“That would have been a mistake,” Mandy said. “You couldn’t have touched the bottom either. If you hadn’t done things the way you did, we both would have been in terrible danger.”
“Do you want to know what’s funny?”
Mandy waited.
“I would have rather died with you than lose you,” James said. “I have no idea how this happened. I’ve spent the better part of my life living for myself. Now? Now I live for you. I live because of you.
“I was alive before we got together,” James said, his voice breaking. “I wasn’t living, though. You’re my whole heart and soul, baby.”
Mandy pressed her face into the hollow between his chin and neck. “I feel the same way. I’m sorry you were so scared.”
“I’m sorry you were almost eaten alive.”
Mandy barked out a coarse laugh. “I still love sharks and eating machines. You don’t have to worry about that. It’s going to be okay. I just need a good night’s sleep.”
“Good,” James said, scooping her up in his arms. “We both need it. Take this robe off. I want to feel you on top of me all night.”
Mandy arched an eyebrow. “You want to have sex now?”
“Love is not sex,” James said. “I want to feel you. We’ll discuss sex in the morning.”
Mandy lifted her hand, running her index finger down his cheek. “I love you so much it just buries me sometimes.”
James clutched her body close. “We’re in the same boat there, baby. Let’s go to sleep. I need to hold you, and you need to be held.”
“And tomorrow?”
“I don’t give a shit about tomorrow right now,” he said. “We’ve got tonight. We’re alive. We’re together. We’ll deal with tomorrow … tomorrow.”
“I love you.”
“Right back at you, baby. Right back at you.”
Sixteen
James woke before Mandy the next morning, and he spent the next fifteen minutes watching her sleep. Mornings were his favorite part of the day. His wife always woke up befuddled and warm, her skin soft and pliable under his fingers. He had no intention of waking her for fun this morning, though. He was just happy to be able to hold her.
“If you think any louder, you’re going to wake up everyone in the hotel,” Mandy murmured shifting her head so she could gaze up into his eyes.
“Good morning,” James said, kissing her forehead. “Did you sleep okay?”
“I slept like a rock,” Mandy said. “Did you sleep at all?”
“I slept,” James said. “It was a little more intermittent than you. I kept waking up so I could make sure you were still here. I did sleep, though.”
“James, you can’t let this derail you,” Mandy said. “You have a job to do. I’m here. I’m fine.”
His fingers traced the arch of her back lightly as he considered her statement. “I’m going to stay here with you today,” he said. “Grady and Finn can handle things at the convention center.”
“No, that’s not what’s going to happen,” Mandy countered. “You’re going to go to work, and I’m going to stay here. Then, when you get back tonight, you’re going to buy me a nice dinner and take me to the wax museum.”
James stilled. “Really?”
“Really.” Mandy wasn’t in the mood for his guff. “I love you. You have a job to do. Hardy Brothers Security is your livelihood. You love that company, and you take pride in it. You’re going to do what you have to do.”
“You’re more important than the business,” James said.
“Thankfully for you, you don’t have to pick me over the business,” she said. “I’m here. I’ll be waiting for you. I’m going to hang around and watch television all day. Then, when you’re done with work, you’re going to buy me as many souvenirs from the wax museum as I can carry.”
James barked out a laugh. “You’re pretty resilient, wife.”
“That’s because I have a good support system,” Mandy said, giving him a sweet kiss. “Now, if we play our cards right, we can spend twenty minutes in the shower together before breakfast.”
James grinned. “I’ll bet I can stretch that to thirty minutes if you wash my hair while I … make you moan.”
“That sounds like a difficult physical proposition,” she replied. “I’m always up for new challenges, though.”
JAMES managed to push worries about Mandy out of his mind for most of the day, but only because she texted him every thirty minutes. And, because she was who she was, the texts were getting progressively dirtier.
“What are you smiling at?” Grady asked, sidling up next to James and reading the phone screen over his shoulder. “She has an absolutely filthy mind.”
“That’s why I love her.”
“How is she after last night?” Grady’s face was serious. “Did she have nightmares?”
“She didn’t wake up once.”
“How many times did you wake up?”
“About five,” James admitted. “Each time she was there and breathing. I drifted back off right away.”
“I know what happened last night was freaky, but when you really think about it, she’s been in a lot worse situations.”
“Is that supposed to make me feel better?” James asked.
“It’s supposed to make you relax,” Grady replied. “She’s sitting in the hotel room all day. She’s fine. She’s sending you dirty texts.”
“Who is sending dirty texts?” Finn walked into the space where the locked room would be located, another man close on his heels.
“Mandy,” Grady said.
“Well, at least she’s feeling better,” Finn said, blasé. “Even getting thrown off a boat into alligator-infested waters can’t bring her down. This is Detective Will Boyd, by the way. He’s been tasked to hang around the locked room for the big show. He just wanted to get a look at everything and meet us.”
James and Grady shook Boyd’s hand and introduced themselves. The detective was easygoing, and he had one of those southern accents that made girls from the northern states go weak in the knees. James liked him right away.
