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I nodded back and turned my attention back to her father who wasn’t across the room anymore. He was marching toward me.
“Outside,” he ordered as he strode past me.
I turned and followed him, uncaring and not scared in the least.
There was little the man could say or do to me that would make me scared.
Though, I might be more concerned if he was on better footing with his daughter. At this point, he wasn’t. Maybe in the future, he would be, but for now? I wasn’t fearful in the least about what was to come out of his mouth.
He led me around the side of the house to a detached garage.
Once there, he opened the side door of the place with his thumbprint on a keypad and swung the door open wide.
He led me straight into the holy grail of gun safe rooms.
My mouth fell open as I saw the floor to ceiling lined walls. One wall in particular had rifles on it. One in every shape, size, and color.
Another wall had handguns.
And on the wall opposite there was a reloading station with even more bullets than one would hopefully ever need.
Finally, on the wall closest to me, was a wall lined with shelves. On the shelves were pillows. Blankets. Water bottles. Non-perishable foods. Things that one might need in case of a tornado or a natural disaster.
“This wall lined with something?” I asked as I knocked on the door.
“Uh-huh,” Miller said as he walked to a hidden fridge in the wall between guns and opened it up. There he produced a couple of beers chilled to the perfect temperature.
I took the beer he offered me and twisted the lid off.
He gestured toward an overflowing whiskey barrel in the corner that had so many beer bottle caps that it was spilling out onto the floor.
I tossed my cap in that direction, landing it into the bin without a single one falling to the floor. Miller’s toss had about twenty spilling out, causing me to laugh.
“I’m not sure what I’m doing with those yet,” he admitted. “I’m thinking of building a table, making the tabletop the beer caps and then pouring resin over it to seal it in and make it smooth. Not too sure yet.”
I took a sip of the beer just as he said, “Mercy is my wife. I have never, ever second-guessed anything that she’s ever done to protect our children. Nor did I ever think that I would need to correct her when it came to something that she did to one of them. But when she kicked my daughter out, I chose to stay silent and not say anything to contradict her in front of them. Instead, I allowed my daughter to go home thinking that her father was mad at her, when, in fact, I was anything but. I see now that my actions were wrong, and I should’ve said something, because I feel like I’ve damaged something that was essential in how we run as a family.”
My brows rose as I looked at him, not saying anything because he didn’t say anything that I didn’t agree with.
And, I wasn’t a talker.
Miller had something to say, and I was going to let him say it.
“I talked to her almost the instant that the door closed behind Sierra. There aren’t that many things that scare Mercy, but this? Her doing this thing alone? Mercy wasn’t sure that she could handle it on her own. But I know my girl. And, without sounding arrogant, we raised her right. She may be a really wild child, but she thinks before she acts. Even if those actions do have major consequences.” He paused. “If she didn’t like Mark, there was a reason. Now, knowing that you’re the one that wrote her all those years? She was half in love with you way before she ever laid eyes on Mark.”
That made me feel really fucking good, hearing that.
Because I was the same way.
I hadn’t so much admitted it, but felt it.
There were things that I shared with her that I’d never shared with another soul. Not even my own grans.
“Now, as for the reason that I really brought you out here,” he said. “Tell me about this woman that was hit outside your place. Also, tell me about the girl that you spoke with at the DMV about that douchebag kid. I heard from Detective Anna today that you were helping with that.”
I was, actually.
It also made me wonder how he knew, because I sure the fuck hadn’t told anyone, and Detective Grand had been quite honest when she promised she wouldn’t say anything to anybody.
“I see by the look on your face that you’re wondering how I know you’re working with her.” He grinned. “There’s not much that goes on at that department that I don’t know about. I may not be chief like Luke, but I’ve been there for a really fucking long time. People don’t even take a shit there that I don’t know about.”
