Deadly Prospects (18 page)

“How does his wife not know?” Mandy asked.

“Maybe she does,” James said, shrugging. “Maybe the guy sneaking into her house
is
really her husband.”

“But you said … .”

James dropped a kiss on top of her head. “I’ve been wrong before. I should always listen to you.” He turned to Jake. “Are you ready to finish this?”

He exchanged a quick look with Ally, brushing his lips against her cheek while climbing out of the chair. “Let’s go. I promised my angel a night out. I think she should get it tonight if it’s possible.”

Emma was humming to herself as she made her way up Jake’s front walk. Her hands were full, having picked up groceries on her way over. Finn had called her, informing her of what they were planning, and then he’d asked her to bring enough dinner for everyone to celebrate with later.

Instead of buying takeout – which would go cold while they were waiting – Emma decided to cook. She thought it would be a nice change.

The man appeared out of nowhere, approaching Emma with a wide smile on his face. “Excuse me.”

Emma jumped when she caught sight of him. “Yes?”

“I’m sorry to bother you,” he said. “It’s just, well, I live next door. Jake knows me. I’m Myron Banks. Anyway, for some reason, my phone isn’t working. I was hoping to use Jake’s.”

“Oh,” Emma said, biting her lip. “I guess that wouldn’t be a problem. I don’t live here, but I don’t think anyone would mind.”

Myron winked at Emma. “Are you Jake’s new girlfriend? I know he’s been scarce around here these days. I figured something pretty had to be the reason. I can see how you would tempt him to stay away.”

Emma giggled. “Actually, I’m not Jake’s new girlfriend. I am a friend of hers, though. She’s just inside.”

“Oh, well, I can’t wait to meet her,” Myron said. “Jake is kind of a loner. I’m glad he’s found someone.”

“Me, too,” Emma said. “Well, I guess this is fortuitous. You need to use the phone, and you want to meet the woman who has stolen Jake’s heart, and they just happen to both be right inside.”

“That is a lucky coincidence.” Myron reached for the bags. “Here. Let me help you with those.”

“THERE’S
no one here,” Jake said, glancing around the empty boathouse, frustration rolling off of him.

“That doesn’t mean he won’t be back,” James said.

The four men had knocked on the door, but when no one answered, they’d taken the liberty of “accidentally” kicking it in and taking a look around. They’d been searching the facility for more than a half hour.

“Someone is clearly living here,” Grady said, sitting down at the computer and plugging a flash drive into the port. “Let’s see what’s on here.”

Finn ambled over to watch him work, while Jake and James continued searching the boathouse. From the outside, it looked like any other rundown establishment. Even robbers wouldn’t be drawn to it because it looked too dilapidated.

Inside was another story. The improvements made to the inside of the boathouse were impressive. Still, while someone could live in the lofty expanse comfortably, the boathouse was not lavish.

“I don’t think that more than fifteen grand went into upgrading this place,” Jake said. “Someone can live here without being noticed, but there’s clearly not millions of dollars hidden here.”

“I agree,” James said. He tilted his head, looking toward the back of the boathouse. “What’s back there?”

Jake shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“Let’s go look.”

“THIS
is Myron,” Emma said, introducing the beaming man to Ally, Mandy, and Sophie. “He lives next door. He says he needs to use the phone. Oh, and he wants to meet you, Ally. He says that he’s noticed Jake hasn’t been around as much, and he figured it was because he’d discovered something pretty.”

“Oh, Jake never mentioned any of his neighbors,” Ally said, stepping forward and shaking Myron’s hand. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Oh, I can see how you turned Jake’s head,” Myron said. “You’re just lovely. Not that you aren’t lovely, my dear,” Myron teased Emma. “You’re so sweet looking. This one, this one looks more like Jake’s type.”

Mandy frowned. That was an odd thing to say. “So, you know Jake?”

“I do,” Myron said. “We talk occasionally when we’re out doing yard work. He’s a nice boy.”

