“I’m not sure you should be exerting yourself,” Mandy challenged. “In fact … holy crap!”
James slid his second hand into the boxer shorts she was wearing. They were his. Even though her hair was tangled from sleeping on it wet, her face was bare of makeup, and she was dressed in his oversized clothing … he’d never seen anything more beautiful.
“I have something I want to kiss and make better,” James said, grinning.
“I didn’t hurt my knee, so that’s not going to work for you this time.”
“I wasn’t talking about your knee,” James said, growling as he grabbed the lip of her boxers with his teeth. “Prepare to be wowed, baby.”
The fabric in his mouth muffled his words, but Mandy understood every word. He was okay. The sleep – and her words – did exactly what they were supposed to do. Mandy screeched as James yanked on the boxers, squirming as his fingers found her rigid nipple.
Grady cleared his throat in the doorway of the room, causing James to scowl and Mandy to snap her head up.
“I’m going to beat the crap out of you, Grady,” James grumbled. “What the hell?”
“James?” Art seemed uncertain as he shuffled in the entryway of the room, Ava standing at his side.
James pulled his hand out from under Mandy’s shirt and made sure the boxers were covering her skin before rolling to his side. There was no way to make this look professional. He was shirtless and he was almost to third base. Art wasn’t an idiot. There was no way to explain it away. “Art.”
“I’m sorry,” Grady said, his mouth working to hide a smirk. “Sven was … detaining them outside. They insisted on seeing you. I told them you were … recuperating … but Art insisted.”
“It’s fine,” James said, refusing to get up from the couch. He was done kowtowing to these people. If they fired him it would be a relief at this point.
“You don’t look very sick,” Ava said, her gaze moving up and down James’ cut torso.
“That’s because my wife knows exactly what I need to make me feel better,” James shot back.
“Now she looks sick,” Ava said.
Mandy unconsciously reached up to smooth down her hair, but James caught her hand and moved it to his chest so he could hold it in place over his heart. “What do you want, Art? Finn and Jake put the finishing touches on the store this morning. They emailed me.”
“I know,” Art said hurriedly. “That’s not why I’m here. I … um … do you want to get off of your wife?”
“Not in the least,” James said. “I’m curious what you’re doing here, though.”
“I wanted to check on you,” Art said, choosing his words carefully as he wrung his hands. “I heard you were injured … and there was talk your wife was in rough shape … .”
“She looks it,” Ava muttered.
“I warned you what would happen if you said something nasty,” Grady interjected. “If you say one more word … and I mean one more word … I will physically throw you out of this house myself.”
“And then we’ll let Sven deal with you,” Mandy said. “If you think we’re grumpy, you should see what he’s like when we let him off his chain.”
James snickered. “We had a rough night, Art,” he said. “Your son approached me in my office. He appeared to be contrite and he caught me off guard. Then he tasered me and told me he was going to take my wife and torture her until I paid him a million bucks.”
“Then how come she’s still here?” Ava asked, cringing as Grady glowered at her. “I didn’t mean that in a bad way. I’m trying to understand how she got away.”
“James used his cell phone to call me,” Mandy replied. “I was out in the guesthouse wrapping presents. He was on the floor … in terrible pain … and yet he still found the strength to warn me.”
“Come here,” James said, pulling Mandy in tighter at his side and kissing her forehead. “It’s okay, baby.”
“Mandy ran into the woods and hid,” Grady said. “Ryan gave up looking for her at a certain point. We found her about an hour or so after she ran in there. We spent the rest of the night making sure she wasn’t going to get sick and was warm.”
“That’s … I just can’t believe Ryan would do something like that,” Art said. “It’s not in his nature.”
“We ran a background check on Ryan because two of my employees saw him with a huge wad of cash in Spencer’s Gifts,” James explained. “We knew that cash was stolen from the customers inside the store. Unless you’re a waitress … .”
“Or a stripper,” Grady interjected.
“You really wouldn’t have a reason to carry a wad of cash around like that,” James finished, shooting Grady a quelling look. “That coupled with the fact that Ryan wasn’t in the store at the time of the robbery was enough to make us want to run a background check on him.”
“That doesn’t explain why he would come here,” Art argued.
“He came here because he paid a computer geek to set up a trap and trace on his name,” James said. “He knew when someone ran his information. We weren’t trying to hide what we were doing, so it wasn’t hard for him to figure out who was investigating him. Our search engines are registered to me.”
“And he admitted that when he entered your house?”
“Not right away,” James conceded. “He did eventually, though. I offered him the chance to come clean with you himself and that’s when he tasered me. Then he went on a really long diatribe about being a creep – and threatened my wife – and while he was trying to get from this house to the guesthouse I tipped Mandy off so she could run.”
“Did he get near you, my dear?” Art asked, rubbing the back of his neck.
“No,” Mandy replied. “He never put a hand on me.”
“Which is the only reason he’s not dead yet,” James seethed.
Art took a step back, surprised by James’ vehemence. “James, I can’t make excuses for what my son has done, but there has to be a way we can work this out without the police getting involved.”
