The Art of Discipline: Running Toward Trouble (The Mockingbird Chronicles) (20 page)

“Must be hard to watch,” Emma sympathized.

“Well, I told him last night that he’s not too old to be grounded.”

“What did he do?”

“Gave me a hug and called me Mom. He always did know how to get out of trouble,” Stevie laughed.

“Just as long as he doesn’t share those tricks with Anna.”

“Oh, those tricks don’t work with Anna,” Stevie laughed again.

“Oh?” Emma stood and stretched.

“Nope, she knows just the right ways to stay in trouble,” Stevie smirked as she joined Emma on the way down to the bookstore.

* * *

Dani barely noticed Stevie and Emma descending the stairs from the loft when her cell phone rang. Sighing, she picked it up. “Ryan’s Events, Danielle Ryan speaking.”

“You’re not as safe as you think you are,” a harsh voice filtered through the other end.

The voice sounded familiar, but she couldn’t quite place it. Realizing that the voice was serious though, she managed to slip into the office, closing the door as to not alarm anyone. “What do you want?” she returned just as roughly.

“Frankie Zitti can’t be everyplace all the time, Ms. Ryan. You remember that when that redhead you’re so fond of isn’t there anymore.”

The line went dead and Dani hung up, her hands shaking. Taking a deep breath, she dialed the first number she could think of. “
Zia
Toni, is
Zio
Frankie home?

“
Zio
Frankie, somebody just called me to threaten Emma. They know you’re watching us too. Said you can’t be everywhere at once.

“No, it was a different voice than Sampson. I don’t know. Sounded familiar, but… yes, he mentioned you by name. I understand. Thanks,
Zio
Frankie.”

Hanging up, Dani couldn’t help panicking as she practically ran from Emma’s office and into the bookstore proper. Glad to see it empty of customers, she rushed to the counter where Emma and Anna were currently bantering.

“We need to close the store, Emma,” Dani began.

“What are you talking about?”

Dani held up her phone. “
Zio
Frankie says to close the store. Please, Emma, I’ll explain everything upstairs.”

Emma paled, but agreed, moving to the door and turned the sign to read closed. Just as she was getting ready to lock it, Dani grabbed her and pulled her to the floor. The movement was followed by the sound of a car backfiring, glass shattering, and a woman screaming.

“Everyone okay?” Dani called out, before covering Emma again as they heard a series of bangs before all went silent.

“God! What’s going on?” Stevie cried, coming from the back of the store and hiding behind the side of the counter. “Sounded like gunshots.”

“They were,” Dani whispered roughly. “Stay down, and stay behind something.” Crawling, Dani and Emma joined Anna behind the counter as Dani opened her phone to dial 911.

“Where is Will?” Anna asked, as her partner joined them and pulled her into an embrace. “He left for school a few minutes ago. Don’t worry, honey, just stay calm, he’s fine,” Stevie countered, relieved to hear Dani already talking to the 911 operator. “The police will be here soon.”

Before they knew it, the police had given an all-clear signal and the four women found themselves standing around the counter as the police finished their investigation. It had all happened so fast, yet as time ticked on Dani found herself getting more and more irritated. The police had been in the store for over an hour and Dani wasn’t the only one whose patience was wearing thin. The first bullet had shattered the glass. The now empty space was currently being boarded up, and the slug was dug out of the wooden bookcase that had been directly behind Emma. The remaining shots had littered the bookshelves and Emma was distracted, trying to figure out which volumes would need to be replaced.

“It’s a good thing you dropped to the floor when you did,” Detective Donnely stated. “Whoever did this wasn’t kidding.” His pale blue eyes held none of the warmth Dani’s did as he held up the evidence bag in a beefy hand. “This slug is from a sniper rifle; they could have been anywhere.”

Emma shuddered and Dani held her close. “Patrick Sampson has threatened Emma’s life on numerous occasions,” Dani stated icily. “Have you located him yet?”

The detective shook his head. “I assure you, Ms. Ryan, we’re doing everything we can to find him and question him about these events.”

Emma snorted. “Yeah, that’s great. So while you’re out there trying to find him, he already knows where to find me.”

“What do you mean that this person knew what they were doing?” Anna interjected as Stevie tried to hold her back.

