Page 172 of Mad As Hell

Approval gleamed in his eyes. “Good. That’s good. I wanted that for my daughter, but she wound up with a nightmare instead. I know she would have loved you, as would my Clara.”

“Thank you.” I ducked my head, humbled at the praise.

“Now,” he started, clearing his throat, “I understand Ryan has informed you about Phoenix.”

I nodded slowly. “He has. And I have to be honest with you, Mr. Harris, my father sent me here to spy on you. He thinks I’m working with him.”

“I highly doubt that,” he rebutted. “He’s too skeptical to immediately accept your change of heart. But I would guess sending you here as a spy is a test. One you’ll need to pass. I’m certain we can come up with a few conversations he can overhear that will help establish you as a potential ally.”

I rubbed my forehead, suddenly exhausted. “I don’t know how you all have done this for so long. I’ve only been in this world for a few months, and I feel like I’m drowning half the time.”

“Unfortunately you’ve been thrown into shark-infested waters in the middle of a hurricane with no life jacket.”

“That’s a pretty spectacular way of putting it,” I agreed with a small giggle. “Have a spare life jacket?”

“My dear, sharks don’t need them.” He grinned at me, and I couldn’t help smiling back.

“Fair enough. But I do want to help, however I can. And if Gary did kill my sister, he has to pay for that.”

“One monster at a time, Maddie,” he told me. “But our first course of action needs to be somehow minimizing the power that Beckett and Gary have over you and Ryan.”

“Gary wants to destroy Beckett.” I bunched my lips to one side as I considered how to pull that off.

“We need a way to neutralize them both, or at least cripple them a bit. We’ll work on that this week while you’re here. I want you as involved as you’re comfortable.”

“You might want to tell Ryan that. He’s the one who wants to put me on a shelf in a glass case.” I crossed my legs and gave him a pointed look.

He barked out a laugh. “I’m sure he does. Men can be a bit bullheaded when it comes to protecting the ones they love most.”

“I don’t think that instinct is gender specific,” I added wryly, shaking my head. “If there was a way that I could lock him up and keep him safe, I might be tempted to.”

“And that’s why I couldn’t be more happy he found you,” he replied, sagging a bit in his chair like the wind had been knocked out of his sails.

I stood up and touched his arm, worried. “Mr. Harris? Are you all right?”

He laid a rough, cool hand over mine. “Just a tired old man, Maddie. I do think I’ll take a rest and leave some of the plotting to the younger generation.”

“Should I get Eloise?” I bit my lower lip and cast a furtive glance at the door.

The woman must have the hearing of a bat, because the door opened and she strode in with a slight glower to her angular face.

“I really must insist you rest now,” she informed Mr. Harris. She went behind his chair and settled her palms on the handles as she used her foot to unlatch the brake.

He nodded and patted my hand. “Maddie, I’ve been Mr. Harris most of my life. You can call me Michael.” His eyes glittered. “Or Grandpa, like the others.”

“Stop embarrassing the girl, Michael,” Eloise chided, wheeling him from the room.

“Um, where’s the kitchen?” I called as they left.

Eloise paused and pointed down the hall adjacent from her. “Follow that hallway to the end.”

That sounded simple enough, but three hallways and four wrong turns later, I finally heard the sounds of people shouting and laughing. I followed that hallway to where it opened up into a kitchen a chef would die for.

There was a wall of stainless-steel doors that I could only assume were refrigerators and freezers which matched the three ovens I counted, and two gas ranges. In the center of the room was a massive island with seating for five. Each seat was taken, and a few other people stood around talking.

Five people I knew, three I didn’t. But considering how they easily seemed to laugh and joke around with the others, I could tell these were Court’s brothers.

It didn’t take a genius to guess that Knight was the one seated to Bex’s right while Court glared from across the island.

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