“The police are already involved,” Grady said. “They helped us search for Mandy. They also dusted James’ office for fingerprints. They’re searching for Ryan, too. You’re probably better off if they find him, because if my brother is the one to get his hands on him first, it’s probably going to get bloody.”
Art balked. “He’s not a fighter.”
“He should have thought about that before he threatened to torture my wife,” James spat. “I might have been able to overlook the taser blast – probably not, but maybe – but I will skin him alive for threatening my wife.”
“He’s not exaggerating,” Grady said.
“I understand you’re upset,” Art said. “I … there are no words for how sorry I am about what Ryan has done. His arrest would ruin me, though.”
“It would only ruin you if you chose to stand by him,” Mandy pointed out.
“I … he’s my son.”
“Then how come you gave him a store to manage here?” Grady asked.
“I … what do you mean?” Art seemed uncomfortable with the question.
“You’re a rich man who lives in southern California,” James said. “You have no ties to this area. We did due diligence when you hired us. We don’t go to work for anyone we don’t vet.
“You grew up in Virginia and moved to Ohio as a young adult before finally settling in California,” he continued. “You’ve never lived in Michigan. Before becoming manager at the local store, your son never set foot in Michigan as far as I can tell. There had to be a reason you exiled him here.”
“I think ‘exile’ is a strong word.”
“What would you call it?” Grady pressed. “My understanding is that you have a specific opinion of those who live in the area. You might not consider it looking down on them, but you also believe this is a crime-ridden area.”
“So why did you send Ryan here?” James asked.
“I … Ryan had trouble when he was growing up,” A
rt said. “I wasn’t always wealthy. We lived a middle-class lifestyle for most of Ryan’s childhood. After I divorced his mother, I found financial success in the jewelry business. His mother never saw a dime of that money because she wasn’t part of that success. There was some … bitterness … on that front.”
“What about child support?” Mandy asked. “You should have paid that until Ryan was eighteen. I’m sure you helped with college, too.”
James furrowed his brow, his gaze bouncing between Mandy and Art. “That’s a very good point, baby. The problem is, Ryan never went to college. He didn’t even enroll. There was nothing on his record that suggested education past high school.”
“Ryan’s mother, Evelyn, was under the mistaken impression that I should pay for all of Ryan’s schooling,” Art said. “I was willing to pay for half of it as long as Ryan signed a note and agreed to pay me back.”
“So, in other words, you skimped on the child support and told Ryan to ‘suck it’ when he wanted to go to college,” Mandy finished.
“It’s not a parent’s responsibility to put a child through school,” Art argued. “No one paid for my schooling and look how I turned out.”
“I find it interesting that you don’t have a problem buying your trophy wife a boat on a whim, but you couldn’t bother to fork out a quarter of that to make sure your son had an education,” James said. “Doesn’t that seem … odd … to you?”
“I don’t need you judging my lifestyle.”
“And I deserved that boat,” Ava snapped.
“Whatever,” James said, rolling his eyes. “In a weird way, I have pity for Ryan. He didn’t have a chance with you as a parent. You still haven’t explained why you sent him here.”
“He wanted a job and I figured … this was a good place for him to learn the ropes,” Art replied. “The profit margins out here are slim enough that I would notice any discrepancies.”
“You knew he was going to try and steal from you,” Grady said, dumbfounded. “You hired him even though you knew that. Why?”
“I didn’t know that,” Art said. “I did consider that it might be a possibility, though. My son is a troubled man. He’s still my son.”
“Had you gotten him help – or even given him a little guidance while he was growing up – you might have been able to save Ryan and yourself from a lot of this trouble,” James said. “Have you ever considered that?”
“I’m trying to save my son now,” Art said. “That’s why I’m here.”
“I have a feeling I’m about to hate this,” James muttered, shaking his head.
“I need you to go to the police and retract your statement about Ryan,” Art said. “If you do that, I can get him counseling. I can make sure that he understands this type of behavior isn’t acceptable.”
“You can make sure that your name isn’t bandied about in newspapers,” Grady supplied, his mouth hanging open as the incredulous nature of the conversation washed over him. “You’re unbelievable.”
Art ignored him. “I’m asking you as a friend and business associate to change your statement,” Art said. “I’m willing to pay you to … .”
James cut him off. “There’s no amount of money that you could pay me to change my statement,” he said. “None.”
“But … .”
“No,” James snapped. “Your son is messed up. I blame you for a lot of it. That doesn’t change the fact that he attacked me and was going to put his hands on my wife. If you think I’m going to stand for that, you’re crazy.”
Art tugged on his vest, yanking it down so the lines remained smooth under his suit coat. “I didn’t want it to come to this, but if you refuse to revoke your statement I’m going to have to sever ties with Hardy Brothers Security.”
“Is that supposed to be a threat?” James asked, arching an eyebrow.
“It’s a … promise,” Art said. “I cannot be in business with the man making up lies about my son.”
“Lies?”
Mandy put her hand on James’ chest to steady him, biting her lip and shaking her head to send him a silent warning. James immediately deflated – although only marginally.
“I’m going to have to testify in court that you’re untrustworthy if you go after my son,” Art said. “I can’t deal with a big spectacle, so you’re going to have to be painted as the bad guy.”