“So, I’m sorry,” Boyd said. “I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but it sounds like you had some sort of a situation yesterday.”
“We’ve had a situation since we hit town,” Finn said. He glanced at James, waiting for approval to take the detective into their confidence.
“Go ahead,” James said. “We could use any help we can get at this point.”
Finn filled Boyd in on the past few days while Grady checked the locking mechanisms on the door and James split his attention between his iPad and the story. When Finn was done, Boyd was calm.
“Well, that’s a dilly of a story,” Boyd said. “What do you think is going on?”
“We have no idea,” James said. “We retraced every step we took on the day we arrived last night. We have no idea why anyone would think Emma has something of any value.”
“May I ask what she does for a living?”
“She’s a model,” Finn said. “Only for another few weeks, though. She’s been going to school to become a teacher.”
“And she’s pregnant,” Grady added.
Boyd arched an eyebrow. “Are you two getting married?”
“We are,” Finn said. “She wants to wait until after the baby, though. She doesn’t want to be fat in her wedding dress.”
Boyd snickered. “That sounds about right. Is there any possibility that one of the other women accidentally picked something up? You said they’ve been shopping. Maybe someone is confused.”
“I don’t think so,” James said. “Mandy and Sophie have shopped, but everything they’ve bought has just been touristy stuff.”
“Do you know everything they’ve bought?” Boyd asked.
“Mandy has a few skirts, and she bought a necklace for Ally.”
“Who is Ally?”
“My sister,” James said. “They’re best friends.”
“You married your sister’s best friend?�
�� Boyd arched an eyebrow. “That takes a brave man. That means your sister is all up in your business.”
“My sister was already up in my business,” James said. “You can’t help who you fall in love with.”
“Ain’t that the truth,” Boyd laughed. “Was the necklace valuable?”
James shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s silver. I think it’s nice, but not worth going after three women for.”
“Anything else?”
“Just kitschy stuff,” James said. “She bought some Mardi Gras beads and shot glasses for our bar.”
“It’s not Mardi Gras,” Boyd pointed out.
“Yeah, she just bought those so we could play a little game on our first night here,” James said, a blush creeping up his cheeks.
“I see,” Boyd said, fighting the urge to laugh. “She sounds like fun.”
“She is,” James said.
“And she’s the one who got thrown overboard on the bayou ride last night?”
James scowled. “Yes.”
“I can understand how that rattled you,” Boyd said. “You should know, though, gators rarely attack in the water like that.”
“She still could have been hurt,” James said. “You said they rarely attack. That doesn’t mean they don’t ever attack.”
“Does she look like a small dog?” Boyd asked.
“No.”
“Then I wouldn’t worry about it,” he said. “It’s not like the movies.”
“That’s still my wife,” James snapped.
Boyd didn’t appear upset with James’ outburst. “And I can see you love her,” Boyd said. “She’s obviously fine.”
“Did she call you and ask you to tell me that?”
Boyd smirked. “I kind of want to meet your wife. She’s mouthy. She sends dirty texts. She likes haunted bayou rides. My wife just yells at me and pours red beans and rice down my throat.”
James grinned, despite himself. “She’s one of a kind.”
“She is,” Grady said. “Back to the topic at hand, though. As far as we can tell there’s absolutely nothing of value in any of their purses or shopping bags.”
“There has to be something,” Boyd said. “You’re just not seeing it yet.”
“We’ve gone through everything.”
“Did you report the purse as stolen?” Boyd asked.
“There was nothing in it,” Finn said. “She had twenty bucks, some Tums, and some lip gloss. All her credit cards and identification were in the hotel safe.”
“That was smart,” Boyd said.
“We had all of them do that after Emma’s purse was stolen,” James said. “We didn’t want to take any chances.”
“Are your women all … approachable?”
“Define approachable.”
“Are they friendly?” Boyd asked.
James pursed his lips. “I’m not sure what you’re asking.”
“I think he’s asking if they’re flirty,” Grady said.
“I was asking nothing of the sort,” Boyd said. “I was asking if they were the types to start up conversations with strangers.”
“Oh,” Grady said. “I don’t think of Sophie as particularly friendly. She’s cordial, and she’s not mean. She’s not really friendly, though.”
“Mandy is downright ornery if she feels like it,” James said. “She will talk to people, but she doesn’t encourage people to talk to her. She’s perfectly fine on her own.”
“Emma is friendly,” Finn said. “But it’s usually on a superficial level. She’ll talk to people because she feels like she has to, but she never tells them anything personal about herself.”
“So, you’re saying that people probably wouldn’t try to flirt with them, or approach them just to talk,” Boyd prodded.
“I think people would approach them to try and flirt with them,” Grady said. “They’re all attractive. Most men would turn around after a few minutes, though. Emma might be pleasant and cold, but Mandy and Sophie will be mean if they have to be.”
“Mean?”
“They don’t put up with any crap,” James said.
“Well, that’s a nice trait in a woman,” Boyd said. “At least you don’t have to worry about them running around on you.”
