Hot Rocks

dangerous.”
    “I could be,” Jack muttered, but some of his temper faded into relief that the dog had some spirit.
    “I’ll tell you what I’m doing with my life, Dad. I’m living my life. I have a house, a dog, a business, a car—and payments. I have a plumber.” She gestured with the pot, and nearly sloshed coffee over the rim. “I have friends who haven’t actually done time, and I can borrow a book from the library and know I’ll actually still be here when it’s due back. What are you doing with your life, Dad? What have you ever done with your life?”
    His lips actually trembled before he firmed them and managed to speak. “That’s a hell of a way for you to talk to me.”
    “Well, it’s a hell of a way for you to talk to me. I never criticized your choices, because they were yours and you were entitled to make them. So don’t you criticize mine.”
    His shoulders hunched; his hands retreated to his pockets. And Henry, vastly relieved that his valor wouldn’t be tested, stood down. “You’re spending nights with a cop. A cop .”
    “He’s a private investigator, and that’s beside the point.”
    “Beside the—”
    “What I’m doing is spending nights with the man I love and am going to marry.”
    “Ma—” He made several incoherent sounds as the blood drained out of his face. He gripped the back of a chair, slowly sank into it. “Legs went out. Lainie, you can’t get married. You’re just a baby.”
    “I’m not.” She set the pot aside, went to him and put her hands gently on his cheeks. “I’m not.”
    “You were five minutes ago.”
    Sighing, she slid onto his lap, rested her head on his shoulder. Henry tiptoed over to push his head through the tangle of legs and lay it sympathetically on Jack’s knee.
    “I love him, Daddy. Be happy for me.”
    He rocked with her. “He’s not good enough for you. I hope he knows that.”
    “I’m sure he does. He knows who I am. Who we are,” she said, and drew back to watch Jack’s face. “And it doesn’t matter because he loves me. He wants to marry me, make a life with me. We’ll give you grandchildren.”
    The color that had come into his cheeks faded away again. “Oh now, let’s not rush that far ahead. Let me settle into the idea that you’re not six anymore. What’s his name?”
    “Max. Maxfield Gannon.”
    “Fancy.”
    “He’s from Savannah, and he’s wonderful.”
    “He make a good living?”
    “Appears to—but then, so do I.” She brushed at his dyed hair. “Are you going to ask all the clichéd father-of-the-bride questions now?”
    “I’m trying to think of them.”
    “Don’t worry about it. Just know he makes me happy.” She kissed his cheek, then rose to deal with the coffee.
    Absently, Jack scratched Henry behind the ears, and made a friend for life. “He left pretty early this morning.”
    She glanced over her shoulder. “I don’t like you watching the house, Dad. But yes, he left early.”
    “How much time do we have before he gets back?”
    “He won’t be back until tonight.”
    “Okay. Laine, I need the diamonds.”
    She took out a mug, poured his coffee. She brought it to the table, set it in front of him, then sat. Folded her hands. “I’m sorry, you can’t have them.”
    “Now you listen to me.” He leaned forward, gripped the hands she’d folded on the table. “This isn’t a game.”
    “Isn’t it? Isn’t it always?”
    “Alex Crew, may he rot in everlasting, fiery hell, is looking for those stones. He’s killed one man, and he’s responsible for Willy’s death. Has to be. He’ll hurt you, Laine. He’ll worse than hurt you to get them. Because it’s not a game to him. To him it’s cold, brutal business.”
    “Why did you get mixed up with him?”
    “I got blinded by the sparkle.” Setting his teeth, he eased back, picked up his coffee. Then just stared into the black. “I figured I could handle him. He thought he had me conned. Son of a bitch. Thought I bought the high-toned game he was playing with his fancy fake name and patter. I knew who he was, what he’d been into. But there was all that shine, Lainie.”
    “I know.” And because she did know, because she could remember how it felt to be blinded by the shine, she rubbed her hand over his.
    “Had to figure he might try a double cross along the way, but I thought I could handle him. He killed Myers, the inside man. Just a greedy schmuck who wanted to grab the prize. That changed the tune, Lainie.