Amanda's Return

by June Kramin

  “Holler if you need me.”

  Chapter Fifty-Five

  When Mandy returned, Sinclair had his legs and hands bound, but Sue was still sitting in the chair, wrapped in the blanket.

  “Why is she free?” Mandy asked, coldly.

  “I thought you could take her to get something on first.”

  Her clothes were in a pile on the floor. “Grab your shit and come to the bathroom.” She waved the gun as she spoke.

  “You don’t need the gun, Amanda,” Sue said as she stood.

  “Like hell.” Mandy took three long paces towards her and held the gun to her forehead. “I ought to pop you right here. What in the hell are you doing? Why did you take Angelo? You could have fucking killed him!”

  Hunt shouted “Babe” three times before Mandy lowered the gun with a huff.

  She motioned it towards the bathroom. “Get going.”

  “You’d really choose Angelo over me?” Sue said with her voice cracking.

  “Unless I missed something, he didn’t just almost kill you.”

  Sue lunged head first into Mandy. They went flying backward onto the kitchen floor. Sue straddled her and pulled back her arm, but Hunt caught it before she landed a punch. He picked her up by her waist and pulled her off. Mandy swung with all her might and knocked her out cold.

  “Great.” Hunt made sure the blanket was wrapped on her well then swung her over his shoulder and walked over for the container of ties. “I’ll get her attached to the bed.”

  “I don’t care if you lock her in a closet.” Mandy walked to the refrigerator and took out a beer then sat across from Sinclair. “What happened to her? You fill her mind with delusions of taking down the big bad New York mob?”

  “Quite the opposite, actually.”

  “Do tell.” She took a long swig of beer. Mandy stared at it for a moment then placed the beer on the table, suddenly remembering she might be pregnant.

  “She came looking for me.”

  “And I suppose you have an ad in Assassins Monthly?”

  “Don’t be so cocky. A killer for hire is never hard to find.”

  “So you’re in it for the money.”

  “The sex is pretty outstanding, too.”

  Mandy kicked the coffee table, slamming it into his shins. He cried out as Hunt turned the corner.

  “Were your anger issues this bad when you were pregnant the first time? I’m beginning to think there is something to this theory of yours.” He walked over and took the beer she abandoned. “You’re cut off.”

  “I already cut myself off.”

  Sinclair shoved the table away. “What a team. You’re harassing assassins and mobsters while pregnant? I think I’ve heard it all.”

  “What I am is none of your business. Tell me what happened to Sue. She seemed happy to be staying abroad. There was certainly enough money to last a lifetime. I can’t imagine she needed the jewelry to sell for more.”

  “My fees were a little high.”

  “Even after you began sleeping together?”

  “Business is business.”

  “Why did she turn?”

  “She couldn’t stay away anymore. Needing answers about her daughter consumed her. She finally got someone to give her answers and heard the whole story. You’re not on her favorite people list at the moment.”

  “Why?”

  “She knows you killed her brother.”

  “And he killed her daughter.”

  “Which she blames on you.”

  Mandy stood. “No one misses that child more than I do! Okay, maybe she does, but I was almost killed getting that revenge.”

  “And how does that taste now?”

  “So what is this then? She was having you kill anyone remotely associated with Darci’s death?” Mandy sat back down hard. “How could I be so stupid?” Tears formed in her eyes. “Why kidnap Angelo? Why didn’t she kill him?”

  “Bait.”

  “She knew I’d come for him.”

  Sinclair chuckled. “You run a hell of a theory in your mind. Don’t get me wrong. Sue is a great piece of ass, but she doesn’t have the brains to pull this off.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “This is more than revenge. More than money. She wanted you, yes, but there’s so much more. Don’t you get it yet? All anyone wants is power.”

  Without a sound, Sinclair’s head went flying back. A bullet hit him square in the forehead. Mandy and Hunt dove for cover. No other shots were fired. Hunt’s phone vibrated loudly in Mandy’s pocket. Her heart stopped. Not wanting to give away her location to the shooter, she flipped it open but didn’t say a word. It was James. He would hear what was going on and trace the call. They had to be close enough to help. She could only hope none of the goons from the cabin shot them in the process.

