And once again, Connor had saved Josie.
*
A few minutes later, the little lady stared up at Connor, her scowl full of recognition. Between inhales of oxygen and coughing, she shouted, “You! This is all your fault.”
A fireman came up and took over, insisting the woman should be checked out at the nearby ambulance. But she was still kicking and pointing a finger at Connor.
“Who is she?” Josie asked, her shock followed by realization after she heard his intake of breath. Then she figured it out. “Vanessa Armond? Connor, is this Armond’s wife?”
Connor bobbed his head, his hands moving over Josie’s wet, smut-smeared face. “I’m not worried about her right now. Are you all right?”
“I’m fine.” Josie pushed away the oxygen mask a paramedic tried to keep on her. Still coughing, she kept talking while the medic checked her airway. “I heard her screaming. She wanted something and she obviously thought it was in that garage. She didn’t want to come with me.”
Connor’s gaze hit on the mad little woman, who was now shouting at the top of her lungs to the paramedic team and the sheriff deputy. He took the mask and forced it over Josie’s hair and down on her face. “Breathe into this, Josie.” After she did as he told her, he asked, “Think she set the fire?”
“I haven’t had a chance to question her.” Josie got up and handed the oxygen mask to the frustrated paramedic and then hurried to where the woman sat on the back of the ambulance with a blanket around her.
Vanessa Armond didn’t want to be checked over, either, but the paramedic did his job. “Your nose hairs aren’t singed. No smoke inhalation that I can tell, but you need to be checked out at a hospital.”
“No hospital,” Vanessa said, daring anyone to dispute her. “I’m okay. I…I only ran in because of the fire.” She gave Josie a heated glare. “I needed to find something, but she forced me out.” Vanessa’s dark eyes moved from Connor to Josie. “Who did you bring into my home?”
Giving up on staying undercover, Josie flashed her badge at the deputy and then made sure Mrs. Armond saw it, too. The deputy nodded and hurried over to report to the sheriff.
“FBI?” Vanessa Armond almost spat the question. “Where is my husband? Where is Louis?”
“He’s safe for now,” Josie said. “He’s injured—he got shot—but we have him in protective custody, since he’s had two attempts on his life.”
The woman turned her wrath on Connor. “This is on you. You and your charming ways. I told Louis not to trust you.”
Connor replied calmly, “He doesn’t really trust anybody, including you.”
Vanessa lifted up to go for Connor, but Josie interceded. “Just for the record, are you Vanessa Armond?”
“Yes, I am,” the woman replied, her accent heavy. “Thank you for saving my life, but I will not talk to you any further.”
She tried to stand but she started to wobble again. Connor grabbed her and turned to the paramedic. “I’m taking her inside. She lives here. If anyone needs to question her or get our statements, you can find us inside the main house.”
The young paramedic looked at Vanessa. “Are you sure, ma’am? You need to be checked over at a hospital.”
“I’m fine now, thank you.” Vanessa nodded to Connor while she signed some paperwork. Then she turned back to the first responders. “Thank you all so much. If I don’t feel any better, I’ll go to a hospital.”
The fire chief walked up. “We’ll need to question you later, ma’am. Don’t leave the premises.” He shot Josie a measured glance. “Keep an eye on her for now. We think this fire was set intentionally.”
“I don’t intend to go anywhere,” Vanessa Armond snapped.
Connor and Josie helped her toward the big, dark house.
When they were safely inside, Vanessa Armond turned to Connor with wide, worried eyes. “What happened here? I came home to police tape and a burned bed. Where is my husband?”
*
Josie brought the tray of coffee and water over to the big wooden table across from the kitchen counter and placed it in front of Mrs. Armond. Connor had found pain pills and crackers.
“You need to drink this water,” he told Mrs. Armond.
After pouring them all some of the strong coffee, Josie sat down next to the fierce little woman. “As I already told you, he’s safe. He’s being guarded. But I have to explain to you, when he wakes up he will be questioned regarding the death of Lewanna Munford. And we’ve collected some incriminating evidence that he needs to explain, too.”
