“I’m worried she’s going to go into labor at any second,” Finn said. “I don’t want to be away from her. I wake up in the middle of the night just to watch her because I’m afraid she’s going to go into labor and not know it and then a baby is going to miraculously appear in the bed.”
James snorted. “I think she would know it, man,” he said, patting Finn’s shoulder. “It’s supposed to hurt.”
“I don’t know,” Jake challenged. “You hear those stories about teenagers giving birth in bathroom stalls and no one hears them. I think maybe television and movies have programmed us to think it hurts more than it really does.”
“I’m going to tell Ally you said that,” Grady warned. “Then, when you’re in the delivery room with her one day, she’s going to crush your hand and remind you just how much having a baby doesn’t hurt.”
“I didn’t say it didn’t hurt,” Jake argued. “It’s just … women were designed for giving birth. It’s already a miracle. I think maybe all that screaming and huffing they do on television is for show.”
“I’m usually on your side in these things, but I’m telling Ally you said that, too,” James said. “Think about where you put your … you know … and how a baby is supposed to fit out of that space. You don’t think that hurts?”
“I think women are already amazing,” Grady said. “When I saw Sophie get a bikini wax I almost passed out. That’s quick. Squeezing a baby out of their lady parts? Yeah, that has to hurt.”
“I don’t think you’re making Finn feel better,” Jake said, pointing to the pale Hardy brother as he moved to go back to his spot next to the window.
“Oh, is that what you were trying to do?” James asked, realization washing over him. “I take back what I said then. I thought you were serious.”
“Please,” Jake said, making a face. “I want to pass out when I watch Ally pluck her eyebrows.”
James chuckled. “Yeah. I think women are actually built better for pain than men are.”
“Oh, don’t sell yourself short,” Grady chided. “You took a taser blast a few weeks ago and managed to keep your senses long enough to tell Mandy to run. You then searched freezing woods to find her. That’s tough guy stuff.”
“That’s love,” James corrected. “I was in pain, but I knew it would be nothing compared to the pain losing her would cause. There’s a difference.”
“You don’t think women dying in childbirth is still a regular thing, do you?” Finn asked, his gaze fixed on the main house.
“I think that it still happens occasionally,” James replied, choosing his words carefully. “Emma has a good doctor, though. It’s going to be okay.”
“She needs to have that kid,” Grady said. “You’re a mess.”
“Yeah, and then when she has it he can be a different kind of mess,” James said. “Babies freak me out … especially the really little ones. You know I can’t hold it until it can hold its own head up, right? I don’t want to break it.”
“I’m worried about that, too,” Finn admitted. “I’m more worried about the birth first. I … maybe I should check on Emma.”
“Mandy made me promise we would stay out here,” James said. “You can’t go in there and ruin their … girl fest. Sit down.” James reached for the remote control and flipped the television above the bar on, frowning at the live news crawl on the local station.
“What’s that?” Jake asked, his interest piqued.
“There was a prison break at Jackson,” James replied, furrowing his brow. “It says four prisoners shanked a guard and got out in the laundry truck before anyone noticed.”
“Does it say which prisoners?” Grady asked, leaning forward. “Maybe it’s someone we’ve heard about.”
As if on cue, four photographs flashed on the screen and James’ heart painfully rolled when he recognized the one on the end. “Finn, get over here.”
“What’s going on?” Finn asked, annoyed. “I’m not going to the main house. I just want to watch in case she needs me.”
“We have another problem,” James said, turning the volume up on the television and letting the brunette reporter’s voice fill the room.
“To repeat for those just tuning in, there’s been a jailbreak at Jackson prison,” she said. “Authorities are still ascertaining the details, but we do know four convicts escaped. Anyone who has any information about DeAngelo Jackson, Tony Lupo, Marcus Gibson, and Lance Pritchard should call their local authorities immediately. The location of the escapees is not known at this time. They are to be considered armed and incredibly dangerous.”
