Ignoring his warning, Paulo shoved his foot in the opening and cupped his hands around his mouth. “Lee! Lee, are you in there?”
“I’m here, Paulo. I’m in here!” Lee’s voice, muffled but unmistakable.
Before Merle could react, Paulo leaned on the door and, pressing against it with the flat of both hands, he raised his knee then slammed his foot forward. The safety chain snapped like a broken thread. The door banged open, knocking Merle to the floor.
In a flash, Paulo dashed inside. “Lee, where are you?”
“Here! I’m in here.”
He raced to the sound of her voice. Tossing aside a chair that had been shoved under a bedroom doorknob, he twisted the handle, and she ran out, straight into his arms. He wrapped her in an embrace that said she was the one gift he’d always longed to have-for Christmas and every day. As they clung together, he bent down to brush a kiss on her hair.
“Get your hands off her,” Merle shouted, scrambling to his feet. “She’s not for the likes of you.” Swift as a ferret, he darted forward and grasped Lee around the waist, his surprise move wrenching her out of Paulo’s arms. “Your granddaddy’s from Alabama. And
“Don’t you dare. Don’t you dare!” Lee shouted, raising her voice to her daddy for what I suspected was the first time in her life.
“This is my home, gal. You remember that.” Merle waved an accusing finger at each of us in turn. “Breakin’ and enterin’ without a search warrant. That’s a criminal offense. I intend to prosecute all of you. That includes you, lady.” His finger lingered in front of my face. “This ain’t the first time we’ve tangled. As for you,” he said, a finger under Rossi’s nose, “I’m reportin’ you. I’ll have your badge.”
“You’re within your rights, Mr. Skimp,” Rossi said coolly, not a single one of his feathers ruffled. He turned and smiled at Lee. “I’m glad we found you well, Miss Skimp. Would you care for a ride back to town?”
Clinging to Paulo’s arm, Lee nodded.
“Before we leave, I have something to say to you, Mr. Skimp.” Silent until now, Simon stepped forward. At the quiet control in his voice, Merle took a hasty step backward. “I happen to be an attorney as well as a witness to this…ah…incident. Lieutenant Rossi did not break in. When this man,” Simon nodded at Paulo, “heard the victim cry for help, he came to her rescue. If necessary, I will testify to that in any court in the land. So pursue this beyond today and your ass is mine. Not that I want it, Merle,” he added dryly.
“You got no right-” Merle began.
“Daddy,” Lee said, tears running down her face, but before she could utter another word, sobs overtook her.
“I wouldn’t hurt you, gal. You know that,” Merle said, not looking as if he understood how much he already had. His pinched, sun-baked face bore the signs of a lifetime of hard work, yet glancing about the neat but shabby condo, I realized he hadn’t profited much from his labors. I would have felt sorry for the guy, except for the sight of Lee leaning against the kitchen sink, sobbing into her hands, her shoulders shuddering. Paulo hovered close by, ready to catch her should she fall, but plainly not knowing what else to do other than sweep her back into his arms.
I found a tissue packet in my purse, pulled out five or six and pressed them into her fingers. She wiped her eyes, her sobs subsiding into quiet tears.
“I’m so ashamed, Daddy. And on Christmas Day. Momma wouldn’t have wanted this.”
“Your momma was a good, pure woman. She wouldn’t have wanted you keepin’ company with
Her tears dried up in that instant, and I could see her spine stiffen. “You’re my father, and the Bible says to honor you. But you surely make it hard for me, Daddy.” Her eyes luminous with tears, she looked up at Paulo. “I want to leave now.”
“Stay away from your daughter, Mr. Skimp,” Rossi ordered. “When she’s ready, she’ll get in touch with you. Don’t contact her before then. If I hear there’s a problem, I’ll nail you. Understood?”
Merle nodded, the sag of defeat in his lowered shoulders.
“I’ll call you, Daddy,” Lee said softly. “I promise. But I won’t come out here ever again.”
His glance focused on the linoleum floor, Merle didn’t respond as she hurried past him.
In the parking lot, I called to Rossi as he was about to get into the Mustang. “Did you eat that pizza?”
“No, it’s waiting patiently for me, Mrs. D.”
“How many have you had this week?”
He shrugged. “I lost count.”
“That’s what I thought. Well, this is a holiday and you’re off duty-after performing an act of mercy.”
He had a quizzical expression on his face like he didn’t know where this was heading.
“So…you think the chief would mind if you joined us for Christmas dinner? Prime rib. Yorkshire pudding. Two kinds of pie. Brandy sauce.”
“What chief?” he said, grinning from ear to ear.
Chapter Ten
Back at Surfside, striving for a little holiday atmosphere, I lit my Christmas candles and poured drinks for the men. A beer for Rossi, a Coke for Paulo, a glass of the Pinot Grigio for Simon.
Lee brought a cheese tray and a bowl of cold shrimp into the living room, set them on the coffee table, then joined me in the kitchen while I surveyed my wreck of a dinner. I told myself that in the nearly two hours since we’d been gone, the roast hadn’t morphed from a Julia Child centerfold to roadkill. But looking at the meat sitting in its congealing juices, I had trouble staying positive about it.
Okay, Plan B.
“I’m bagging the Yorkshire pudding,” I said to Lee. “Too fussy. Too time consuming. You like potatoes?” I peered at her, standing there pale and deeply troubled in her FGCU T-shirt and jeans.
“Sometimes.” She sounded unsure. About potatoes, probably. About her future, for a certainty.
I opened the fridge and removed some Idahos from the vegetable bin. “If you want to tell me what happened,” I said, “I can listen while I cook. I’ll scrub these, nuke them for six minutes then put them in the oven with the roast.”
“No potato for me, Deva, if y’all don’t mind.”
“Not for me, either,” I said staring at the roast with distaste. “Maybe we should just have pie.”
She gave me a halfhearted smile and sank onto a chair at the kitchen table. “It all started out just fine. Daddy picked me up yesterday so we could spend Christmas Eve together. I cooked supper for us and all, and we talked about my momma, how much we miss her. Then I made a mistake.”
The Idahos scrubbed clean, I popped them in the micro and set the timer. “What did you do?”
“I told him how I felt about Paulo.”
“Oh, I see.” I wiped my hands on a kitchen towel and poured us both a glass of wine. Lee was about to refuse but I said, “Consider it medicinal. Under the circumstances.”
She treated me to another wobbly smile and took a sip. “Nice.”
“So you told Daddy…”
“He went crazy, Deva. Plumb crazy. Started raving like a madman. I calmed him down by saying nothing had happened.” Lee’s pale face turned pink. “Nothing has,” she murmured with a quick glance out to the living room. “So the rest of the night was fine. Then today when I said I had to leave to come here, he started up again. That’s when I called y’all, but he grabbed the phone and forced me into the bedroom. I was about to climb out the window when I heard Paulo’s voice.”
Thoughts of my own father, of how pleased he had been when I told him about Jack, flooded my mind. What a shame Lee wouldn’t have a similar happy memory. “Your daddy needs to understand you’re a grown woman now,” I said as gently as I could.
Lee placed her glass on the table. Twirling the stem between her fingers, she stared at it as she spoke. “I’m not sure he ever will. Until he does, I have no Daddy.” She sipped the wine. “It’ll be better that way,” she added,