“Oh, um, you needed to use the phone, right? That’s what you said?” Ally tilted her head to the side. “It’s in the kitchen.”

Myron smiled, moving past the women. “Should I just put these bags on the counter for you?”

“That would be great,” Emma said. “Thank you so much.”

Ally watched Myron move into the kitchen. The minute he was gone, she grabbed Emma’s arm and started jerking her toward the door. “We have to get out of here,” she hissed.

“What’s going on?” Sophie asked.

“I don’t know who that is,” Ally whispered. “I don’t think he’s Jake’s neighbor, though.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because I was in Jake’s garage a few days ago,” Ally said. “He doesn’t own a lawnmower. That means he hires a lawn service. He’s not the kind of guy who does lawn work.”

Mandy was already moving. “Something doesn’t feel right about him. Let’s go. If we’re wrong, we can apologize later.”

“Where are we going to go?” Emma protested.

“You drove here,” Ally said. “We’ll all go in your car and call the guys once we get a few blocks away.”

“Let’s go,” Sophie said.

The four women were at the front door when Myron walked back into the room. “Where are you going?”

“HELP
me open this,” Jake said, grunting as he tried to remove the top from a metal barrel in the corner of the storage room.

James, who was studying the shelves against the wall, turned. “What do you think is in there?”

“I’m hoping it’s a million bucks,” Jake said. “I’m guessing that Lawson doesn’t want the money too far from him. Would you let millions of dollars out of your sight?”

James shrugged, grabbing a crowbar from the shelf. “Move. This should loosen the lid.”

James leveraged the flat end of the crow bar, prying upwards. The second the lid dislodged, Jake and James covered their mouths, fighting the urge to gag.

The metal drum definitely wasn’t full of money.

“Oh, man,” Jake said, bending over at the waist. “Who do you think is in there?”

“I have no idea,” James said, covering his mouth so he could get a closer look inside the drum. “I think we need to call the police.”

“WE’RE
just running out to the car,” Mandy said, fixing Myron with a tight smile. “Emma forgot a bag out there.”

“And that takes all four of you?” Myron asked.

“We thought it might be fun.”

Myron frowned, shaking his head. “Ladies, let’s not stand on pretense,” he said. “You obviously don’t trust me, and I don’t have time to play games.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Ally lied.

“Oh, Ms. Hardy, just don’t,” Myron said.

“Don’t what?”

“Don’t lie to me,” Myron said. “You have no idea how much I hate it when people lie to me.”

“I’m not lying,” Ally protested. “We’re just going out to the car for a second.”

Myron reached into his pocket, his hand returning with a gun a moment later. “You’re not going anywhere.”

Ally swallowed hard. “Who are you?”

“I’m the man who is going to kill you if you don’t tell me where my money is.”

“WE
can’t call the police,” Jake said, fighting the urge to throw up. “How are we going to explain our presence here? We’ll be arrested.”

“They won’t arrest us,” James said, moving over to the far wall and pushing the window open to allow fresh air to enter. “They’ll yell and scream and threaten us, but they won’t arrest us. We just found a body. If they arrest us, they’ll look like assholes.”

“Hey, we found something,” Finn said, poking his head in the room. “Holy crap! What is that?”

“It’s a body,” Jake said.

“I figured that out from the smell. Who is it?”

“I have no idea,” James said. “I’m starting to think that there was a fifth person in on this heist, though. No matter what Archer says, we have a fourth body. That means there had to be five people in on it.”

“Not necessarily,” Finn said. “That’s what I was about to come and tell you.”

“What?” Jake asked.

“Grady found something on the computer.”

“What?”

“You’d better come and see for yourself.”

“WHO
I am is of no importance,” Myron said. “What I have to offer you is.”

“And what’s that?” Ally asked.

“If you tell me where Michael hid the money, I’ll let your friends live,” Myron said.

“She doesn’t know where the money is,” Mandy said. “Sawyer didn’t say anything before he died.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Well, I can’t help that,” Mandy said. “It’s the truth.”

