Page 41 of In Her Sights
“Key?” The blank look he gave her spoke volumes. “What key? We don’t have a key.”
She put on her best confused expression. “How’d you get in, then?”
“Picked the lo—”
“Okay!” Sanders’s roar drowned out Cord’s confession. “I want to call my lawyer.”
Meeting John’s eyes, Molly burst into laughter. “Your lawyer? I don’t think so.” She sobered abruptly and put her face right in Sanders’s, forcing away the thought that she was close enough for him to grab. “You’re going to wish you were with the cops by the time we finish with you.”
He flinched, and she barely kept herself from giving a triumphant grin. She knew she was not traditionally intimidating, but it was nice that she could hold the illusion for a while. Despite her glee, she did shift back out of reach, just in case. Giving Sanders her most ferocious glare, she turned back to Cord.
“Why’d you break in, Eddie?” she demanded, her words coming out as harshly as she could manage. “What’s so valuable in here that you’d risk serving time?” She waved a hand at the contents of her kitchen with real bewilderment. As beloved as everything was to her and her sisters, there was no point in stealing what was worthless junk to anyone else.
“The neckla—”
“Eddie!” Sanders howled. Molly was tempted to gag him, or maybe kick him in the teeth so he’d be quiet for a few seconds.
“The necklace that Jane stole?” she asked Cord, ignoring his sputtering business partner. “Why would you think it was here?”
“That’s where Zach Fridley said he put it.”
Zach Fridley? It made all sorts of creepy sense. This was why the weasel Stuart had tried to break in, and why Cord and Sanders were currently in her kitchen. Zach was Jane’s oldest and most loyal friend—and the one she got into the most trouble with. He’d do anything for her, including breaking into her house and hiding a priceless stolen necklace…and then blabbing about it.
This explained their recent rash of attempted break-ins…and meant that more would be coming—a lot more.
Swallowing a groan, she flicked a look at John. Judging by his grim expression, he’d come to the same conclusion. Keeping a firm grip on Cord with one hand, John waved at Sanders where he was still sprawled on the floor.
“Let’s go,” John said, and Molly’s gaze turned startled. Why was he kicking them out when she hadn’t finished the interrogation? Even though she’d mostly decided not to file a police report, the least John could’ve done was to check with her before he started tossing burglars out on the street willy-nilly.
“Hang on,” she said in her best commanding voice, the one that made all her sisters freeze in place. It worked just as well on the two intruders. Even John gave her his attention. “Have you talked to Jane since she was arrested?”
The two men glanced at each other before Sanders answered. “No.”
Despite the way he held her gaze, she wasn’t sure if she believed him. Figuring that she wouldn’t be able to glare the truth out of him, she flicked her fingers at him in a let’s go motion. As soon as he stood, she said, “Turn around, hands up against the wall, legs spread.”
“Seriously?” he complained, but she just lifted her Taser a little higher. He must’ve been able to read how delighted she would be to send a painful amount of electricity through him, because he turned and flattened his hands on the wall. Once he was in position, she tucked the Taser into the waistband of her sleep shorts and patted him down.
Once everything from his pockets was piled on the counter—including her new bank card, to her great annoyance—she shifted back slightly. “Put your right arm behind your back.”
Grumbling, he obeyed, and she grabbed his thumb, using it to crank his arm up toward his shoulder blades. “Ready?” she asked John, who’d been searching Cord.
He nodded and gestured with the hand not holding on to his captive. “Ladies first.”
“Thank you, Carmondy.” She left the kitchen, shoving Sanders in front of her. “He’s so polite. There just aren’t that many people with manners left, are there?” When Sanders didn’t respond, she cranked his arm even higher, making him yelp and go up on his tiptoes to relieve the pressure. “Are there?”
“I don’t know,” he said sulkily, and she gave his thumb an extra twist, making him swear. “Stop it! No, no one has manners anymore! Happy?”
“Not really.” She did ease off on his arm, however. “I’d be happy to be sleeping right now, not escorting your sorry ass out of my house…the house that you just broke into.”
He grumbled under his breath as she yanked open the door and shoved him onto the porch. The screen door swung shut behind them, and John timed it just right so that it smacked Cord in the face. Molly gave John an approving nod, making him grin back at her.
As she escorted Sanders across the lawn, she saw an SUV parked in front of Mr. P’s house, and she felt a hint of evil glee rise inside her. “Is that yours?” she asked. At Sanders’s affirmative grunt, she turned her head slightly to aim her next question at John. “Any chance you have a pointy tool of some sort in one of your pockets?”
“I do.” He surged ahead of her, pushing Cord to move more quickly toward the SUV. When they reached it, John pulled what appeared to be a multi-tool out of his pocket. Before either Cord or Sanders could protest, John punctured the front left tire before striding toward the rear.
“What?” Sanders caught on too late as air hissed noisily out of the second punctured tire. “Stop! I’m going to kick your—” He lunged forward, but Molly kept hold of his thumb, giving it an extra upward yank to remind him that he was still restrained. “Ow! Bitch, let me go!”
“No, bitch.” Her tone was mild, considering her lack of sleep and the events of the night, but she’d found John’s slashing all four of the getaway vehicle’s tires very cathartic. Raising her voice slightly, she said to John, “That was very nice. Thank you.”