“Yeah, that’s not a concern,” James said. “Mandy’s mouth has gotten her in trouble a time or two, though. I love her dearly, but she doesn’t think before she speaks.”
“That’s a shared trait in your house,” Grady teased. “He’s right, though. Mandy and Sophie wouldn’t let anyone near them if they sensed anything off.”
“And they’re good about sensing people’s motivations?”
“They’re pretty good,” Grady said.
“What about Emma?”
“She can read people,” Finn said carefully. “She’s had a rough past. She’s more timid than Mandy and Sophie, though.”
“And you’re sure no one approached her that first night?” Boyd pressed.
“We’re sure,” James said. “Finn keeps her close, especially since she’s pregnant. He was with her in the hotel room that whole afternoon. We were all together at dinner. Emma was sick afterward. The spicy food didn’t agree with her.
“She sat on a bench with Finn while I got her a malt,” he continued. “She was never alone.”
“Okay,” Boyd said. “What were Mandy and Sophie doing while Emma was sick?”
“They were shopping at those kiosks on the street,” Grady said. “They were never really out of our sight. I mean, we didn’t watch them constantly, but they were right in front of us. No one approached them.”
“I just don’t know what to think,” Boyd said. “Somehow, word has got out that Emma has something important. More than one group of people is involved here. You said the couple at the haunted house – that house is really haunted by the way, go ahead and tell your wife that – was older. The man on the boat was younger. That seems to indicate that more than one group of people is involved in this.”
“I don’t know if that’s true,” James said. “It could just be multiple people in the same group. I don’t want to jump to any conclusions until we have hard facts.”
“That’s smart,” Boyd said. “Let me ask around with some of the other detectives in my precinct. Maybe they’ve heard something.”
“Do you think that’s possible?”
“I don’t see how we have anything to lose,” Boyd said. “For now, I would just keep your women close.”
“We always do,” James said. “We always do.”
Seventeen
“Okay, I promised to take Mandy to the wax museum,” James said that night over dinner. “If anyone wants to go, we’re leaving in about a half hour.”
Finn glanced at Emma, who had cleaned her plate again, and raised an eyebrow. “Do you want to go to the wax museum?”
Emma was conflicted. “Mandy said it has a bunch of gross stuff in it.”
“I think there’s a whole level of horror stuff,” James said. “I think there are floors with regular stuff, too.”
“I don’t want to see horror stuff,” Emma said. “Can we just stay here tonight?”
Finn rubbed her shoulders. “That’s fine with me. We’ll order a movie and just spend some time together.”
“I want to go to the museum,” Sophie said. “I’ve always wanted to see it.”
“Really?” Grady was nonplussed. “I think wax figures are creepy. Haven’t you seen House of Wax?”
“I have,” Mandy said. “I like both of them.”
“Both of them?”
“There’s a Vincent Price one and another one with Paris Hilton.”
“How can you watch anything with Paris Hilton?” Grady asked.
“She runs through a warehouse in nothing but her underwear and then gets a steel rod rammed through her head,” Mandy replied. “It’s awesome.”
“Well, now I kind of want to see it,” Grady admitted. “It sounds just wrong enough to be right.”
“It’s very cool,” Mandy said.
“It’s actually not terrible,” James said. “Some of the special effects are neat, and the dude who is waxed alive is chilling.”
“And hot,” Mandy added.
James shot her a look.
“Nowhere near as hot as you, dear,” Mandy corrected.
“Okay, then four of us are going and two of us are staying,” James said.
“You surely are a math whiz,” Grady said, winking.
James punched him lightly on the arm. “Don’t push me too far tonight.”
“It’s a wax museum,” Grady said. “There’s no danger involved. How could I possibly ruin this?”
“I’M going to have nightmares,” Sophie said, studying the grouping of wax figures dubiously. “This is just so wrong. I can’t believe one mind could be sick enough to create … this.”
“I think some of the Kardashians are hot,” Grady said, sidling up to one of the wax figures so he could look down the voluptuous woman’s dress. “Do you think she’s anatomically correct?”
Mandy made a face. “You say I’m sick, but that’s sick. Right, James?” When she turned to her right, she found her husband already moving in Grady’s direction.
“Is she anatomically correct?” James asked.
“I’m kind of scared to look,” Grady admitted.
Sophie narrowed his eyes. “Why are you scared to look? She shows everything off on the Internet every chance she gets. You’ve probably already seen it.”
“I know,” Grady said, missing the murderous expression on his girlfriend’s face. “I don’t think I’ve seen boobs this big anywhere other than a strip club, though. Seeing them in wax might scar me for life.”
“Oh, just look,” James prodded.
“Why do you want him to look?” Mandy asked, furrowing her brow.
“I kind of want to see them.”
“Are my boobs not good enough for you?”
James lifted his head up, finally recognizing the situation for what it was. “Are you really jealous of a wax figure?”
“Of course not,” Mandy said. “I understand your dilemma. You can look at the wax boobs with your brother, or you can look at mine later tonight.”
Deadly Vacation (Hardy Brothers Security Book 10) Page 11
