EIGHT
Sari finished up at her desk and called Morris to drive her home. Her colleague Glory Ramirez was curious about the woman’s closed expression.
“You’ve been morose all day,” she said to Sari. “Can I help?”
Sari was touched. She smiled. “I’m just tired. I’m not used to standing on my feet all day,” she added with a grin. “But thanks. I mean it. I’m not used to people being concerned for me. Well, except for my sister. And Mandy. She’s our housekeeper.”
“I don’t believe that.” The other woman chuckled.
It was pretty much the truth, just the same.
“We’re having a birthday party for Mr. Kemp tomorrow night at Barbara’s Cafe,” she said suddenly. “My husband and half the government agents in Jacobs County will be there. Don’t you want to come?”
Sari smiled sadly. “I would love to. But I can’t.”
“You never go out. You never date. I don’t mean to get personal, but could I ask why?”
“I’m down on men, that’s all.”
The older woman sobered. “I see.”
“Life happens,” Sari replied, smiling. “Besides, I have all these files to go through for you,” she added. “Do you really want me to put them off to eat a buffet dinner and dance with some man whose name I don’t even know?”
Glory laughed. “I guess not. But you really should get out and have fun. The Fourth of July is coming up fast,” she added. “We’ll have concerts in the park and dancing…”
“I love concerts,” she said.
“Me, too.” She leaned closer. “And we get a whole three-day holiday weekend! I can play with my son. Rodrigo and I are still amazed that we even have him. He’s such a joy!”
Sari would never have a child, or a husband. But she smiled and said something appropriate in response.
She had no holidays in her poor heart. She was dead inside. She only went through the motions of living since Paul’s defection. “Well, there’s Morris,” she said, glancing out at the street where the immaculate black stretch limo was pulling up to the curb. “I have to go. See you tomorrow.”
“You lucky devil,” the woman said, shaking her head. “You get to ride around in stretch limos all the time.”
Sari laughed. “And you ride around in a racing green Jaguar XK,” she said with pursed lips. “You could ride in stretch limos if you liked.”
“I guess so,” Glory said, smiling gently. “Jason and Gracie took care of me until I married, and Rodrigo’s family was very wealthy. We’re luckier than most, to have money at a time when most people can barely pay the bills at all.”
“All the money in the world won’t buy happiness,” Sari said wistfully.
The other woman gave her a curious stare. “No, it won’t. But it makes misery easier to bear,” she added with a wicked grin.
Sari laughed. “Just the same, you can ride in the limo with me whenever you like,” she added with twinkling blue eyes.
“I heard that,” their paralegal, Tera Caldwell, broke in. “How about me?” she asked. “I drive a ten-year-old Ford with a straight stick shift. How pathetic is that?”
Sari chuckled. “Okay. I’ll take you out to lunch in it one day.”
“Really? You would?”
“I really would. Friday?”
“Oh, yes, Friday. I’ll bring my camera!” Tera enthused. “Thanks!”
“You’re welcome. But just don’t post pictures on Facebook,” she pleaded. “My father would be upset about it. He…values his privacy.”
“I’ve heard that. No problem. Thanks for the offer!”
Sari laughed. “You’re very welcome. See you tomorrow.”
“So long.”
“That was nice,” Glory said when the paralegal was gone. “She struggles just to pay for gas.”
“I like her,” Sari replied. “I’ve heard that she spent the night in the law library once trying to find a legal precedent for Mr. Kemp. She couldn’t make search strings work for what she needed online, so she did it the hard way, with real law books.”
“Yes, she did,” Glory acknowledged. “He won the case, thanks to her legwork. She’s like a bloodhound when she’s on the trail of something.”
“Well, see you later.”
“Have a good evening,” Glory said gently.
Sari just smiled.
* * *
Sari worried about the possibility that her father might be arrested and charged with murder. Despite everything he’d done in the past, he was still her father. But she was an officer of the court now. She couldn’t afford to overlook a murder, even if her father had committed it.