Vanessa said something in Italian that Josie could only interpret as derogatory toward the dearly departed Lewanna. “She knew to stay away. That was our agreement. I don’t know about any evidence, but I do know that woman was supposed to stay out of my way.”
“You had an agreement with Lewanna?” Josie asked.
“I did.” Vanessa took a sip of her water. “I told her as long as she stayed out of the public eye and stayed away from my son and me, I would pay her a monthly allowance.”
Connor shook his head, then glanced over at Vanessa in disbelief. “You paid your husband’s mistress?”
“To stay out of my way and to be discreet, yes.”
“Did you kill Lewanna?” Josie asked, trying to read the woman’s body language and mood.
“No, no.” Vanessa started crying. “I didn’t do that. I’ve been in New York visiting my sick mother.” She glared at Connor, obviously daring him to dispute her.
Josie wondered if her explanation was code for taking care of business. “And how is your mother?”
Vanessa’s dark eyes boiled with rage. “She’s in a retirement home.”
“I see. And I can get verification that you were with her over the last few days?”
“Yes.” Vanessa turned to Connor with a lethal glare. “You bring this into my home, after all Louis did for you?”
Josie had planned to get to this part, so she waited to see how Connor would handle Vanessa Armond’s accusations.
“I didn’t bring this,” Connor replied, his tone sure and firm. “Your husband did. But someone set him up. They killed Lewanna to scare him and then they tried to blow him up in his own bed. Then they came after him and shot him.” He hesitated, then added, “I believe someone planted that evidence.”
“What kind of evidence?” Vanessa asked.
“We aren’t at liberty to say,” Josie replied, giving Connor a warning glance. For all they knew, Vanessa could have set up her husband.
Vanessa shuddered and started praying in Italian. “I tried to warn him. I tried to stop this. He never listens to me and now he’s ruined everything.”
“Stop what?” Josie asked, still curious as to what Vanessa had been looking for out in the garage.
As if realizing she’d said something she shouldn’t have, Vanessa clammed up. “I want my lawyer.”
“Why do you need a lawyer?” Connor asked.
“I won’t tell you. And I won’t tell her.”
“Our suspect has turned hostile,” Josie replied. “Time to call in my immediate superior.” She brought out her phone. “Of course, he’ll have to question you at the FBI headquarters in town, and you know how the newshounds hang around, just waiting for a big story like this.”
“Stop,” Vanessa said, her finger in the air.
Connor took that as his cue, his nod toward Josie telling her he could make this work. “Vanessa, I know you think I betrayed Louis, but I didn’t. I didn’t give the FBI anything on him last year because I never found anything. I found the Benoit paintings, and that’s all I did. He proved they belonged in his family, and he did the right thing by allowing them to be put on tour.”
He leaned toward her. “Neither you nor I gave up anything else to the FBI. But I’ve been watching your husband for some time now, hoping to get him into protective custody. He’s scared now, but before all of this happened he’d agreed to talk to me. But someone scared him off. And because of my ass
ociation with him, someone wants me dead now.”
“He should have killed you that night last year,” Vanessa said, anger turning her pale skin pink. “You. He’s always favored you over the others.”
“What does that mean?” Josie asked, hoping the woman would slip up and give them a clue.
“Nothing.” Vanessa’s fiery gaze stayed on Connor. “Louis has a lot of people doing his bidding, but this one—what my husband saw in him I’ll never know. He didn’t even have the guts to get rid of this con man when he had the chance.”
Josie shot Connor a questioning glance. “You do have the gift of persuasion on your side.”
“He has a lot more than that going for him,” Vanessa shouted. “Now he’s accusing Louis of cooperating with the feds. Ha, that will never happen. And making up stories of Louis wanting to tell secrets. Nonsense.”
“Let’s get back to the paintings,” Josie said. “Do you think someone is after them?”
Vanessa waved her bejeweled fingers in the air. “Those paintings are paltry compared to our real money,” she said on a smug breath. “And if you think this is all because you hung around here snooping, then you are deadly wrong.”
