Page 33 of Deadly Forever

Ten

“You’re Darcy Sweetin, aren’t you?”

Mandy already knew the answer, but she carefully approached the nervous-looking girl all the same.

“I am,” Darcy confirmed, bobbing her head. “You’re the people who were outside of my house, right? I followed you when you left. I almost lost you in Mount Clemens, but then I realized you were at the Dairy Queen.”

Mandy sheepishly shrugged as she inclined her chin toward the ice cream cone. “It’s a hot day.”

“Yeah, it’s freaking unbearable,” Darcy said, making a face as she shifted away from Mandy and focused on James. “You talked to my father. What did you say?”

James stilled. “Didn’t he tell you?”

“Who is the hot babe?” Maverick asked, his gaze focused on Darcy.

Grady cuffed the back of Maverick’s head and offered him a small headshake. The last thing Darcy needed was a horny young man saying something inappropriate.

“All my father would say is that you were asking questions about Dakota and the others,” Darcy supplied. “I want to know if it has something to do with my case or what happened at the mall.”

Mandy gestured toward the front lobby and pointed at the couch. “Why don’t you sit down,” she suggested, forcing a smile. She took the spot next to the girl and left the chairs for Grady and James. Darcy didn’t seem overly jumpy, but Mandy didn’t want to make her uncomfortable and force her to sit next to a man when she might not be ready for close quarters with members of the opposite sex.

“Thank you,” Darcy said, getting comfortable. She seemed happy to focus on Mandy, although she darted the occasional worried look in James’ direction. For his part, he pasted a welcoming smile on his face, but he was so rugged and strong that he couldn’t help but make the girl nervous. “So, were you there for me or what happened at the mall?”

“Both,” James answered, opting for honesty. “It started because of the mall, though.”

“We were there,” Mandy explained. “Er, well, I was there. I was with some friends and we were at a bridal shop when it happened.”

“Are you getting married to him?” Darcy asked, jerking her thumb in James’ direction.

“We’re already married,” Mandy replied. “I have three friends who are having a triple wedding – although that’s not really important right now – and we were there for that.”

“A triple wedding?” Even though she’d been through a horrible ordeal, Darcy was still girly enough to light up when she heard about the wedding. “That sounds kind of fun.”

“Then we’re telling it wrong,” Grady said dryly. “As one of the grooms in the triple wedding, I can tell you that it’s a lot of work.”

Darcy made a face. “You’re a dude. Dudes don’t do the work. The women do all of the work.”

“You’ve got that right,” Mandy said, smiling. She admired the girl’s resilience and attitude. “Anyway, I was at the mall when the alert went out that there were gunmen on the premises. I called my husband and told him what was happening before we hid in the dressing room.

“One of the boys – Nate Graham, I believe – happened into the store by chance and I talked to him for a few minutes,” she continued. “He seemed resigned to dying and threatened me and then my husband shot him to keep me safe.”

Darcy’s gaze was appraising when she shifted it to James. “Did he say anything when he was dying? Did he say he was sorry?”

James shook his head. “He died right away,” he answered. “He didn’t speak. He was dead by the time he hit the ground.”

“Too bad, I guess,” Darcy muttered, rubbing her cheek. “That still doesn’t explain how you ended up at my house.”

“We wanted to learn more about the boys,” James supplied. “I felt … guilty … for killing Graham. He was a young kid. I expected an adult to be under that mask and I was wrong. It shook me a little bit.”

“If you knew he was a teenager, would that have stopped you from killing him?” Darcy asked.

James didn’t hesitate before answering. “No. My wife was in danger. I love her more than anything. Knowing Graham’s age wouldn’t have changed the outcome.”

“We still want to know why they did it,” Grady explained. “It’s not easy to take a life. When we did some research on the kids – and to my knowledge the fourth boy hasn’t been identified yet – we found a sealed file for Dakota Landers.”

“Why would it be sealed?” Darcy asked, confused.

“It’s a court thing,” Mandy said. “Dakota was a juvenile when the charge was dismissed. The file was still there for anyone to read, though, and someone must’ve petitioned the court to seal it so only law enforcement could read what was inside. Whoever did that was trying to protect Dakota, so I’m guessing it was a parent.”