When she got home from work, he was in his study, yelling at someone on the telephone. She couldn’t make out what he was saying, and she didn’t want to get caught eavesdropping. She put her purse and coat down and went into the kitchen, where Merrie was helping Mandy with supper.
“Something smells really good,” Sari said with forced brightness.
“It’s liver and onions,” Merrie said with an evil smile.
“Liar.” Mandy chuckled. “It’s that Sussex Stewed Steak you love so much, the kind that King Henry VIII liked, if history got the recipe right. It’s in that medieval cookbook you girls got me for Christmas last year.”
“A five-hundred-year-old recipe,” Sari mused. She sat down at the table. “Well, maybe we won’t start spouting Tudor history when we eat it.”
“And lemon meringue pie for dessert,” Merry sighed, nodding toward it in the heavy plastic container on the counter.
“It sounds lovely.”
“You look tired,” Merrie noted. “Hard day?”
“Yes,” Sari said, and didn’t dare say why. “I’ve got a lot to learn about the routine in the DA’s office. I’m the new kid.”
“Glory Barnes—excuse me, Ramirez—works for Mr. Kemp,” Mandy added. “She’ll steer you right. She worked for the San Antonio district attorney’s office before she married Rodrigo and moved down here.”
“She never had to work at all, since she was an adoptive child of the Pendletons,” Merrie recalled. “Jason Pendleton’s stepsister, in fact.”
“Like Gracie, but he married Gracie,” Mandy recalled. “They live on the ranch down here in Comanche Wells with their son and daughter.”
“Children must be nice,” Sari said, and then remembered Paul’s little girl and winced.
“I suppose,” Mandy said with a sad smile. “I was never able to have any while my husband was alive. But I have you two,” she added, her eyes twinkling.
“And we have you,” Merrie said. She hugged Mandy. “I don’t know what we’d do without you.”
“That’s the truth,” Sari said. “In fact…”
“Sari, I want to talk to you,” Darwin Grayling interrupted curtly. “In my study. Now.”
“Yes, sir.” She got up automatically and followed him, not daring to meet the curious glances of Mandy and her sister. She knew things they didn’t. She had to hope she could keep her nerve, because she knew the subject at hand was going to be her job.
Darwin closed the door.
“Have you heard anything about an investigation into Betty Leeds’s death?” he asked abruptly.
Her eyes widened. She managed to look shocked. “Betty Leeds? The woman who used to come here with you? She’s dead?” she exclaimed.
He stared at her. Trying to size her up, she thought bitterly.
“Yes, that Betty. Have you heard anything?” he insisted.
“No, I haven’t,” she lied with a straight face. “Why would they investigate it? Was she murdered or something?”
“No,” he said heavily. “She was killed by two of her horses, when she was trying to get them out of the barn during that storm that hit three days ago. It was an accident. A terrible accident.”
“Oh. What a terrible thing,” Sari said.
“Yes. Terrible.” He pulled out a handkerchief and mopped his forehead. He was sweating. “I went to see her… I found her…” He hesitated. “She’d been dead for a while, I think. She was cold. I called the sheriff’s department myself.”
“That must have been difficult for you,” she said.
“Very difficult. I was fond of her. We’d been together for a long time.” He drew in a long breath and turned to Sari. “If you hear anything, anything at all at work, you’re to tell me at once, do you understand?”
“Yes. But surely they wouldn’t need to investigate an accidental death. I mean, beyond the autopsy and having the investigator verify the cause of death,” she said, looking surprised.
“I don’t know,” he bit off. “I have no idea. It’s that sheriff, Hayes Carson,” he added angrily. “He was a very young deputy sheriff when your mother died,” he said. “He thought I’d done something to her.” His face tightened and his hand went to his head. He winced. “Ridiculous! I talked to his boss and that lunatic idea was put to rest,” he said coldly. “Now he’s the county sheriff. He’s got a little power and it’s gone to his head!”
