Page 65 of Deadly Conflicts

“Baby, why are you crying?” James’ frustration was evident over the phone. “I thought you needed some space. Isn’t that why you took off?”

“I just wanted to have a few drinks and complain about men with Ally,” Mandy replied. “I was going to pretend I didn’t want to complain about men and then let her draw it out of me. Not Jake’s plan, mind you, just how annoying I find men sometimes.”

“Uh-huh.” James wasn’t thrilled with the admission. “So what’s wrong?”

“Ally doesn’t think Jake loves her and is convinced he’s never going to propose.”

“We both know that’s not the case and you’d better not say a thing to her,” James warned.

“That’s not why I’m calling!”

James sucked in a deep breath. “Fine. Why are you calling?”

“Vince Dawkins showed up here and acted as if it was a coincidence, but I’m not that stupid,” Mandy said. “I think he’s following Ally and she’s kind of drunk and I don’t know what to do because we don’t have a car.”

“Okay, baby,” James said, his attitude shifting. “We’re on our way. Hold Vince off for fifteen minutes. Do you think you can do that?”

“Can I dump margaritas on him?”

“Wife, I don’t care if you dump the entire contents of the bar on him,” James replied. “If he touches you, though, I’ll kill him. Don’t let him convince Ally to do anything stupid.”

“I’m worried.” Mandy’s voice was small and she hated admitting something like that to her husband. “He makes me nervous.”

“I am coming for you right now,” James said. “I’m going to beat him senseless when I get there. Just … hold on. I promise I will be right there. Just … hold on. I promise everything is going to be okay.”