  Another shot flew over Mandy’s head. It hit a lamp and sent ceramic flying. She kept low to the ground and tapped Hunt on the arm. She wanted to get down the hall towards Angelo’s room before he tried to come out. They crawled to the hall without any more shots fired. Sue had been screaming from her room. Mandy went in after directing Hunt to Angelo’s.

  “Is that shots?” Sue shrieked.

  “It stopped for now. Shut up.”

  “Whatever he said, he was lying.”

  “I said shut the fuck up.” Mandy opened a bottom drawer and removed a pair of socks. She coldly stuffed it in Sue’s mouth. Baring her teeth, Mandy spoke softly.

  “I killed your sonofabitch brother for killing your daughter. He would have killed me if I didn’t. I loved him, and God knows I wanted a different life. He refused to make a change, and this is how the cards fell. I walked away. You chose to get back in. If you live through this, it will be with no help from me. You come near me, my family, or Angelo again, I will kill you.”

  Sue screamed through the gag, but Mandy couldn’t make any of it out. She crawled to Angelo’s room. Hunt was there waiting.

  “What now?” he asked her.

  “I don’t know. If he was doing the killing, who’s out there trying to shut him up. Eddie? Sinclair said it was about power. Maybe what was the most obvious from the start really is what’s going on.”

  “Not to toss out that theory, but if that’s all this was, Eddie could have done this by himself. He wouldn’t have brought in you, let alone Sue.”

  “We need to get those papers. Sue has to have them here.”

  “I’m not searching with gunfire. We need to get out of here.”

  “And whoever is out there will clean the place out while we’re gone. No.”

  A door was kicked in. Mandy jumped.

  “FBI. Freeze!”

  “James! We’re in here!” Mandy shouted. “There was someone shooting from the lakeside.”

  James hollered instructions to his men then he called out to her. “Stay the hell where you are!”

  Chapter Fifty-Six

  James’s men came in from outside and told them the coast was clear.

  “Why is Sue gagged in the next bedroom?”

  “It’s a long story.”

  One of James’s men walked in with Doc. He had Doc’s arm pinned behind his back. “This one just pulled up. He with you?” he asked Mandy.

  “Yes. Please let him go. He’s a doctor here to see Angelo.” Mandy walked to him. “I’m sorry, Doc. I’ll explain later. Please do what you can.” She motioned to Angelo. Thankfully he had passed out again and slept through the commotion. “He took a hit to the back of his head again, but he seems okay otherwise.” Doc shifted his eyes around the room. “They are FBI, but you’re okay. Nothing is going to happen to you.”

  “Can I at least give the boy some privacy while I look him over?”

  “Of course.” Mandy herded everyone out and closed the door behind her.

  They all went to the kitchen. Mandy faced James. “You traced that call pretty fast.”

  He grinned. “We were already on our way. The badges have tracking devices in them.�
��

  “You’re an ass.”

  He shrugged. “Now what’s with Sue, and more importantly, what’s with the stiff? That your French dude?” Mandy gave him a brief explanation of what they learned. “So this really isn’t over. She’s as much of a pawn as Sinclair here.”

  “I guess so.”

  “Have you talked to her yet?”

  “Other than threaten to kill her? No. I was a little busy dodging bullets.”

  “We’ll take her in and see what we can get out of her.”

  “Then what? You can’t just set her free. Somehow a screw came loose with her. She’s not fit to be released into witness protection.”

  “I’m not new here, Blaine.” He hesitated. “I know, Blair. That name isn’t going to last much longer either, so I hope you’re not attached to it.”

  Hunt put an arm around Mandy. “We’ll make do. It’s only a name.”

  Mandy leaned into Hunt and wrapped her arms around him. “I do love you.” James put his finger in his mouth like he was going to puke. “What are you? Four?”

