"Arrest them?" Lenny sounded less than certain that he had heard right.
"Arrest every damned one of them," Lance barked. "I'll deal with them when I get to them. Jacobs out."
"Let the fun begin," Harmony murmured, turning back to face the front of the vehicle as Lance shot her a dark look.
"Son of a bitch!" he cursed under his breath. "I knew I shouldn't have answered the phone this morning."
CHAPTER 19
The back entrance to the Sheriff's Department swung open the minute Lance pulled the Raider to a hard stop in the parking slot, no more than ten feet from the door. Protestors and journalists were surging around the side of the building as Harmony followed him and moved quickly into the building.
"They have a permit, Sheriff." Lenny was sweating as frustration lined his rounded face.
"Somehow they got the mayor to sign it."
"Weasel," Lance snarled as he placed his hand at Harmony's back and led her to his office. "Keep them out of the damned department. Are Wyatt and his crew here?"
"In your office. With their lawyer." Lenny nodded.
Harmony tensed, her hand falling to her weapon. The fact that Jonas had brought his lawyer couldn't mean anything good. Jess Warden was a barracuda; Harmony had seen that when Jonas held her in the cells at Sanctuary. She knew Breed Law like the back of her hand and had become well acquainted in working it.
"Let's get this the hell over with," Lance snapped as they moved to the door. At the last second, he pushed her behind him and threw the door open. Jonas was waiting for them. Merc, Rule and Lawe carried their short automatic rifles with casual readiness. They were dressed in the black enforcer mission uniforms, their expressions hard, emotionless. Harmony's hand tightened on her weapon as she stepped into the office behind Lance.
This was it. Jonas had found what he needed. It wouldn't matter that he knew she hadn't made those kills. He could use them. That would be enough for him.
"I need your weapons, Harmony." Jonas's voice was a warning rumble as Lance closed the door behind them. "We need you at Sanctuary for questioning in the death of Tommy Mason."
"Jonas, you don't want to do this," Lance warned him as Harmony felt tension rising in the room. "You know I'm not going to let you take her."
Harmony snorted. "The alpha stuff is really cute," she drawled. "And this standoff is so testosterone-laden I'm about to have overload. Could we get past it, please?" She loosened her body, consciously relaxing her muscles as she considered her options. The door was next to her; getting free wouldn't be a hardship. Running would be a tad more difficult.
The lawyer, Jess Warden, was possibly the only one to give her words much notice. Jess's lips tilted in amused agreement as she lounged against the front of Lance's desk.
"Harmony, remember when I warned you that Jonas wanted something?" Lance reminded her quietly.
"Yeah? So?" Of course he wanted something. Everyone wanted something from her.
"Ask him what he wants."
She watched as Jonas lifted a brow, his gaze reflecting admiration.
"Your sheriff is quick," he murmured as he inhaled deeply. "In more ways than one."
"Jonas!" Lance's voice was a commanding whip. "Don't burn your bridges here, man." Jonas's lips tilted in mocking amusement.
"Fine, we'll see if we can make this easy." He shrugged in unconcern. "I want your shadow. You'll follow the mission plan we've put together and help us capture the team that repeatedly rescues you. I want them both."
Dane? He wanted Dane and Ryan? Not the information she had stolen from the labs?
She stared back at him in confusion.
"Why?"
"That doesn't concern you, Harmony," he said. "Give me what I want, and your little indiscretions here will be ignored. You'll receive clear status and freedom. Freedom to stay with Lance."
"And if I don't?"
"If you don't, I'm taking you with me, and Breed Law will be enforced. You're a wanted assassin, not just by the Bureau but by regular law enforcement channels as well. As Death, you have a hefty price on your head in several countries. Give me what I want, and I'll ensure, personally, that everyone believes Death is dead. Harmony can live her life in peace."
"This isn't going to happen, Jonas." Lance's voice surprised her. What surprised her more was how easily his hand dropped to the weapon at his side. "Harmony has upheld her end of the deal. I will personally attest to it."
"Can you save Death as easily?" Jonas asked, his voice soft, almost gentle. "She's a wanted killer."
Harmony gauged her chances of making the door. Dane and Ryan would find her; all she had to do was get out of there. She felt agony well deep inside her at the thought of leaving Lance. The warmth, the pleasure of his touch.
"Breed Law will do that for me." She stilled at Lance's voice. "Breed Law cancels when a child is involved. The moment she conceived she was exonerated until and unless she kills again. And she has conceived. You can't take her, Jonas." Harmony almost smiled. Lance surely knew this wouldn't work. Jonas would know better.
Instead, Jonas nodded. "I scented that the moment she walked in the door. But think about this, Lance. Will she ever be safe with you?"
"I'm not pregnant." The rest of the conversation dissolved as her world narrowed to that single piece of information. "That's not possible."
Her gaze swept around the room, taking in the compassion, sympathy and knowledge in the expressions staring back at her.
"It's not possible," she repeated.
"Harmony, you are pregnant," Jonas stated softly. "You and I both know that once your shadow learns of this, he'll take you. He will take you himself, because his single most important goal is protecting you. And that child will weaken you."
"No one captures me unless I want to be captured," she hissed back at him. "You managed it, because fool that I was, I still called you brother." The knowledge of that tore through her soul. "I couldn't harm your men, I couldn't get free without killing them, so I let them take me."
She couldn't breathe. Pulling air into her lungs hurt; the implication of what they were saying was destroying her. How could she have not realized she was pregnant? It was her body, her child. Surely she would know.