Sari’s heart jumped. She’d heard once that her mother’s death was suspicious. She hadn’t doubted that her father was capable of violence. She herself had been subject to it, like poor Merrie. But she schooled her face to show nothing of her inner turmoil.
“I’m sure he was just young and overenthusiastic,” she said.
“He’s just as unreasonable now,” he said angrily. “But he’s not going to do anything to me. I can take care of it. I know people. I can have someone from Europe come over and handle it.”
She remembered that Hayes and his wife had just had a little girl. She knew what her father was talking about. He’d already told her that he’d committed murder. If he’d also killed his paramour, he wouldn’t hesitate to go after Sheriff Carson’s family.
“It’s routine to investigate a sudden death of any sort,” she said, hoping she sounded nonchalant. “You remember when old Miss Murphy down the road had a stroke and died on her front porch? They still had to investigate and do an autopsy to make sure there was no foul play. It’s just routine.”
“Routine?” He looked hunted as he turned to her. “You’re sure?”
“Of course,” she lied. “It’s nothing to concern yourself with. I’m sure they know it was accidental by now.”
He drew in another breath. He rubbed his head.
“Another headache?” she asked.
“Yes. They get worse…” He stopped and turned to her. “You can go. By the way, I have visitors coming next month. A Middle Eastern prince with ties to the British monarchy.” He smiled coldly. “We have business dealings together. It will be a fine merger.” His eyes dared her to say a word.
She didn’t dare. There was too much at stake. “I see,” was all she said.
“You’re old enough to marry.”
“I do have a job…”
“Expendable.” He cut her off. “It’s just something to keep you busy. You’ll learn court manners from his mother and sister. And the money will stay in the family.”
She didn’t know what to say to that, so she said nothing.
He waved her away. “I won’t be in for supper. Tell Mandy. And remember what I said, about anything you hear at work,” he added with a cold threat in his voice.
“Of course, Daddy,” she said, forcing a smile.
She opened the door and left him. She felt as if she were shaking from her head to her toes, but she maintained her poise all the way into the kitchen.
“What did he want?” Merrie asked covertly.
“Nothing,” she lied. “He just wanted to know how I was liking my job. Oh, Mandy, he won’t be in for supper, so can we all eat in here?”
“Suits me,” Mandy said. “I hate setting the table in the dining room. I’ll get the plates!”
* * *
When they were sure their father had gone, Sari pulled out her jammer and activated it.
“Just in case there are bugs,” she told the other women. “Daddy said that he found that Leeds woman dead at her home three days ago, trampled to death by two of her horses. He called the sheriff’s department himself.”
“I heard about it on the radio,” Merrie replied solemnly, “but I didn’t want to say anything.”
“She died?” Mandy asked, shocked. She bit her lip. “Convenient timing.”
Sari’s heart jumped. “What do you mean?”
“You can’t repeat this,” Mandy said.
“You know we won’t,” Sari told her, and Merrie nodded her agreement.
She leaned forward. “My brother has a friend. His cousin’s with the Bureau. They’re investigating a money-laundering operation that has ties to organized crime…”
“I know,” Sari said heavily. “Mr. Kemp told me this afternoon.” She winced. “He says they think our father is involved.”
“Well, the Leeds woman worked for the government, and what my brother told me is that she was an agent assigned to investigate money laundering in south Texas. But she switched sides and started working for your father. She was helping him process the funds by covering up the transactions in collusion with a bank employee at one of the larger national banks in San Antonio. But she got cold feet, or something Mr. Darwin did spooked her, because my brother says she suddenly went to the US attorney in San Antonio and spilled her guts.”
“Oh, dear,” Sari said, grimacing.
“Mr. Darwin found out,” Mandy continued. “That’s why she had an accident.”
“They’ll call in the FBI,” Sari said. “And the Department of Homeland Security. A federal employee’s death involves government intervention. You can bet your life that Hayes Carson has already called them.”
Merrie bit her lip. “What will they do to Daddy?”
