Chapter 7 #2
She glanced around to see Marlin standing there. He was frowning as his gaze flicked from the stepmonster to Vince to her.
And yes, she was aware of how immature she sounded calling Kathryn the stepmonster. But she’d been fifteen when she’d first started calling her that. And it wasn’t like she hadn’t earned that nickname.
“Maya, Dad’s been waiting for you,” Marlin said to her. He held out his hand.
She and Marlin were no longer close. However, he’d never hurt her, he’d never been mean. So she stepped to the side of Kathryn, walking around her to take Marlin’s hand.
He squeezed it as they headed down the hallway. He walked to the door leading to the formal greeting room.
They could have just met in the living room which was more comfortable. Or even in the eat-in kitchen. But Kathryn would never allow that.
Still, Maya hated this room. Her mom had rarely used it unless she was having a party as it was big enough to comfortably hold around thirty people. It was filled with uncomfortable, stiff furniture that definitely didn’t invite people to sit and chat, to make themselves at home.
Nope. This was more a sit-for-a-few-minutes-then-get-the-hell-out-of-my-house type of room.
“Be careful,” Marlin whispered in her ear.
She gave him a surprised look, but he’d let go of her hand and moved away before she could question him.
Be careful? Of what? Of Vince? He didn’t have to tell her twice.
She was well aware that she should heed more caution. Unfortunately, that wasn’t exactly her strong suit. She tended to rush into things without thinking them through.
She glanced around the room. As well as her father, there were Kathryn’s two sons. Robert was closing in on forty and tended to brush his hair over his head to cover his bald spot. But he’d look a lot better if he just owned his thinning hair and wore it with confidence.
However, she’d never tell him that.
Kathryn’s oldest son was Malcolm. He was two years older than Robert and nastier. He’d be an attractive guy if he wasn’t so mean. Both men were detectives.
Relief filled her as she saw the last man standing there.
Detective Clayton Reeves.
She wasn’t quite sure why he was here but she felt less alone, that was for sure.
Although she might have had some sort of ally in her brother, which she would never have believed before just now.
Don’t get ahead of yourself.
She’d been let down enough by her family in the past to not have much faith in them anymore.
“Maya, you’re here. We’ve been waiting for you.” Her father stepped toward her; his arms open.
Was he serious?
Maya guessed he was as he wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tight.
What was this show for?
Then again, her father had always been quite tactile. He’d always shown affection.
Before Kathryn.
“I’ve been so worried about you. Why haven’t you been answering my calls? I was getting ready to go to your house and get you myself.”
He was?
He’d never been to her house. She knew he’d probably be horrified by where she lived.
How would she have reacted if he’d turned up on her doorstep?
“Kathryn and Robert rightly convinced me that that wasn’t a smart idea,” he said.
Oh. Right.
Of course they had.
And he always listened to Kathryn. Always took her side.
Maya.
Do not let bitterness fill you.
She’d worked hard and long to get rid of her feelings of anger toward her father. But the hurt was harder to let go.
However, she made the pretense of hugging him back, not wanting anyone in this room to see any cracks in their relationship.
When it came to this family, you had to show strength. Never weakness.
“I’m sorry. I’ve been busy.”
“Too busy for your old man?” he snapped, pulling back to frown down at her.
Kathryn cleared her throat. “I’m sure that Maya tried her best, but she’s a young woman with a full life. You know what young people are like. Their social life always comes first.”
Social life?
What social life?
That coffee that she’d had with Millie and Livvy the other day was the extent of her social life for the last year.
And now Kathryn was making her sound selfish and childish.
“Actually, I’ve had a lot going on at work. I don’t have time for a social life,” Maya said.
Kathryn tensed. “Yes, I’m certain that teaching yoga is very time-consuming.”
It was said without a hint of sarcasm. But the blow still landed. And she could tell that everyone saw it.
Except, perhaps, her father.
But she had often wondered if he was blind to his wife’s criticisms and actions toward her.
Or if he just didn’t care.
“It is. You should try it sometime. You might find it helps relax you. And it’s good exercise when you’re older and you no longer have the flexibility and level of fitness.” Maya made certain to smile at her.
Blow landed.
“That’s very kind of you to be worried about Kathryn, Maya,” her dad said, patting her back.
Yeah, either he was a great actor or he was completely blind to what was going on here.
He led her over to the sofa and sat next to her, taking her hand in his.
“Perhaps Kathryn would like to attend one of your classes.”
They both gaped at him in shock.
“Although I’m afraid that won’t be able to happen for a while,” he added. “We have a bit of a crisis, dear.”
“What sort of crisis?” she asked suspiciously. “Why did you keep calling me? What’s going on?”
