Joke’s on You by Lani Lynn Vale Page 0,68

that chair when he should’ve been able to easily overpower her.

“Mrs. Brummel?” Saint’s easy-going, there’s nothing to see here voice said. “This is Saint Nichols, the hostage negotiator with the Kilgore Police Department SWAT Team.”

Since the phone was on speaker, allowing us all to hear what was being said, we all got treated to Moshe’s shriek of outrage.

“This wasn’t how it was supposed to go!”

Then we watched as she took the knife in her hand and hastily sliced her way through the flour that was on the back wall behind Ken’s back.

I winced.

She managed to hit all six bags on the shelf.

Awesome.

“Can I shoot her?” Louis asked. “Because the back door is wide open, and I can see everything. She’s nowhere near him.”

“No,” Foster grumbled. “Chick’s clearly off her rocker. Let’s see if Saint can get anything out of her first.”

Louis sighed. “Sir, yes, sir.”

“Don’t give me that attitude, kid. I used to change your diapers,” Foster muttered, sounding amused.

I rolled my eyes.

He used to change all of our diapers.

“That just makes you old,” Sammy, his nephew, said.

“Shut up, kid,” Foster murmured. “Let’s keep this professional.”

“Let’s get this shit on the road,” I suggested. “My girl’s supposed to be here opening this place up in a few hours.”

“We’re working on it, Mr. Impatient Pants.” Foster chuckled.

I pinched the bridge of my nose.

“Ma’am,” Saint tried again. “We would like a chance to talk to you…”

The woman screamed again, dodged out of sight, and we all heard a loud clang.

“She just knocked over a big bucket of dough that was in the biggest fuckin’ mixer I’ve ever seen,” Louis supplied helpfully.

“Goddammit!”

That was Ken screaming because he was pissed. “Do you know how long that takes to make?”

I felt my lips twitching.

And, like I thought, Ken decided that enough was enough. With two yanks of his hands, he pulled his arms off the chair that he was zip-tied to, stomped out of the front door, and didn’t look back.

“You can’t leave!” Moshe screeched, nearly following Ken out the door.

Ken walked right up to our command tent and crossed his arms.

They bulged in response.

“I waited as long as I could, but that’s going to take me a couple of hours to remake. I need her out,” Ken said. “You’ve got her on breaking and entering, and kidnapping or something, right?”

Saint placed the phone back down and Foster stepped in front.

“We got her. Let’s go get her, boys.”

So that was exactly what we did.

She didn’t come nicely, either.

She came spitting and clawing like a madwoman, swinging the knife like she knew what she was doing with it.

She was easily disarmed, however, and we soon had her face down in the flour that she’d slashed.

She was practically making snow—or flour—angels in the shit.

“Sit still. I don’t want to hurt you,” I muttered darkly.

“I will not!” she hissed.

I cuffed her and then rolled her over onto her back, causing her to grimace when her hands dug into the concrete floor uncomfortably.

She fought for all of a few seconds before she sat there passively.

Her lip quivered and I realized that she was about to cry.

Great.

I sat her up onto her butt and leaned her against the wall before dropping down to her level and staring at her with narrowed eyes.

I felt Foster and Bourne move to my back, listening, but not interrupting.

“Why were you here tonight?” I pinned a glare on Moshe.

Moshe swallowed. “I was told to.”

My brows rose. “You were told to.”

My voice must’ve sounded as incredulous as I’d meant it, because her head drooped more.

“Yes, I was told to.” She drew in a shaky breath. “My husband and I can’t afford the house anymore. Not without me having a job. He paid me…”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” I said as I held up my hands in a stop gesture. “Slow down, start from the beginning. Tell me where this all started.”

I just knew that she was involved in some way with Kerrie.

Knew it with every beat of my heart.

And I wanted to know exactly how and why.

“Four months ago, we were about to lose everything,” she said stiffly. “My husband lost his job because he… he just returned from the war. Something happened over there, I don’t know what, and now he lashes out and is so freakin’ mean.” Moshe wiped at her eyes that were leaking continuous tears. “I never meant to get this deep. I just thought that I could help him.”

At first, I was swept under by her words, but then I saw her surreptitiously