Read Deadly Secrets (Hardy Brothers Security Book 11) for Free Online Page B

“I’m married, and not to Xena.” He didn’t mention that Xena would be his sister-in-law in a few months. “Don’t worry. Your fantasy is still intact.”
    “Only if we can get a horse,” the man said.
    “Then you’re fresh out of luck.”
    The man sighed. “Let’s just take the photo. Everything is ruined now.”
    Emma patted his shoulder sympathetically. “I’m sorry everything is ruined.”
    Once he was gone, Emma took her fifteen-minute break while James retrieved a bottle of water for her. When he returned, he was surprised to find her hunched over and flushed. “Are you okay?”
    Emma was rubbing her stomach ruefully. “I’m not sure.”
    “It’s not the baby, is it?” James was alarmed, and he straightened his shoulders as he searched the room for Finn. He was not equipped for this.
    “If you’re asking if I’m losing the baby, that’s not it,” Emma said. “I think … I think my morning sickness is back.”
    “I thought you shook that in New Orleans?”
    “It doesn’t appear so,” Emma snapped.
    James took an involuntary step back. He was used to feisty women, but Emma was usually the even-tempered one in his life. “Do you want me to get Finn?”
    “What is he going to do?”
    “Um … .” James didn’t think “allow me to escape” was the answer she was looking for. “Will water help?”
    “If you want me to puke it up on the floor in front of everyone.”
    Seriously, where is Finn? “What do you want me to do?”
    “Help me get to the bathroom.”
    “You don’t want me to go in there with you, right?” James was starting to panic.
    Emma shot him a disdainful look. “No.”
     
    AFTER twenty minutes of throwing up, Emma didn’t have the strength to stand. She was still shaky. Instead, she settled on the cold tile, resting her back on the stall wall as she tried to collect herself. It was good this was her last weekend. Not only was she getting too big to model, but she was also too much of an emotional wreck to be around the general populace.
    Despite her melancholy, Emma couldn’t help but smile at the memory of James’ face when he asked if she wanted him to go into the bathroom with her. She couldn’t wait to tell Mandy about it. The blonde would get a kick out of her squeamish husband.
    The bathroom door opened, and Emma stilled. She didn’t want anyone to know she was in here. She couldn’t face the humiliation. Whoever it was apparently didn’t realize she wasn’t alone.
    “I told you, I’m working on it.”
    Emma tilted her head to the side. She recognized the voice. It was Cara.
    “I don’t know what you want me to do,” Cara said. “I can’t just force Jake Harrison into doing what I want him to do. I have to entice him.”
    Emma froze.
    “It’s not going to take much to get him on my side,” Cara said. “I just have to work my way around his insipid girlfriend.”
    Emma covered her mouth and tried to control her breathing as she listened.
    “The girlfriend is like a human doll,” Cara said. “I have no idea what he sees in her. She won’t be an obstacle. I know Jake. He couldn’t possibly choose her over me. Don’t worry about that.”
    Cara paused to listen to whoever was on the other end of the phone call.
    “Trust me,” she said after a moment. “Jake is going to do what I want. He’s bored now. He’s going to love the idea of getting some real action. I can guarantee it. The girlfriend will be history within the week.”

Six
    “Were you really dressed up like Xena?” Ally’s eyes sparkled as she fixed them on Emma.
    The convention doors had closed two hours before, and now everyone was relaxing with a barbecue and a few drinks at James and Mandy’s house. It was one of their favorite weekend activities, and even though they had an ongoing job, the Hardys had no intention of skipping it. Winters in Michigan were brutal, and summer was quickly ticking away. In two months barbecues wouldn’t be an option until spring