Deadly Dealings (Hardy Brothers Security Book 13) Read Online Free PDF Page A

nightmares. We’ve been through a lot worse than that.”
    “But … .”
    “No! I almost lost you last night, wife. I will not be separated from you.”
    “Give it up, Mandy,” Grady chided. “He’s going to win this argument. Let him have what he wants.”
    Mandy nodded mutely, her eyes swimming with tears.
    “If you hit him in your sleep can you please give him a black eye?” Grady asked, going for levity. “I’m dying to tell people that his wife beat him up.”
    Mandy tried to force a smile for Grady’s benefit and failed. “I can’t hurt him.”
    “Stop doing that,” James ordered. “If I have to wrap myself in pillows to make you feel safe enough to sleep, I will. What I won’t do is be separated from you. Not ever.”
    A sob caught in Mandy’s throat. “I love you.”
    “Baby, you have no way of understanding how much I love you,” James said, burying his face in the hollow of her neck. “It’s going to be okay. I promise. Don’t worry about this.”
    Mandy nodded mutely, afraid to speak.
    “I’m going to let the police in so they can question you now,” Livingston said. “I will have instructions printed out for you so you can take care of your wife, Mr. Hardy. As long as her tests come back negative, she can leave around noon.”
    “Thank you,” James said.
    “I was doing my job.”
    “Well, your job saved my wife’s life … and my own,” James said. “I won’t forget what you’ve done for us.”
    “And I won’t forget watching you love your wife so much you managed to overcome a powerful drug that should’ve killed her by all rights,” Livingston replied. “You let me see a miracle. That’s enough thanks for me.”
     
    THE police officers who visited Mandy’s room a few minutes later were from the Macomb County Sheriff’s Department. Mandy told them what she knew, and they diligently took notes, and then they opted to share information with James, Mandy, and Grady – something that surprised everyone.
    “You guys usually don’t volunteer information,” James pointed out.
    “Sheriff Morgan is aware of who your wife is, sir,” one of the deputies replied.
    “You’re sharing information because of Hardy Brothers Security?” James was surprised.
    “That and the fact that Mrs. Hardy is a county employee with the full force of Judge MacIntosh behind her,” the deputy said.
    “I guess that makes sense. What do you have?”
    “Twilight is a boutique drug and we can establish a link between it and the deaths of at least seven women in the county,” the deputy replied.
    “Omigod.” Mandy’s hand flew to her mouth and James snuggled her in closer to his side.
    “You’re okay, baby,” he murmured in her ear. “No one is getting close to you.”
    “We also have three women who have gone missing from local haunted houses,” the other deputy added.
    “Do you think one person or a group is doing this?” Grady asked, realization at just how lucky Mandy was flipping his stomach.
    “We don’t know,” the deputy said. “What we do know is that Mrs. Hardy is the only one we believe to have been targeted by this group, or individual, who managed to escape.”
    “You’re worried someone might come looking for her because they think she can identify them, aren’t you?” James asked.
    “That is a cause for concern,” the first deputy conceded. “We’re going to ask that you keep a close watch on your wife and report any suspicious activity you come across.”
    “No problem,” James said. “I’ll be working from home with her by my side for the foreseeable future.”
    “James … .”
    “Don’t you even think about arguing with me, Mandy,” James warned, cutting his wife off before she could get a full head of steam. “You’re weak and you need me. You’re not going anywhere without me. Period.”
    “You’re being awfully bossy,” Mandy said, crossing her arms over her chest.
    “That’s what happens when I think my wife is going to die in my