Honey, have you been hiding from my wife?
Could her dad have finally figured out he’d married a crocodile in designer clothing?
Please meet me at the house. Regina will be away for another hour. Bring the baby and let’s talk this out. If you have evidence against Regina bring that, too.
That last line gave her a moment’s pause. But if Spencer had reached out about the college fund, it made sense. This was an opportunity to gain an advantage.
Dad, where did we spend my eighth birthday?
In Disneyland. You went nuts for the princess parade. Hurry, honey. I need you.
OMW
Mia closed her laptop, her latest search unfinished. She shoved supplies into the diaper bag and called Jarvis. He didn’t answer. She’d try again from the car and apologize when she got back. She couldn’t not go to her father.
Moving as quickly as possible, she buckled Silas in to the car seat. Looping the diaper bag and her purse over her arm, she headed for the truck. Mia drove toward the house as fast as she dared, eyeing the clock. He hadn’t given her much time. She’d known Regina was bad news from day one and finally—finally—her father’s eyes had been opened to his wife’s true nature. Using the hands-free option, she called Jarvis again and left a message this time.
“We’ll take Grandpa to the hospital,” she told Silas. She would insist on a full blood workup, an analysis of what had made him sick and a plan to flush it out of his system. The police could meet them there and take his statement. Jarvis’s brother could smooth the way for that solution.
Oh, the idea of reclaiming her stable, loving relationship with her dad put a smile on her face as she parked the truck in the driveway. With Silas in his car seat, her purse and diaper bag over her shoulder, she rushed to the front door. Her father had left it unlocked; she didn’t even need to use her code. That shouldn’t have been such a high point, but it was. She and her father had been at odds for so long.
“Regina,” she said, stopping short in the foyer. “How nice to see you.”
“Is it?” She sneered. The woman who’d been a thorn in Mia’s side for too many years, who’d effectively wedged her out of her father’s life, aimed a gun at her. “Welcome home.”
Dread flared along her spine, turned her palms damp with nervous sweat. “What are you doing?” She tucked the carrier behind her back to shelter Silas. “Where’s Dad?”
“Upstairs, asleep. He’s not as young as he used to be.”
“He called me,” she began. Her voice faltered when Regina laughed. “No, my dear, he sent you a text message.” Keeping the gun steady in one hand, she held up a device and wagged it side to side. “Look familiar?”
Mia’s stomach cramped. Both the phone and the gun her father kept in a lockbox in the bedroom were familiar. She’d known better and made a serious miscalculation, anyway. “What have you done?”
“Only what’s necessary to protect my husband and his interests.”
“Your interests, more like.”
She shrugged one shoulder. “Your father and I are more frequently on the same page when it comes to you.” She leaned a bit to the side. “And your brat.”
“How did you answer the Disney question so well?” She had to keep Regina talking. She had to buy time for Jarvis to see that she’d called or for the housekeeper to come home or another miracle. Any miracle that would prevent Regina from killing her and Silas.
“Since you had the baby, your father will not shut up about your childhood. He pores over those scrapbooks every night.” Her heart pounded in her chest. She absolutely believed Regina would pull that trigger. And she’d get away with it because Mia had walked right into the trap with her son. So many violent, furious thoughts ran through her head that she was tongue-tied.
“You were invited here for one purpose, Mia.” Regina stared at her over the barrel of the gun. “Give me that damned video and anything else you think you’ve got on me.”
“I don’t have the video.”
Regina rolled her eyes. “Cooperation is your only play,” Regina snapped. “You’ve lost. You’ll hand over your phone and give me all the links to where you’ve stashed copies. Do it now and I’ll spare your son.”
“No. I don’t believe you.” It wouldn’t be that easy. “You’ve threatened him too often already.”
Regina’s eyes went wide and she gave a little scream but the gun remained on Mia. “All the more reason to cooperate. You have no power here. Give me all of your supposed evidence and your father won’t die today.”
Mia forced herself to speak her worst fear. “You’ve killed him already.”
“Oh, Mia. You’ve thought the worst of me from the start. I love him. I’d never hurt him.”
“Save it,” Mia snapped. “You’re an evil, manipulative excuse for a human being.”