“She’s dead,” Jake answered. “She and Madeline shared a home in Clinton Township for a few months until, in what is being called a ‘freak accident,’ her mother fell down the stairs during a blackout and broke her neck.”
“She killed her,” Mandy said, rubbing the side of her nose as she considered the ramifications.
“It was ruled an accident,” Jake cautioned. “If I had to guess, though, Madeline killed her mother to get her hands on that money.”
“Well, that explains that,” James said. “Who did she date once she got the money?”
“No one,” Jake answered. “As far as I can tell, you were the last man she dated.”
“That’s because she convinced herself she was in love with you,” Mandy said. “If Jake is right and she was committed for a year, the doctors spent that time trying to break her of her stalking habit. It worked to some extent, although it kept her fixated on the last man she dated.”
“There’s more,” Grady said, sobering. “We authorized Maverick to hack her home computer. I know you’re probably going to hate that, but we did it before the cops showed up at her place and downloaded a mirror image of her desktop. We didn’t have a lot of time and I didn’t want to regret not doing it.”
“I’m not thrilled with the illegality of it, but I’m glad you did it,” James said. “What did you find?”
“Maverick is still going through it and a lot of it is password protected,” Grady answered. “She did have an unfortunate habit of stalking both of you online.”
“Both of us?” Mandy’s voice was squeaky.
James rubbed her back to soothe her. “What do you mean? She acted surprised at the benefit when I told her I was married.”
“I think ‘acted’ is the operative word there,” Grady said. “She had hundreds of files on both of you. She had photos from the courthouse, too. She hired someone to take photos of Mandy and there were a lot of her and Heidi … and you. Apparently you took her lunch one day and you two got practically horizontal on the patio.”
“I’m starting to think I’ve been inappropriate at your place of business a lot more than I realized,” James said, ruefully rubbing his forehead. “I’m sorry, baby.”
“I’m not,” Mandy replied. “I had fun on the patio that day.”
“So cute,” James said, pinching her cheek.
“Don’t get melancholy,” Grady said. “You’ve been inappropriate at our place of business, too.”
“What else was on her computer?” James asked, his irritation ramping up.
“She got Mandy’s school records, the names of two ex-boyfriends, and photos of Mandy and Ally when they were in high school,” Grady replied. “I think she ordered one of their old yearbooks.”
“That is so creepy,” Mandy said, crossing her arms over her chest and rubbing them to warm herself.
“That is creepy,” James agreed. “That’s going to work to our advantage at trial, though.”
“Only if we want Mandy to plead self-defense, and she didn’t do it so we don’t want that,” Grady said. “There’s one other thing.”
“I’m guessing it’s really bad if you saved it for last,” James said. “Lay it on me.”
“I have to show you instead,” Grady said, opening his laptop. “Do you remember the extra cameras we put on the property when Pritchard was on the loose?”
James nodded.
“Well, I didn’t take them down like you told me to.”
“Oh, Grady! That’s thousands of dollars of equipment hanging out in the woods waiting for the weather to ruin it or someone to steal it.” James was exasperated.
“I’m sorry,” Grady said, holding his hands up. “I got distracted with refurbishing the saloon and I’ll get them before I leave today. Calm down, you big whiner.”
“Why are the cameras important?”
“Well, I thought we could use them for your alibi since they cover the hot tub and are time stamped.”
“That’s a great idea,” James said, leaning forward. “Where are they?”
“I have them, but … um … .”
“What?” James prodded.
“We’re having sex on them,” Mandy supplied. “I don’t want those entered into evidence in court, James. Everyone will see.”
James’ expression softened. “I know, baby, but we might have to show them to the prosecutor so he’ll drop the charges. They’ll never make it to court.”
“I’m not sure you want to do that,” Grady said. “You need to watch this.” He started the video in question and Mandy buried her hands in her face when she realized what she was seeing.
“We’re having sex, Grady,” Mandy shrieked. “Don’t watch that.”
“I’ve seen the whole thing and James keeps you covered,” Grady said. “I wanted to make sure, and before anyone calls me a pervert, I made Sophie watch for Mandy’s naughty bits.”
“I’m definitely going to beat you,” James muttered. “What’s the problem?”
“Look in the corner by the guesthouse,” Grady instructed. “I know it’s hard to focus when you two are moving around so much, but you can see it if you really watch.”
James squinted his eyes and jolted when he saw the silhouette emerge from the darkness, the attached face focused on Mandy and him as they frolicked in the hot tub. “Oh, no. Is that Madeline?”
“She was there for at least twenty minutes and neither of you noticed,” Grady said. “That puts her on your property shortly before she died. The medical examiner placed time of death at a little after eleven. This is shortly before ten. That doesn’t look good for you guys.”
“What do we do now?” Mandy asked.
“Find out who Madeline met in the hour after she left our house,” James said, pressing his hand to the back of Mandy’s neck. “It’s still going to be okay, baby. I promise.”
19
Nineteen
“What are you doing?” James asked three hours later, walking into Mandy’s studio and glancing around. She hadn’t painted in more than a month, and while he would gladly watch her work out her grievances on a canvas, he worried she was doing something else and packing her supplies away because she was convinced she would never get a chance to finish what she started.
