Dead by Midnight - Beverly Barton [156]
“That’s very generous of you, but I won’t impose on you for more than one night. I promise.”
“Don’t be silly. We’d love to see you again after all these years. My goodness, how long has it been?”
Gaining entrance to the Misners’ private domain had been the easy part. They would open their doors and welcome him in, feed him dinner and serve him drinks. The difficult part would be disposing of their two bodyguards and then Jeff before turning his attention to Puff. Quick action would be called for. That’s the reason he had purchased the Glock 17, a semiautomatic with an extended ten-round magazine. He could fire repeatedly, in rapid succession, taking out the two guards and Jeff before they knew what had hit them.
Jack had stayed with Lorie until Cathy arrived a little after six, and she was grateful that, for the most part, he had left her alone. He hadn’t tried to start up a conversation or offer her comfort or advice. While she had reclined on the chaise, alone in her room, the shades pulled and a meditation CD playing, Jack had protected her from the reporters who had followed them from Treasures. And he had telephoned his sister Maleah to ask that Powell’s have another bodyguard ready to send if Lorie didn’t change her mind about Mike. Which she wouldn’t and had tried to tell Jack, but like most men, he listened only when he wanted to. By the time Cathy arrived with grilled chicken sandwiches, fries, Cokes, and single-serving apple pies from Burger King, the reporters had left. All except Ryan Bonner.
“Can’t you make him go away?” Cathy asked as she spread out their meal on the kitchen table.
“He’s not on Lorie’s property,” Jack told her. “He’s parked across the road in the Summervilles’ driveway. Apparently, they have no objection to him being there.”
“Maybe you should call and ask them.”
“And maybe you should calm down and pretend he’s not there,” Jack said.
“Is that your subtle way of telling me that ignoring him is the best course of action?”
“Something like that. At least for now.”
“All right then.” Cathy smiled at Lorie and urged her to sit. “Let’s eat before everything gets cold. There’s nothing worse than cold fries.”
“Maybe cold coffee.” Lorie returned Cathy’s smile.
The last thing Lorie wanted was food. But if she didn’t at least go through the motions, Cathy would probably force-feed her. It was an effort to swallow each bite, but to appease Cathy, Lorie slowly ate a third of her sandwich and a few fries.
“Is that all you’re going to eat?” Cathy asked.
“For now. I promise I’ll eat the pie later.” She set the unopened dessert box in the center of the table.
Just as she gathered up the remainder of her food and headed for the garbage can, the doorbell rang. Apparently still a lot more rattled than she realized, Lorie gasped, her hands jerked, and the remnants of her partially eaten meal fell to the floor.
“You two stay here,” Jack told them as he rose from the table. “I’ll see who it is.”
When Lorie bent down to clean up the mess she had made, Cathy got up and rushed over to her. “Let me do that.” She grabbed Lorie’s shaky hands. “You need to pull yourself together.”
By the time Cathy cleaned up the floor and dumped everything, including her leftovers and Jack’s, into the garbage, Lorie had managed to calm her rattled nerves. But relief was short-lived. Jack returned to the kitchen with a guest.
“What are you doing here?” Lorie glared at Mike, who stood in the kitchen doorway, a few feet behind Jack.
Mike glanced at Cathy. “Would you two mind giving Lorie and me a few minutes alone?”
“Don’t you dare go anywhere,” Lorie told her friends as she glowered at Mike. “I want you to leave.”
“Just talk to him, will you?” Jack said as he and Cathy made a hasty exit.
Lorie stood her ground in the middle of the room, her arms crossed over her chest and her chin tilted defiantly.
“I apologize,” Mike said. “Everything I said was the truth, but I said it all wrong. It didn’t come out the way I meant it.”
“And how did you mean it?”
“I was angry with