“Care to elaborate?” Josie retorted. “Is that why you were in the garage? To find something valuable? Or did you set the fire to hide some incriminating activities?”
“No.” Vanessa glanced back to the embers of the garage. “But I…I need to go back out to the garage. I had something stored out there. Very important papers.”
Josie leaned close. “Such as?”
“Such as none of your business,” Vanessa replied. “I want my lawyer.”
“Give us a minute,” Connor said. He got up and motioned Josie over to the kitchen sink. “I might be able to convince her to share,” he said. “I know a few things about her, too.”
“And you’ll use that against her?”
“If I need to.”
“What do you know?” She wondered if he’d been playing her, telling her he’d never found enough to help put Armond away.
“We both know something we can use as leverage. Remember what Beaux told us?”
“Right.” Josie stared over at Vanessa Armond. “It’s worth a try.” Then she whirled back to Connor. “Speaking of Beaux, have you seen him since we left him out on the road?”
“No.” Connor glanced outside, his phone already to his ear. “He’s not answering. I’ll go check on things and try to find him.”
“Don’t be gone too long,” Josie replied. “Meanwhile, I’ll get back to the lady of the house.”
Connor headed out, leaving Josie with Mrs. Armond.
“How’s Lou?” Josie asked to test the waters.
Vanessa’s head shot up. “What do you mean?”
Josie tapped her fingers on the table. “I mean how is your son doing?”
“You stay away from my boy.”
The look in Vanessa’s dark eyes should have scared Josie, but instead it gave her an adrenaline rush. For the first time since this whole weird episode had started, she’d found a weak spot in the Armond armor. This mother would do anything to protect her only child, even if it meant breaking the law. Josie’s father had tried to protect his family from his crimes, but in the end, his house of cards had caught up with him. And their family had crumbled.
The same thing was happening to the Armonds. She should feel sorry for this woman, but she couldn’t find it in her heart to forgive just yet.
“I’m not going to harm your son, Mrs. Armond. But you both might be in danger. Someone is out to kill your entire family. Your husband is in and out of consciousness and being guarded by the police and the FBI, and you’re scared about something that might have burned up in your garage. What about your son, Lou? Are you sure he’s safe?”
Vanessa jumped up and started pulling at her blanket. “I have to talk to Louis. You need to take me to see my husband, right now.”
“I’ll do that,” Josie said, getting up, too. “I think that’s a very good idea.”
She buzzed Connor. When he didn’t answer, she texted him. We need to take her to see her husband.
“Let’s go,” Vanessa said. “Now.”
“I have to wait for Connor and Big Beaux,” Josie said. “They should be here in a few minutes.”
But after ten minutes and still no sign of Connor, Josie got worried. “Are you able to walk?” she asked Vanessa.
“I’m fine.”
“Then we’re going to find Connor.”
She took Vanessa by the arm. “And please, don’t try anything, Mrs. Armond. I do have my weapon.”
“And so do I,” said the man standing at the open back door.
Josie held Mrs. Armond behind her but not for long. The woman gasped and rushed around her. “Lou.”
“It’s me, Mom,” the dark-haired man said. “And I found these two snooping around outside.”
He pushed Connor and Big Beaux inside and shut the door.
“Now, together, I think we can get to the bottom of things,” he said, waving his semiautomatic in the air. “Because nobody’s leaving here until we do.”
TWELVE
Vanessa Armond hugged her son, her Italian greeting swift and hard to interpret.
Connor focused on Josie, hoping to convey that now wouldn’t be a good time to become a hero. She had her hand on her waistband, obviously going for her gun. But Lou Armond was a mean, ruthless son of a criminal who had the dark playboy looks that belied his cold personality. Right now, Lou’s black eyes held a cruel intent. He’d waylaid Beaux and held him in the dark until someone convenient came along.
Connor had been that someone. Ambushed and now trapped, because Junior had made it clear he’d shoot Josie if Connor tried any tricks. Connor wouldn’t put it past Lou to set that fire. He had appeared right after they’d arrived, but he’d held Beaux so the authorities didn’t find them.