James muted the television and shifted to face Finn, finding his brother’s face sickly pale and grim. “We need to get over to the house and tell them about this.”
“I … no,” Finn said, shaking his head. “Emma will freak out.”
“You can’t keep this from her,” James said. “The news has to come from you … and then we’ve got to get serious about security.”
“Why?” Finn was obviously having trouble wrapping his mind around what was happening.
“Because something tells me the first thing Lance Pritchard is going to do is go after his daughter,” James said, pushing himself up from the table. “We need all hands on deck. Emma is already vulnerable. We need to work a plan, and we need to do it now.”
“THIS is so cute, Heidi. Thank you.” Emma beamed at the happy court stenographer as she held up the animal mobile. “You didn’t have to get me anything. I appreciate you coming.”
“Oh, I love this stuff,” Heidi replied, brushing Emma’s enthusiasm aside. “I love babies.”
“Maybe you and Clint will have babies soon,” Mandy teased, causing Heidi’s cheeks to flush. Her friend recently moved in with one of the court security guards and she was basking in her own love affair these days. Mandy couldn’t be happier for her. “I think Clint will make a great father.”
“I’m just thrilled to share a house with him right now,” Heidi countered. “That’s all I need for a little bit. I … .” Heidi broke off, frowning when she heard the sliding glass door open and saw the four unhappy men standing there. “Is something wrong?”
Mandy shifted in her chair, fixing James with a dark look. “I told you not to interrupt us.”
“Baby.” James shook his head, sending her a silent warning.
Ally and Mandy exchanged a worried look.
“What’s going on?” Ally asked, focusing on Jake. “Has something happened? Is it Mom and Dad?”
“Mom and Dad are fine,” James replied, moving to the side to allow Finn entrance. He watched with a sick heart as his brother knelt next to his fiancée. This was going to hurt.
“Emma, we have to talk,” Finn said, his voice low. “I … .”
“Is it Jeff?” Emma asked, her eyes widening. Her older brother was in prison for theft, his need to take care of Emma after their father’s arrest and mother’s abandonment causing him to make some poor choices. He was due to get out soon, and she’d been counting the days until they could get him settled into his own apartment and they would be reunited. He was the only family she cared about that she had left.
“Jeff is fine,” Finn said, squeezing her hand. “I have something to tell you and it’s going to be hard to hear. I need you to remain calm, though. I won’t let anyone touch you. You need to have faith in me.”
“I … .” Emma’s eyes filled with tears even though she had no idea what Finn was about to say.
“Tell her what’s going on,” Mandy ordered, hopping to her feet. “You’re making things worse.”
Finn sucked in a steadying breath. “There was a jail break in Jackson,” he said, opting to rip the Band-Aid off rather than torture the love of his life one second longer. “Four prisoners shanked a guard and escaped. One of them was your father.”
“Omigod.” Emma’s already ashen features turned ghostly. “I … he’s coming after me, isn’t he?”
“We don’t know,” James admitted, inst
inctively opening his arms when Mandy shuffled closer to him. He pressed her head to his chest but kept his gaze fixed on Emma. “It doesn’t matter if he does come after you, though. There’s no way he’s getting past us. He won’t touch you. I promise you that.”
Lance Pritchard was the worst kind of deviant imaginable, molesting and raping numerous kids and teenagers in his former Eastpointe neighborhood. He didn’t leave either of his own children unscathed, and Emma spent years thinking she was worthless and no man would ever love her because of what her father did to her. Now all the fears Finn worked so hard to eradicate were rushing back, and he felt helpless.
“Sweetie, I promise he won’t get near you,” Finn said, brushing her hair away from her face. “You’re mine. I won’t let him touch you. I … everything is going to be okay. We’re going to make sure of it.”
“You live in the safest building in the area,” Grady added. “No one can get in that building. We’ll make sure of it.”
