Deadly Arrival (Hardy Brothers Security Book 16) (8 page)

Mandy didn’t give him a chance to finish, covering his mouth with hers and taking charge of the situation. James didn’t mind in the least.

Grady watched James hum as his older brother walked around his desk the next morning, rolling his eyes when James realized he had an audience and snapped his mouth shut.

“What?” James asked after a moment.

“You hum the theme from
Jaws
whenever you have sex,” Grady said. “You know that, right? We’ve all noticed and we make jokes behind your back.”

“That’s not what I was humming.”

“Don’t bother lying,” Grady said, sitting in a chair and studying his brother. “You don’t look maimed. How long did you and Mandy fight?”

“About a half hour.”

“Who won?”

James smirked, his eyes taking on a far-off quality. “We both won … multiple times.”

“You guys are sick,” Grady said. “I thought after you got married you would calm down. If anything, you two are ramping things up on a regular basis these days.”

“Actually, we didn’t have a scream fest last night,” James admitted. “Mandy said something to me … .”

“Oh, James. Oh, James.” Grady mimicked Mandy’s voice.

“Not
that
,” James said. “Although, she did moan my name a few times.”

“Ugh,” Jake said, making a disgusted sound in the back of his throat as he joined them. “I hate it when he boasts about his sex life.”

“I wasn’t boasting,” James countered. “I just … do you think my fights with Mandy are one-sided?”

Grady was surprised. “Like how?”

“She pointed out last night that when she’s angry with me I go after her until I melt her resolve and force her to forgive me,” James said. “I did it after the explosion when she ran away. I did it after the cooking class debacle. She says when I’m angry with her I force my will on her and hold her at arm’s length.”

“You probably do,” Grady said. “You don’t do it to hurt her, though. You do it so you won’t blow a gasket.”

“Is that fair?” James asked. “I force her to forgive me, and then when she needs comfort or to yell, there are times I push her away so I won’t say something truly awful. She called me a control freak.”

Grady snorted. “You
are
a control freak.”

“I don’t want to dominate her,” James said. “That’s not a partnership. I can’t seem to help myself when she’s in danger, though.”

“It sounds like you and Mandy had quite the philosophical discussion before sex last night,” Jake said. “Ally yelled at me for an hour and then made me draw her a bubble bath and sit in it until my skin pruned up.”

Grady chuckled. “Sophie cursed like a sailor and then … well … sailed me for the rest of the night. I feel like an old man again.”

“I’m serious,” James said. “I think I’ve been treating her unfairly.”

“I think that you two treat each other unfairly a lot of the time,” Grady said. “That’s the nature of life. You learn and you grow. Are you going to make the same mistake again?”

“Probably,” James replied. “I don’t mean to boss her around, and yet I really can’t seem to help myself. When I know she’s in trouble … I see red.”

“I think Mandy understands that,” Grady said. “She’ll be fine. Emma is the one I’m worried about.”

“Mandy said something about that, too,” James said. “I discarded it at first, but now I’m starting to wonder if she was right.”

“What did she say?”

“She said that Emma didn’t need to be coddled no matter what I thought,” James answered. “She said Emma was strong and she needed a kick in the pants.”

“I don’t know about that,” Grady balked. “Have you looked at Emma since this happened? She’s a shaking mess.”

“I agree with Mandy,” Jake said. “Ally doesn’t. We talked about it last night, too. She wants to smother Emma with kisses and fix everything for her. I don’t think that’s what is going to help Emma, though, and that should be our primary concern.”

“Why do you agree with Mandy?” James asked, genuinely curious.

“Emma is the strongest of all of us,” Jake responded. “She’s already been through the worst this world has to offer and she came out the other side. Wallowing is making her weak. She needs to be strong to survive this.”

James rubbed the back of his neck as he considered Jake’s words. “I think Mandy might be right, too.”

“When it comes down to it, it doesn’t matter what we think,” Grady challenged. “It matters what Finn thinks.”

“I agree,” James said. “That’s why I’m going to talk to him.”

“Oh, good,” Grady deadpanned. “This should go over well. There’s nothing a man likes more than another man telling him how to handle his woman.”

“WHERE
do you think they are?” Finn asked an hour later, hopping out of James’ Explorer and glancing around the filthy alley worriedly. “This is a horrible neighborhood.”

Peter called not long after James decided to have a talk with his brother. His men managed to contain Tony Lupo when he approached a prostitute, and they were holding him so James and Finn could be present for questioning. The neighborhood in question had more in common with a cesspool than anything else.

“I’m not sure,” James said, glancing around. “I … .”

Peter appeared from around a corner and gestured for the two men to join him. He looked out of place in the harsh Detroit environment, but he appeared calm and collected.

“Mr. Lupo is unhappy with his circumstances,” Peter explained, ushering James and Finn through a door. “We had to move him indoors to cut down on the screaming.”

“What is this place?” Finn asked, glancing around nervously. “I … seriously, what is this place?”

“It’s a meeting place of sorts,” Peter replied, unruffled. “We used to come here quite regularly to conduct business. The neighborhood has fallen on hard times, though, and we don’t visit often. Technically I still own the building, although after visiting it, I’m unloading it with due haste.”

James snickered. “Good luck getting a buyer.”

“You would be surprised at the vermin who would jump to get this building,” Peter said. “I won’t have trouble selling it. I might, on the other hand, have trouble getting the filth out of my suit.”

“I guess that’s the hazard of your business, huh?” James quipped.

“You seem chipper for a man who fought with his wife last night,” Peter said, looking James up and down. “I take it you made up.”

“I like the way she makes up, too,” James replied, not missing a beat.

