Forged in Desire (The Protectors #1)(98)
Claudine shook her head as if she was annoyed at the interruption. “I doubt it. He said he would give me an hour.” She then looked at Margo accusingly. “You didn’t book another appointment the same time as mine, did you?”
Margo drew in a deep breath, knowing how Claudine liked being the center of attention. “No, Claudine, I didn’t double book. It’s probably someone selling something. I’ll get rid of them and be back.”
“Fine.”
Leaving her office, she closed the door behind her and headed toward the front, wondering who on earth it could be. She reached the door and looked through the peephole. It was Liz Tillman. Why would her uncle’s ex-girlfriend be here? Striker had warned her there was a chance Liz would seek her out because Liz blamed her for her breakup with Frazier. Now was not a good time to have to deal with Liz, but she couldn’t very well pretend she wasn’t home, not when her car was parked in the driveway. Margo opened the door. “What do you want, Liz? I’m busy.”
“We need to talk.”
“Sorry, but a client is here and—”
“You’re lying. There’s no other car parked in the driveway but yours,” Liz said, taking advantage of the open door to push her way inside Margo’s home.
“Now, wait just a minute,” she said to Liz’s fleeing back. “I didn’t invite you in.”
“Margo? Is everything okay?”
She turned to find Claudine had stuck her head out the workroom door. That was all she needed. “Yes. Everything is okay,” she said, plastering a smile on her face. “Just a little matter I need to take care of. It won’t take long.”
“Oh,” Claudine said, looking at Margo and then Liz. “I thought you said you didn’t double book.”
“I didn’t. This is a personal matter.”
“Oh. Okay.”
Margo was glad when Claudine stuck her head back inside and closed the workroom door. She then turned a furious gaze to Liz. “I told you I had a client here, so please leave.”
“I won’t leave until you and I have a little talk.”
Margo frowned. “We have nothing to talk about. You are interrupting my time with a client,” she said, trying to keep her voice low so Claudine wouldn’t hear them.
“You think I give a damn about your client after what you did to me?”
Liz opened her jacket, and Margo saw the revolver in Liz’s hand. It was pointed at her. “Liz, what are you doing?” Margo asked, looking from the gun back up to Liz. “Are you crazy?”
Liz chuckled. “Yes, I’m crazy. Now let’s go into your kitchen. If you refuse, I will shoot you right here. Then I’ll go into your office and shoot your client, so as not to leave a witness.”
Margo didn’t say anything as she considered Liz’s threat. She’d never thought the woman was capable of falling off the deep end just because Uncle Frazier had broken off with her. Hopefully, if they talked, she could make Liz come to her senses and see what a terrible mistake she was making.
“Fine,” Margo said. “Let’s go into the kitchen and talk.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
STRIKER ROUNDED THE corner onto the main road that led into Margo’s subdivision. As he neared her house, he saw another car besides Margo’s car parked in her driveway, and the hairs on his neck stood up. The make and model matched that of Liz Tillman’s vehicle. Striker recalled Frazier mentioning it when he’d warned him about Liz blaming Margo for the breakup. It could be a client’s vehicle, but Striker decided not to take any chances and kept driving to the house next door, remembering it was up for sale. He pulled in the driveway and brought his car to a stop.
With his instincts roaring inside him that something was very wrong about this situation, Striker quickly got out of his car and circled around to the back of the house and then crossed the yard onto Margo’s property. For once he appreciated all her windows, which gave him a good view inside her home. Pressing his body against the side of her house, he also appreciated she had her blinds open. He was about to cross the patio to her sliding glass door but quickly darted back to the wall when Margo entered her kitchen with a woman he could only assume was Liz Tillman. And he could clearly see that the woman was holding a gun on Margo.
He fought back his rage as he silently moved toward the sliding glass door. He tried opening it and found it was locked. Pulling the pocketknife from his boot, he forced open the door, quietly slid it open and went inside. Quickly moving behind a huge potted plant that shielded his body, he crouched down to a position that gave him a good view of what was going on in Margo’s kitchen. He could clearly hear their voices as well.
If Liz Tillman thought she would hurt a single strand of hair on Margo’s head, the woman was sadly mistaken.
*
“HONESTLY, LIZ, IF this is because Uncle Frazier broke up with you, I had nothing to do with that.”
“Didn’t you?” Liz said, sneering. “I had plans for me and Frazier, and you ruined them.”
Margo’s cell phone suddenly rang. “Don’t you dare think about answering that,” Liz threatened.
Margo didn’t know what to do. She could tell she wouldn’t be able to reason with Liz. And whatever Margo did, she would have to be careful that Claudine, an innocent in all this, wouldn’t get hurt.