“They’ll seize any illegal funds he has and arrest him,” Sari replied.
“He’ll buy off anybody he has to,” Mandy said.
“He’s already threatened to call in outside talent to take care of Sheriff Carson,” Sari told them.
“No!” Merrie exclaimed. “He and his wife have a little girl. And they have her little stepbrother and stepsister…!”
Sari held up a hand. “I won’t let that happen, no matter what I have to do,” she said. Her face was very pale. She swallowed. “Any way it ends, it’s going to be a mess.”
“There’s something more,” Mandy said quietly.
“What?”
“Betty Leeds has a son. He’s Merrie’s age,” Mandy said. “And unstable. He’s been in and out of facilities. They say he loves his mother insanely. She doted on him, spoiled him, bought him things. In fact, they say the reason she went in with your father in the first place was that she wanted to have enough money to leave for her son’s care, if she died.”
“She never seemed that sort of woman,” Merrie said. “She was incredibly rude to us.”
“She didn’t like girls, apparently,” Mandy said. “But she loved her son. She took care of him. He was in and out of therapy for years and there was talk of an attempted murder charge once. Now she’s gone and he’s on his own. No other relatives.”
“Poor guy,” Sari murmured.
“Poor us, if they put Daddy in jail,” Merrie added. “Nobody will be safe. He can buy anybody. He can hunt anybody.” She shivered.
“We’ll be okay,” Sari said. “If it comes down to it, the authorities will look out for us. And we can hire some people to protect us.”
“With what?” Merrie asked.
Sari grimaced. Merrie was right. They had no means of their own, no money that they had access to. Darwin had made sure that his daughters were kept poor, so that they couldn’t leave him or ask for help to get away from him.
“We’re stuck,” Merrie concluded. “We can’t get away. Ever.”
Sari drew in a breath. She didn’t mention the Middle Eastern prince. Rather than marry a stranger, she’d run away, even if she had to hide at Eb Scott’s place and beg work there. Then she laughed. Fat chance about that. She couldn’t even shoot a gun.
“What’s funny?” Merrie asked.
“I was thinking maybe I could hire on at Eb Scott’s place,” Sari laughed. “Now I’m just getting silly.”
“We could learn to be mercs,” Merrie mused. “I’ll bet we’d be the terror of the Texas plains.”
“No doubt about that, if somebody gave you guns,” Mandy said and gave them a mock shudder. “There wouldn’t be a streetlight left in Comanche Wells!”
“I could shoot if I wanted to,” Sari said haughtily.
“Honey, you couldn’t. Trust me,” Mandy said. “Remember the slingshot?”
“I’m trying to forget it,” Sari returned, wincing.
“It was only two windows.” Merrie defended her sister.
“I might have learned to aim properly if you hadn’t taken it away from me,” Sari said with a mischievous glance at Mandy.
“Or not. Okay, there it is.” Mandy indicated the casserole and accompanying dishes she placed on the table. “Dig in!”
* * *
Hayes Carson came into Blake Kemp’s office the next afternoon, shook hands with Blake and Sari, and took a seat, crossing his long legs. Sari had the jammer on Mr. Kemp’s desk, turned on, just in case.
“I hear you might know something about a case I’m working on,” Hayes said to Sari.
“I’m afraid I do,” she replied. “My father told me that he found Mrs. Leeds and called in the police about the accident.”
“That’s true,” Hayes said. His face hardened. “Except that it was no accident. Dr. Copper Coltrain, our county medical examiner, performed the autopsy last night. He said that her injuries were not compatible with such an accident. She was beaten with a blunt instrument, most likely a tire iron found propped against the wall at the scene of the crime. He’s put it down as a homicide and the coroner is calling an inquest. That means your department will be assigned investigative duties as well, with an eye to local charges. Not that federal charges won’t supersede those, if they’re made.”
Sari leaned forward, sick at her stomach. “So, now what?” she asked miserably.