“Calm down, Anna. I’m sure they are doing everything they can…”

“It’s not enough,” Anna demanded, looking back at the detective. “Emma’s a good person. There could have been customers in here.”

The man grimaced, obviously not wanting to give too much away. Finally, he relented. “We’ve gotten word that a hit was put out on the lives of Ms. Gray and most recently Ms. Ryan.”

“Were you going to bother to tell us?” Dani demanded. “Or should we just continue with our lives in the dark?” Her blue eyes flashed with anger. “He almost killed Emma today and you’re sitting on your asses not even bothering to tell us about this. What are you going to do?”

The detective blanched. “I am sorry, Ms. Ryan. I know that’s not much consolation right now, but we are doing everything we can. We’ll increase patrols in this area, and will have an officer nearby. I wish we could do more, but we just don’t have the manpower for this. I would suggest you might want to visit with some friends for a few days, and perhaps look into some sort of permanent security here for the store.”

“At least it’s something,” Dani mumbled. “If you can call it that.”

Hearing his name, the detective excused himself and walked toward a uniformed officer pointing toward a building across the street.

Emma leaned into Dani, taking comfort in her strength. Looking at Stevie and Anna, she explained, “The store is closed until further notice; it’s just not safe here and I won’t put the two of you in any more danger.”

Their protests were cut short when Dani’s phone rang; turning away from the police, she answered it softly, “Danielle Ryan.”

“Danielle, it’s
Zio
Frankie; don’t respond, just listen. I’m going to have my boys bring you and Emma up. Both of you go pack enough for two weeks. We love you,
bambina.
” The line went dead and Dani held Emma close to her once more.

* * *

Dani held onto Emma as one of the men placed their bags in the trunk. There were two of them, and they almost looked like bookends. One introduced himself as Joey, the other Neil. Both were about the same age, and both wore leather jackets and sunglasses. They could be brothers; in fact, they probably were. Dani recognized Joey. He was the one who had taken her to Chicago the last time. They’d shown up within moments after the police had cleared out, and to be honest, Dani had been relieved to see them.

Atticus was asleep in his carrier and Tilly was meowing pitifully in hers. Hoping the kitten would fall asleep, Dani put Atticus’s carrier on the floor and Tilly on the seat behind the driver. Putting Emma in the middle, she opted for the seat behind the passenger instead. Emma didn’t need the leg room like she did.

“I’m not going to let anyone hurt you, Emma,” she said again, letting Emma curl into her.

Emma could only nod as the car began to move. “Any idea where we’re going?”

Dani shook her head. “Chicago, I think. Is that right?” she directed to the men in the front seat.

Joey, the passenger, turned around briefly before explaining, “The instructions are to take you to Mr. Zitti’s residence, in Chicago.”

“Thank you,” Dani replied softly.

The man nodded, turning back around and leaving Emma and Dani to their own thoughts.

* * *

The crunch of tires on gravel woke Emma from her fitful sleep. Dani hadn’t moved the entire ride to Chicago; her only goal was to keep Emma feeling safe and protected.

“Are we here?” Emma asked.

“Yeah, we are, come on,” Dani encouraged as she got out of the car first. Stretching, she was almost knocked over by Toni hugging her.

“Are you and Emma okay?” she demanded, pulling back.

“Physically we’re fine, the store has seen better days, but it’s nothing a new bulletproof main window won’t solve,” Dani explained.

She held her hand out to Emma, who took it and emerged from the car, only to be enveloped by Toni as well. “Oh, my girls, I can’t believe this. Who on earth would shoot your store, and why?”

Emma shrugged. “We should get the cats.” She moved back toward the car, but was stopped by Toni.

“The boys will unload the car, including your pets. Come on, girls, let me show you to your temporary home.”

“Aren’t we staying in the house?” Dani asked as they stopped in front of a good-sized carriage house a few yards from the main house. Dani blinked in surprise; it had obviously been there before, but she didn’t remember seeing it.

“No, I figured you two would need your privacy and I convinced Frankie to let you stay here.”

“It’s very nice,” Dani commented, frowning as her hand involuntarily went to her bottom.

