Page 110 of The Devil's Reward
“Nice to meet you,” Rose says with equal warmth, and the two women embrace, being careful of Rose’s arm still in the sling. I see Rose wince slightly when she pulls away, but we all agreed not to mention anything that’s happened in the past few days so she quickly hides it. She looks at my father and gives him an equally warm smile. “And nice to meet you too, handsome,” she drawls at him.
Dad steps forward to shake her hand and gives a charming smile. “Pleasure is all mine. I’m Bill Holt.”
Rose turns to Peyton who gives her a quick hug. “And I’m Peyton. I hope you’re ready for us,” Peyton says with a grin. “We’ve brought the party with us.”
Rose laughs, delighted. “Oh, yes I am. Tell me, have you told Shadow about this?” she asks conspiratorially, eyes bright with mirth.
Peyton arches a brow. “No, I haven’t,” she answers slowly.
“Oh this is going to be good,” Sage drawls, rubbing her hands together delightedly. “Are you a bit crazy?”
“I can be,” Peyton answers with a grin, obviously having clued in that being so is a good thing.
“Thank God,” Sage says, reaching out to shake her hand. “I have so many plans.”
Peyton laughs. “I think we’re going to be great friends,” she predicts, setting Macy on her feet. Not that it lasts long because Macy makes a bee line for her grandfather, who quickly scoops her up and hugs her tight.
“Let’s get going,” I suggest. “We’re having a get-together at the clubhouse today. Are you guys up for that?” I ask. “I know you’re probably tired but—”
“Is there beer?” my father interrupts.
“Yes,” I say with a smile.
“Then I don’t care where you take us as long as I can have a drink and meet this man of yours. We have some things to get out of the way before we can join forces.”
“Dad,” I warn as we head towards the exit, my mother and sister pulling their suitcases behind them as Dad carries Macy.
“It’s a man thing, honey, you don’t need to worry about it,” Dad dismisses.
We just about reach the exit when there’s a loud commotion behind us. We turn and see security running towards us. Only, when their eyes connect with us, they scream, “Freeze! Don’t move.”
We all freeze, shocked and confused. “We need you all to come with us,” one of the agents barks as he nears us.
“All of us?” I ask in shock. “What? Why?”
“Let’s go,” another agent says, more of them surrounding us. Next thing I know, all of us, including Rose and Sage, are herded into a back area. I grab Macy from my father and hold her close. I don’t know what the hell is going on, but Macy is clearly unhappy, given the confused look on her face morphing into a scowl.
When we’re all in the holding area, we’re ordered up against the wall and frisked. Even Macy. “Don’t touch my daughter,” I snap furiously at the agent.
“Be quiet or I’ll arrest you,” the agent snaps at me, his dark eyes hard.
“Are you kidding me?” I hiss. “We are here to pick up my family for a visit. You have no right to detain us.”
“You’re in the company of known criminals, so you should mind your fucking tongue,” he snarls back. I stare at him. He looks over at my parents, and barks, “Both of you get over there. Jacobs, you deal with these ones.”
“I want to know what the hell is going on,” Rose says, vibrating with anger.
The agent sneers at her cut, infuriating me more. “All you need to know is that your friends are carrying dangerous materials in their suitcases. If you’re quiet and cooperate, maybe you won’t go to jail today.”
“This is bullshit,” Sage snaps, equally angry.
“Shut the hell up,” the agent orders.
“You really need to stop swearing,” Macy points out sassily. The agent points his angry glare at her, but she just stares back at him. “Grandma says that swearing means that you don’t have a very big ‘cabulary. Maybe you should work on that.”
Rose and Sage laugh, while I pull Macy back against me and give the furious agent atouch-her-and-find-out-what-happensglare. He stalks over to my sister, obviously having had enough of us. Peyton gives him a cool look, lets him frisk her, and then waits without a word when he steps back.
We all watch the agents pick up their suitcases and toss them on the large metal tables in the middle of the room. Peyton gets an anticipatory smile on her face when the ass who frisked her opens her suitcase.