“So now we gather evidence. Since Mrs. Leeds was a federal employee, the Bureau is sending down an agent from San Antonio to aid with the investigation.”
“But Garon Grier lives here…”
“He’s giving a class at the FBI Academy in Quantico,” Hayes replied, “and he won’t be back for a while. In fact, you might know the agent they’re sending,” he added, watching her. “It’s a man named Paul Fiore. I believe he once worked for your father.”
Every ounce of blood drained out of Sari’s face. Her hands on the chair she was sitting in were clenched so tight on the arms that her fingers were white.
Hayes’s eyes narrowed. “He didn’t want the case,” he added, his voice softening when he noted her violent reaction to the news. “He said that there were some personal issues involved. But they didn’t have another agent available. So he’s coming tomorrow.”
“I won’t talk to him,” she said in a driven tone. “I won’t see him. I’ll give any information I have to you,” she told Hayes, “and you can relay it. But there is no way that any member of my household will even speak to Mr. Fiore.”
Hayes wasn’t surprised. He just nodded. “He said that.”
“We’ll work around it,” Blake assured her. “It’s all right, Sari.”
She was breathing as if she’d been running a marathon. Her face was flushed now, her body so tense that it felt trapped.
“Sari, we’ll handle it,” Blake repeated. He looked concerned. “Are you all right?”
She wasn’t all right. She’d never be all right again. Paul was married. He had a wife and child. He’d betrayed her. Her father had beaten her. Because of Paul. Because she’d loved him…
“Sari!” Blake repeated.
“I’m sorry, what?” She was buried in the past, reliving the trauma. She pulled herself back to the present. She felt her heartbeat shaking her. She could see each beat in her eyes, behind her eyelids if she closed them. A gray static had already started to fill one eye. She groaned and put her hand to her eye. The aura led to throbbing pain.
Both men were watching her, but Sheriff Carson seemed puzzled. Blake wasn’t.
“Tera!” Blake called.
His paralegal came running. “Yes, sir?”
“Go rummage in Sari’s purse and bring her migraine capsules and a bottle of water. Hurry.”
“Migraine capsules…?” Hayes asked.
Blake grimaced. “I have two assistants who both have cardiovascular issues,” he explained to Hayes with a smile. “Glory has high blood pressure and Sari gets migraines. It’s okay. As long as Sari and Glory keep their meds handy,” he added.
“Sorry, boss,” Sari said, swallowing hard. “I only get them once in a while. But I’ve had a lot on my mind lately. I guess that’s what brought it on.”
“I know that.”
Tera was back with the pills and the water. She handed the prescription bottle to Sari, who shook out a capsule and swallowed it down with water from the bottle. She took a long breath. “It will work. It just takes a little while. Sorry again for all the drama,” she told Blake.
He smiled gently. “No need for apologies. But keep up with those meds. I can’t afford to lose you. Not many people line up to do this job,” he added with a grin.
She laughed. “I guess not. I applied when I started law school and the job was still open when I got here.”
“Not quite,” he mused. “We had Barkley White working for us for a while. But then he decided that Austin was a better place for an up-and-coming lawyer. He’s working for the Hart boys’ brother Simon, our state attorney general.”
“Nice job,” she said.
“Don’t you dare,” he returned shortly. “Don’t you even think about going to Austin. This is a great job. You’re doing valuable work. Local crime will be stemmed forever because you work here,” he added.
She grinned as she began to calm down. “Actually, it’ll be reduced forever because of him—” she pointed at Hayes “—and Cash Grier.”
“They’re good,” Blake conceded. “But I’m the best DA in Texas. You remember that,” he told Sari, who chuckled.
“Yes, sir, I will,” she promised. The pain finally began to ease. She relaxed visibly.
“Do you know where your father is right now?” Hayes asked Sari.
“I’m sorry, I don’t,” she replied. She noticed the look Hayes was giving her. “I really don’t,” she added. “Sheriff Carson, we loved our mother very much. You’ve surely heard the gossip about her death being suspicious?”
