Page 25 of The Girl He Crowned

“Did you want tofind me crying to myself in a corner?” Harry snapped back. “I’m sorry, AgentMarriott, but you’ve come to the wrong place for that.” He paused for a momentor two. “Why are you here? I guess you’ve got better things to do than bother ahumble businessman like me.”

“Just whatisyourbusiness?” Paige asked. She looked around. “Are you a bookie, a bar owner…”

She saw Harryshrug. “An entrepreneur. I do whatever’s profitable.”

Paige foundherself wondering if all of that was legal. Certainly, the thugs around Harrysuggested that there was more to him than just a simple businessman.

Christopher wasobviously more interested in the personal relationships, though.

“Tell me, did youget along with your sister-in-law?”

Paige saw Harryshrug. “Family can be tricky, but sure, we got on fine.”

“So your wifeSadie didn’t make any threats towards Melody?” Paige said. That got a smallhint of reaction, quickly walled away again behind a stony expression.

“I don’t know whatyou’re talking about.”

It was a lie.Paige could hear it clearly in his flat tone and carefully controlledexpression. He knew all about the conflict between his wife and hersister-in-law, but he wasn’t going to admit to it. Maybe that was just hisnatural reaction to law enforcement asking questions, maybe he was just tryingto protect his wife, or maybe it was more than that. Maybe he’d had somethingto do with it.

“She saidsomething about a debt,” Paige said. “Do you lend people money, Harry?”

He didn’t reply tothat. Paige guessed he didn’t want to talk about that side of his business, orrisk giving away anything he shouldn’t.

She looked over toChristopher. It was going to be hard getting much out of a man like this whenhe seemed to be used to saying nothing. Christopher seemed to take that as hiscue to try something else.

“So, you knewMelody, obviously. Does the name Debbie Danton mean anything to you? What aboutSiobhan Maraty?”

Paige saw the samecontrolled lack of response that had been there before, but she also sawsomething else: a flicker of reaction from one of Harry’s thugs. It was thesame one who’d tried to get in her way before, Rick. He obviously knew thename, and he reacted more than Paige might have expected from someone who’donly heard it on the news.

Paige startedtowards him. “You, Rick, isn’t it? You know about Siobhan Maraty? What do youknow?”

Harry was betweenher and his man instantly, his hand grabbing her arm and yanking her away fromhim.

“Leave my guysalone, lady, or I’ll have to teach you some respect.”

“Take your handsoff my partner.” Christopher was there then, pushing Harry back from Paige withobvious anger at the fact that he’d grabbed her.

Of course, themoment he did that, Harry reacted, shoving Christopher in turn. Christophertwisted out of the way, starting to wrench Harry’s arm behind his back, butthen Rick started to step in, coming in from Christopher’s blindside.

Paige stuck out a foot,tripping the big man as he came in. He went stumbling into a table full ofdrinks, which went over the floor with a crash.

In an instant, itseemed that everything was chaos. Harry and Christopher were still strugglingwith one another, but now his thugs were trying to pile into the fight. Paigeswung a chair at the legs of one of the men, bringing him down, then duckedunder a swinging blow from another of the patrons there. It missed her, clippingsomeone else, and now it seemed as if everyone around Paige was getting readyto fight, all at once.

Paige had no wishto be trapped in the middle of that, and she needed to find a way of stoppingit from escalating further. She saw Harry swing a punch at Christopher, onlyfor him to block it and trip the two of them to the ground. It was the lastplace he could afford to be, with so many dangerous men around him.

Paige leaped forthe bar, grabbed the sound system, and wrenched the volume as high as it wouldgo.

The resultingblare of sound was painful to Paige’s ears, and she was expecting it. She sawpeople covering their ears, the momentum of the fight stopped by the suddendisruption. She ripped out the cord connecting the speakers next, and they diedwith a wash of feedback that was even worse than the initial blast of sound.

Paige pulled outher gun and her badge.

“You see this?”she demanded, in the second or so of silence that her actions had bought her.“It says that you’re attacking federal agents. Anyone here want to do time in afederal prison? No? Then stepawayfrom my partner. Now.”

Paige normallydidn’t try to be intimidating. She was too short, too slightly built, but in a situationlike this, there was simply no other choice.

Harry’s thugsmelted back from him, leaving him and Christopher alone. Christopher hadmanaged to get the bar owner onto his front with his arms behind him, and wascuffing Harry even as Paige watched.

“We’re taking yourboss in for questioning,” Paige said. “If you don’t want to join him, I suggestyou stay out of our way.”

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