  He chuckled. “We’re prepared to take Angelo now. We’ll take this Doc, too.” Mandy opened her mouth, but he silenced her. “We’re not about to go pressing any charges on their doctor. He doesn’t have a choice about coming. And neither do you for that matter.”

  “I can’t go with you now.”

  Hunt and James both said, “What?”

  “We can’t go, Hunt. We’re so close.”

  “Oh, no, you don’t,” James protested. “I told you this is over.”

  “And I told you that’s not your call. I don’t work for you, remember?”

  “Look, dammit. I’m sticking my neck out for you. I don’t do field work anymore, if you recall. You’ll do as I say.”

  Hunt took a step back, waiting for Mandy to explode.

  Mandy crossed her arms. “Oh, no, I won’t.” Mandy’s hand suddenly covered her mouth. She darted to the sink and threw up. Hunt rushed to her side.

  “What gives, babe?”

  James handed her a towel. She mumbled a thanks. Resting her head on the sink, she groaned. “Guess I saved fifteen bucks on a pregnancy test.”

  James screeched, “What?”

  “Apparently morning sickness.” She stood and smiled at Hunt. A smile spread wide over his face as he picked her up. She wrapped her legs around him and cried happy tears into his shoulder.

  “You sure it’s not the excitement?” Hunt asked.

  “I’m sure. Your kid doesn’t seem to like beer.”

  “Then I think someone else knocked you up.” He grinned.

  “You two can’t be serious.” James said.

  Mandy stayed in Hunt’s arms, but she turned to face James. “Yup. I’m pregnant.”

  “You picked a fine time.”

  “We’ve been trying for a long time. It’s not like I planned on getting kidnapped by the Menusco mob.”

  “Well, this settles it. I won’t be responsible for another innocent life. You’re done.”

  “No! I think I have this figured out. Just give me another day.”

  “You going to enlighten me?”

  “What do you care? You guys wanted nothing to do with this.”

  “We became involved when you got involved. Like it or not. Let me know where your train of thought is going. Eddie?”

  “That’s too easy.” Mandy walked out of the kitchen and went back into the room where Sue was. Hunt and James followed. Someone had already removed her gag and dressed her. She looked up at Mandy with hatred in her eyes but didn’t speak. “Where are the papers you took from the safe, Sue?”

  “Go to hell.”

  “We can do this the easy way, or we can do this my way.”

  “What do I have to lose? You people have already taken everything away from me.”

  “That wasn’t my fault. You could be living the life of a queen if you hadn’t decided to take an undeserved revenge trip. I handled things the only way I could a couple years back. You were to never see Gerard again, anyway. I know that’s not the same as him being dead, and I’m sorry you can’t see it that way. But if Gerard had to, he would have killed you himself.”

  “You’re a liar.”

  “He was trying to kill me, Sue. I do feel responsible for Darci in a way. He was aiming for me when he killed her. I didn’t want to give you the gory details when I learned them. It wasn’t going to change anything.”

  “Quit your lying. He worshiped you.”

  “He knew who I was from the day we were married. He was waiting for the chance to kill me. Waiting for me to outlive my usefulness to them. Unfortunately, I was too involved in loving him and didn’t see it. I was a stupid kid. If I’d left earlier, maybe Darci would be alive right now. Don’t think for a second I don’t punish myself every day.” Mandy rubbed her locket as she spoke.

  Tears ran down Sue’s cheeks. “They had to pay for what they did.”

  “We know there’s more to this. You don’t have to deal with this alone.”

  “I’m not telling you anything.”

  “Suit yourself.” Mandy turned to James’s men. “Search the house. There’s a pile of jewelry and some paperwork to be found. I’ll go search the car.”

  “Wait!” Sue screamed. “Where’s Sinclair?”

  Mandy wasn’t much in a coddling mood. She pulled her index finger across her throat.

  Sue screamed, “No!”

  “And it wasn’t even me.”

  Hunt walked out with her to the car. “You were a little hard on her, weren’t you, babe?”

  “I’m pissed off.”

  “No shit.”