“I have,” he replied. “In fact, I was involved at the time. I’d just started with the sheriff’s department. I never thought her death was accidental.”
She stared at him. “I don’t think it was, either. If you knew my father, you wouldn’t doubt that he’s capable of murder.” She swallowed. She didn’t want to admit it, but she was going to have to. It had bearing on the matter at hand. “You see, my sister and I have been the victims of…well, of beatings, since we were in grammar school. Anything could set him off. Our mother pulled him off me when I was ten. I’d left a wet towel on the floor of my bathroom. He hit me…” She broke off, swallowing, aware of the furious looks on the men. “He liked perfect order, everywhere. It wasn’t too many years after that when our mother died. She fell and hit her head. So he said.”
Hayes winced. “Good God, why didn’t you tell somebody about what he was doing to you?”
“I tried,” she said. “But Daddy had us watched 24/7. We’re still watched,” she added worriedly. “By tonight, he’ll know that I talked to you.” She wrapped her arms around her body. “He’ll be wild…”
“We’ll get some protection for you, before tonight,” Hayes told her firmly. “He’ll never hit you again.”
She fought back tears. It had been so long that she and Merrie had lived with the pain and the terror. “We’ve been like prisoners all our lives,” she said tautly. “He wouldn’t let us get jobs, or earn money, so we’d have no means to get away from him. Mama left us half of the house and its contents, but he’s made sure we can’t claim them by tying them up as collateral for loans. And in case that didn’t work, he threatened us with people we loved.” She looked up. “He knows you have a family, Sheriff Carson. That’s how he’ll try to stop this investigation. You must take precautions…”
Hayes just smiled. “I have two of Eb Scott’s men living in the house with us.”
“Oh,” she said.
“And by tonight, you’ll have two of them guarding you.”
“Daddy will have them arrested for trespassing, or he’ll have Morris or one of his men shoot them,” she worried aloud.
“No, he won’t,” Hayes said flatly.
“I don’t understand.”
“You will,” Hayes said. “For now, do what you normally do. When you go home, you’ll have company.”
“How will I know who they are?”
“Oh, you’ll know,” Hayes said amusedly.
“Whatever you say,” Sari replied. “Poor Merrie. She can’t even leave the house except to go to art classes. When Mandy goes to get groceries, she’s followed. We’re always followed.”
“It will end,” Hayes told her. “I promise you, it will all end soon.”
She swallowed. “I hope so,” was as far as she’d go.
* * *
That afternoon, she told her coworkers goodbye and went outside to get into the limo. Morris was standing, dumbfounded, beside two tall, muscular men dressed in camo and carrying small automatic weapons.
“What the hell is going on, Miss Grayling?” Morris asked.
“Retribution,” Sari said. She looked at the two men and smiled. “Thanks,” she said quietly.
They only nodded. They opened the door for her, giving Morris a look that sent him quickly to the driver’s seat, and then they climbed in on the seat facing her.
She didn’t speak all the way home. She worried. Her companions were equally quiet. She worried about what the authorities were going to do to her father. But she worried more about what her father was going to do to them. They were underestimating his ability to protect himself. He had a fortune and he knew how to intimidate people at the highest levels. Once he saw her protectors here, he was going to go ballistic. She dreaded the thought of what he might do to her, and to poor Merrie.
And then there was Paul. What in the world was he doing back in Texas? He’d left without a word three years ago, gone back to his family up north. Had he brought them with him?
At least he knew that Sari wanted nothing to do with him, that none of them wanted him around. Maybe they’d have another agent, perhaps the one with Homeland Security, question her and Merrie and Mandy. She didn’t even want to see Paul ever again.
She thought of the deep scars on her back, still felt the blows, the pain, the horror of her father’s attack. Because of Paul. Because he’d gone to her father and accused her of coming on to him, a married man.