“This is going to be upsetting,” her father replied. “I’ve received death threats.”
Hmm. Right.
That did sound scary. And she tightened her hold on her father’s hand. “Credible ones? I mean, you must have a few enemies, right? It could be just someone blowing hot air? And how long have you been receiving them for?”
Okay, so there was a part of her that still loved her dad. She certainly didn’t want anything to happen to him.
“They started about three weeks ago. At first, we thought they were just hot air,” Marlin replied. “Like you say, Dad has enemies. There are a number of people who could threaten him. But we still took them seriously, of course.”
“However, there was an escalation when someone attempted to run your father off the road,” Reeves said.
She stared up at him. Out of everyone in this room, he was likely the most trustworthy. Perhaps her brother.
Then her gaze went to her dad, she studied him closely. “You weren’t hurt?”
Why had no one told her?
He could have sent her a message, left a voicemail. Something. Anything.
Run off the road? That sounded like a big escalation to her. As though someone was definitely trying to kill him.
Her dad patted her thigh. “I’m fine. Going to take more than that to take your old man out.”
“But it does mean that we know this person is willing to follow through on their threats,” Robert told her.
“So what am I doing here?” she asked, confused.
“Because the threats didn’t just mention me,” her dad told her. “They spoke about my entire family. Which means Kathryn, you, Maisy, and Marlin could be in danger.”
What?
Was he serious?
Shit. Maybe Vince hadn’t spray-painted her garage door. Perhaps it was this guy who was threatening her father . . . and her?
But would that person have gone from attempting to run her dad off the road to defacing her garage door?
That seemed highly unlikely.
“But with Maisy so far away, it seems unlikely that anyone could get to her,” her dad explained. “And her husband wasn’t that interested in our offer to help guide him in his protection of her.”
Jesus.
Seriously? He’d tried to give Fletch advice about how to take care of Maisy?
Fletcher was most definitely the one in charge in that household. Although Maisy got everything she desired, so long as she didn’t try to put herself in danger.
Still, in no way was Fletch ever going to take her dad’s advice on protecting Maisy.
“Fletcher has Maisy covered,” Marlin said.
“Absolutely,” her father said with a nod. “But I just wanted to make sure that my baby girl would be looked after. She’s such a sweetheart.”
Yeah.
He never said that about her.
“What about Marlin?” Maya asked, looking up at her brother. He appeared tired, worried.
“I can take care of myself,” he said.
“Of course you can,” Kathryn said, walking over to Marlin. She wrapped her hand around his arm.
Maya could swear that Marlin tensed. As though he didn’t want her touch. She’d never noticed that before.
Then again, how often had she seen her brother around the stepmonster? A couple of Thanksgiving dinners and Christmases? Marlin hadn’t been a regular in the house after their mom died.
So maybe Marlin didn’t like Kathryn either?
Jesus, had it really taken her this long to work that out?
“Marlin is more than capable of looking after himself,” Kathryn said, setting those dark orbs onto Maya. “It’s you we’re all so worried about, dear.”
Right. So worried.
She figured that Kathryn wouldn’t put her out if Maya was on fire and Kathryn was holding a hose.
Heck, Maya was kind of worried that if she was crossing the road and Kathryn was driving that she’d speed up to hit her.
“Me? There can’t be any real risk to me,” she said. “I’m no one.”
“Of course you are,” her father said. “You’re my daughter.”
Not his baby or a sweetheart, though.
“Right, but we’re not exactly close. Why would this person target me?”
“Not close?” her father thundered.
Shoot.
She needed to be more careful about what she said. Her dad had a notorious temper and she seemed to be excellent at riling it.
“Be calm, dear,” Kathryn said to him, coming over to lay a hand on his shoulder. “You know that you can’t get all worked up. You have to think of your heart.”
His heart?
“What’s wrong with your heart?” she asked in alarm. Now, she was starting to feel terrible. Did she know nothing that was going on with her family?
“It’s nothing,” he said, waving a hand in the air. “Just palpitations. Nothing to concern yourself with.”
Kathryn shot her a look. A clear warning not to upset her father.
For once, Maya agreed with her.
“And I don’t like to hear you say we’re not close,” he added. “Your mother would be so upset if she knew you thought that.”
She didn’t just think it. She knew it. However, she simply nodded.
“That still doesn’t mean that anyone will target me,” she said. “Right?”
She glanced around at everyone, but no one agreed with her.
Shit.
“You really think this puts me in danger?” she asked.
“Yes.” Her father patted her hand. “And that’s why I think you should move back home. Where we can protect you properly.”
Oh God.
Now she really was going to be ill.