Mandy lifted her sea-blue eyes to James’ brown orbs, worry creasing her forehead. James smoothed the crinkle from between her eyebrows. “It’s going to be okay, baby,” he whispered. “We’re going to make sure of it. Don’t get worked up. Emma needs you guys to be strong for her.”
Mandy mutely nodded and James pressed a kiss to her forehead.
“What should we do?” Sophie asked, already on the offensive.
“We’re going to the security office to double-check everything,” James said. “That means we’re all going together. I don’t want anyone out on their own tonight.”
“Screw that,” Sophie said, making a face. “I’m going to Peter. If anyone can track down low-life scum in this town before the police, it’s him.”
In addition to being Sophie’s foster father, Peter Marconi was also a notorious figure in the Detroit underworld. He had an interesting set of ethics, but he protected Sophie above all else. He would pitch in to keep Emma safe.
“I like the idea of bringing Peter in on this, but we’re going to visit his place together because I want to talk to him,” James countered. “You call him and see if he can see us in about two hours. We’re all going to the security building together to make sure everything is up to snuff first. Then we’re locking Finn and Emma in there for the night.”
“I’ll stay there, too,” Jake offered. “There’s a cot in the back room. I think Emma will feel better knowing someone is downstairs.”
“I’m staying with you,” Ally said.
“You’re definitely staying with me,” Jake agreed, arguing with her the furthest thing from his mind. “I don’t think anyone should go anywhere alone until we have some idea where Pritchard is. He could be anywhere.”
“Agreed,” James said. He glanced at Sophie for confirmation. If anyone was going to put up a fight, it would be her.
“Okay,” Sophie said, giving in. “I’ll call Peter and set up a meeting. Let’s get all of this stuff packed up. I want Emma safe in her apartment as soon as possible. The best defense is a good offense, and that building is a fortress. That’s the safest place for her.”
No one bothered calling her on the assertion. They were all thinking the same thing.
Three
“Grady, I want cameras on every single inch of this building,” James instructed, checking the monitor on his office desk. “Most of it is covered now, but I want backup locations in case someone finds one of the cameras and disables it.”
“I’m on it,” Grady said, moving toward the storage room. “How many cameras do we have in here?”
“Plenty,” James answered. “I don’t care if you think you’re going overboard. Put cameras everywhere. I want you to take a monitor home, I’m going to do the same, and we’re going to make sure someone is watching this building at all times.”
“We should get Maverick down here,” Jake suggested, referring to Hardy Brothers Security’s computer guru. “He might know a few tricks we don’t.”
“That’s a good idea,” James said. “Get on that. Tell him to get his scrawny butt down here. I don’t care what video game he’s playing today. I’ll make it worth his while.”
“He’ll probably come just to see the women,” Jake said, pulling his cell phone out of his pocket. “You know how he likes to drool over them.”
“I don’t care how you get him down here,” James said. “I want him here in twenty minutes.”
“Speaking of the women, how do you expect to keep them upstairs while we handle all of this?” Grady asked, walking out of the storage room with an armful of cameras. “Sophie is enraged. She’s going to be hard to wrangle.”
“No offense to you, but I’m not particularly worried about Sophie,” James admitted. “Pritchard is going to go after Emma first. That’s a given. When he realizes he can’t get to her, he’s going to try to grab one of the other women and use her as leverage. Sophie is the last one on that list he’s going to want to risk going after. He’s not an idiot. He’ll figure out who she is and exactly who he’d have on his tail if he tried to touch her.”
“I hope Peter can help us,” Grady said, his face somber. “If Peter’s men could get their hands on Pritchard before the police … .”
James knew what he was insinuating. “No one is going to cry if Lance Pritchard shows up dead in the Detroit River,” he said. “We have to find him first.”
Jake shoved his phone into his pocket as he walked back into the office. “Maverick is on his way,” he said. “He’s not happy about it, but he’s coming. I told him it was an emergency. I wasn’t sure how much you wanted him to know about Pritchard … and why he’ll be coming after Emma.”