She would never have let him touch her if she’d known he was married. It made her sick, remembering how much she’d loved him, the dreams she’d built around a future with him. Even if it had been unrealistic, the dreams had been sweet. He’d held her and kissed her, hungered for her. Probably because he was missing his wife, she thought bitterly.
Paul had turned her whole life into one long misery. She didn’t want to see him. It would bring back all the memories that still tormented her.
“Mr. Grayling isn’t going to like this,” Morris said as he parked the car, glancing through the open window at Sari’s companions.
“You know what, Morris?” she asked coldly. “I don’t give a damn!”
* * *
Morris actually caught his breath. He’d never heard her talk like that, in all the years he’d worked for the boss. Now he wondered if he’d lose his job, because he didn’t call and warn Mr. Grayling about these guys. But how could he? They carried small automatic weapons, and he had no doubt that they knew how to use them. Maybe he could use that as an excuse. He did wonder what Miss Grayling was up to. The boss was going to be mad. Really mad.
* * *
Sari went into the house, accompanied by her two bodyguards. Merrie, coming down the stairs, just stopped and gaped at them.
“Where’s Daddy?” Sari asked coldly.
Merrie took a minute to compose herself. “He came home and went into the study and made some phone calls. That was before they got here.”
“They?” Sari asked.
“Yes. The FBI, Homeland Security, Mr. Kemp and Sheriff Carson and a handful of deputy sheriffs. They arrested Daddy on suspicion of murder and took him away.”
Sari caught her breath. Nobody had told her about it, and they surely knew. Did they think she’d warn her father?
“Who…?” Merrie asked worriedly, nodding toward Sari’s companions.
“Eb Scott let us borrow them,” Sari said, catching her breath. She looked up at them with a smile. “They’re not going to let Daddy hurt us anymore.”
“Well, only if you feed us,” the broader one of the two men said, shrugging. “Eb starves us. We’d do almost anything for good food. And dessert,” he added.
“Eb doesn’t starve us,” the taller one returned. “We had fried snake just last week.”
The broader one made a face. “Living off the land isn’t what it’s cracked up to be. I had better food when I was stationed in Iraq.”
“Sheep’s eyes!” The taller one grimaced.
“Hey, they’re good!” his companion objected. “It’s an acquired taste.”
“I could acquire a taste for pie, if you’ve got any.” He nodded toward the girls.
Mandy came out of the kitchen and gaped at the two men dressed in camouflage. “Are you the A-Team?” she asked.
“Wrong generation,” the broader one said with a grin. “We’re the Avengers.”
“Don’t tell me,” Mandy quipped. “You’re Hawkeye and he’s Captain America.”
“I told you people would recognize us,” the broader one told his companion with a grin.
The taller one just shook his head.
“If you feed them, they’ll take care of us,” Sari told the housekeeper.
“In that case, you can have pie. But only if you eat your peas and carrots first,” Mandy said sternly.
“Beats snake any day,” the broader one said.
“Sure beats sheep’s eyes,” the taller one said disdainfully.
“Come on in,” Mandy invited.
“When did they take Daddy away?” Sari asked.
“About four o’clock this afternoon,” Mandy said. She glanced around the table. “He’ll make bail any minute and come through that door looking for blood.”
“If he does, he’ll find some,” the taller of the visitors said grimly. “Nobody’s hurting women on my watch.”
“Mine, either,” the other one added.
Sari smiled gently. “Thanks, guys.”
“Thanks a lot,” Merrie added. “It’s been scary, living here. He’s unpredictable and he hits us.”
“He gets even, when people go against him,” Sari worried aloud.
“So do we,” the taller of the two said, and his face was dead serious when he said it.
“Don’t worry,” the broader one told them in a quiet tone. “We know what we’re doing. The Feds briefed us. They’re shorthanded, and they know Eb. We’re sanctioned to do whatever we need to do to protect all of you.”
“You don’t know how grateful we are,” Sari began.
The front door opened and slammed shut.
“Where are those damned girls!” Darwin Grayling roared.