Bonaparte's Belle: A SEALs of Honor World Novel (Heroes for Hire Book 24), Dale Mayer [read an ebook week .TXT] 📗

“Where are we going?” Bonaparte asked.

“An alleyway stops two houses from her place,” she said quietly. “There’s also a walkway behind her place, but vehicles can’t drive in there.” She drove around the block, came up in the alleyway, parked there, and hopped out. She checked her weapon and then strolled to where the walkway started. He fell in step beside her. Up ahead she pointed to the house in question.

He nodded. “So somebody could certainly reach her place from back here. That doesn’t sound very safe.”

“Small town again. Remember?” she murmured.

He nodded. “Yeah, but you’ve got a bad apple here.”

“I personally think,” she said, “we have a couple of them. Maybe even a whole damn orchard.” She gave him a cheeky smile and then said, “I’ll go around to the front.”

“Good,” he said. “I’ll search out the back and head in through that way.”

“You might not like what you find,” she said.

“You might not either,” he said, by way of warning.

She frowned and nodded. She kept on walking, until they came up to the side of the house. She pointed to the kitchen and then moved forward, so she could come around on the front side. As she walked closer to the house, she listened for any sounds, anything going on inside. Seemingly nobody was here. Still frowning, she walked until she got to the front walkway, where she stomped on the steps a little loud to let everyone know she was coming—but also to draw attention away from Bonaparte in the back. As she walked up onto the porch, she knocked on the door. There was no answer. She knocked again and then called out, “Isabel, where are you?”

The door opened, and Isabel was there, glaring at her. “I told you that I was fine.”

Angela studied her friend intently, but she could see the nervous flicker in her eyes. “I know you did,” she said, with a genial smile. “But that’s what friends are for, isn’t it? I just came to make sure you were okay, maybe have a cup of tea.”

“I can’t do tea right now,” she said, but this time there was a tiny break in her voice. “It’s not a good time.”

“Well, I’m not so sure about that,” she said. “Seems to me that we should sit down and talk. We’ve got a few issues. Remember that conversation from earlier?”

At that, her friend’s face went blank and then flushed. “I really don’t want to discuss it right now,” Isabel said, and then gave her a meaningful smile and half a nudge toward the porch steps.

“I get it,” Angela replied. She stepped forward, forcing her friend to step back again. “But I think these things need to be dealt with.”

Just then Johnny stepped into view, stopping her forward progress. “Hey, bitch, she just said she doesn’t want to talk with you now.”

“Oh, look at that. Trouble. I see the riffraff found you,” she said, with a glance at her friend to find a look of terror in her eyes. Angela studied Johnny. “You here alone?”

“What if I am?” he said. “I’m invited, but you’re not. She told you to get lost.”

“No, she didn’t say that. She said, it wasn’t a good time. That’s a whole different story. Not a good time means that you’re here. Get lost means she wants you here.”

At that, Johnny’s face flushed. “She wants me here just fine.” He turned and glared at Isabel. “Don’t you?”

She immediately nodded. “Of course I do.”

At that, Angela just shook her head. “That’s what this town has come to? Just threats and coercion?”

“Well, it’s supposed to be your town,” he said, with a sneer. “You’re hardly a decent sheriff though, are you?”

“Well, that’s all right,” she said. “You know it takes a little bit of time to gather evidence for a case.”

“You got no evidence. You got no case,” he said immediately.

“Oh, but I’m not alone,” she said. “We now have a team working on you guys.”

“BS,” he said flatly, his tone turning dark and ugly.

She looked at him and smiled. “Getting nervous, huh? That’s probably a good thing. Maybe you just want to fly back home again to Daddy.”

“I’m not going nowhere,” he said. “This is where we need to be right now.”

“And that’s one of the things I don’t quite get,” she said. “What kind of deal are you running that makes you think that all the property here is worth something? You must know something nobody else does.”

“I know a lot of things nobody else does,” he said, the sneer still evident in his tone. “You’ll never know even half of what I know.”

“Well, I don’t mind that, since most of what you know is useless anyway,” she murmured, her gaze going around the living room. “I still don’t quite understand, but I’m sure the answers will come to light soon enough.” She took another step into the living room. He immediately stepped forward, crossing his arms over his chest, and said, “You’re not welcome here.”

“Of course I am,” she said. “Isabel and I have been good friends for a very long time.”

“Well, we want some private time now,” he said, “so get the hell out, bitch.”

“And what if this is official police business? God knows I’ve got sufficient reason to sit here and to talk to her about some other issues.”

“Then you better be bringing a team with you,” he said, “because you’re not welcome here, and we’re not letting you in. So, go to the office and sit in your little room, where you think you’re somebody.”

“I don’t think so,” she replied.

At that, he reached for her, and, lightning quick, she grabbed his arm, bent him over double, and yanked his arm up behind his back, then pulled his feet out from under him, so he landed hard on the floor, face-first. Instantly she was on top of him, holding his arms backward.

“Get off me,” he whined.

She pulled out her handcuffs and clipped them on. She looked over at