He raises his head, and his eyes blaze. His words, when they come, are spoken so softly I almost don’t hear them. “Anyone who has ever hurt her will pay; I can promise you that.” He stands, walking toward the door. “I’ll be in touch,” he adds before walking out.
I slump back into my seat, feeling drained from the encounter. Strangely, I also feel myself relax more than I have since Lia’s attack. I have no idea what his intentions are where she is concerned, but there is one thing I’m certain of: he’ll rain Hell down onto anyone who even thinks of hurting her again. I’m also certain that there is no corner of the world big enough for Jim Dawson to hide in now. I’m under no delusions that he plans to suddenly turn into father-of-the-year, but his loss of control where his emotions were concerned seemed very real. The only thing that makes me uneasy is how this revelation will affect my relationship with Lia. I’d love nothing better than for her to finally have a family who cares for her as she deserves, but I don’t know if Jacks will ever offer that. I don’t want this to be another source of pain for her. He is a powerful man, but I’m not without contacts and allies of my own. If I have to protect Lia from her own father, then I will… without hesitation.
Standing, I go in search of Lia only to find her asleep once again on the bed. I move her gently, trying to make her more comfortable before pulling the comforter back over her small frame. Just as I lean down to brush a kiss over her lips, I hear the doorbell. Our first day home and my apartment has suddenly turned into Grand Central Station. As I look through the peephole, I’m surprised once again at my unexpected visitor. Swinging the door open, I motion for Max to come in. “What’s up?” I ask without preamble. Silently, I wonder when people stopped calling before just dropping in. Especially knowing Lia has just come home hours before. As I wait for his reply, I notice his disheveled appearance. Max generally looks like an ad for Brooks Brothers. Even though he’s wearing his usual suit, he looks almost as if he slept in it before coming over. “What in the hell happened to you?”
“Rose Madden is what happened to me!” he growls in response. “That woman is fucking nuts.”
I wonder vaguely if I look as confused as I feel at his answer. “Lia’s friend Rose?”
“Oh, yes, one and the same.”
After having to deal with Lee, I’m too burned out for obscure answers. I fight the urge to open the door and push him back out of it. Instead, I rub the bridge of my nose before asking, “What kind of problem could you possibly have with her? You’ve met her, what, once?”
Loosening his already-lopsided tie, he says, “Until last night, yes. Then at one this morning, when Rose called me from the police department as her one phone call.”
“She did what?” I ask, thinking I must have heard him wrong. I just saw her at the hospital the day before Lia was released and she seemed fine.
“You heard me. Apparently, her boyfriend has been cheating on her, and she’s flipped her lid or something. The police said she took a shovel and smashed out all the windows in his car before…”
“No fucking way,” I gasp, unable to comprehend Rose doing something so crazy. And Jake? I’d only been around him at dinner one night, but they seemed like a solid couple.
“It gets better, believe me. She used her .357 Magnum to shoot his tires out. I guess the shovel wasn’t working too well on those.”
“Holy shit,” I mutter, unable to believe what he is saying. Lia’s best friend is a fucking whack job. Seriously, what else today?
“You know when she slapped the guy at the hospital and you asked me to go and see what was going on?” When I nod, he continues. “Well, she said something about smelling perfume on him. I talked to her for a few moments and gave her my card in case he caused her any problems. I never thought I’d hear anything else from her. After she called, I went to the police station as a favor to Lia since it’s her friend and fuck, it was like the Twilight Zone or something. There she sits, in—I kid you not—a white blouse, a pink cardigan, and a black skirt. She was wearing pearls, and she didn’t have a hair out of place. I swear she looked more like a Stepford Wife than the card-carrying, concealed-gun-toting NRA gold member she is.”
My shock gives way to amusement as I start laughing. I knew Rose had some spunk, but I never suspected she had that much. “She’s a member of the NRA, as in National Rifle Association?” Surely, there was another meaning for that.
“Not just a member, a gold member, meaning she’s a big supporter of the cause. She’s no dummy, though; she refused to tell them anything until I got there. I knew a couple of the cops handling her case, and they were so fucking cracked up over the whole thing that they were willing to take a plea from her and just let her off with paying for the damages.”