Lou hugged his mother but kept the gun on Connor and Beaux. Then he pointed the gun straight at Connor but his gaze hit on Josie. “Take out your weapon and place it on the floor, or someone might get hurt.”
Connor lifted his head toward Josie. “Leave her alone.”
She gave him a sharp glance, then trained her eyes on Lou Armond. “You look nothing like your father,” she said on a daring note. But she slowly took out her weapon and held the barrel down.
Connor watched as she mirrored Lou’s every move. Was she trying to win the man over or get herself killed?
“On the floor,” Lou said. “Shove it over here.”
She kicked the gun with her booted foot, then glanced back at Connor.
Connor wanted to throw a dish towel at her. She was walking a thin, dangerous line here, trying to mess with a man who had no scruples. What was she up to?
“I take after my mother’s side of the family, Agent Gilbert,” Lou replied with a touché attitude. He shoved her gun back behind him, near the open French doors out to the patio.
Josie’s smile was sugary sweet, but her stance was all business. “Yes, I can see the resemblance.”
Vanessa made a throaty sound, but kept watching her son with adoring eyes.
Lou pushed his doting mother out of the way and stalked toward Josie. “What are you and this loser doing on my property?”
“It’s your father’s property,” Josie replied, nose to nose. “We wanted to do a little more investigating, but someone beat us to that. Did you set the garage on fire? I thought I saw someone standing on the second-floor landing in the garage. Was that you?”
Lou shook his head and waved his gun. Motioning for Connor and Beaux to go stand beside Josie, he paced between the heavy wooden breakfast table and the long kitchen counter, his dark gaze hot with anger. “Somebody is messing with my family, and I need to understand who and why. I don’t like the FBI sniffing around and I especially don’t like this mole nosing around our property.”
Connor inclined his head. “I’ve been called worse, but I wasn�
�t nosing around. Your father mentioned the garage when he woke up from surgery. I owed it to him to come investigate, since he seemed worried about something.”
Lou snorted with disdain. “You don’t have to investigate anything, since you’re just a shadow for the FBI. I should have taken you out a long time ago, Randall.”
“Did you get a chance to chat with the fire chief and the police officers also milling around out there?” Josie asked, her tone so calm Connor couldn’t help but be impressed. “They’re preserving the crime scene and bagging evidence—even the tiniest bits of evidence. Your mother has already been checked over. She was inside that burning building.”
“They were too busy to notice us,” Lou said on a shrug, but he did glance over his shoulder. “I convinced Beaux to wait in the woods with me. We had such an interesting chat about the weather, politics and, oh, yes, that the FBI had confiscated my father’s files and all of the Armond official vehicles.”
“He threatened to kill me,” Beaux said, his dark eyes bleary and red-rimmed. “Ain’t nothing I could do but tell him the truth.”
Vanessa grated her words through a clenched jaw. “You’re all trespassing. I’m beginning to think one of you started that fire to keep us—”
“Enough, Mother!” Lou pushed his mother into a chair. “The garage isn’t a total loss, thanks to the rain and someone calling the ever-alert local volunteers. They’ve tromped all over the place out there, but we’ll deal with that later.”
“Lou, please,” Vanessa said, her hands trembling in the air. “We need to get out of here. Someone tried to kill me tonight. We have to hurry, darling.”
Josie turned to Vanessa. “You never mentioned to us that someone tried to kill you. That’s a whole new spin. Did you see someone else in the garage?”
Vanessa looked toward her son, her mouth opening and closing like a clam. “No. No one. Just a feeling.”
Lou put a plump finger to his lips. “Shh. The FBI is everywhere and so are their little spies.” He glared at Connor and Josie, hatred darkening his expression. “The big question right now is—what are we to do with these trespassers?”
Josie crossed her arms over her stomach and glared up at him. “I hear you’ve been out of the country. While your father took care of business.”
Love Inspired Suspense June 2014 Bundle 2 of 2: Forced AllianceOut for JusticeNo Place to Run Page 11