Page 45 of Prince of Tides
“Come on in,” a jovial voice called.
I pushed open the right side and walked in. Mark Stiller came around from his desk and was halfway through wrapping me up in a hug when he noticed I wasn’t alone.
“Dad, this is Rip. Rip, my father.”
I stepped aside as my father sized Rip up. He was no physical match for him. Besides being about forty years older than Rip, he also surrendered over half a foot of height and a lot of muscle to him.
But that wasn’t what it was about. The two men were taking note of each other and deciding if they weregoodpeople. Like dogs circling warily, waiting to sniff butts. Yes, men and dogs were more alike than they wanted to admit.
“Call me Mark,” my father said, abruptly shooting out his hand in greeting.
“Rip,” came the rumbled reply.
Hands met. Butts were sniffed. Crisis averted.
My father looked back at me. “I can’t imagine you’re bringing a new boy by this late at night just to introduce him to me. You’re not sixteen anymore.”
“Dad,” I exclaimed, shaking my head and fighting a blush.
He just chuckled. “Okay, come in, close the door. What is it?”
“Serious,” I said, getting myself under control.
The jovial attitude disappeared behind a mask of calm comportment. My father was gone, and the head of ArmDef was in his place. “How serious?”
“Some men tried to, most likely, kidnap me tonight,” I said.
My father went still as the room froze over.
“They what?” he asked in a similarly frigid tone.
“It was Eric,” I said, fishing the wallet I’d stolen from my purse. “They were with him. Said I owed him money, and he was going to get it.”
“What happened?” my father asked, glancing at Rip.
“Rip and I were at dinner when he noticed two men paying too much attention to us. We left, and they followed, then accosted us in the parking it, along with two others waiting outside. They were armed. Eric appeared behind them and said I would pay him the money he would have gotten from our marriage. Said I owed it to him.”
“Then what?”
“I showed them the error of their ways,” Rip said as I struggled to find the right words to explain what had happened.
Which, considering I didn’tknowwhat had happened, was hard to do. I’d closed my eyes and dropped to the cold ground, thankfully still devoid of snow, and when I’d looked up a moment later, Rip was tossing the last of the unconscious men into a heap nearby. I’d barely heard him move. The only sounds I could remember were bones breaking and cries of pain.
My father gave Rip a level eye, and I could see him reappraising his initial evaluation of the big man.
“Thank you,” he said at last, shaking Rip’s hand again. “For protecting my daughter.”
Rip only nodded.
“I don’t know who the men were with Eric,” I said, breaking the silence, “but I don’t think they worked for him.”
“What do you mean?”
“I saw it, too,” Rip said. “There was an odd interplay between Eric and one of the others when we didn’t do as they wanted. I’m not sure what it meant, but I don’t think Eric had as much control over them as he was trying to make it look.”
“Here,” I said, handing over the wallet. “I took this off them. Maybe you can track down who they are. We need to be careful. They might not stop with me.”
“Why do you say that?”