“Go ahead,” James said. “I have cameras all over my property. We’ve already turned the footage over to the police. They have Ryan on video stalking my wife. I also have cameras in my office. They have him attacking me, too.”
Art’s face drained of color. “I … wasn’t aware of that.”
“I’m sure you weren’t,” James said. “Personally, I’m looking forward to a court case. You’ve got Grady, Mandy, and I testifying against you, Ava, and Ryan. That’s definitely going to tip in our favor.”
“How do you figure that?” Ava scoffed.
“Well, I have you, Ava, hitting on me at least eight different times in California,” James said, nonplussed. “My computer was on and I taped at least two of the instances. That should handle your believability factor, and that’s on top of the background check we ran on you.”
“You ran a background check on me?” Ava was scandalized. “What right do you have?”
“I have every right,” James replied, unruffled. “Then we have Ryan’s criminal past, the video, Art’s statements here, which will definitely come into play. Most juries don’t look kindly on blackmail.”
“Art, maybe … .”
“Shut up, Ava,” Art snapped, cutting his pouty wife off. “Are you threatening me, Mr. Hardy?”
“I’m promising you that the charges against your son will stand,” James said. “I will not put my wife at risk for any amount of money. I won’t back down on this. You’d better find your son, and you’d better do it quickly. I was down for the count today, but tomorrow I’m going to find him – and when I do, I can promise you it won’t end well.”
“You can’t threaten me,” Art hissed.
“I think he just did,” Grady said.
“Now get out of my house,” James ordered.
“How dare you?” Ava sputtered. “Do you have any idea who we are?”
“We do,” Mandy said. “You’re the people we just kicked out of our house. Now you’d better go, because if I have to remove you physically, I think I’m going to enjoy it a lot more than you are.”
“Come on, Ava,” Art said, his eyes burning with fury. “We don’t have to take this.”
“I’ll show you out,” Grady said.
“I’m sure that won’t be necessary.”
“Oh, I’m sure it will be,” Grady countered. “Then, when we get outside, I’m going to let Sven see you off the property – just to make sure you’re not loitering about and casing the place.”
“I have never been treated like this in my entire life!”
“And somehow I think you’ve probably deserved it thousands of times,” James said. “Get out.”
Twenty-Two
“What do you think?” Grady stood next to the front window watching Ava and Art scream at each other. They sat in their car, making no attempt to hide their overt displeasure with one another, or pull out of the driveway.
Sven leaned against his own car, arms crossed over his chest, and watched the scene with an impassive face.
“Can Sven hear anything?” James asked.
“I don’t know. Let’s wait until they leave and then we’ll ask him.”
The brothers lapsed into amiable silence and watched Art slam his hand against the steering wheel. Whatever Ava was telling him wasn’t going over well.
“There’s something off about all of this,” James said.
“What was your first clue? Was it Art coming here to try and buy your silence or when he threatened you with painting you as a liar if you try to take this to court?”
“All of it,” James replied. “Honestly, I don’t get it. Ryan really nev
er had a chance. I might feel sorry for him if he wasn’t such a douche. What is Art’s endgame here, though? Is he really so desperate to keep his name out of the papers?”
“Yeah, that is weird,” Grady agreed. “He’s a jewelry store owner. It’s not like he’s a public figure or politician. What good does hiding Ryan’s misdeeds do? Who really cares in the grand scheme of things?”
“Art is one of those guys who is obsessed with perception,” James said. “That’s why he walks around with Ava on his arm even though he obviously can’t stand her.”
“She’s evil,” Grady said. “You should have seen the looks on their faces, though, when they walked into the living room and you were pulling Mandy’s shorts down with your teeth. I swear, I thought Ava was going to implode.”
“That was kind of funny,” James conceded.
“Are you upset about losing Art’s business?”
“No. If I knew what kind of man he was from the start, I never would have agreed to do a job for him,” James replied. “We’ve already received payment for the California job. If he tries to stiff us here, we’ll sue him. I don’t care. If I never see him again, though, it will be too soon.”
“What do you want to do about Ryan?”
“Until we have a location, there’s nothing we can do,” James said. “Peter is on it. We’re running traps on his credit cards. I don’t think Ryan is smart enough to evade us for long.”
“I agree. I guess that’s all we can do for today.”
“I want to wrap this up tomorrow if we can,” James said. “We have the big family party the day after. That’s Christmas Eve.”
“It’s going to be weird without Mom and Dad here.”
“They wanted to go on a cruise so that’s what I got them for Christmas,” James said. “Once Emma has that baby, they’re never going to miss another Christmas again. I hate to say it because I love them, but the idea of not having to get dressed at all on Christmas day seems like the perfect way to celebrate the holiday to me.”
Grady snorted. “Are you and Mandy going to have a naked holiday?”
“Mandy and I are going to … just be together,” James said. “That’s why I want this Ryan situation taken care of tomorrow. Plan on being up early. We’re going to track that little ferret down before midnight tomorrow. I want this family to have a restful Christmas, and I’m willing to beat the snot out of Ryan to get it.”
Deadly Christmas Page 17