Myron fixed Ally with an unreadable look, his eyes narrowing. “Is that true, Ally?”

Ally made her decision. Whether it was the right one, she had no way of knowing. The only thing she did know is that she had one chance to get this man away from her friends. “No.”

Emma gasped. “What?”

“Ally,” Mandy warned.

“He told me where the money is,” Ally said, swallowing hard. “I’ll take you to it if you promise to leave my friends here.”

Myron considered the offer. “Done. Ladies, if you’ll come this way. I’d just like to get you situated in the next room and then Ally and I will be on our way.”

“Situated?” Sophie balked.

“I’m going to have to tie you up,” Myron said, his tone pleasant and reasonable. “I can’t risk you making a call before I have my money. Don’t worry. I’m sure you won’t be here long before Mr. Harrison returns home. I just need a small … buffer.”

“What about Ally?” Mandy challenged.

“She’s coming with me.”

“No,” Mandy said. “I won’t let you take her.”

“You have to,” Ally said. “It’s the only way.”

“I don’t accept that.”

Myron sighed. “Ms. Avery, I don’t want to have to hurt you, but I will. I promise that I won’t hurt your darling friend as long as she takes me to my money. I gave Mike the same offer, and yet he didn’t agree. That’s why he’s dead. I have no reason to hurt Ms. Hardy as long as she’s agreeable to following direction.”

“I don’t believe you,” Mandy said. “You beat Michael Sawyer to death.”

“Because he wouldn’t tell me what I wanted!” Myron’s rage was palpable.

“Mandy,” Ally said, her voice firm. “It’s going to be okay.”

“Ally,” Mandy pleaded. “Don’t do this.”

“It’s our only option.”

“WHAT
did you find?”

“Donald Lawson is not the one living here,” Grady said, pointing to the files he’d brought up on the screen.

“Then who is?” Jake asked.

“It’s Raymond Thredson,” Grady said. “Look. There’s tons of financial information here, bank accounts and the like. I traced it all back from the source. It all originated from Raymond Thredson’s account.”

“That doesn’t mean it’s Thredson,” James said. “Maybe they just stole his account information.”

“There’s something else,” Grady said. “The beneficiary on all these accounts should something happen to Thredson is his sister. Well, his half-sister, to be more precise. Her name was Bertha Broderick.”

Jake’s blood ran cold. “Bertha Lawson is Raymond Thredson’s half-sister?”

“And how much do you want to bet the man that Bertha’s neighbors have been seeing sneak in and out of her house is her brother, not her husband?”

James turned on his heel, striding back into the storage room. He pulled the lid off the barrel completely, pushing the odor from his mind, and peered inside. He reached in and yanked something out from the far end. When it came into view, things started to shift into focus. It was a wooden leg.

“Donald Lawson is in the barrel,” Jake said.

“And Raymond Thredson is alive,” James finished. “We’ve been looking for the wrong man.”

MYRON
stood back, smiling at his handiwork.

“Now, ladies, I hope those bindings aren’t too tight,” he said. “I hope you won’t be stuck here for too long, but you should be fine.” He turned to Ally. “Shall we go, my dear?”

Mandy glared at Myron. She was tied to one of Jake’s dining room chairs, Sophie and Emma both secured on either side of her. “If you hurt Ally, I’ll hunt you down and kill you myself,” she spat.

“I have no intention of hurting the lovely Miss Ally,” Myron said. “As long as she takes me to my money, everything is going to be fine. I promise you that, Ms. Avery. Can I call you Mandy? I feel like I know you, after all.”

Mandy ignored him, keeping her face trained on Ally. “I hope you know what you’re doing.”

“Me, too,” Ally said. “Just … do me a favor.”

Mandy waited.

“Tell Jake … tell him that the picnic was the best day of my life,” she said. “And, if I don’t make it back, tell him I’ll always imagine that place as my salvation.”

Mandy cocked an eyebrow, remaining mute.

“Can you do that for me?” Ally asked.