“I’m thinking,” Mandy said, moving two empty canvases so she could stack them against the wall.
“About painting sharks or me getting naked?” James asked. “We could combine both activities if you’re feeling industrious.”
Mandy smirked. “Actually I was thinking about what you said, and … um … if you’re okay with it … and if you’re not I totally understand, just tell me … I … .”
“Spit it out, baby,” James said. “Whatever you want, I’ll make it happen. All you have to do is tell me.”
“I think I might talk to someone about what happened with Pritchard.”
Mandy averted her gaze, terrified to meet James’ sympathetic eyes.
“I think that’s a good idea, baby,” James said, reaching for her so he could draw her to him. “I wish I could help you, but I honestly don’t understand what you’re feeling. I will stand by you no matter what you need. I promise.”
“I know you will,” Mandy said, resting her head against his heart and closing her eyes so she could let the steady beat lull her. “I know you don’t understand why I’m so bothered. I’m not sure I understand either.”
James silently rubbed her back and let her talk at her own pace.
“When I first found out he escaped I wanted him dead,” Mandy continued. “That day when Sophie had the meltdown at Peter’s house and wanted him to track Pritchard down and kill him was interesting because I kind of agreed with her.”
James pressed a kiss to Mandy’s forehead and took a page out of Grady’s book and focused on what she was saying so he could listen and hear her words instead of fixating on the emotions he associated with them for a change.
“When I realized he was inside the saloon, I didn
’t know what to do.”
James was torn. Part of him wanted to hear what Mandy went through and the other part of him was desperate to avoid it because it would make him feel guilty. He should’ve been there to protect her. He would never believe otherwise.
“Emma was a mess and she was screeching and freaking out,” Mandy said. “I understood that because I was freaking out, too. I couldn’t show it because if we both caused a scene I knew Pritchard would win before we even started playing the game.”
“That was smart, baby,” James said. “You had to maintain control of at least part of the situation.”
“He was … crazy,” Mandy said. “He didn’t feel remorse for anything he did. He kept talking about training his grandchild the right way so the baby would scream and cry when he raped him.”
“Oh, baby.”
“Originally he was going to cut the baby out of Emma,” Mandy said. “I had no idea what to do. I thought I was going to have to fight him long enough for Emma to get away. I knew I would die, but as long as she and the baby got away I told myself everything would be okay.”
“Everything wouldn’t have been okay if they got away and I lost you,” James countered.
“I didn’t have any other options,” Mandy said. “It was either I die protecting Emma and the baby or we all died.”
“In my head I know that, baby,” James said, a tear slipping down his cheek. “My heart could never take that, though.”
“When Emma’s water broke I thought the world was ending,” Mandy said. “I realize now it was the best thing that could’ve happened to us because it distracted Pritchard. At that point in time, though, I was terrified.
“I moved Emma to the floor and she kept screaming that she wasn’t going to push and there was no way she was going to give the baby to her father,” she continued. “She was in so much pain, but she somehow held on.”
“She’s strong,” James said. “You’re strong, too.”
“Pritchard was drinking, and he seemed a little wobbly,” Mandy said. “I thought that might give me a slight advantage if I could leverage it. Thankfully he was also stupid, so I kept making up things about giving birth to confuse him.
“I didn’t know what to do because I didn’t think you would make it home in time to help me,” she said. “I only had the one idea. If I had known you were so close, I would’ve figured out a way to distract him for five more minutes.”
“You can’t go back in time, baby,” James said. “You acted the only way you could given the circumstances. Out of curiosity, though, what kind of lies did you tell him about giving birth?”
“Men are scared of lady parts,” Mandy explained, causing James to chuckle. “Pritchard was a sick bastard, but he was still squicked out by what was happening. He told me to pull the baby out once his head appeared, but I told him that would mean ripping the baby’s head off and killing him.”
“That was smart.”
“Then I told him that I would need his knife to cut the baby’s umbilical cord,” Mandy added. “He didn’t trust me with the knife, so I told him he would have to do it and not to do it wrong because it could kill the baby.”
“That was smart, too.”
“I told him to wash the knife because bacteria could get in the cord and make the baby sick with an infection,” Mandy said. “That’s when I noticed how unsteady he was. While he was distracted, I told Emma what I was going to do.”
James licked his lips. “Uh-huh.”
“I told her not to blame herself for what was about to happen and make sure you knew that I loved you.”
James tightened his arms around Mandy. He wanted to erase every moment of pain from her heart, but he didn’t have the ability so he did the only thing he could and continued to listen.
“I hit him with the bottle of bourbon and the glass, and he couldn’t see straight, but he refused to fall down,” Mandy explained. “I knew there was another knife in that drawer behind the bar and I tried to get it, but he was already on me.”
James didn’t want to hear the next part, but he couldn’t silence her.
“We started fighting for the knife and I knew he was stronger than I was, but all I could think about was Emma and the baby and how they would be sitting ducks if he beat me,” Mandy said. “I bucked him off me with my hips and turned on my side. He tried to ram the knife into my neck and I managed to grab his hand.”