  Mandy stopped and spun around. “We just found out that what we’ve wanted to happen forever has finally happened, and we can’t even take two seconds and enjoy it.”

  Without hesitation, Hunt pulled Mandy to him and held her tight. He leaned down and whispered, “So take two seconds.” He rocked with her. She wrapped her arms around him.

  “How can you do that?”

  “Do what?”

  “Snap me from Queen Bitch-la back to human so fast?”

  “Years of practice.”

  She laughed. “I really love you.”

  “I know. I really, really love you, too. Even for a bitchy broad.” He hopped back and took his best stance, preparing to be flipped again.

  She laughed harder. “You’re in the clear. I have to start taking it easy soon.” She placed her hands on her stomach and smiled. “Are you really happy?”

  “Are you kidding? Of course I am.” He walked over and covered her hands with his. “And not just because you’ll stop stressing over it either. I’m thrilled, babe. Don’t ever doubt that. I can’t wait to tell Hannah.”

  “Me, too.” Mandy turned back to the car. “Crap.”

  “What is it?”

  “I think I have to pee.”

  “I think it’s a little soon to be having those complaints.”

  “You failed the first test. Never deny me anything even remotely strange from this moment on.”

  “I’ll indulge your every whim, my queen.” Hunt caught up to her and took her arm. “Wait. I do recall you saying something about horny months.”

  “Oh, hell yeah.”

  “Hot damn!”

  “You still going to want me with blue-cheese breath?”

  “That was your craving with Hannah?”

  “Oh yeah. There wasn’t anything I didn’t dip in it. And shut up.”

  Hunt chuckled.

  Chapter Fifty-Seven

  Mandy searched under the seats while Hunt searched the trunk. He found what they were looking for stored with the spare tire and called Mandy over.

  She quickly flipped through the paperwork. “Let’s get this to James.”

  Once inside, they went through what Hunt had found.

  “Why would Sue have the deeds to the main building and what appears to be everyone’s houses?” James asked Mandy.

  “I
t was in a safe no one knew about. Maybe there was more to Lonny leaving than I realized. Maybe he was looking for more security when he left.”

  “What about the money you gave Sue?”

  “That was money for a deal that I botched. As far as I know, Lonny had no intentions of taking that money.”

  “Wouldn’t Vince be concerned about missing titles to everything?”

  “If it was an issue, I was never around for it, remember? If it’s the deeds he was after, Vince would have found a way around it. He’d have a lawyer draft up some good fakes or replacements. That’s not such a big deal. You can lose your deed in a fire and get them redone.”

  James held up a hardcover notebook that was at the bottom of the stack. Everyone watched as he looked through the sheets. “That’s a little harder to do when you come across the properties by sordid means.”

  Mandy snatched the book from his hand and paged through it. “Holy shit.”

  Hunt took it from her hands and went through a few pages himself. “Gotta love a mob that keeps books.”

  Mandy grabbed it back. “Why would they even record this stuff? For crying out loud.” She opened it and read through a few more entries. “Political payoffs?” She slammed it down hard on the table. “I suppose if we keep going, it’ll give us latitude and longitude of a dozen missing bodies.”

  James picked the book off the table and tucked it under his arm. “We’ll figure out what to do about this later. If Eddie knows this is what Sue was after, she’s in for a world of hurt.”

  Mandy leaned against the counter and crossed her arms. “I still can’t make heads or tails out of what he knows or what part he took in her getting those.”

  “It only makes sense that if Eddie knew about what it held, he would want it. It’s not the most flattering piece of evidence against any of them. I can’t see him just letting it out there.”

  “So apparently killing everyone wasn’t enough for Sue,” Hunt said. “She wanted to be sure that anyone she may have missed went down in flames, anyway.”

  “It’s odd,” Mandy added. Shoving away from the counter. She went into the room where they held Sue and stood with her arms crossed. “If the book is what you were after, why didn’t you turn that in to somebody? Why try to be a mastermind behind killing everyone? It seems to me jail would have been a way to drag out the suffering of those who caused you harm.”