“It’s lovely,
Zia
Toni,” Emma commented, falling in love immediately with the one-bedroom carriage house. “Come on, sweetie, let’s check out our temporary place,” Emma encouraged, hugging Dani before taking her hand.

“Yeah, it’s great, but are you sure
Zio
Frankie is okay with us staying out here? I mean, if he’d rather, we can stay in the main house,” Dani interjected, seeing her hopes of saving her rather sore backside falling apart.

Toni shook her head. “No, I explained to him that you two needed your own space. Now, the bedroom is upstairs and has a bath attached. There’s a small study through there, and another ½ bath down here.” She hugged the women once more before heading to the door. “Dinner is at 7:00 tonight and we expect to see you then.”

“We’ll be there,” Emma confirmed as Neil entered with the last of their bags. The cats had been delivered first and were already exploring their new surroundings. It didn’t take long for Emma to start to explore either and before Dani knew it she found herself in an all-too-familiar place.

“Come on, Emma, we don’t have to do this now. I know you always keep your word,” Dani disputed unhappily from the corner of their new bedroom.

Smirking, Emma sat on the edge of the bed. “Not another word, Danielle, unless you want me to start your time over. I told you that I’m spanking you every day this week and I’ll be damned if I let a little something like a shooting stop me.”

Emma watched as Dani put her head against the wall and traced patterns in the carpet with her bare toe. “Okay, Danielle, come over here.”

Turning from the corner, Dani walked over to her slowly, stopping just out of reach. “All the way, Danielle,” Emma commanded with a sigh. Moving a few steps closer, Dani held her breath as Emma bared her and pulled her across her lap.

“You know why you’re here, Danielle,” Emma stated before she began to pepper Dani’s backside with her hand. Giving her just enough to make her squirm, Emma allowed Dani to collect herself and then pulled her onto her lap. Wiping a tear away, she kissed her gently. “I love you.”

Dani winced, but returned the smile. “I love you too.” Falling silent for a moment, Dani scooted off of Emma’s lap and onto the bed. Giving it a little bounce, she smiled and raised a mischievous eyebrow.

“I guess we do have a couple of hours before we’re expected for dinner.” Emma caught the hint. “You sure you’re not too sore?”

Dani rolled her eyes. “When am I ever too sore for that?”

Emma laughed. “Brat. With an attitude like that, I should spank you again when we’re done.”

“Promise?” Dani smirked.

“Oh, you bet,” Emma laughed before practically pouncing on Dani.

* * *

“Geesh, Dani, you got ants in your pants or something?” Giuliana asked as she watched her cousin shift yet again in her chair.

Dani blushed and shook her head. Next time she wasn’t going to tease Emma about not being sore enough. Although she was in a good enough mood for that second spanking, it wasn’t helping her now. Keeping her face straight, she looked at Giuliana. “No, why do you ask?”

Giuliana leaned across the table. “Are you serious? All you’ve been doing is shifting. If I didn’t know any better, I’d swear…” The girl trailed off as she took a large drink of her milk.

Emma took that moment to turn her attention to Toni. “Dinner is wonderful,
Zia
Toni, thank you so much for inviting us.”

Frankie laughed. “As if you have a choice,” he said, pointing at his wife. “She loves having her family close. We’ll expect the two of you most nights for dinner.”

Dani nodded and scowled as she took a sip of her chocolate milk. Toni had been insistent that all her kids have milk with dinner and Dani and Emma had been no exception. The only consolation was that Dani at least got to add chocolate syrup to hers.

“And you have no excuses now not to come every Sunday with the family,” Toni added, noticing the way Dani shifted in her seat yet again. Looking at Emma, she gave a small wink before passing the lasagna around the table one last time.

* * *

After dinner, Emma and Dani had returned to the guest house. They’d watched a little TV, but both found little interest in it. They were tired. It had been a long day. Moving up to the bedroom, Emma claimed her usual spot in the bed and waited for Dani to join her. Smiling when Dani snuggled up against her, Emma relaxed. “Well, I guess we’re both grounded for a while.”

“Yeah, Frankie made it pretty clear, didn’t he? No leaving the property, no going out of eyesight of the house; we can’t even go grocery shopping.”

Emma kissed Dani’s temple gently. “I already gave our grocery list to Toni. She said she’d pick them up for us tomorrow.”