“We’re going to have to tell him everything,” James replied, grim. “He’ll be more likely to work his ass off if he knows the real stakes. He’s not so tactless he would say something to Emma. If he does … well … I’ll thump him for good measure.”
Jake smirked. “Do you want to leave Finn upstairs with the women while we do this, or do you want him to come down and help?”
“Leave him up there,” James answered. “Emma is a mess and Finn is the only one who can make her feel better. The women will do their best, but they can’t understand Emma’s terror. They have no basis for extrapolation because they never dealt with the horrors she did as a kid. They’re desperate to help, but Finn is the only one who can get through to her right now.”
“Okay,” Jake said. “I’m going to help Grady with the cameras. I’ll call you when we need you to double-check that the feeds are working.”
“Good,” James said. “While you’re doing that, I want to make sure we have alarms for every single window in this place – including the second floor.”
“Do you think Pritchard is going to bring a ladder?”
“I’m not leaving anything open to chance,” James replied. “Emma is going to give birth any day now. The stress of her father escaping might cause it to occur early. If that happens, I want to make sure there’s no way Pritchard can catch us off guard. We’re going to have to come up with a contingency plan to get Emma to the hospital if she goes into labor.”
“And we thought Finn was a mess before,” Jake lamented.
“I can’t imagine being in his shoes,” James admitted. “This is … .”
“The worst thing that could’ve happened,” Jake finished. “Let’s get ahead of it.”
“HE’S going to try and take our baby,” Emma said, pacing as Finn and the other women helplessly watched her fall apart. “He’s going to take him and … hurt him.”
“That’s not going to happen, sweetie,” Finn said. He’d given up trying to get her to sit down. “I won’t let it happen. I promise. I’m not going to leave your side.”
“Emma, why don’t we put your new stuff away?” Ally suggested, trying to distract her distraught friend. “You like to organize things. Let’s do that.”
“I don’t want to organize,” Emma shrieked. “My father is coming to get me. Do you know what he’s go
ing to do when he gets his hands on me?”
“Emma, that’s not going to happen,” Finn said, his eyes filling with tears. She was terrified. He could feel it wafting off of her. “I promise.”
“I testified against him in court,” Emma said. “I didn’t say what happened to me because I was embarrassed, but I testified about some of the other kids. He told me then that he was going to kill me.”
Finn rubbed the back of his neck as he watched. “Guys, I need you to go downstairs,” he said, focusing on Mandy, Ally, and Sophie. “Emma and I need some time alone.”
“We understand,” Mandy said, getting to her feet and grabbing Ally’s arm. “We’ll leave you two to talk.”
“If you need anything, we’ll be right downstairs,” Sophie offered. “Call on the cell phone and we’ll handle it.”
“I’ll be down in a few minutes,” Finn said. “I want to talk to James about a few things. I just need a few minutes with Emma first.”
Ally moved to Finn’s side and gave him a warm hug, whispering something only he could hear before separating. While all the Hardy siblings were close, Grady and James had the tightest relationship. That was followed closely by Finn and Ally’s relationship. They were closer in age so they bonded as children. Ally more than anyone knew how to make Finn feel better.
“Thank you, Ally,” Finn murmured, kissing her cheek. “I love you, too.”
Finn watched the women leave before turning his full attention to Emma. His heart rolled at the pained expression on her face. She was losing it. “Sweetie, I’m going to draw you a bath,” he said. “You need to relax. I’m going to make you some of that calming tea you like.”
“How am I supposed to relax? He’s going to … .”
Finn closed the distance between them, pulling Emma to him and holding her as tightly as he could manage given the circumference of her stomach. “I won’t let him touch you, sweetie. You’re my heart. I will protect you with everything I have. I won’t let anything happen to you or the baby. Please … have a little faith.”
“I’m trying,” Emma said, bursting into tears. “I’m so afraid.”
Deadly Arrival (Hardy Brothers Security Book 16) Page 2