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

Peter’s smile was enigmatic. “I never said there was anything wrong with being bossy.”

“We brought dinner,” James said, balancing a tower of pizza boxes on his arm as he ushered Mandy into the house ahead of him. Her arms were laden with bags of subs and salad, and when she dropped the food on the kitchen counter Ally inadvertently gasped.

“Omigod!”

Mandy glanced down at her blood-soaked shirt. “I should probably go upstairs and change.”

James watched her, his face unreadable.

“How is Sven?” Ally asked.

“He’s going to be fine,” James replied. “His wound isn’t serious and he’s already on his way to Peter’s house.”

“Was Peter angry?” Sophie asked, walking into the kitchen.

“He didn’t appear to be,” James answered, his eyes trained on Mandy as she tugged her shirt out to look at it. “Baby, do you want me to go upstairs and help you clean up?”

Mandy shook her head, her blond hair brushing over her shoulders. “I’ll be okay,” she said. “I’m going to take a shower and get into something comfortable. Don’t eat all the food while I’m up there.”

“We won’t,” James said. He watched her go, his heart rolling at the sad look on her face, and then forced his attention to his assembled family members when she was out of earshot. “Do not press her on what happened today. She’s kind of shaky.”

“Oh, man, and we were really looking forward to messing with her after she was grabbed by a maniac,” Grady deadpanned.

James scorched his brother with a harsh look. “I’m going to beat you.”

“I’m going to help,” Ally volunteered. “Is Mandy okay otherwise?”

“She’s fine.”

“My dad didn’t … hurt her … did he?” Emma asked, her eyes wide as Finn slipped an arm around her waist.

“You saw her, sweetie,” Finn said. “She’s okay.”

“I asked James a question,” Emma pressed.

“Your dad only got his hand on her wrist,” James said, opting for honesty. Emma didn’t need to be lied to, and he wasn’t going to do it unless he thought it was necessary. “She apparently slapped him pretty hard across the face, though. Rodrigo said it echoed throughout the room.”

“It’s too bad she didn’t rip his head off for good measure,” Ally said.

“We would’ve all preferred that,” James said. “She’s okay. She jumped on Sven and kept his bleeding under control. She’s just … scattered. That’s why I want everyone to join together and do something fun tonight. I want to take her mind off of things now that she knows she can’t go back to work.”

“Oh, man, how did that conversation go over?” Grady asked.

“I don’t know,” James replied. “She mostly had it with Peter.”

Grady’s eyes widened. “Seriously? How did that happen?”

“I’m still not sure,” James admitted. “She stormed off and I was going to talk to her. Peter stepped in and said he wanted to do it. He walked over to her, sat on the couch, and then whatever he said made her laugh and give him a hug.”

“Peter is good with people and he loves Mandy,” Sophie supplied. “It doesn’t surprise me that he managed to get through to her.”

“It doesn’t surprise me either,” James said. “I still don’t want any depressing talk tonight. I thought we would have a game night and blow off some steam. So, if anyone has any updates, let’s get through them now.”

“I called Sheriff Morgan,” Grady announced. “He said the note in the flowers basically said to tell Emma that Pritchard was coming after her. It was only one line and it’s pretty much a dead end.”

James shifted his eyes to Emma. “He’s not going to get you.”

“I know,” Emma said. “It’s okay. I have faith that everything is going to work out.”

“Speaking of that, Emma has a doctor’s appointment tomorrow,” Finn said. “I’m taking her in the morning. That’s going to leave the rest of you to watch the ladies. It’s the weekend, so Ally won’t have to work.”

“Oh, good, without Emma here to focus on that means Ally is going to be driving me crazy,” Jake said. “I can’t wait for that.”

Ally elbowed his ribs. “I can hear you.”

“You’ll live,” James said, flicking Ally’s ear. “Has anyone managed to come up with anything on Marcus Gibson? The longer we go without hearing a peep from him, the more convinced I become that he could be our best shot at catching Pritchard.”

