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Andre held up his hands. “I told you the kid looked scared, said he didn’t want to be there. But the other one with the knife threatened to hurt his sister.”
“What does this have to do with me moving in with Belle?” Bently growled. He was out of patience.
“TJ is the one who mugged us.”
The air was sucked out of the room. No. No way. He couldn’t . . . “Are you sure? There’s no—”
“I’m positive. Remember when you first brought them to Remy’s?” Andre leaned forward.
“Why didn’t you tell me then?”
“I tried but Mia stopped me.” He sighed. “TJ and Belle found her that day. When Mia woke up, he apologized and gave her back her mother’s ring. I guess he was forced to commit the crime and didn’t have a choice.”
“Why did you hold that back? Why didn’t you tell me!”
“Did you hear her go off on me at the harvest dinner? I know which battles I can win with that woman, and it definitely wasn’t that one. You know how she feels about the authorities,” Andre said.
The memory of Mia yelling at Andre in Spanish came back to him. All Andre’s concerned looks and scowls directed at Belle and TJ suddenly made sense.
“But I’m your friend!”
Andre looked down as if ashamed.
“Why are you telling me this now?”
Andre rubbed the back of his neck. “I didn’t know you were that serious about her. Women come and go in your life—none of them stick. I figured maybe you just needed to get her out of your system and it wouldn’t matter. But now that it’s more serious . . . I just wanted you to know everything.”
The pieces clicked into place. “The kid held a knife to you? The other one, right? He was young, around TJ’s age? Same height and build?”
Andre shrugged. “I talked to Mia and she said he was taller and broader, but not much older than TJ. He was White. Light hair.”
A chill ran down his spine. Hazy pictures became clearer. A flicker of a memory before the metal bat swung and knocked him out. Ice-blue eyes and a somewhat familiar face. He shot up from his desk and grabbed his coat.
“Where are you going?” Andre stood, holding out his hands.
“To talk to TJ.”
***
Bently burst through the front door. Belle and TJ both jumped at the table. A cup of coffee spilled between them.
“Shit!” She ran to grab a paper towel and mopped it up, moving the notepad and pens out of the way. “What’s wrong?”
Bently slammed the door and stalked to the kitchen. “Did you know?” His voice boomed. If she’d kept this from him, he didn’t know how he would handle it.
“Know what? What’s wrong? Are you okay?” Belle asked.
Bently searched her face—there was nothing but genuine concern there. He turned a hard gaze on TJ. “You mugged Mia and Andre.”
TJ looked worriedly between him and Belle.
Belle’s mouth opened in an “O” and her eyes grew wide as she shook her head. “What? No. TJ would never do such a thing. Are you kidding me right now?” Her voice rose with hurt and anger. “Tell him you didn’t, TJ . . . Tell him!”
TJ looked down, biting his lip. “He said if I didn’t, he’d come after Belle.”
Belle gasped.
Bently didn’t need to look to know her face was painted with horror and disbelief. The urge to run and comfort her grew inside him. Bently tampered his rage and let out a defeated sigh. He forced himself to sit at the table. “Start from the beginning.”
