time to do anything really horrible to her while she was out. He had to transport her to a new location without anyone noticing, after all.

  “I don’t understand what you’re talking about,” Mandy said finally, deciding to use her confusion to her advantage. “The drugs have made my mind slow. I … need you to explain what’s going on.”

  “Of course you do,” Clint said, beaming. “You’ve always been a curious soul, haven’t you? I would love to explain. First, though, do you need something to drink? I was told the drugs would make you dehydrated and thirsty.”

  “I’m not thirsty,” Mandy lied, even as her body screamed for water. “I just want answers.”

  “And answers you shall get,�
�� Clint said, happily wiggling his butt as he moved to the chair across from her and sat. “I’ve been rehearsing this in my head for weeks. Heck, maybe it’s been months. I’m not quite sure. Anyway, I’ve been planning this for a long time.”

  “Planning what?”

  “Our future, of course,” Clint said. He uttered the words as if she was a small child who missed the obvious clue to an easy question. “We belong together. We’ve always belonged together. I know you realize that.”

  Mandy didn’t realize anything of the sort. Clint’s deranged attitude had her believing he’d flipped his lid. There could be no other explanation. Heidi’s death caused him to crack. She was sympathetic to his plight, but she was also worried about her safety.

  “Clint, I’m not sure what’s going on in your head, but I think you might be confused,” Mandy said, choosing her words carefully. “I’m already married.”

  “We’re not going to talk about him,” Clint said, his eyes flashing. “He fooled you. That’s what happened. He swept in and pulled the wool over your eyes. You didn’t realize what you were doing when you married him.”

  “I … don’t think that’s true,” Mandy said. “I love him. We’re married. Our future is together.”

  “Stop saying that!”

  “I don’t know what else to say, Clint,” Mandy said. “You’re frightening me and I’m honestly at a loss as to why you’re doing this. Maybe … maybe you need to talk to someone. I’ve been dealing with a therapist since I killed Lance Pritchard. I’ll bet she could help you, too. You just need to untie me so I can call her. She’ll help.”

  “Oh, I’m not crazy,” Clint said, chuckling. He was back to being amiable again. “You’re the one who is crazy. James did that to you. You didn’t realize it. I know that. I don’t blame you. He ruined you, though. I’m here to fix that.”

  “I … how did he ruin me?”

  “You were supposed to be mine,” Clint said. “We’ve been in love since long before he came on the scene. Don’t you remember that?”

  “No,” Mandy replied, opting for honesty. “I’ve always liked you, Clint, but I’ve never been in love with you. James is the only man I’ve ever loved.”