“Why do you think that?” Finn asked.

“Because no one has seen him,” James answered. “People are barely looking for him. That whole situation bugs me. He’s involved in this. We just have to figure out how.”

“Peter texted me that he’ll resume his background check on Lassiter first thing tomorrow,” Sophie said. “He also plans on focusing on Gibson. Like you, he thinks Gibson is going to be important.”

“That’s a good start,” James said. “Now, everyone is going to go stir crazy here because we’re all annoying people and we tend to step on each other’s toes without meaning to do it. We need to be conscious of how many people are in this house and try not to go off the rails.”

“I’m not annoying,” Ally protested.

“Of course not, angel,” Jake said, kissing her cheek and causing all three of her brothers to roll their eyes in unison.

“Ally, you’re the most annoying one here,” Grady said.

“I’m going to sneak out to the guesthouse and cut your hair in your sleep,” Ally threatened. “You’ve been warned.”

“Whatever,” Grady said. “I like the idea of game night. We should have teams and whichever team wins gets to boss the other teams around.”

“That sounds like a nightmare,” James said. “We’re breaking up into couples and playing for fun. This is not going to get competitive and out of hand.”

Emma giggled, causing everyone to shift in her direction. “I’m sorry,” she said. “We all know this is going to get out of hand. I’ve never had a game night, though. That sounds fun. What do you do?”

James internally sighed. He often forgot how sad Emma’s childhood was.

“You’ve never had a game night?” Finn asked, tickling her ribs. “You’re in for a treat. We’re going to smoke everyone.”

“Oh, please,” James scoffed. “My wife is a walking encyclopedia of pop culture knowledge. We’re going to win.”

“Sophie knows current events,” Grady countered. “We’re going to be untouchable.”

Ally slid a worried look in Jake’s direction. “Do you know about anything other than sports?”

Jake scowled. “I want a new partner.”

“You’re going to be looking for a new partner in bed tonight if you don’t knock that off,” Ally warned. “I’m going to make you cuddle up with Grady if you’re not careful.”

Jake didn’t look particularly perturbed. “Bring it on.”

“THAT’S
not even a real thing,” Ally announced two hours later, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring at Jake. “If you don’t know the answer, then you can’t blurt out things like that. Now we’re going to lose.”

Jake narrowed his eyes and pointed toward James, who was holding the Trivial Pursuit questions box in his hand.

“Jake is right,” James said.

“Bam!” Jake yelled, causing Ally to jolt. “Who’s the smart one now, angel?”

Ally made a face. “Are you telling me that there’s really a basketball player named Metta World Peace?”

Finn chuckled. “He used to have a different name,” he explained. “It was Ron Artest.”

“Why did he change it?” Emma asked, genuinely confused. She didn’t care about winning the game, but she was having a great time watching everyone else duke it out.

“I believe he said it was because he wanted to inspire the world,” James answered.

“What a crock of crap,” Ally said. “That’s just … weird.”

“I’m still waiting for you to apologize for insinuating I didn’t know what I was talking about,” Jake said.

“I did no such thing!”

“What’s funny is that you’re the one who answered the last question wrong and didn’t even give Jake a chance to chime in,” Grady pointed out, kissing Sophie’s cheek before reaching for his glass of wine. “You did the thing you accused him of doing, and he was the one who was right.”

“And you were wrong,” James added, his tone jovial as he situated himself around Mandy. She’d been largely quiet during the game, although she answered numerous questions and smiled accordingly. She seemed content watching the Hardys go at each other.

“I really did enjoy watching you answer a tennis question without even asking me if I knew if you were right or not,” Jake said.

“I think the answer was wrong on the card,” Ally said, pouting.

“I think that the only tennis player you could think of was Andre Agassi and that’s why you blurted his name out,” James countered. “Admit it.”

“Fine,” Ally said, her eyes flashing. “I used to like his mullet. Sue me.”