James traced soft circles on the back of Mandy’s neck as she buried her face in his chest.
“I still don’t know how I managed to shift the knife, but I did,” Mandy said. “I shoved it as hard as I could. I didn’t think it would go in him as far as it did, but I hoped it would give me a few minutes to grab another bottle and smack him with it.
“I could feel the knife cutting through him and he made this weird gurgling sound,” she continued. “I still didn’t realize what was happening. It was like I was moving in slow motion.”
“You were in shock, baby.”
“My hands were warm, and I thought they were cut when I saw all the blood,” Mandy said. “I crawled to the corner of the bar where you found me and waited. I waited for him to get up and kill me. I couldn’t make my muscles move. I didn’t realize he was dead until right before you came in. I heard you and yet I couldn’t answer you. I thought maybe I was dead and didn’t realize it yet.”
James swallowed the lump in his throat. “When we came in, the first thing we saw was Emma and the baby,” he said. “Finn raced over to them and when I couldn’t see you, I thought you were already gone.
“My heart pounded and I couldn’t really hear what Finn was saying to me as I walked over to the bar,” he continued. “I kept thinking I was going to walk around that corner and find you dead, and then I was going to be dead, too.
“I didn’t want to look,” James said. “I wanted to wake up in my bed with you on my chest and realize it was a dream. It wasn’t a dream, though, and I kept walking. When I found you, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. It was the best miracle ever. I thought it was all over then, but I didn’t give what you were going through enough thought, and I will forever be sorry for that.”
“You’re the best man I know,” Mandy said, her voice cracking. “I’m sorry I’ve been having so much difficulty with this.”
“No, baby,” James said, forcing her chin up so she had no choice but to meet his gaze. “Never be sorry for feeling what you feel. That’s what makes you the wonderful person you are. I happen to love you, so I always want you to be who you were born to be.”
“Will you be upset if I talk to someone?”
“I’ll be happy if you talk to someone,” James answered. “You need to get all of this off your chest. I can’t help you because I’m glad Pritchard is dead. I will be waiting for you at home when you need me. I promise.”
Mandy nodded and rested her head against James’ chest again. “I’m tired.”
James was exhausted. The emotional retelling took a lot of out of both of them. “I’m tired, too,” he said. “You haven’t eaten since lunch, though, and there’s nothing out here. Do you want to go back to the house and let me feed you leftover pizza or go to bed in the next room? I’m up for either option.”
Mandy’s stomach picked that moment to growl.
“I think that answered that question,” James said, chuckling as he kissed her forehead. “Let’s lock this place up and get a quick dinner. Then I’ll rub you for as long as you want in bed.”
“Pizza and a massage? That sounds like the perfect night.” Mandy was going for levity and James forced a smile because they both needed it.
“Every moment I spend with you is perfect,” James said. “I know everything piling up on you is hard to handle, and I don’t blame you for struggling. We’re going to get through this, though. We’re going to find out who killed Madeline and we’re going to spend a fun summer in the pool. We’re going to barbecue and have sex whenever we want – even if you’re sore the next
morning. Our life is going to continue to be happy as long as you believe in us.”
“I could never believe in anyone but you.”
“That’s good,” James said. “It’s you and me forever, my baby. Nothing will ever separate us.”
MANDY was lost in a dreamless sleep, her face resting on James’ chest as he lightly snored beneath her when James’ cell phone began ringing. It took James a moment to clear his head and answer.
“Hello.”
Mandy lifted her head to listen. It wasn’t overly late, but she knew whatever news James was getting would be bad.
“We’ll be there at ten.”
James disconnected the phone and met Mandy’s concerned eyes in the darkness, the moon offering enough illumination to let the couple focus on one another without offering too much light. “That was Detective Mason,” James said. “He wants you to come in for questioning tomorrow morning.”
“Am I going or are we running?”
James rubbed his thumb against her cheek as he considered the question. “What do you want to do?”
“I don’t want to give up our life, James,” Mandy said. “I work in the courthouse. I’m supposed to believe in the system.”
“If they arrest you, we’ll probably be able to get you bail,” James said. “I’m hoping they’re just going to ask questions in an attempt to rattle us, but if they take you into custody I will bail you out and then we’ll make our decision. Can you live with that?”
Mandy bit her lip and nodded.
“Will you promise to get some sleep even though you’re worried?” James pressed.
“I might need you to tire me out first,” Mandy said. “I’m feeling keyed up. I’m pretty sure you’re the only one who can relax me.”
“Oh, baby, I was going to do that anyway,” James said, lowering his mouth to hers. “Prepare to be exhausted when I get finished with you. I have a sex god persona to maintain, after all.”
20
Twenty
James grabbed his watch off the nightstand and moved toward the bathroom to gather Mandy the next morning, pulling up short when he saw her studying her reflection in the mirror. She looked beautiful – as she always did – but she was pale and grim.
Deadly Rivalry (Hardy Brothers Security Book 17) Page 15