Peter chuckled. “I never worry about you and Mandy falling apart because you can’t keep your hands off each other despite the drama,” he said. “I’m glad you’re back in sync.”

“Me, too,” James said, glancing at Finn. He wanted to bring up the Emma situation, but now definitely wasn’t the time. “Where is Lupo?”

“This way,” Peter said, leading James and Finn into a large room at the front of the building. The windows were completely blacked out and Tony Lupo – his dark hair greasy and flopping to the side – was tied to a chair in the middle of the room.

James scanned the three men watching him, but he didn’t recognize their faces. “Hey, Tony,” he said, hunkering down so they were at eye-level. “How are you doing?”

“I’m going to kill you all,” Tony seethed. “I’m going to rip your nuts off and feed them to you while you’re choking for life.”

“That sounds delightful,” James said. “We’ll get right on that after you answer a few questions. How does that sound?”

“It sounds like I’m going to kill you!”

James straightened to a standing position and shifted his chocolate eyes to Peter. “What do you think?”

“I think we’re going to start beating him if he doesn’t stop this nonsense.” Peter was matter-of-fact. “I hate this neighborhood. I’m not staying here one second longer than I have to. If Mr. Lupo doesn’t want to talk, we’ll just have to convince him that he’s wrong on that matter.” Peter lifted a finger, ready to instruct one of his men to start the beatdown, but Lupo snapped his head up and stilled him.

“I don’t want to be beaten,” Lupo snapped. “Come on, man. Have a heart. You’re a criminal. You should like me. I’ve got … potential … for your organization.”

Peter rolled his eyes. “You’re going back to prison, Mr. Lupo,” he said. “I have no tolerance for anyone who gets caught. What shape you’re in when we deliver you to the authorities is entirely up to you.”

“I just got out,” Lupo whined. “I don’t want to go back.”

“Bummer,” Peter said, nonplussed. “Tell us what we want and we’ll buy you breakfast before we return you to prison. Make us beat you and you’ll get nothing but pain and you’ll still end up in the same place.”

James admired Peter’s cold demeanor. There was something about the man that awed him at times.

“Fine,” Lupo spat. “What do you want to know?”

Peter glanced at James, encouraging him to take over the questioning.

“How long did the four of you stick together after you escaped?” James asked.

“Two hours.” Lupo was petulant, but resigned.

“Why did you split up?”

“We figured we were too obvious if we stuck together,” Lupo replied. “Plus, well, I hate those dudes. They’re assholes.”

James fought the mad urge to laugh. “How long were you planning your break?”

“We didn’t plan it,” Lupo answered. “DeAngelo jumped the guard before I even realized what was happening. I decided to help because I thought it was my only chance to get out.”

“You know that guard died, right?”

“I don’t care,” Lupo said. “He was an asshole, too.”

James scowled. “How did you get the laundry truck?”

“It was sitting outside of the prison and the keys were in the ignition,” Lupo said. “We had no idea how we were going to get out of there until we saw the truck. We thought we were going to have to jack a guard to get him to take us out. It didn’t work out that way. It was like someone wanted us to escape.”

“Or someone screwed up,” James corrected. “Where did you part ways with your friends?”

“We drove to a field between cities and ditched the truck and took off on foot,” Lupo explained. “We knew they would be looking for the truck first. That’s why we left it. We walked together for a few miles, but we split up before we hit an urban area. In those jumpsuits, we were more likely to be noticed together.”

“During the walk, what did you guys talk about?”

“How happy we were to be free.”

“Tell me about Lance Pritchard,” James prodded. “What was he talking about?”

Lupo knit his dark eyebrows together. “Is that what this about? You want Pritchard? Were you one of his victims?”

“We want Pritchard,” James replied. “You’re either going to help us or we’re going to let these men convince you to help us. I’m not messing around. What did Pritchard talk about?”

“He was raving like a madman,” Lupo said. “All he could talk about was his kids and ex-wife. He wanted to get at all of them. He said it was impossible to go after the wife and son because they were both in prison. That left the daughter.”

Finn muttered something under his breath.

“Did he know where Emma was?”

“Who is Emma?” Lupo asked, confused.

“His daughter,” James hissed. “Did he say if he knew where she was?”

“He said that he was convinced she was with some guy who came to see him in prison,” Lupo said. “He said he wanted to make that guy pay for taking what was his.”

James and Finn exchanged a look, causing Peter to swivel.

“Was that one of you?” Peter asked.

“I saw him in prison,” Finn answered. “It was right after Emma and I met. He’s the one who told me … .”

Peter nodded knowingly. “I understand,” he said before turning back to Lupo. “Did Pritchard mention any locations?”

“No.”

“Be very sure,” Peter ordered.

“He didn’t know where to start looking,” Lupo said. “Escaping was a surprise to everyone. He said something about finding the guy if he wanted to find his daughter. I swear that’s all he said.”

Peter tilted his head in the direction of one of his men. “Get him breakfast and let him eat it. We’ll take care of transportation.” Peter herded James and Finn into another room before speaking again. “Was Pritchard aware of your name?”

Finn shook his head. “I lied.”

“That will only delay him for a short while,” Peter said. “You guys have been all over the news. When Pritchard does a search on Emma, your names will pop up. We must assume he’s already aware of your ties to Emma. That means he’ll be watching the security building.”

“He’s probably already done that,” James said. “He probably already knows about all of us.”

“That’s a distinct possibility,” Peter said.

“I think you should hand Lupo to us and let us take him to the Macomb County Jail,” James said. “I want him closer to us until they transport him back in case we need to question him again.”

“I’m fine with that,” Peter said. “I must be honest, though. I don’t think he knows more than he already told us.”

“I don’t either,” James said. “I want him near just in case, though.”