Mandy snickered, causing James’ heart to warm. “I forgot about that.”

“Forgot about what?” James prodded. He wanted her engaged in the conversation for her own good.

“When we were in middle school Ally found an old photograph of Andre Agassi and was in love with him,” Mandy explained. “She was horrified when she realized that he didn’t have that hair any longer and was bald.”

“You don’t like bald men?” Jake asked.

“I always thought Agassi looked like Fabio with that haircut,” Finn said, causing Emma to elbow him in the stomach and shake her head.

“What was that about?” Sophie asked, curious.

“Nothing,” Emma replied hurriedly.

“That was something,” James argued. “What?”

“I tried to get Emma to talk about baby names the other night – which she still refuses to do, by the way – and I explained that I didn’t want her to make a decision in the hospital because I would have no choice but to agree with her,” Finn explained. “No one can look at a woman after she’s gone through hours of labor and deny her anything.”

“And rightfully so,” Ally charged.

“I said I didn’t want to accidentally get stuck with a kid named Fabio,” Finn said. “She thought it was funny.”

“Fabio Hardy, huh?” James mused. “It has a certain ring to it.”

“Can you imagine Dad introducing his grandson Fabio?” Grady asked, snickering. “That would be worth it right there.”

Mandy snuggled closer to James, sighing when he wrapped his arm around her waist and kissed her cheek. He worried about her silence. He knew she had a lot on her mind and didn’t want to push her, but he also couldn’t help but think she would be ruling the game under different circumstances.

“I think you should name the baby Louis after Dad,” Ally said.

“I love your father, but I’m not sure I like that name,” Emma admitted. “Everyone will call him Louie. That reminds me of Huey, Dewey, and Louie. That would drive me crazy.”

“Emma gives these names a lot of thought,” Finn explained. “I suggested the name Mitch, but she reminded me that rhymed with bitch, so that’s out.”

“Mitch is a stupid name anyway,” Ally said. “I still think it should be Louis. That way the name is already taken and the rest of us aren’t going to feel pressured to name a kid after Dad.”

“You’re basically saying you want us to saddle our kid with Dad’s name so you don’t have to,” Finn said.

“Basically,” Ally agreed, nodding. “Come on. You’ll be Dad’s favorite if you do it. I’m his favorite now, but I’m willing to give up the title if you name the baby after him.”

“I thought you were convinced it was a girl,” Mandy reminded her. “What happened to that?”

“Yeah?” James asked, pushing Mandy’s hair away from her neck so he could rub his face against her cheek. “Isn’t that why you’ve been buying Finn’s son girlie clothes?”

“My son is not wearing a ‘Daddy’s little princess’ outfit, by the way,” Finn said. “I love you, Ally, but I draw the line at that.”

“We’ll see,” Ally muttered. “I still think it’s a girl. If Emma thinks it’s a boy, though, I have to go along with her wishes. She’s going to have the baby any day now. I don’t want to upset her.”

Mandy chuckled. “You think she’s right,” she corrected. “You just don’t want to admit it.”

“I think she
may
be right,” Ally conceded. “It doesn’t really matter to me. I’m going to love the baby no matter what, and the baby is going to love me best.”

“What about us?” Finn asked dryly. “Shouldn’t the baby love his parents the best?”

“Not when you have an aunt like me.”

The room erupted in laughter as James pressed another kiss to Mandy’s cheek. As much as he loved his family, he was ready for some time alone with his wife. “Do you want to go upstairs with me?” he whispered.

Mandy smiled. “I don’t know. What do you want to do upstairs?”

“I have a few ideas.”

“Do you want to read a book?”

James poked her side, delighting in the way she squirmed against him. “Only if it’s one of those naughty ones you hide in the back of your closet.”

“How about we take one of those books into the bathtub and see what happens?” Mandy suggested.

“Sold,” James said, pushing himself to his feet and grabbing Mandy around the waist so he could haul her up and toss her over his shoulder. “We’re going to bed.”