7 Brides for 7 Bodies Read Free

on his prize prisoner.
    He strode up and nodded to her. “Hi.”
    After her disturbing dream, she was so happy he actually knew who she was, she felt positively giddy. “Hi.”
    Wesley elbowed her.
    “I mean, I didn’t expect to see you here.”
    “How’s your shoulder?” Jack asked.
    “Fine,” she murmured.
    “We’re fine,” Wesley added in a pointed voice.
    Jack’s gold-colored eyes were bloodshot and although his shirt was fresh, his rumpled jacket and tie told a different story: He hadn’t slept since placing Randolph under arrest the previous day.
    “What are you doing here?” Wes pressed.
    “I thought you might be here early,” Jack said, evading the question. “Are you sure you want to do this?”
    He was talking to her, but Wes angled himself between them. “Get out of our way. If you hadn’t wanted to be a big bad-ass hero, we could be catching up with Dad around our kitchen table right now.”
    Jack pursed his mouth. “I was only doing my job.”
    “Right,” Wes said dryly, then jerked his head toward the door. “You can leave now.”
    “I want to be here for Carlotta.”
    Carlotta crossed her arms. The men had apparently forgotten she was there.
    “This is a family affair,” Wes said. “Are you looking to join the family, Detective?”
    Okay, that made her smile a little. Wes knew one of Jack’s pressure points—commitment. She enjoyed watching the big man squirm before she put him out of his misery.
    “This was nice of you, Jack, but...” She trailed off because something behind her had caught his attention, and from the expression on his face, it wasn’t glad tidings.
    She turned to see GBI agents Wick and Green walking toward them, and immediately stiffened. The men had worked The Charmed Killer case and had not only grilled her mercilessly about her family’s “connections” to the case, but when they had finally made an arrest, the agents had dismissed her declaration that they had the wrong person in custody. The pair made an odd couple visually—Wick, a tall, slim black man, and Green, a short, stocky white guy—but they seemed to play off each other to good—and irritating—advantage.
    “Good morning,” Agent Wick said, his smile tight.
    “I see the gang’s all here,” Green added. “Hooray—that’ll save me a few phone calls.”
    “What do you mean?” Jack asked, widening his stance.
    “We’ve been asked to relocate Randolph Wren,” Wick said, pulling a thick set of folded documents out of his jacket pocket and holding it up. “To USP.”
    Carlotta swung her gaze to Jack. “What does that mean?”
    A muscle worked in his jaw. “They’re moving your father to the United States Penitentiary across town.”
    “The federal pen?” she asked.
    He nodded, then looked back to the agents. “When?”
    Green checked his watch. “Let’s see...uh—now.”
    “After his children have had a chance to talk to him,” Jack added.
    “Afraid not,” Wick said, shaking his head. “They’ll have to wait until he’s settled at USP.”
    Panic spurred Carlotta forward a step. “But we’ve been waiting for over ten years.”
    Green gave a little shrug. “We have our orders. Your father belongs to the feds now.”
    Wes lunged forward, his hands balled into fists. “You assholes!”
    Jack clamped his hand on Wes’s shoulder. “Relax,” he said in a low voice.
    “You better watch your temper there,” Green snapped. “Assaulting an agent will get you a jumpsuit to match your daddy’s.”
    “We’re good,” Jack said cheerfully, but visibly tightened his grip on Wes.
    Carlotta’s stomach plummeted in abject disappointment that the family reunion might not happen, but her heart went out to Wesley, whose eyes glittered with angry tears. She’d at least had brief contact with Randolph in the past year—once he’d passed her a note that she’d found later, and once he’d engaged her in conversation while in disguise. And she’d seen him fleetingly